Joyce & Jim Lavene - Taxi for the Dead 02 - Dead Girl Blues

by Joyce Lavene

  Lucas was waiting outside. The full moon caught his profile as he stared up at it.

  “Ready?” I asked. “Is there a special chant or something.”

  “I am ready.” He turned to me. “I hope you’re as ready as you think.”

  “I already saw one man change into an animal and try to kill people.” I hopped up on the seat. “What’s one more?”

  He sat on the passenger side. “The difference is in the details. Terry was clumsy, slow, and weak compared to your adversary this evening. I hope the enchanted bullets and the spell on your gun hold. I also enchanted my crossbow and arrows.”

  I started the van and pulled out of the drive. “Crossbow and arrows? Where did that come from?”

  “I may not remember everything about my past, but I do remember that we hunted with a bow. A crossbow is best.”

  “But where did you get it?”

  “I bartered a few services with the local hunting store. The man assured me the arrows are strong enough to penetrate a large animal such as a bear.”

  “You did magic for him?” I could only imagine that phone call if the magic didn’t work.

  “Of course not. I clipped his hedges. They were unsightly. It was a good trade.”

  “It sounds like a good trade. But if my bullets can’t kill it, how would an arrow?”

  “Neither will work in that case. It’s not the weapon but the enchantment that will guide it to your foe. Without the enchantment, we are no doubt dead. I hope you explained that to your friends.”

  “They know the risks.”

  I kept my eyes on the ribbon of road ahead of us. In the twilight, the trees and houses took on a burnished hue with the sun setting behind them.

  Lucas and I didn’t speak again until we reached the woods at the top of the highway. There was very little traffic. I saw a new Chevy pickup that I assumed had to be Tim’s. He had brought Gerald with him from Nashville. Both of them were waiting beside the vehicle.

  We parked behind them. I nervously checked my Beretta and extra clips. This was it. If I was going to turn back, this was my last chance. I closed my eyes and said a prayer I remembered one of my foster parents teaching me when I was very young. Angel of God, my guardian dear. I got out of the van and joined my partners.

  Lucas was already with them. He was enchanting an array of weapons that were in the back of the pickup. There was everything from small handguns to the assault rifle and an AK47 that had to belong to Tim. There was even a handheld missile launcher.

  It made me smile, despite the circumstances, to see Lucas appear to be praying over them. I knew that wasn’t it, and I could see the faint green glow when he was finished. My gun and his crossbow were also tinged with green. His enchantment seemed to work, as far as that went. The question was—would it hold, and was it strong enough to kill the werewolf?

  “You’re really losing it here, Mertz,” I whispered to myself a fair distance away from the enchantment. “You’re in the woods with three strangers getting ready to fight something that shouldn’t exist. It’s time to wake up, girl.”

  I wished it was that easy.

  Lucas turned to me when he’d finished spelling the weapons. Gerald and Tim nodded as they pulled out all the weapons, finding holsters and other places to store them for the fight.

  “He’s out here somewhere,” Gerald said as though he could feel the beast.

  “Let’s go get him,” Tim snarled. “It’s a good night for hunting.”

  Lucas took up his quiver of arrows and slung it across his back. He held the crossbow in his arms as we advanced toward the trees.

  In some ways, I agreed with him.

  It would be nice to put this behind me. In other ways, my conscience was beginning to bother me. Would it help to kill this thing? Should I have worked harder at tracking it, as Lucas had suggested? I’d let myself be swept up with Gerald’s need for blood—my need too, if I was honest.

  Lucas touched my arm. Nerves frayed, I jumped.

  “The wolf is out here. I can smell it. It’s too late to worry about your choices, Skye. It’s important to stay focused on our quarry.”

  “Quit reading my mind. I have enough trouble keeping my thoughts to myself.”

  “I don’t have to use magic to know what you’re thinking. I know you quite well by now. Allow that a man can understand a woman without tricks or subterfuge.”

  “I’ll allow for that. Just don’t broadcast it, okay?”

  “Shut up back there you two,” Tim harshly barked at us. “Hunters don’t talk while they’re hunting.”

  I could argue that fact but didn’t. He was right. Our supernatural prey probably already knew we were here. Gerald was in front of me. His death grip on the rifle told its own story. Everyone was afraid.

  As the sky darkened and the stars came out, it only got worse.

  Lucas stopped walking. He put his hand on my arm to stop me too. He didn’t speak, just stood there staring ahead. I couldn’t say anything to Gerald—he was out of reach. Tim was in front of him following what seemed like a trail through the trees.

  Everything was quiet. No birds called out. There was no rustling between the leaves on the trees or on the ground. I understood why Lucas had stopped. It was clear the other animals in the woods tonight were terrified of the thing we hunted, and it was close to us.

  I started to speak, to call Gerald and Tim back. Lucas put his fingers against my mouth. The moonlight picked out hints of green fire in his eyes as he looked at me.

  Gerald’s terrified cry was sudden in the night. I could barely make him out in front of me. I couldn’t see Tim at all.

  Lucas grabbed my hand, and we ducked down behind a large, moss-covered rock.

  At first I was too scared to act, but this wasn’t being part of a team. I broke away from him and ran after Gerald. The M16 fired several times in the darkness. I found Tim, but there was no sign of Gerald.

  When we heard a gurgling scream, Tim reacted. “Over there. Follow me.”

  I glanced back for Lucas, but it seemed he had stayed in hiding behind the rock. Maybe that was how sorcerers survived. He wasn’t a military man or a warrior. Sorcerers were probably more into stealth and strategy. I hoped he survived because of it.

  Tim and I ran through the woods, jumping over splits in the dry ground which were probably small streams when it rained. Branches scratched my face and arms as we ignored everything to reach Gerald while the werewolf was still there.

  Breathless, we finally reached a clearing where some trees had fallen. I could hear the traffic going by on the road close by. Tim had his AK47 in his hands. He strafed the area in a circle to clear it.

  Gerald wasn’t there. Neither was the wolf. But a few pieces of bloody clothes, Gerald’s rifle, and a single shoe were right in front of us.

  “Do you hear anything?” Tim asked in a ragged voice. “I think it got him, Skye. I can smell that it was here, can you?”

  “Yes.” I wished I had a big searchlight to get rid of the shadows around us created by the moon and trees. Gerald could have been a few steps away, and we wouldn’t have known it.

  “I don’t know.” Tim lowered his weapon to wipe sweat from his face. “What do we do now? It’s probably laughing at us. Where’s the damn magic man?”

  My reply was on my lips when the werewolf jumped out and caught Tim with its claws.

  The wolf was bigger than a man—taller and broader. His body structure was long and angular. His head was too large to fit on his torso, or so it seemed. I could smell the fetid stench of blood on him as he moved.

  Lucas had been right. The creature’s movements were efficient and devastatingly faster than a normal wolf or bear would’ve been. I could make out his extended claws in the moonlight as they tore Tim’s flesh from his body. The sound was nightmarish. It was all I could do not to vomit.

  I fired the Beretta again and again as I heard the sounds of the beast tearing him apart. Either the enchantment wasn’t workin
g on my gun and bullets, or they had no effect. I grabbed the M16 from the ground and braced myself to fire it at the wolf.

  The big bullets struck the wolf’s body. It growled when it was hit and glanced my way as though it hadn’t noticed I was there before. I knew once it had seen me it would come for me when it had finished Tim. We’d been fools to think we could even hurt this thing.

  Lucas grabbed my hand again. “You can’t stop it this way. Come with me.”

  “But why?” I forced the words out as we ran in the opposite direction. “Why didn’t it work? The wolf barely grunted when I hit it.”

  “I wish I could tell you. My magic is unreliable. I thought it was working. It should have worked. But the wolf is more powerful in ways I can’t define. Perhaps because it was created by a mistake in Abe’s magic, it is stronger than most. I don’t know if it can be killed.”

  “Where are we going? We should’ve stayed and helped Tim.”

  “Your friends are dead,” he said flatly. “You will be as well unless we take an extreme measure. Don’t falter. The wolf won’t let you live now that it has your scent. He will follow.”

  We ran until we found another clearing in the woods. This one was bathed in bright moonlight, the trees around it probably felled from storms.

  Lucas stopped abruptly. “Stand over there. Have you bullets left in that weapon?”

  “Yes. What are we going to do? The bullets didn’t work against it. Shouldn’t we go back to the van?”

  “Do you think your vehicle would provide defense against such a creature?”

  “So…what? We just stand here and die? Is that your strategy?”

  His voice was deep and resonant as he put his hands on my arms and stared into my eyes. “You shall stand here and shoot the beast through me.”

  I took a step back. “No. That’s crazy. You’ll die, and it still won’t stop the wolf. That’s a stupid plan. Is that the best you could come up with?”

  “Listen to me. If you fire that weapon so that the bullet passes through me and into the wolf on the other side, my blood will kill it. I may not recall everything I should, but I know a sorcerer’s blood will kill this thing.”

  “And you too.” I caught his hand and tugged at it. “Let’s go. Maybe we can still outrun it.”

  “We couldn’t outrun it from the moment we stepped into the woods. This is the only way.”

  “What if you’re wrong? Then I would’ve killed you for nothing. The enchanted weapons didn’t work. This may not work either.”

  “I shall not die.”

  “Yeah? I don’t think Abe will take you on as a zombie. If I shoot you with this thing, you’re going to die. Let’s go. We have to come up with a better plan.”

  He smiled and kissed me. It broke my heart, knowing how he felt about me.

  “There is no better plan, Skye. If I perish in your service, I die gladly. But no matter what, the wolf will die with me.”

  Tears slid down my face. I felt like I could hear the wolf coming toward us although I knew it had to be my imagination. I didn’t hear a thing when it attacked Gerald or Tim. Still I knew Lucas was right. It wouldn’t let us go.

  “I can’t kill you. Don’t ask me to. You’re the first good thing that has happened to me since Jacob died. There has to be another way.”

  The wolf howled, low and throaty, ending in a terrible growl that made my skin prickle with fear.

  Lucas moved my hands from his chest and stepped a few paces back from me. At that distance, the M16’s bullet would blow him apart. But it would probably pass through him and hit the wolf on the other side, if the timing was just right.

  What was I thinking? We couldn’t do this. I couldn’t shoot Lucas, not even to save myself. There had to be another way.

  “He’s coming, Skye. Get ready. You have to shoot before he pushes me to the ground. Do you understand? The bullet must pass through me first. You have to do this.”

  I got the rifle ready, but my hands were almost too unsteady to hold it. I tried to focus. Tears blinded me.

  How can I shoot him? He probably wasn’t even certain the plan would work. He was doing what he could to save me, buying me time. The wolf would go down. I could escape.

  It was wrong. So wrong.

  I should have been patient and stalked the wolf. I should have ignored Gerald and done this the way I knew was right. The way Lucas had suggested in the first place.

  The wolf was running toward us in the open area. I could see it clearly in the moonlight. It was still ravenous, carrying the smell of blood and death. He was loping quickly across the fallen trees and rocks. It would only be a moment before it sprang on Lucas.

  I knew I was dead—for good probably this time. Abe wasn’t around to bring me back. I doubted that Lucas’s magic was going to save either of us. But since I was sorry I hadn’t followed his original plan, I decided to stand my ground and follow this one.

  “Please don’t die,” I called out to him. “I love you.”

  He didn’t say anything. His eyes were closed, and his arms were held slightly out from his sides. I thought his lips were moving though I couldn’t hear the spell he was whispering. I thought about how he’d saved me from being a ghost, how he’d helped Addie, and made all our lives more bearable.

  The werewolf sprang, its long claws extended, teeth glistening with saliva. He was sated but still ready to tear out Lucas’s throat and then mine.

  As he hit the ground directly behind Lucas, the beast stared at me and growled. His eyes glowed with a fierce golden light. He knew that I was waiting.

  I steadied the rifle in my hands. The shot had to be at exactly the right moment.

  “For you, Jacob,” I whispered. “And for you too, Lucas.”

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  I squeezed off the round and heard the retort of the rifle.

  The sound echoed through the woods, along with the sickening thud of the bullet hitting Lucas in the chest. He fell forward, but not before the bullet passed through him and into the wolf.

  The creature let out a wild, high-pitched whine that was followed by a loud growl as he leaped in my direction over Lucas’s body.

  I shot again and again until there were no bullets left. I felt for my holster and fumbled with the Beretta, but there was no need.

  The werewolf finally groaned and dropped at my feet.

  I fell on the hard, dry ground, pushing backward until I put some distance between us. Then I scrambled to my feet, gun in hand, ready to shoot again if necessary.

  The wolf didn’t move.

  With a cry of my own, I ran around it to Lucas. He wasn’t moving either. I knelt beside him and got him on his back even though I knew there was no way he could have survived the shot.

  His T-shirt was covered in blood. I felt around on his chest. There was a large gaping hole where the bullet had entered him and another on his back where it had exited. I tried to feel a pulse but couldn’t find one.

  “Lucas!” I shook him, wanting to believe, despite myself, that he was still alive. I knew no one could live with a hole through their chest, not even a crazy sorcerer.

  I bent my head against him, and my arms went around him. “I think it worked, but you’re dead, just like I told you. It was the worst plan ever. I thought sorcerers were smart. That’s what they say in all the books. But not you, huh? You lied to me. You saved my life, but not your own.”

  “What are you babbling about?” He coughed as he tried to sit up.

  “You’re alive? Wait!” I pushed him back, wiping tears from my face. “You’re really alive? Don’t move. I’ll call an ambulance. Maybe they can still piece you together.”

  He groaned. “Is the creature dead?”

  “Yes. It worked.” I reached for my phone and realized that I’d destroyed it. I couldn’t call anyone until I got to the van and drove to the bar, the closest place to the woods.

  Lucas would never make it.

  “Good. I’m glad something I recal
led from the past was correct. Did the creature change?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “I don’t know. I left it there so I could see if you were dead. Keep still. You’re alive, but you won’t make it out of here. I knew this was a bad idea.”

  “It might be best to check it now. I’m not dead, but I am feeling as though one of your large bullets passed through me.”

  “You’ve lost a lot of blood.” I pushed against his chest where the bullet had passed through. “I can’t stop that kind of bleeding out here. Just lie still. I won’t leave you.”

  He took a deep breath. “You needn’t worry. My blood went into the wolf with the bullet. Being a supernatural creature as well, the magic in my blood killed it.”

  “Okay. Sure.” I tried to keep myself from crying, but I couldn’t stop. “I’m not leaving you here. Even if your blood went into the wolf and it died. That’s still too much blood for you to lose and survive.”

  “Thank you for your care.” His smile was slow and painful in the pale light. “But will you please make sure the wolf is dead? I’ll be fine until you return.”

  I put a new clip into the Beretta and went back to check the wolf.

  It was gone.

  “I shot it at least a dozen times. It’s not here.”

  “We’ll have to track it to its lair.” Lucas struggled to get to his feet.

  I put my arm around him and helped him up. He wasn’t dead—maybe not even dying, but he was weak.

  “How is this possible? How can you still be alive?” It had to be shock. I’d seen men take a dozen bullets and keep coming. Sometimes it took a minute or two for them to fall. But they always went down.

  I put both my arms around him and laid my head against his chest. His heart was still beating, loud and strong. He was breathing.

  “How is this possible?”

  “Have some faith in me, Skye.” He winced as he tried to stand upright. “You wound my pride.”

  “Faith?” I laughed. “I saw the hedge clippers chasing you. Admit it. You didn’t know if this would work.”

  “I was mostly certain that it would kill the beast.”