by Liliana Hart
“No.” She shivered again. “The serums affected him badly. He went to the medicine man for help, but something went wrong. He couldn’t control his new powers in front of the medicine man. He shifted into an animal form.”
“Animal?”
She nodded. “A wolf. Now, he’s feared and shunned by the Diné. They call him by a new name. One he hates even worse than Shaman.”
“What do they call him?” Alex asked.
“Skinwalker.”
Chapter Ten
Lieutenant Commander Carleton stood before the Admiral in the man’s ostentatious office. Outside this room, the accommodations on the rest of the high desert compound were spartan, as was deemed necessary for the proper training of his soldiers.
He wanted no wimps in his units.
Carleton wished he’d never applied.
The Admiral, elbows resting on the desk, steepled his hands in front of his face as if thinking seriously about maiming Carleton and leaving him for the vultures. He’d done it to others.
“Tell me again how you lost track of Winters and the woman?” Midnight began.
Carleton stiffened. “We lost him in a blizzard, sir. He’d switched to a new SUV. We think we’ve picked them up again, but it’s difficult to track them.”
“Your difficulties bore me. Your job is to find them. What is the current status?”
The lieutenant commander took a deep breath and wished he could pull out a gun and end this stupidity. But, too much was at stake. “We’ve gone over the satellite information and found a vehicle we think is his. The reason it was so hard to track him is that we now believe he’s using color changing paint to disguise the SUV.”
“Where the hell did he get that from?” demanded the Admiral.
“I’m not exactly sure, sir. Could have been that chemist whose life he saved in—”
Midnight interrupted, his anger still flaring higher. “Forget it. It doesn’t matter, you idiot. Track the type of vehicle. Go back through all the satellite information again and do it in black and white so the shape stands out. We need them found. I’m running out of time, and you most certainly are.”
A discreet knock at the door caught their attention.
“Come in.” The Admiral leaned back in his leather chair. “This better be important,” he called to the intruder.
A young soldier leaned in the open doorway. “I’m sorry to disturb you, sir, but I found something hidden in Dr. Gennaro’s room. I thought you might want to see it.”
“Bring it here.” The Admiral leaned forward, leaning over his wide walnut desk. “Move it, Carleton.”
The young man stepped around Carleton and placed a very small cell phone on the desk. “I found this and a charger hidden in Gennaro’s boots. The phone was off and the battery removed. He seemed quite upset that I’d found it.”
“Interesting. Our favorite doctor is plotting behind our backs. I wonder who he contacted.” Midnight picked up the cell and examined it. “Bring Gennaro here in one hour. I want to give him sufficient time to panic.”
“Yes, sir.” The soldier saluted, then did a crisp about face and left the office.
The Admiral opened the back of the phone and inserted the battery. It took a few moments, but soon he could check the outgoing calls or texts. “Everything had been erased. Even with the battery in, it shows there is no signal from this area. Who, on this compound, could boost this signal, hack into phone records or find erased data, without anyone being the wiser?”
Carleton gave him a name.
The Admiral handed Carleton the phone. “Give this to him. Tell him this is of utmost importance and supersedes every other order he may be under. Gennaro must have contacted his daughter. If so, get the number. We’ll send her a message and she will come to us, foolishly thinking she can save him. I look forward to that.” Midnight bent to studying the papers on his desk. “That will be all.”
Carleton hesitated, knowing he needed to speak, despite the obvious dismissal. “The satellites did show one more thing you should know about, sir.”
Midnight raised his head slowly. “And what might that be?”
“Ice Man has some strange new powers. He can conjure fire and lightning and use it as a weapon.”
“Explain conjure exactly, Lieutenant Commander. Leave nothing out.”
Carleton contemplated how to explain it. “Winters shoots fire and lightning bolts from his hands, and he…glows.”
“He glows.” The Admiral repeated, then rose and paced the room.
“Yes, sir,” Carleton continued. “If we can just get a lead on their location, perhaps thermal scanners will reveal his exact whereabouts. His body temperature registers a lot hotter than most.”
The pacing stopped. “The serums did this?” the Admiral asked.
“I would assume so, sir.”
“Interesting. Then we’d better figure out a text message that will bring them both here. We can tranquilize Winters and chain him in a cell near the other two SEALs. Then all we’ll need is Begay and our secret will be safe. The girl is a bonus. A pawn to make her father work for us again.”
“Are you going to kill them, sir?” Carleton asked, hope surging in him at last. The tapes of Ice Man’s power unnerved him. “It would be easier to explain our version of there is a leak. We certainly can put together a case against him for the murder of the soldiers at his silo. The rest of his team is believed dead. We could frame him for it. Say that the soldiers finally found out Winters had faked his own death and went to retrieve him.”
“Don’t be too hasty. First, we study these super-beings and find out which serums caused the changes in them. Then, we can dissect them to see what else in their bodies has been affected.”
Anticipation stirred within Carleton. “Are you going to try to duplicate their powers with some of your men?”
“I’m not going to try, Lieutenant Commander. I will duplicate their powers, but only with those soldiers under my complete control. You may be included, if you do as I ask without question.”
“Yes, sir. Right away, sir.” Carleton turned to leave. The freaking Admiral was bat-shit crazy. The SEAL wished he’d never been involved in any of this.
“Carleton, stop off at the lab on your way. I think you need more of serum 746. I sense your loyalty wavering and we can’t have that.”
The officer froze, and the Admiral got up in Carleton’s face. “After all, the fate of the world rests in our hands. I’m sure you’d like to live long enough to see our plans succeed. But, if not, we can dissect you, too, to determine why we’ve failed.”
Alex frowned, “So the medicine man who Begay went to thinks he’s a shape-shifting witch, who has gone over to the dark side?”
“Apparently. All I know is that Begay says he can change into a mountain lion, an eagle, or whatever creature he wants, but, like us, he can’t always control his powers. He shifted into a wolf before he could explain things to the medicine man and was cast out of the tribe. Now, he’s being hunted as a skinwalker.”
“Can we help him?” Alex asked
“I don’t know. Begay said he’d come here soon.”
A blood-curdling howl sounded right outside the cave. Seconds later, a huge black and gray wolf, with yellowish-red eyes, stood snarling at the entrance.
Alex shot a lightning bolt at the wolf, but Samantha grabbed his arm, deflecting it. Sparks burst from where the lightning hit the rock.
“Stop it. It’s him. Your friend, Begay,” she said. “Don’t antagonize him now or the wolf will be too hard to contain.”
Alex looked at her in disbelief. “How the hell do you know?”
“If you’d shut up and listen, Ice Man, you’d know it, too.”
The words sounded inside his head. Alex whipped back to stare at the wolf. “Begay? That’s really you, man?”
The wolf paced outside the cave. His nails clicking on stone. “Yes, it’s me. I’m sorry I had to come in wolf form, but too much has happened in t
he last twenty-four hours. I’ve had too many troubling visions, so I can’t control the shifting. Keep things calm so I don’t lose it.”
Alex grunted. He knew about being unable to control his power, but the wolf looked vicious. “I’ve never talked to a wolf before. I’m having a little trouble with this. What am I supposed to say? ‘Grandma, what big teeth you have.’”
The wolf sat down and stared at Alex. “Yes, Ice Man, I do have big teeth. Sharp, too, and very powerful. Remember that, because I barely have the upper hand over the wolf.”
“Then, why did you come here, if you could be dangerous to us?” Alex demanded. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if you attack Samantha.”
The beautiful wolf paced again, his feral appearance at odds with the telepathic message he projected. “That’s fair. I came to warn you about the vision I had. You must leave the cave tonight, under cover of darkness. Troops will be sent here, to the Rez, by whomever is in charge of this travesty. These soldiers are very strong. Some are ex-Navy SEALs, but they’ve also been experimented upon. They do as ordered and this evil man controls their minds.”
“It’s awfully hard to break a SEALs mind. Especially that much.”
“They’re continually dosed with a certain serum.” The wolf paused. “It’s the same one that you and I did not succumb to, although half our team did. You saw it happening to them yourself and protested. This man has almost total control over them now.”
“Do you know what these troops are supposed to do when they get here?”
The wolf paced again, sometimes turning to look out at the canyon. “They’re searching for abnormal heat signatures. They already know you have one. I don’t think they know about me being here , but they’re searching for your vehicle. You and your friends will die if you stay.”
“You said I’d be safe.” Alex reminded him.
“You will be, until tonight,” the wolf replied. “Your vehicle must stay here. I will hide it. But its contents go elsewhere, so they will not be discovered.”
Alex protested. “Those supplies are the best chance we have of finding an antidote.”
The wolf growled. “I’m telling you, if you take the serums with you, they will be lost. Already the changing temperatures are affecting their properties, despite all your precautions.”
“I don’t know about this.” Alex ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “If we lose the serums, we’ll be like this forever.”
“They know your vehicle. They have tracked it here. They must find it or they’ll destroy the Rez looking for it. I’ll hide the serums, where they will be safe. There’s a pickup truck at the bottom of the mesa. It will not attract attention unless you enter affluent areas. The engine and tires are good. The rest is crap.”
“If they’ve tracked us to the Reservation, then we’ve already endangered you and your people by coming here.”
“Yes, but this was foreseen long ago. I changed what I could. Know that a trap is being set for both of you. You must face this challenge together in order to survive. If you do succeed, return and help me here.”
“Do they know we’re coming for them?”
“No, but they suspect you will. They’re counting on it because the geneticist is there. Two more members of our SEAL team also survived the explosion. Ramirez and Northridge. They’re being held captive, but I don’t know where.”
“Then where do I go when I leave here?”
The wolf paced again, its agitation showing. “I don’t know. Somehow, you will learn the direction soon, but be careful. The crazy ones from our team will be among the soldiers. The experiments still continue. I have seen nothing else that will help.”
“My father is alive?” Samantha asked. “You saw this in your vision?”
“He was last night.”
“Will you come with us to rescue him?”
“No. I must remain here. They intend to kill many when they come looking for me. I must do what I can to protect my People and change that vision.”
Alex protested, “Your people have shunned you. Why are you staying to help them? Come with us.”
The wolf sat. “Their belief as to what I am is based on the stories of the skinwalkers. Suspecting that I am one, they have no choice but to shun me and try to kill me. They know that I am a shape-shifter.”
“Have others besides the medicine man seen you change?” Samantha asked.
“Yes. In our world shifting is only done by an extremely powerful witch who has chosen the path of evil. They already knew that I was a gifted healer and seer. Now, I shift, and I can communicate telepathically with animals and people alike. They know that I have killed in anger during battles, creating a darkness within me. These are all legendary traits of a skinwalker. I embody most of them.”
“Bullshit.” Alex rose from the sleeping bags and paced the cold stone floor. “This is nuts, Begay. You’re one of the good guys.”
“Am I? The serums have changed me. Perhaps I am one of dark ones now. I have a hatred within me that’s hard to fight. Few have encountered a skinwalker and lived, so no one knows how skinwalkers were created. Perhaps the serum that caused my changes is known to these witches.”
Alex leaned against the cave wall. Sparks gathering around his hands. “So your people will try to kill you, even though you’re not a shifter or skinwalker by choice?”
“Yes, and if I am a skinwalker now, I won’t stop them.”
“How will they try to kill you? Silver bullet? Stake through the heart?”
“Probably all those would work, but who knows. Legend has it, that if someone says my true Navajo name three times, I would soon die. Then again, maybe they have said it, and I will die at the hands of the soldiers coming here.”
“You’re not a damn skinwalker,” Alex snapped. “You were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. That’s it.”
The wolf nodded its regal head. “Thank you for that belief, but I can’t always control the change to another animal or creature. Sometimes, I am not sentient in the new form and the animal instincts win out. I could hurt people, Ice Man, and almost have. One of the last things skinwalkers do to ensure their complete transition to the witching way is kill someone close to them. This, I have almost done with the woman I’d hoped to marry. If I lose control, no Diné will ever believe I am different. If that comes to pass, kill me if I still live.”
“No way in hell,” Alex insisted. “I’m trying to come up with an anti-serum now. You say Samantha’s father’s still alive. I’ll drag his ass back here until he cures you.”
The wolf howled, cutting off Alex’s tirade. “If I have harmed or murdered someone I love, kill me, Ice Man. Use your fire so that nothing remains to heal and return. Promise me that now. Today.”
Alex stared down the frightening creature, who embodied the spirit of his best friend. At last, Alex said, “I promise, Shaman.”
“Rest now. I will ask the mountain lions to keep you from harm, but do not go outside, and do not go into the crevasse behind you where your friend saw what should not have been seen.”
“Mountain lions?” Alex repeated in disbelief. “And what the hell is in the crevasse? You mean the petroglyphs?”
“No,” Samantha shivered. “He means the chin—“
“Do not name them, Shadow Walker! You will draw them to you again.”
Samantha nodded. “Okay, I won’t say a word. Once visit was enough for me.”
The wolf turned to Alex. “You have little time and must rest. Do not sleep long as it’s daytime, and do not sleep with your head to the North. Do nothing to tempt fate. When you awaken, learn of your friend’s powers, for they are great. You will need them all to survive what comes. Leave here at full dark.”
With that, the wolf disappeared.
Chapter Eleven
Troubled, Samantha lay back down between the sleeping bags. Even with the sweatshirt on and the padding beneath her, she remained chilled. Then again, hearing a wolf’s dire wa
rnings wasn’t reassuring. Nor was the idea that she had to learn to use her powers to survive.
She glanced up at Alex. He still sat facing the entrance, the muscles along his jaw clenched tight. Even half-naked, the cold didn’t bother him. Begay’s warning, however, did.
She touched his arm and he jerked, ready to defend himself against an assailant. “Whoa, Ice Man, it’s just me.”
He sighed. “Sorry. It’s never a good idea to touch a SEAL when he’s sleeping or lost in thought. We react instinctively. You could be hurt.”
“Yeah, I get that. I need to tell you about the encounter Begay mentioned.”
She quickly told Alex the entire story of what happened during her disappearance earlier. He scowled staring back into the crevasse at the back of the cave where she’d seen the warriors.
“They’re watching us,” she explained. “That’s one reason that I wasn’t comfortable advancing what we’d started. I wasn’t ready to perform for an audience.”
Alex’s scowl lessened somewhat. “And if they hadn’t been there?”
Samantha smiled and touched her palm to his chest. She longed to lay her head right there and listen to his heartbeat. It was a strange feeling for her, wanting closeness like this. “I guess we’ll have to wait and find out.”
He smiled. “Tonight we find a hotel.”
He gathered her into his arms as if he’d read her mind and, at this point, she didn’t care if he had. She needed his comfort and she leaned into his warm embrace.
She rested her head on his broad chest and the strong rhythm of his heart soothed her in a way she hadn’t known before. Even with all the craziness going on, he calmed her. His temper needed work, but he’d been trying. She understood the serum-induced lack of control he fought against much better now.
Certainty went through her. She kissed his warm, hard chest. “Get plenty of sleep now, Ice Man, because, unless I come to my senses, you won’t get that much sleep tonight.”
Hours later, after resting, Alex held the blanket spread between his outstretched hands. “Try it again. Make your hand disappear and put it through the blanket.”