She hid in the woods during the twin’s first meeting and cried at their first parting. After failing to save Jenny’s husband, Cade's wounds had overtaken him. In the disguise of a nurse, she bandaged Cade as he lay unconscious. They watched as Collett shielded Jarrett’s back when he was outnumbered during one of his more difficult assignments. Collett followed Cade through a dark building, whispering directions so he could rescue Cynda from captivity, and stood next to Jarrett when he waited for Ashley.
Finally, the scene wound down and came back full circle. Willing to sacrifice her life to protect her twin boys, a young mother stood on a hill to face a frenzied mob. Next to her, an ethereal visage of Collett placed a hand on her shoulder. Lyndell closed her eyes, smiled softly, and straightened her shoulders.
As they stood transfixed by the picture of the two brave women on a hill, Ramee said softly, “Victory can create hope, but just a little hope will ensure victory. Often the path to victory starts with a single act of selflessness. Justice requires a willingness to see something bigger than a single person. Faith in Justice and hope for Victory will bring forth Strength. Strength gives us power to endure in the end, but only if there is courage and compassion. Especially compassion for those who have wronged you, for that is one of the most courageous acts known to man.”
Standing across from each other, the brother’s eyes met. The magical projection faded away, and the room fell into darkness. Jarrett and Cade focused on the scarred table and processed the reality of their lives. "Sometimes the dark feels never ending, but even the smallest star finds a way to shine in the night sky." A second later, the ceiling light above them flicked back on.
Cade turned to Ramee. “What happened? Why couldn't she remember?”
Ramee sighed. “Even Collett had the right to exercise her free will.”
“It was a punishment?” Jarrett said remembering his dream.
“No. A consequence. Punishment teaches nothing and nothing is gained as a result. There is always something gained from consequence. It is these moments that guide us along the way if we pay attention. It is choice and consequence that make us who and what we are. Bellig is the monster you know because of choice and consequence. Collett his opposite for the same reasons. She understood the weight of her chosen path from the beginning, and she chose your salvation. She did so again when she chose your lives over hers in the battle at Patrick’s Point.”
“Is she alive?” Cade dared to ask.
Ramee stood abruptly and cocked her head as if listening for something. “Come along, you are needed elsewhere. Hurry now.” She bustled down the hallway and left them staring after her.
Cade followed. “Is she alive?”
Ramee paused. Her hand hesitated on the doorknob and she kept her back to Cade. “You don't want me to answer that.”
“I do,” Jarrett said from behind his brother in the narrow hallway.
When Ramee turned, she noted their identical stances. With arms folded defiantly and piercing glares pinning her down, she recalled Collett and Jeffery’s funeral when they stood side by side to support one another. Selena had asked her if the job could be done. Remembering, Ramee smiled as she had on that day. She had faith that these two could take on the devil himself and they would win. Pleased, Ramee thought, Oh Little Eagle, the bridge is unbreakable now.
Jarrett lifted a brow. “Well?”
“Death is a strange word. I am not fond of its limitations.”
“It’s simple, you’re either dead or you’re alive,” Jarrett insisted.
“It is not simple, Hunter. Existence is eternal. Death cannot steal your soul.”
“She’s gone then,” Cade said reading the words she would not say.
“It’s a temporary change in venue, Cade,” she explained.
“A change in venue that keeps us apart,” he replied solemnly.
She nodded. “She cannot be as she was. I’m sorry, child.”
“Yeah.”
“You must go now,” she said opening the front door. “Your family still needs you, and they need you urgently.”
“What are we supposed to do?” Jarrett growled. “How can we find Bellig?”
With a grandmotherly kindness, Ramee reached up and patted his cheek. “You’ll know when the time comes. Remember, you must believe in yourself, your brother, and your friends, but most of all, you must believe that all of this has purpose. You are not alone in the war against evil. You never have been. Faith, Jarrett. Just a little faith will take you where you need to be. Run along and hurry.” She opened the door and gestured for them to leave.
Perplexed, but concerned about her warnings, Jarrett walked outside. A light absorbed him, and he disappeared from sight. Cade gave Ramee a surprised glance. She smiled sweetly in return. “Go on now and don’t worry about the car. They need you, Cade. More than ever before, The Brotherhood needs your faith and your strength. Do not grieve, there is purpose in everything.”
Cade gave a tight nod and moved to the door.
“Oh! Cade,” she said and tugged his arm to stop him. “Sometimes the best way to win a fight is to not fight at all.” She leaned in as if confiding a secret. “Next week will be better because we still have faith for those in Victory’s care.”
He scowled. Winking, Ramee pushed him through the door with a short blast of wind and he disappeared from sight.
Chapter 34
Scrambling over the work table, James tackled the man and tried toppling him before he pulled the pin on the grenade. The less than graceful attack carried them both into the wall on the opposite side. James grunted as they grappled. Crashing into shelves and scattering the tools and beakers, he struggled to overpower the trained soldier. Glass shattered around Ashley’s prone form, and flying papers filled with notes, floated down to settle upon her.
“C’mon, Parker,” James grunted, remembering the soldier’s name. “Fight the demon.”
Sergeant Parker finally managed to get his fingers wrapped around the pin. As he pulled it free, James frantically grabbed the hand holding the deadly M67 grenade. Using his combat training, James hooked his left foot around Parker’s leg to trip him while wrenching his arm around.
The stubborn man hopped once to keep his balance and tried to fight the hold. Frustrated, James let go of a spirited yell to channel his energy. Pulling on the arm with everything he had, James dislocated the wrist but still could not disarm the man. The possessed Sergeant Parker cared little of pain.
Having regained her senses, Ashley reached out, tugged the soldier’s free foot out from under him, and rolled out of his path as he and James fell to the floor.
The little iron ball, now fully armed, rolled across the tile and came to a stop by a booted foot. Ashley screamed a warning when she realized it was Nate.
Ignoring her own advice to stay with a partner, Delphene wandered among two of the aircraft onsite. It was her first visit to any of the military bases The Brotherhood occupied. She knew there were four military installments, and she could have access to any of them. However, she’d spoken honestly to Jarrett months before—she hated the fighting and politics of war.
In her long life, Delphene only stepped up to fight when she saw no other alternative.
Knowing her sensitivity to war, Cade rarely asked her to jump into major conflicts. He mostly used her as asset protection or a bodyguard for innocents.
She appreciated his efforts, but truth be told, she owed that man enough, Delphene would follow him to any fight. His brother, on the other hand, was a puzzle she was still working out, but she liked being around him and his surly mood swings.
Delphene looked up to one of the Apache helicopters that were undergoing repair and wondered if she should try some lessons. Flying to her meant a nice airplane, a first class seat, and a good meal. In the past, she’d never thought about learning to pilot an aircraft, but the last few months had opened her eyes to the demon problem. Deep down, she berated herself for being blind to the severity o
f it in the first place.
In the middle of these thoughts, she heard something clatter on the concrete floor. Alerted that she wasn’t alone, Delphene scanned the hangar and saw two men about ten yards from her position. She waved companionably so they could see her through the dark and to avoid scaring them. “What are you two doing out here so late?” It was a casual question, but when the two men turned in response, she realized they were armed.
That didn’t alarm her right away either. The entire base was on high alert, and armed security was roaming about. What bothered her was the way they pointed the 9mm handguns directly at her.
The first shot surprised her and pierced Delphene through the shoulder. She jerked back. The second shot perforated her stomach, and the pain of it stirred the anger of the animal within.
Delphene’s eyes burned like fire, and the eerie glow stood out in the darkened hangar. The men shot her twice more as her body grew in height. Shiny brown fur and tough hide replaced her softer skin. Her pretty features elongated into wolfish definition, with a jaw full of canine teeth made for tearing through flesh. Using all four of her changed limbs, Delphene, in a hybrid body, ran forward to counter her attackers before they got another round off.
Knocking the first attacker to the ground with a sweeping claw, Delphene moved to follow the other man. Another bullet grazed her ear and left a burning wound in its wake. When the explosion followed, her ear was the least of her problems.
The shooter purposely fired the shot into an acetylene tank behind her. The blast threw the shooter and Delphene twenty feet. Delphene crashed hard into the side of the aircraft she’d been admiring minutes before, as the first explosion set off a second tank. Her shoulder popped, her wrist cracked, and the breath was stolen from her lungs as she fell to the cement floor with a canine whimper.
Nate looked down. With wide eyes, he reacted lightning fast. He used his booted foot to kick the grenade through the door, into the empty corridor and dived for the floor. He landed on Ashley and covered her body with his. The room rocked with an explosive wave. Small bits of the blast flew into the room through the doorway and pelted Nate’s legs with little damaging effects. Smoke followed and filtered in around them.
Ears ringing, James realized Sergeant Parker had gone limp in his arms. Worried it may be a trick, he held tight.
“James?” Nate called.
“Here and whole, thanks to you. Ash?”
“I’m okay. Parker?”
Confused, tired, and in more than a little pain, the sergeant answered for himself, “I’m here, or I should say, I’m back.”
James released him. “Thank heaven for that.”
“Where’s the phase demon that took him over?” Ashley asked urgently, more than a little afraid the wraith-like creature would try to possess one of them again.
“I felt like it was counting on the explosion to kill us all. It left me when I dropped the grenade,” Parker explained. “I’m sorry, man,” he said to James.
“It's not your fault,” James assured him.
“That’s the thing, I feel like it kinda was. I was so annoyed walkin’ over here because the CO said as long as you were up I needed to be too. I just wanted my bed, ya know?”
James nodded and was reminded how tired he was as he got up and helped Parker stand. “Yeah, I know.”
Parker shook his head in bewilderment. “Then the next thing I know there was this cold that entered me, and I couldn’t think. It stirred me up even more.”
Nate got to his feet and helped Ashley rise. She had a gash on her cheek from smacking the table and the bruising around her eye started to form. “You okay?” he asked, gently reaching out to check the wound.
“I’m fine.”
“Don’t worry about it, Parker,” James said as he bent to examine the damage to their only hope to defeating the phase demons. “I tried to kill my own sister, so I didn’t feel useless in a fight. Those demons know how to build and feed from festering emotions.” Picking up the metal creation, anger, failure, and despair crept in.
His device was broken. Worse, he hadn't been finished with the power source, and there was no time to perfect it now. Frustrated, he tossed it back on the work table.
“Will it work?” Nate asked.
Shaking his head, James explained, “It wasn’t done in the first place. Now, the portion that was done is broken. Maybe it was a dumb idea anyway. I wasn't even sure how I could create a safe charge for it yet. I needed more time than we had. It would take an electrical charge of an extreme level to function the way I hoped, and the only way to achieve that is experimentation.”
“I’m sorry James,” Ashley said, “but we have to hurry. There are more demons here. I felt the excited malice from that last one.” She tugged on Nate’s arm.
Pulling him out the door, she paused at the site of the devastation in the hallway. The grenade blast in the enclosed space had collapsed part of the ceiling, and there were bits and pieces of shrapnel embedded in the walls.
Shaking off the sight, Ashley picked her way over the debris. “The demon’s emotions were centered on hate and destruction, but I’m certain it felt security in numbers. They’ll tear apart this base.” Nate jumped over the worst of it and held out a hand to help Ashley balance.
Cradling his hand, Parker came after. Seeing his swollen hand Ashley offered to heal him as James passed over the rubble. They had just cleared the front doors of the building when the first tank exploded in the east hangar.
Running to investigate, they hadn’t gone more than ten steps when Parker suddenly dropped to the ground, and the cracking sound of a rifle caught up with the bullet that traveled ahead of it.
Ashley shrieked from Parker’s pain and the fear of death that slammed into her violent clarity. Her healing connection was too new. She trembled visibly, and Nate yanked her behind a shed. James dived behind the shed with them as another round pinged off the corner of the small outbuilding.
“We have to do something!” Nate exclaimed.
James tried to peer around the corner to check on Sergeant Parker, but another round ricocheted off the corner right where his head had been. “Parker!” he shouted.
No answer.
“Parker!”
No answer.
Crying for him, Ashley said, “He is alive, but dying. He’s been shot in the neck.”
Nate looked at James. “We have to contain those demons or we’re going to have to fight every soldier here.
“I wish I could grasp the rules of their possessive power,” James said. “We would have a better chance at stopping them.”
“Let's stick with what we know for now. We need an electrical source,” Nate said as he pulled a weeping Ashley in even closer.
Both men understood the emotions swirling in her must be extremely intense, but they didn't have time to help her cope. James took a few seconds to consider the depot’s above-ground resources.
“If we can get to that hanger we may find some generators. We could rig them up to expel an electrical charge, but I’m not sure how to hit them accurately if we can't see them.
Another shot rang out nearby, but this time there was no pinging ricochet on the utility building.
“James? Ashley?” called a distant voice.
“Tracy, is that you?” James shouted back.
“Yes. I need Ashley. Can you come to us?”
Ashley started to get up, but Nate pulled her back down. “Tracy? Where are you, and who is us?”
“Jonah and me. Back by the barracks, Jonah shot the soldier pinning you down. He’s hurt pretty bad. I need Ash, he’s just a kid.”
“I’m coming,” Ashley called back.
Nate held her back. “Hall?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re going to need to cover us,” Nate instructed. “I don’t believe for a second that demon is gone. Plus, we’ve got a man down on our side too. We need to check him.”
Jonah looked around to see if they could m
ake the run. “Hang tight then. We’ll come to you. Our man is still slightly mobile.”
“No!” Nate shouted back. “I don’t have a gun. Pick up that rifle and watch for anything out of place. Shoot to wound only, but make it count. Just keep any men out of this fight as best you can!”
“Got it!” Jonah shouted to him, picking up the rifle. Shifting his focus from the kid bleeding at his side, Jonah promised, “We’ll get ya some help.”
The frightened recruit nodded, and Jonah couldn’t keep the guilt from creeping in at the sight of him.
Jonah peered through the scope and scanned the grounds. “Clear!” he shouted.
Through the night vision scope, he saw Nate inch around the building with Ashley at his side. Jonah scanned the grounds again to see if any newcomers appeared. So far, so good, he thought. “Watch your sister while I watch everything else,” Jonah whispered to Tracy.
Ashley bent over the fallen man. Nate stood guard over her as she tried to help. James stayed close to the small building but kept a watchful eye on the area. The hairs on the back of Jonah’s neck prickled, but he couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
Ashley looked up to Nate with tears streaking her cheeks. “There’s nothing I can do. It was too severe. He’s gone.”
“We have to go then,” Nate said while bending down to search the man for weapons. Coming up with a single grenade, he took the man’s belt. It wasn’t much as weapons go, but Nate had worked with less.
“He was afraid,” Ashley said quietly. “He didn’t want to die.”
“Let’s go,” he said sympathetically. Taking Ashley’s hand, he pulled her to her feet. “We’ll come back for him later. I promise.” Nate scanned the area and gauged the distance. “James, we’re moving.”
The Truth of Victory: A Powers of Influence Novel Page 31