HeroRevealed

by Anna Alexander

Kristos opened his mouth to soften the blow of his harsh criticism when a wave of bubbles washed over his skin as his powers picked up the vibration of giggling girls. His nine a.m. river tour, a reunion of sorority sisters from Central Washington University. Fantastic.

  He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, praying for the patience to survive the next three hours. When he looked up, he saw his brother staring at the rushing water. Deep lines creased his brow and bracketed his lips. Lucian’s arms were crossed in front of him like a shield, with his hands resting on his biceps. The tips of his fingers stroked the spot where under his shirt lay a scar that matched Kristos’ own. Loneliness weighed down his shoulders, pulling at Kristos’ belly in sympathy.

  “I’m sorry if my words hurt you, brother, but I will not hide. I’m not a fool, Lucian. I know my relationship with Brett is nonexistent. There’s something holding her back from going after what she wants, but I’m not giving up on her, and I will not leave her without protection. She may not realize yet, but she needs me. If she arrests me for my efforts, then all the better. At least we’ll be in the same building.”

  “And if our secret is discovered?” Lucian asked, his tone as stiff as his posture.

  “Then it’s discovered. We are Llanos. We’ve lived through hell. There’s nothing we can’t survive.”

  * * * * *

  Brett parked her Crown Vic and stepped out into a two-inch-deep puddle of mud. Since the brief bout of sunshine three days before, the skies had been nothing but gray and wet, leaving the earth a soggy mess.

  A canopy of pine and cedar trees sheltered the small gathering of deputies. The wail of a siren echoed against the leaves as an ambulance and a fire truck pulled up alongside her.

  She lifted her hand in greeting at Collins. “What have we got?”

  “There was a small gang skirmish and the ground gave way, sucking two of the participants into the sinkhole.”

  “How far down are they?”

  “Can’t really tell. No one can get close enough without causing more of a cave in, but we’ve made contact and they’re both conscious.”

  “I thought the last of the bikers left town days ago.” She strode toward the flags that sectioned off the opening. “Who was fighting?”

  “The Twihards and Vamp Diaries.”

  She looked back at him over her shoulder. “What?”

  His features puckered as he nodded toward the circle of seven youths who appeared to be between thirteen to fifteen years of age. They huddled together in their leather jackets and Henley shirts while two of the girls sobbed, their tears leaving dark streaks in their white makeup. A boy, who looked to have an entire bottle of gel sweeping back his hair, awkwardly patted one of the girls’ hands.

  “Jiminy Christmas,” Brett muttered and turned away. Her gaze met Collins’ dancing eyes. He pursed his lips and gave a slight shake of his head.

  The fire captain came to stand next to her and braced his hands on his hips. “Is that boy wearing makeup or did he have an unfortunate incident with a powdered doughnut?”

  She sucked in a laugh. “Thanks for joining us, Captain. Okay,” she barked, taking command. “Let’s cordon off more of this area. I’m sure were going to have several upset parents arrive any moment and I don’t want anyone else in danger. Collins, show me this hole.”

  The captain and two paramedics joined them on the trek over a small rise to a flat stretch of meadow. As she neared the gap, the earth sank under her feet.

  “Sheriff, why don’t you go ahead?” the captain said.

  Brett placed one careful step in front of the other and knelt next to the two- by three-foot hole. She reached for the Maglight at her hip and shined it into the black depths. “Hello, it’s Sheriff Briggs. Who’s down there?”

  “It’s Caroline and Jacob,” a small voice called from the dark.

  “Caroline?” Something about the high-pitched female voice rang familiar. “Wait—Stacy Monroe, is that you?” A long silence followed. “Stacy?”

  “Please don’t tell my mom I fell in a hole.”

  She released a sigh of relief. If the girl could whine, then she had to be all right. “Honey, since your mother’s the supervisor at the 9-1-1 center, I think she’s going to find out. Who else is with you?”

  “Just Jason.”

  “Are you all right? Are either of you hurt? Can you step into my light?”

  A dirt-streaked face haloed in white-blonde ringlets appeared ten feet below. Stacy cradled her right elbow in her left hand. “My arm hurts and Jason can’t stand. I think he broke his leg.”

  “Is he conscious?”

  “What?”

  “Is he awake?”

  “Yeah.”

  She swung the light around and noticed that the girl appeared alone in the pit. “Where is he?”

  “He’s right there.” She gestured to the shadows.

  “Okay, honey, I want you to sit tight. We’re going to get you out. It’s just going to take a few minutes.” She turned back to the others. “Can one of you toss me a lantern?”

  A small Coleman rolled in her direction. She flipped it on and lowered her arm down the hole. “Can you catch this?”

  Once Stacy had her little light, Brett faced the group of men. “It looks like they’re in some type of tunnel. Isn’t this land part of Rainer National Park?”

  “Yes ma’am,” the captain answered.

  Why would the state dig a tunnel in the park?

  That was a thought for another time. Her first priority was to get those kids out without causing another cave-in. With only a few more hours of daylight left, the temperature was going to drop, and the sky looked ready to unzip at any moment and dump another inch of rain.

  She rubbed her chin. “Collins, how long will it take to get a surveyor up here?”

  “Thirty minutes, maybe an hour.”

  “They’re about ten feet down. It would be nice to make the opening large enough to fit a stretcher, but I don’t think we can wait that long.”

  “A back hoe will probably fall right in,” said the captain. “We can send someone down in a harness attached to the wench on the fire truck to test the hole, but they’d have to be able to fit down that shaft, and light enough not to send dirt down on top of those kids. My guys are too big. Got anyone on your team?”

  Four pairs of eyes turned toward her.

  She didn’t even hesitate. “Let’s do it.”

  She latched the flashlight to her belt then stripped off her heavy coat. In five minutes she was fitted with a helmet and cinching a harness tight to her body.

  “I know you’re sending the woman down because you’re afraid to endanger your penis,” she joked.

  “Damn straight.” The captain laughed along with her men. “Now, we’ll send you down nice and slow. Holler if the ground shifts, or when you’re near the bottom.”

  “Right.”

  A crowd had gathered on the other side of the yellow police tape and more cars streamed up the road. Cedar was a pretty sleepy town overall, and news of the cave-in traveled as fast as a text message. With so many eyes on her, the pressure to execute this rescue flawlessly weighed on her as if she’d clipped an additional fifty pounds to her belt.

  Suck it up, Briggs. You were hired to think on your feet and do the impossible. Now’s the time to prove you’re the man.

  “How are you doing, Stacy?” she called out as she neared the entrance.

  “Fine?”

  “I’m coming down. Get as far away from the opening as you can.”

  She dropped a bag of supplies down first. The thud as it hit the bottom sounded way too far away. Adrenaline and a brisk breeze sent a shiver along her arms as she took that first careful step off the edge. Her hips scraped the sides of the rough walls and her breasts made for a tight squeeze until she was completely submerged in blackness. How one teenager, let alone two, managed to fall down the shaft confounded her.

  “Stacy, how the hell did you two fit through thi
s hole?” she hollered. “What were you doing?”

  “We were running and Jason tackled me, and the next thing I knew we were falling. It was really dark and scary. Still is.”

  “Hang on, sweetie. I’m almost there.”

  Gravel and dirt hit Brett in the face as she dropped inch by inch. She closed her eyes and concentrated on keeping her breathing slow and even.

  Her feet swung from side to side as she breached the tunnel. “Slow down. I’m near the bottom,” she instructed through the radio at her shoulder. “Stop.”

  She unclipped the line and turned toward the lamp’s soft glow to inspect her surroundings. The tunnel was about four feet high and eight feet wide.

  The young girl had a bruise on her forehead but her eyes were clear and her pupils dilated properly when Brett flashed them with light. Her wrist looked swollen and had limited mobility. In the bag was a sling that Brett used to set the sore arm before approaching the boy.

  “Okay, Jason, how are you holding up?”

  “All right, I guess,” he answered with a weak shrug.

  He lay flat on his back, a purple sweatshirt pillowing his head. His dark hair and face were grimy and he shivered in the damp soil with what Brett hoped were the chills and not shock.

  “Which leg hurts?” she asked.

  “The right one.”

  With her knife she cut up the length of his denim-covered shin. “If you shift into a wolf, won’t that heal your injuries?”

  He managed a small grin. “I’m not really a werewolf, Sheriff.”

  “I know.” She winked. “Just thought you might need a reminder.”

  A giant black-and-blue bruise circled his swollen knee like a bandana. Only an x-ray would confirm whether or not it was broken, but until then, Brett was going to treat him with the utmost care. From her bag she withdrew splints and straps and began to immobilize his leg. She kept him talking, pausing every now and again to update the crew of Jason’s condition and her progress. When his leg was wrapped to her satisfaction, she carefully slipped the harness around his hips.

  “Stacy, I’m gonna need your assistance to steady him while I lift.”

  “Okay.” She kept her left arm tucked to her side as she helped Brett get Jason to his feet.

  The slack in the rope tightened, which helped keep his weight off his leg, but he moaned and hissed as he was raised slowly in the air like a piñata.

  Brett and Stacy ducked under the slate roof as gravel and earth rained down in small bursts. The trickle turned into a steady stream as Jason cleared the opening and the weight of the paramedics assisting him further upset the unstable ground.

  The harness dropped back down and Brett helped Stacy pull it into place then stepped back to watch the next act of Cirque de Rescue. Stacy’s squeaks and shouts as she pulled a reverse Alice up the rabbit hole made for a grating soundtrack.

  An ominous crack shot an electric current down Brett’s back, prodding her to action. She dove deeper into the tunnel as a slab of slate broke off from the ceiling and fell across the exit, spraying pebbles everywhere like buckshot.

  “Sheriff! Sheriff!” Collins shout crackled through her radio. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah,” she croaked. She forced out a cough then tried again. “Yeah. How about you all?”

  “We’re good.”

  “Great.”

  She closed her eyes. Fan-fucking-tastic.

  Her lungs burned as she sucked in a mouthful of dust. Tiny streaks of daylight scattered in random patterns where it managed to find a fissure in the rock and soil. Unable to distinguish wall from ceiling, claustrophobia began to wrap her in its icy grip. Tiny, dark places reminded her of coffins, and thoughts of death were never good.

  She jumped to her feet and mentally kicked her rising hysteria in the balls. Panic was going to help no one. Who knew when she’d be freed, and her time would be better spent gathering information to help her crew than to sit, wallowing in fear.

  “Sit tight, Sheriff, we’ll get you out.”

  She certainly hoped so. “Thanks, Collins,” she said into her radio and wobbled to her feet.

  Okay, first priority, ensuring breathable air. If she wasn’t completely cut off from oxygen, she might take a crack at digging through that blockade herself.

  Deep, dark and spooky, the tunnel stretched before her, lengthening with each step she took into the abyss. The temperature grew warmer the farther she went, but a cool draft skimmed over her cheek, which meant the tunnel had to have some sort of ventilation. The air was damp and tasted metallic on the back of her tongue. At five feet two inches tall she had to hunch over, but the floor was even and easy to traverse. As she walked, she trailed her fingers over the stone, noting the deep gouges that looked as if the rock had been carved out by a giant claw.

  Her helmet bumped into a flat, square metal plate screwed flush against the rock. A few feet farther in, she found another. Their wide and irregular spacing set a wave of unease rolling in her belly. God, if those were all that kept the ceiling from tumbling down on her, she was in deep shit. After another couple of steps, the tunnel intersected with a second shaft that ran perpendicular to the one she came down.

  “Hey, Sheriff.” Collins’ steady voice echoed down the tunnel. “How are you holding up?”

  “All right for now. I’m definitely in a tunnel and it looks man-made. I want someone to locate the permit for permission to dig in a national park.”

  “Dig as in mine? Ah, Sheriff, that may take some time—hey! What are you doing?”

  “Collins?” Static. “Collins, what the hell is going on?”

  “A man just jumped into the hole. He’s—holy shit, did you see that?” The incredulity in his tone kicked her heart into fifth gear.

  “What?” she shouted. Curiosity ate at her insides until her skin itched. “Collins, what’s happening?”

  “Someone’s down there tossing—my God, did you see the size of that rock? He’s tossing boulders out like they’re pebbles.”

  She ran back to the blockade as fast as her stooped posture allowed. “Who is it?”

  No response. Her heart crept up her throat with the suspense, cutting off further speech as she waited, staring at the wall.

  A dirty hand reached through a thin crevasse and wrapped around a watermelon-sized stone and pulled. As the small hole in the blockade widened, she swung the beam of her flashlight and gasped as she caught sight of a familiar hooded figure.

  Her vigilante.

  A form-fitting black cowl covered his head and neck and continued down his arms. A tunic draped his torso and was tied at the waist with a belt like a karate obi. The metallic fabric reflected the fading daylight in sparkling bursts of light one second, then blended with the earth the next. Another rock was removed, revealing a pair of pale-green eyes that peered at her from the shadows.

  Kristos.

  “What do you…” Any reprimand she might have said died on her lips as she stared in shock at the impossible speed he used to remove debris.

  “Sheriff, are you all right?” he asked, not even sounding winded.

  She nodded then realized he probably couldn’t see her. “I’m okay.”

  He pushed aside a boulder that should have taken a crane to lift. The grinding screech of rock on rock sent a shiver so cold down her spine she felt it in her teeth.

  “You amaze me, Sheriff,” he said, breaking through her stupefaction. “How you came down here without a moment’s hesitation. That was very brave.”

  “It’s my job. What’s your excuse?”

  The cowl obscured most of his face, except for his eyes and the opening that framed his sinful smile. “My job.”

  “Which is what?”

  “Protecting you.”

  “I never asked you to.”

  “I know. That’s why I do it. I will always protect you. Until my last dying breath.”

  She shook her head in confusion. His loyalty didn’t make sense. They’d never been on a da
te, she refused him at every turn, they were practically strangers. His devotion was complete and utter madness. “Why?”

  He paused, mid-crouch with muscles tense, and pinned her with an unflinching gaze, which left her feeling as if she were on a crazy roller coaster that was both thrilling and terrifying. “Because I think of you as mine, Brett. That fire, that passion you try to hide is a rare and beautiful thing. You are the sun that warms the cold loneliness of my days. You are mine, even though you push me away and won’t let me love you, you are still mine. And if all I am able to do is protect you, then I will.”

  A tight band squeezed around her chest as she realized he meant every word. His interference had never been an issue about her ability or skill. He only wanted to care for her, any way he could.

  Well, mother fucker. Her throat tightened as she fought to think. This adoration was a gift she had no idea what to make of. She was the rock, the dependable one who took care of everyone and everything. It was never, “How can I help you, Brett?” but, “Brett, please help me.” To have someone do for her while knowing she wouldn’t reciprocate was unexpected and left her at a complete loss.

  She couldn’t accept such an extravagant gift. His life wasn’t worth her safety and she lived in constant danger. Could Kristos respect her position, or would he try to make her give up all she worked for to spend every night in his arms?

  That doesn’t sound so terrible,whispered her heart.

  “It’s time to go, Sheriff. Ready?”

  She wet her lips. Was she? “Yeah.”

  His jaw went rigid as he clenched his teeth and pushed with his arms and legs. Ever so slowly the gap widened until she was able to squeeze between his hard body and the wall.

  Halfway through, she was jerked to a halt as her belt buckle caught on the knot of fabric that circled his waist. Wedging her fingers in the nonexistent gap, she pulled and jerked at the fabric that refused to tear away.

  “Hurry,” Kristos hissed.

  “I’m trying.” She tugged harder. “I’m stuck.”

  “Holy Father,” he groaned.

  Brett glanced up and gasped at the lines of strain around his mouth and the amount of sweat trickling from under the cowl into his eyes that narrowed with pain. His body vibrated against her like a V-8 engine in need of a tune up and his arms trembled under the strain.