Redemption: Alchemy Series Book #4

by Augustine, Donna

"You think this is far enough?" He started lowering Colleen to the ground, his breathing labored.

  "I think-" My last words were muffled by the explosion of the truck. I yanked Chip down beside me as I crouched myself over Colleen, trying to block any shrapnel that might hit her. When nothing did, I looked at Chip. "Yeah, we're far enough."

  "Is she okay?" Chip kneeled down next to where I was bent over Colleen.

  "Colleen?" I lifted her head, and looked for blood.

  "Am I dead?" she finally spoke.

  "How do you feel?" I asked.

  "Like I wish I was dead because someone's pounding a hammer on my skull." She reached out a hand behind her, seeking leverage to sit up. Chip moved forward and grasped her shoulder as I supported her back.

  "What was that thing?" she asked, opening her eyes as she sat up.

  "I don't know, but the truck's gone." The choking smell of the burning fuel drifted over to us, making it unpleasant to breathe deeply.

  "Say it ain't so? Please?" She turned her head toward me where I was sure she could see the flames were still burning bright at my back. "Fuck. My. Life."

  "I'm really sorry." And I was. It was biting cold out. Chip looked like a wreck and I wasn't even sure if Colleen was going to be able to walk on her own. Her leg looked like it was bent at a very unusual angle compared to the normal way of things.

  She leaned forward and shrugged. "Not your fault. I mean, when there's a big giant hanging in the road, what's a girl to do?"

  "Now what?" Chip asked, looking at me as Colleen did the same.

  "I don't think you are going to be able to walk," I said to Colleen. With all the stress of the moment, I wasn't sure she even knew how messed up her leg was, the adrenaline probably dulling the pain.

  Her eyes watered as she looked down and saw the mangled looking mess that was now her knee.

  I took point and moved down to her ankle, pulled the knife from my boot and slit her pant leg up to the knee. Nothing was bleeding or protruding through the skin but I had a horrible suspicion that if she stood up, her shin would be doing little more than dangling.

  "It's just dislocated." I looked at her, trying to remain calm though I didn't feel it in the least. "It's not a big deal." Or wouldn't have been, when we had doctors and ambulances and all that other good stuff that used to exist. Now? It might be a big deal but I couldn't risk an emotional breakdown in the middle of the Vegas tundra.

  I looked up from Colleen's malformed knee joint to her face. Tears streamed down her cheeks in earnest.

  "You're going to have to leave me here." She sniffed and ran her arm across her nose. "I get it. It's okay."

  I wasn't sure if she was crying over the state of her leg or the nearing possible abandonment.

  "We aren't leaving you here." We might all freeze with her, but we'd freeze together.

  Chip was hunched down behind her shoulder, his face out of Colleen's view, which I was grateful for since his eyebrows were raised in disbelief of my words.

  "Right, Chip?" I asked, forcing him to agree.

  "Yeah. We're going to stay together."

  I was glad Colleen couldn't see him roll his eyes and mouth a string of curses.

  I looked around, seeing nothing but snow covered desert plains, and Colleen lying in a good ten inches of snow.

  "We've got to get you up." I grabbed her one arm and motioned for Chip to take the other. "Sitting in the snow is going to make you lose body temperature quicker. I think." Between the two of us, we managed to get her up on her good foot, but she was grimacing. "Chip, plug in and tell us where the nearest structure is?"

  "It's not exactly plugging in, it's more along the lines of-"

  "Just do whatever it is you do?"

  While his eyes glazed and his expression dulled, I took a look around. We were stranded out in the middle of nowhere and one of us was down a functioning leg. I pulled my funny phone out of my pocket but I already knew it was a waste of time. The phone lines were set up only in and around Vegas strip. Cormac's people hadn't gotten any type of towers erected this far. I'd taken over the situation after he left, so I knew exact distance away from the castle I could go, to the nearest block, before I would lose a signal. And getting a signal here would be akin to a miracle.

  On the bright side, the giant was nowhere to be seen. Dark side, it looked like a small herd of rippers was heading our way, which wasn't going to do much for morale.

  It wasn't alarming in the sense that any of the three of us were in danger. We all had enough magic coursing through us to be unappealing, as far as their menu went. But when those grey scaly bodies floated near, their eyes glowing yellow, it wasn't a really pleasant experience and not something you ever got used to.

  Chips eyes came back to focus just as the small herd of five neared.

  "Just splendid," he said sarcastically as he caught view of the rippers.

  "So, how far is the nearest shelter?" Colleen's body, even sandwiched between the two of us, had started to shiver. I was cold as well, but a bit better off than her.

  "Our best bet is to head back toward home."

  That wasn't what I wanted to hear. We hadn't seen a structure for miles and the last one had been a dilapidated gas station without an intact roof.

  "Let's get going." It was going to be a long hike and I didn't want to dwell on how unpleasant it would be. I just wanted to get it over with.

  We turned, Colleen hopping in between us as we started back. Since we'd left the casino earlier today, the winds had steadily kicked up into what seemed to be brewing into a very nasty snowstorm. With no food, and Colleen crippled in between us, I started to doubt we'd make it. I knew I had enough stamina to keep going the whole way back to the casino, but I wasn't sure about Chip making it a mile, let alone to the gas station. He was changed, but not in any way that seemed to improve his psychical prowess. Looking at his lean, gangly frame, I was a bit worried he wouldn't make it far at all.

  We were carrying almost all of Colleen's weight, so her stamina wasn't an issue. If she wasn't clearly in so much pain, she could probably take a nap for all the help her one good leg hopping along seemed to provide.

  We'd only moved about a quarter mile but we were walking into the wind. My fingers felt frozen and my cheeks were burning with the cold. I could hear the gasps of pain Colleen was trying to swallow with every step. The rippers circled around us, mostly paying attention to me. At least they weren't making the pre-feeding hissing and clicking noises.

  "Can you make them go away?" Chip asked, looking over Colleen's head at me.

  Controlling them used some of the magic that flowed through me and it wasn't without a strain on my system. I hesitated, wondering if I should conserve my strength, but Chip's eyes were pleading, and I took pity on him.

  "Okay." Just before I was about to utter the words which would hopefully get them away from us, I stopped, an idea forming. "Hear me out before you say no," I said to them. "Chip, how far away are we from any type of shelter?"

  "I can't say exactly without connecting back in but about fifteen miles?" His teeth were starting to chatter, and I had to concentrate in order to understand him.

  "And would you say the storm seems to be kicking up and the temperature dropping?"

  Colleen looked at me, eyes squinting. "Is this supposed to be a pep talk? Cause it sucks."

  "Just listen, would you both agree that there is a good chance of at least two of us getting frost bitten?"

  "And it just keeps getting better and better. I'm really glad you don't have children," Colleen continued.

  "I'm going to see if I can get the rippers to take us home," I said, waiting for their reaction.

  "What?" they both asked in unison

  "Look at them." I pointed to the creatures as they circled us. "They glide over the snow. I've seen them move at what has to be close to forty or fifty miles per hour."

  "Even if you can make them do it, what if they eat us?" Chip asked.

  "They
don't like our meat."

  "I don't like this," Colleen said.

  "You two are going to have to decide what you dislike more, riding with rippers, if I can even make them do it, or having your fingers and toes snapping off."

  Chip moaned at my words, or maybe just the image it provided.

  Colleen looked over at me again, "You really think you can do this?"

  "I'd give it a fifty-fifty shot. My guess is they'll either do it or not, I don't think they'll try and eat you. So now it just depends on how much you want to keep your extremities."

  "I'm in."

  "Colleen, you are so easy," Chip complained. "First it's the wolf and now this?"

  "The wolf?" I asked.

  "Because I don't want to lose my toes? You're just a big wimp," Colleen shot back. "I'm trying to live my life and I suggest you do the same."

  "Which wolf? Forget it, I don't want to know. We all have to agree on doing this. No one gets left behind. All or nothing." I paused, my toes freezing in my thin boots. Why hadn't I worn gloves? Duh, stupid question. The Vegas strip didn't have too many winter wear stores to salvage from. I was grateful I had a down ski jacket.

  Colleen turned the full blast of her temper on Chip. "You either do this or I tell Sharon you've got a thing for her. And if I lose my toes because you're a wimp, I'll zap yours off while you're sleeping!"

  "No, you would not!" Chip said, dropping Colleen's arm from around his shoulder and effectively dumping her weight onto me. I sidestepped as I was forced to take up the slack.

  Colleen hopped, almost knocking me over in the process. "Oh, yes I will! I'm very attached to having my little piggies!" she screamed back at him.

  "Chip, Colleen will go first. If they don't eat her, will you try it?" I asked, looking for a compromise.

  He studied the rippers hovering nearby. I saw him shudder before he turned back to us. "Fine. Her first."

  "Okay, Colleen, you ready?"

  Her face whipped to me. "I figured you'd go first?" All her former temper instantly disappeared into a childlike innocence.

  I didn't want to admit that I detested the idea of being held by a ripper with equal vigor or I'd never get them to go along with the plan.

  "Chip, grab her arm."

  He stepped back over and the two of them seemed to be at peace again now that I was going to be the sacrificial lamb. I'd quickly learned being leader sucked but I had no idea to what extent until right this very second.

  I didn't know how literally they took instruction so I decided to do it one step at a time. I still wasn't even sure how they understood what I was saying. It's not like I heard them chatting in English over a cup of tea, and I didn't want one of these creatures to grab me and take off, leaving Chip and Colleen sitting in the snow, stranded.

  "You," I said to one of the bigger ones. "Pick me up."

  The thing started to glide over to me, tilting its head this way and that.

  I waved it closer to me, trying to encourage it. It reached a clawed hand out toward my arm but withdrew it and screeched loudly the second it made contact. It backed up quickly, cradling his hand, claw, whatever you called its weird appendage.

  "Please don't make it try that again. I don't think my eardrums can take it," Chip said.

  "I wonder why it can't touch me?"

  "Oh well," Chip said, thinking this experiment was over.

  I didn't budge as I kept my eyes trained on the rippers, sizing up the next largest one. "It doesn't mean they can't carry one of you."

  Before either of them could protest, I directed my next choice to pick up Colleen. The thing swooped in and grabbed her around the waist. She yelped as it lifted her and ignoring her current squealing, I ordered another one to grab Chip.

  They both squirmed uncomfortably in their escort's arms. The rippers didn't appear to be happy, either. Their expressions didn't change but they held both of them out at arm's length.

  "How do they even know what you're saying?" Chip asked.

  "I don't know."

  "We can't go. What about you?" Colleen asked, frantic about the next order I was going to give the rippers.

  "I can heal, you can't. Go, get another truck and come back for me."

  They would've argued but I looked both rippers in the eyes, uncomfortable as that was, and said, "Take them to the big building where I live."

  Colleen and Chip were yelling for me to stop but I ignored them, as did the rippers. And then they were disappearing into dots on the snowy horizon.

  I sighed, watching the vapor of breath disappear into the cold air and looked around. "I guess it's just us, boys," I said to the rippers left lingering around me. I took my first step forward alone, my ripper entourage keeping pace.

  I didn't check the time as I marched ahead. The winds picked up and a fine hail stung as it hit my face. The snow was falling so heavily I could only imagine this must be a blizzard. I'd grown up in Vegas; I'd only ever seen snowflakes that melted as soon as they hit the ground.

  I now realized the importance of so many things that I used to take for granted. News people, screaming about a storm coming a week beforehand, always seemed a bit of an irritation. Now look at me, stranded in a blizzard.

  When I tripped over my own feet, I knew I was in bad shape. Hypothermia was kicking in. I'd stopped shivering, another bad sign.

  I scanned the horizon as best I could in the low visibility. All I wanted to do was rest for a tiny bit. I knew it was the last thing I should do, but I was only going to stop for a little while. Just to rebuild my strength and let the worst of the storm pass, then I'd get up and start walking again.

  I saw the shape of a car, its form partially hidden by the thick blanket of white. I pushed the snow away and the door creaked open on the interior of an older Toyota Corolla. I climbed onto its fabric seats.

  It took a few minutes to pull the door shut over the fallen snow that blocked it, but I finally tugged it closed and curled up into a ball in the corner to take a short nap. I knew I couldn't stay in here long, they'd never find me, but I just needed a few minutes to rest.

  Chapter Seven

  Return of the King

  "Jo, you've got to wake up."

  I heard the voice; I just chose to ignore it. I didn't want to wake up as it so loudly suggested.

  "Jo, wake up," the deep husky voice repeated. Actually, it sounded more like a command. I ignored it anyway.

  Part of me registered that I was being pulled from my resting place in the backseat of the Toyota by rough hands and I tried to swat them away but to no avail.

  "Get off." The hands ignored me as I was dragged the rest of the way out. I wanted to go back to sleep. I'd never felt so tired in my life but he wouldn't leave me be.

  He lifted me out and was carrying me across the snow somewhere. My head rested in the crook of his neck, nestled close to his heat. I recognized the scent of his skin and without conscious thought, snuggled closer to him.

  Cormac.

  He juggled me while opening the door to an SUV and climbed into the front seat. He played with the buttons on the dashboard and the warm toasty interior was suddenly being blasted with enough heat to create a sauna.

  "Cormac?" My mind was still trying to wrap around his presence but he wasn't looking at me; he was unbuttoning the shirt under his jacket.

  Then his hands were on me, pushing my jacket open.

  "Stop." I pushed his hands away but he tugged my shirt up anyway and pulled me close to him. My legs straddled his hips, bent at the knees. I faced him where he reclined against the seat, our naked skin, flesh to flesh along the front of our torsos.

  The fog started to lift from my brain. I tried to pull away from him in earnest but his arms were wrapped around me, holding me snug to him.

  "Get off me," I said, having a hard time talking with the way my teeth were chattering.

  "I can't." His voice whispered near my ear as he continued to hold me to him.

  My thoughts slowly started to
clear as I sat there with him. Cormac was here. I wanted to curse him out but I couldn't stop shaking. I didn't know if it was from the cold or the emotions roiling inside me.

  I wanted to know why he was here. How he'd found me? Was he coming back or was he on his way somewhere else? But I was afraid if I spoke I'd fall apart.

  I lay there, pressed against him, secretly relishing it. I had to, because this would be the last time I'd allow myself to be this close to him.

  I knew why I was silent, even as the shaking subsided, but I didn't know why he was. If he planned on staying, shouldn't he have been rattling off excuses and platitudes? Did his silence mean he was leaving?

  We stayed like that for a while and I felt one hand slowly rubbing up and down my spine underneath my jacket. I closed my eyes for a minute, pretending he hadn’t left for months without word, but it was a dangerous game and I knew where it would lead. More heartache. I took a deep breath, preparing myself for what I needed to do.

  I don't know if he sensed my mood or felt me stiffen, but his hand stopped moving. I pushed against him. He didn't give in right away, still holding me tight to him, his head leaning close to mine and buried in my hair. I heard him take a deep breath, and then the pressure of his hands changed.

  He gripped my waist and lifted me off him, then slid away and took the seat behind the steering wheel. I pulled my shirt down, facing away from him, before I settled into the passenger side.

  "Where are you driving?" I asked in an accusatory tone as he put the truck in gear. I'd become completely disoriented and with the snow whipping around, I didn't know if he was driving toward the castle or away from it. He might be willing to abandon everyone, but I wouldn't.

  He looked at me. This was the first time I'd seen his face in months. I don't know why I expected to see something different there, but it was the same deep set pale eyes that had always been able to undo me.

  "To the casino." He looked back toward the road, or what could be seen of it underneath the snow.

  "I hope you don't plan on staying."

  "I do."

  "You're not welcome there anymore." And I don't think I could see you every day and hold it together. I'd thought I'd locked you away in a nice and neat compartment in my brain, and here you are, rattling the chains so easily. I could already feel myself being torn apart. As much as I hate you, I want to reach over and cling to you for dear life, begging you not to leave again.