by Jasmine Walt
“All I hear is that damn chanting coming from the shitheads, on and on and on,” another answered. “I’m going to lose my mind if I have to keep listening to it.”
“You heard the boss. We stay put until he returns.”
“No, I swear I hear something. It sounds like a dog or something. I’m going to check it out.” He got up from his crouch and took a couple of steps, slipping on the icy ground. “Hey, it’s one of those sled dogs.” He lifted his rifle to take aim.
“No!” Chia cried in the owl’s mind.
The owl folded its wings and hurtled at the man.
“Fuck!” He batted at the owl, losing his footing and falling.
The other men stepped to where the first man lay, struggling to get up.
“Damn owl clawed at my face.”
“I don’t see an owl. I think you slipped, dipshit. Where’s the rock climbing dog?”
“I don’t know, he ran behind a boulder or something.”
“You been hitting the hooch?” The male lifted his hand and pretended to pour a drink.
“Fuck, no.” The fallen man got to his feet. He took a swing at the other man.
Chia peered through the owl’s eyes, watching Cecil the husky slink around to the other side of the cave. Still trembling with fear, the husky belly crawled toward the opening.
Good boy, Chia thought.
The owl dipped down to get a better look.
“Stop fighting, you two,” the third man yelled, prying them apart.
Cecil crept into the cave.
The owl ghost-landed at the opening, peering inside.
Chia gawked.
The shamans appeared exhausted. Chained to the wall, they kept up their chants, eyes sunk in their skulls, faces drawn with fatigue.
Cecil the husky kept up his belly crawl, slinking toward the magic men. He grabbed one of the chains in his mouth and tugged without effect. He turned to look at the cave opening, saw the owl and whined, perhaps hoping for guidance.
“Hey!” One of the men yelled. “There’s the owl. Jordan was right.” He lifted his rifle and took a shot at the bird as it lifted in the air.
Shocked and frightened, Chia’s mind boomeranged into her bedroom, landing with a snap inside her body. Several Fae coiled around her, feasting on her body with lust. Her ghosts spun overhead, their expressions appearing bewildered or perhaps betrayed by the Fae’s inattention to their needs. Chia roared. “Get off of me! Go away! Fun time’s over.”
The Fae took flight, soaring from the room.
Chia sat up, distraught, aroused by Fae, still high on vamp, scared for both Hung and Cecil. “There’s no one to fix this but me. I’m it.” She eyed her bound ankle. “I may not be able to break this metal band, but I’ve got practice getting out of bindings, thanks to my roommate and his duct tape fetish.” She wiggled toward the pillows, pulled open the drawer of her side stand and retrieved her bottle of Silky Stuff lube. Pouring a generous glob on her ankle, she twisted and tugged. “Think small.” She pulled and wrenched. “Damn!” She glowered at her ghosts. “Any advice? No? You’re useless.” She tugged until her skin became raw. Tears of rage flooded her eyes.
“Damn, damn, damn! D’Raynged,” she yelled. “Are you here?” She cocked her head to listen. Nothing. “Trinity! Neo! Where are you when I need you? What do I do?” Overwhelmed by despair, swamped by grief, the only thing she could think was to chew and claw off her foot, like a fox in a leg trap. She truly understood what it must be like to be caught by a piece of toothed metal. At least her bindings were smooth and rounded.
20
The same fairy who sexed her earlier, doing God knows what while her mind was away, returned, perhaps summoned by her pleas. “You,” it said, shimmering before her. “One of the ones,” it slowly enunciated, in its warbled, melodic voice.
“A lot of good it does me. I’m one of the trapped ones.” She sat, slumped, hands laying listless between her legs, not caring whether or not her shoulder throbbed. “Why should I even care? The townspeople don’t care.”
“One of the ones,” it repeated. It reached for her hand but slid right through her flesh. It frowned, looking consternated. “Come.”
She looked at it sadly. “Can’t go anywhere, fairy. I’m as stuck as the shifters outside. Hung’s the only one with the key and he’s probably dead by now.”
“Come,” it said again, beseeching her with a watery gaze from its translucent eyes.
She shook her head. “I wish I could, believe me.”
The fairy tried again to take her hand. “Give.”
“Why? We’ve just proved your kind and my kind are not the same stuff.” She thought about her earlier recollections of her grandparents’ and parents’ last interaction. Magic is nothing more than the understanding and manipulation of energy, her grandfather had stated.
“Come,” the fairy said for what seemed like the millionth time.
She lifted her head to snap at him, when she saw her ghosts actually listening to him.
The fairy rested his palm on her sore, scraped ankle, and repeated the word to the ghosts. “Come.”
Her ghosts fluttered toward her ankle, paying close attention to the fairy. It spoke in rapid Fae or whatever, and they listened, apparently understood, and slipped under the metal ring.
Chia watched, amazed, as her ankle blurred, surrounded by ectoplasm, then disappeared. Startled, blinking rapidly, she jerked it away from the ghosts. It slid free of the metal. “Holy cannoli, we did it! Thank you,” she said, but the ghosts—all except number seven who tried in vain to find a place in the group—had already begun to twirl around the fairy, as if hypnotized or totally turned on by it. “Thank you,” she said to the fairy, as it floated from the room. She got to her feet, wincing from the pain in her back, spied her pain meds and poured a couple into her palm. Washing them down with water, hoping they didn’t interact in a bad way with the lingering vamp high, she moved as quickly as she could, putting on socks and warm clothing and heading toward the door.
Outside, many of the shifters had bedded down for the night, bunching together for warmth. Others sat, alert, watching. She lifted her hand in greeting. “I’m still trying, guys and gals.” She made her way to the back of the barn. She pulled open the big barn door, the one that allowed her grandfather’s farm machinery to pass in and out, and trudged toward her neon green and white Arctic Cat Sno-Pro snowmobile.
She made a quick pass by the gun cabinet and retrieved her Nosler 26 and her Glock. Securing the Glock in her shoulder holster and the eight-pound rifle across her back, plenty of ammo in her pockets, she donned her goggles and climbed aboard.
She drove slowly out of the barn, allowing it to progress along the dirt floor and driveway before she reached snow, hopefully without much damage to the belts or the carbides. Once she hit the snow, she gunned the engine, getting it up to 118 mph.
Turned her head a split second to see her ghosts streaming like smoke behind her, riding the currents like a boat wake. She ignored the pain in her shoulder blade, the jostling ride, the vibration between her legs, focusing instead on the glowing terrain and the glacier ahead.
She arrived at the sleet barrier, searching frantically for Hung. “Damn it! Where did he go? Did he already die, and a night critter got him?” The thought sickened her. After making a few passes with the Cat, she zipped through the barrier and headed for the glacier, her heart heavy. One down. I missed my opportunity with him. I hope Cecil’s okay, at least.
The once golden energy streaming from the cave now appeared sickly and stagnant, like a slow moving pond, overflowing with water weeds, mossy slime and bacteria. It even carried a foul smell, making her gag. She pulled her wooly winter scarf over her mouth and nose, and continued on.
She sped toward the Haunted Bear, zooming across the frozen lake with as much caution as she could allow. Once she reached the bottom of the glacier, she stared up toward the cave, listening intently for sounds of owl, dog, chanting, or men
with guns. The entire area seemed smothered in silence.
She started to climb toward the cave, the Glock at her side, the Nosler 26 strapped to her back, but pain got the best of her. She slid into a crouch, whimpering softly. A familiar, welcome smell, one that had eluded her for days, tickled her nose. “Hung?” she whispered.
“What are you doing out here, woman?” he said softly, ghost-walking behind her. “Breaking the rules?”
She pivoted her head to look at him.
Bundled in fur and animal hide snow gear, he gave her a sweet, saucy smile that melted her heart.
Who is this soft, mushy guy? “I thought you were dead. I saw your body at the barrier.” Her words came out all breathy and weird, not to mention muffled from the scarf. She hunched forward, not wanting him to see her vulnerability.
“Yeah, I couldn’t get through the barrier. I had to…take other measures.”
“Like what? You looked dead.”
“Isn’t that how you want me? Six feet under?” He pressed gently against her back, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.
She tsked and rolled her eyes. “No. Not really. I…only….well…” She pushed her furry hood back from her head and tugged the scarf from her mouth. The cold quickly settled around her face but with Hung’s heat behind her, she didn’t mind.
“You only what?” He nuzzled the back of her head with his cold nose.
“I…never mind.”
“Tell me.” He nibbled the sliver of exposed skin between her scarf and jaw.
“I’d be breaking my own rules if I ever…you know…did anything with you.”
“And why is that?”
“I’m…well…” What the hell was she scared of? Who told her Hung was in love with her? Was he just looking for the next notch in his belt? What did she care? Soon he’d be off on his next job and since she’d be hiding at home, she’d never see him again. With a heavy sigh, she spilled. “I’m afraid to let you in. I already like you too much. It’s easier to have sex with men I don’t know or like. That way, they don’t get too close.”
Her cheeks burned at her true confession. It must be the meds or the vamp high that made me say it. “Forget I said anything. I’m being stupid.” She shook her head. “And I can’t climb this frigging mountain. My back hurts like a motherfucker.”
“I told you to stay put.” He brought his lips to her temple, pushing her furry hat to the side. “But you never listen to me, do you? How’d you get free of the metal band? Chainsaw?”
She heard the smile in his voice. “Long story.”
“Ah. I hope you tell me all about it. But for now, I need to rescue a friend of yours. He’s chained to the cave with the shamans.”
Chia snapped to her senses. “What? And you have the nerve to sit behind me, cooing in my ear with platitudes?”
He sighed. “Here we go again.” He released her and she grew instantly chilled. He guided her up to standing and spun her around. “I confess.”
She took a quick breath. Is he going to tell me he loves me?
“I took out two of the men guarding the cave.”
Her heart sank like the sun behind the horizon. She sighed, deflated. Of course you did.
“The other one is trying to keep the dog muzzled while keeping a lookout for me. I climbed down the mountain partway to throw him off his game. Make him think he’s safe. He’s going to be mighty agitated. And, when I saw you, well…” He shrugged.
“What if he’s harmed Cecil? I’ll break your neck.”
“Is that before or after you have me tried for murder for breaking your rules of no self-defense?”
“After,” she griped, eyes blazing.
“This part of you is getting a little tiresome,” he said, with another sigh. “I could deal with your job as town manager and all your goddamn rules, but this?” He swished his hand up and down in front of her body. “You’re armed inside and out.” His eyes grew steel blue and cold as an iceberg. “Well. I’ll be getting on my way up to save your friend when I could be doing other things.”
“I’m coming.”
“Not with me, you’re not.”
“Please? I need your help to get up the mountain.”
“That puts us both at risk. I can’t be helping you and focusing on getting a shot off should the guard rush outside.”
Chia frowned. “How is it that you can see so well in the dark? Owl eyes?”
“What’s with the fucking owl? How is it that you can see so well in the dark?”
“Vamp blood connection.”
“Shifter sight. Now we’ve solved that mystery. See ya.” He turned and began to climb.
“Hung, wait!” Chia huffed out a protest.
“What?” he snapped, turning to look at her, all softness vanished.
“I’m sorry. I…I…don’t know how to deal with you when you’re all soft and mushy.” She cast her eyes at the snow. “It’s easier when we’re at odds.”
His face creased into a slight smile. “I see. Well, woman, we don’t have time to solve that mystery. I gave myself twenty-five. It’s now approaching forty-five minutes and I’m hoping the guard didn’t get bored and take it out on the mutt.”
“He has a name, asshole,” she said.
“I know.” His eyes grew narrow. “So do I and it’s not asshole, at least not usually. Now. I’m heading up that glacier and you, armed to the teeth and full of rules, piss and snark, can join me or not. I won’t help you and I sure won’t listen to your whimpers. I’m done being nice to you.” Without another word he began to climb.
Angry, determined to make the climb and save her friend, she followed him. Each time she started to cry out or whimper from pain, she swallowed it back and channeled it into tenacity.
When they got within a few yards from the cave, huddled behind a snowcapped boulder, Chia felt a flood of relief hearing the husky’s whines and growls.
“Easy, mutt. Which one of us has the gun, huh? Don’t get all crazy on me,” the guard said.
Low growls emanated from the cavern.
“Easy. Easy.”
Fierce snarls and snaps followed, as if Cecil the husky had lunged.
“Goddamn dog!”
A whack and a yip rang out, sounding like the guy had smacked the dog.
“No one hurts my friends. I’m taking the bastard out,” Chia hissed. She reached for purchase on the snowy mound.
“Not so fast, woman.” Hung held her back with his hand. “Don’t go all commando on me. Let’s make a plan.”
“Yeah, I go in, guns locked and loaded and shoot him in the head.”
Hung’s eyebrows rose. “And break your own rules?”
“I’d…I’d do that for a friend. My friends’ rock.”
“I see.” Hung’s eyes grew colder than the glacier ice. “You’ll break rules for a friend but not for me.”
“Come on,” she spluttered. “That’s different. You’re…you and I…Gah!” She let out a frustrated breath. “I don’t know how to deal with you! I don’t know who you are to me or who I want you to be. Don’t you get it?” Her words emerged in a whispered rush.
Hung sighed. “Not really. All I know is you frustrate the hell out of me. I think we’ve reached an impasse here. Let’s get the goddamn job done, so I can get the hell out of Charming.”
She blinked. “You want to leave and never return?”
“You leave me no choice! If I’m not tried and hung for murder, that is. I’ve been through that before. How do you think I got my name? I escaped the gallows.”
She blinked at him. “You did?”
“Yes. When I was only eighteen. I’d barely begun my career and a job went south. I’d been framed, same as what’s happening here. I came this close…” he held out his thumb and forefinger to her, a whisker’s width apart, “to being a dead man. It’s an experience I don’t care to have again.”
“You won’t be,” Chia said softly.
“And why is that?” He regarded her with
cool, walled off indifference.
“I…I might have…” She bit her lip. “I may or may not have…”
“Created a new rule?” He cocked his head, his jaw clenched.
She turned her head away from him. “Maybe.” The close, continued contact made her feel strange inside. “We’ll see if it goes through. I called in a few favors tonight.”
He reached for her chin and turned her to face him. He gave her a long, piercing gaze. “Did you do it for me? Am I one of your so-called friends?”
She shook her head back and forth. “No. You’re more.”
Hung let out a long, slow breath, like he’d held it for years. His eyes softened into sun-kissed skies of blue possibility.
Chia began to lean toward him, mouth parted.
The husky let out a barrage of barks in rapid fire, like bullets.
“Oh, shit.” Chia quickly shifted gears. “I’m going in.” She started to move but Hung caught her arm and stopped her.
“At least do it safely. Your commando idea is not what I had in mind. How about this? I lure him out of his cave and then you shoot him. I’d love to see you break a few rules.”
Chia studied him carefully. “Are you making fun of me?”
“No! I’m telling it true. I think breaking a rule or two would be good for you for a change. When it comes to rules, you’re as trussed up as your town.” He stood suddenly and shouted. “Hey, asshole. I’m back.”
A shuffling sound came from the cavern. “Where are you?” A wild shot rang out from the cave, zinging overhead.
Hung quickly crouched behind the snowy boulder. “What, you can’t hit the side of a barn door? Eyesight growing dim?” he taunted.
The guard crouched in the opening of the cave and searched for Hung. “Show yourself, asshole.”
“That’s the second time in a few minutes I’ve been called that name,” Hung called. “You can do better than that. Get creative.” He turned to Chia and whispered, “Go! Around that way. I’ll keep luring him out of the cave. I don’t dare shoot him where he is right now. Might hit the mutt.” He glared at her. “I mean Cecil.”
Chia nodded and slunk in the direction he pointed.