Angie and I stood in shock. Dad just looked at us for a moment, his mouth firm, brows dropped over an intense green gaze, deep creases on his face. He finally lowered into his chair, began straightening the papers. “Tell me what happened, girls … Girls? Snap out of it!”
Angie dropped a sob into her cupped hands.
“The dreks, Dad,” I began. “They. They were ganging up on us. We just, Angie just— it was an accident. It was just an accident. We just pushed her, that’s all, and she fell and hit her head. Then another one yelled, and, Giselle stomped on her. Giselle killed another one. She didn’t mean to. Please don’t be mad at her. Then Mawlkon said—”
Dad stopped me with a lifted hand.
“I should have known Mawlkon Boshaunn was involved. He’s nearing that age now. He’ll be a hunter soon. They probably planned the entire scenario. It’s not your fault.” He dropped his brows at Angie. “Either of you … Angie, do you hear me?”—She lifted her red-rimmed eyes to him, brushed some tangled hair off her face—“It’s not your fault, sweetheart.”
Dad pushed off his chair, walked back to his bar, began pouring a drink. “I suppose it was just a matter of time.” He came back to his desk, sat, took a drink and set it down as Angie and I stood stiff. “We’re not the first city, you know. I’ve heard it’s been happening everywhere. They’re planning, finding ways to make it happen. Which is why, Vyn—” It dawned in his narrowed eyes. “Where are the boys?”
Air raid sirens began to wail outside, loud and drawn out, echoing in the most monstrous sound I’d ever heard, sending a wave of panic to roll through me as I managed to say, “They told us to go ahead of them and warn you. They’re still out there.”
After racing to the windowed wall, I looked out across the distant landscape, and just caught sight of the cart as it entered the twilit forest. Dad said ten minutes, didn’t he?
“They did the right thing, Elle.” Dad raised his deep voice across the room. “They’ll be fine. Don’t you worry about them.”
As I wheeled back around, Angie crumpled to a chair.
Mom came in. “Phillip, what’s going on? Why are the sirens going off? The test isn’t—” Her eyes flicked to us girls. “What’s going on, girls? Are you okay?”
I dashed and vaulted into her arms.
“Don’t worry about it,” said Dad. “It’s taken care of.”
Mom’s dress muffled my words, “This isn’t a test. It was an accident.”
She pulled back, grasped my shoulders and looked into my stinging eyes. “What are you saying?” Fear twisted her face. “Where are the boys?”
“They’re on the way, Celeste. Let’s all just settle down now, enough drama. We knew this was coming, eventually. Now pull yourselves together.” He raised his voice, pushing authority out, “Elle, you wanted to be part of the team. Well here it is, enough blubbering. It’s time to grow up. Time to fight.”
“Phillip,” Mom barked, “don’t be so mean!”
The words stung me, but he was right. Rage churned in my gut. At him? At the harsh words? Clenching my jaw, I stomped over to him. “Don’t talk to me like that,” I hissed through my teeth with a biting glower.
He just smirked. “There’s the fire, right there in those blue eyes. Hang on to that, you’re gonna need it. Time to save the children.”
Gonna, Dad, don’t you mean … wait, the children?
He knew the button to push.
Even as I boiled in the feeling of fight, a breath dumped from my lungs. Images of children displayed in my mind. Thoughts of Vyn crashed like lightning as the storm of sirens and emergency announcements echoed and wailed outside:
“This is not a test, everyone please go indoors. This …”
Mom’s voice behind me as I rushed out of the room, “Ellie, where are …”
****
The dirt road trailed off into the shadowed forest. With my gaze off the porch deck, I stood hugging myself, tasting the bile in the back of my throat.
C’mon, Vyn, hurry.
“They’re not far,” Dad said behind me. “I can hear them now. They’ll be fine.”
I didn’t say anything.
Mom shouted in the house, “Phillip! Get Ellie in here.”
After a moment Dad said to me, “Come on in the house as soon as you can.”
The house door tapped shut … “Well, where is she?” said Mom.
“She’ll be right in, just give her a minute. The boys are on the way ...”
Sounds climbed up the mountain: Wheels chattering, horse hooves pounding, Jaydenn yelling Hah! The sirens, and the echoing announcement over the forest, “This is not a test, please go indoors and …”
What was taking them so long?
At last, the cart rattled into view, approaching fast as horse muscles flexed out a beating rhythm. Clouds of dust trailed the cart, drifting off the dirt road into alder bushes and forest. Wild-eyed were the horses, their muzzles flared and blowing. Vyn stood crouched in the cart-back, one hand grasping the rail as his knees absorbed the jarring road. Jaydenn, also standing, demanded the horses move with a powerful snap of the reins. “Hah!”
A spot—no bigger than a fingertip—caught my attention high above. The sun was long gone, replaced by the faint moon in a dim sky. And the spot began to take on the form of a hunter on descent.
Do something.
After leaping off the porch deck, I streaked to the barn, yanked open the wooden doors for the cart. Then raced to slam and lock all the shuttered windows and flick on the lights. Tasks completed, I turned and stood in wait. My heart hammering. Pungent smells drawing into my nostrils on panting breaths.
The horses finally stormed in, sliding to a stop, clouds of dust trailing. The carriage settled to rest as I slapped the doors shut and wheeled around.
The wailing sirens continued outside as Vyn hopped to the dirt. Jaydenn followed.
Lady and Giselle stood stomping their hooves, sheened muscles twitching, shaking their heads and huffing through foamy muzzles to catch a breath.
Jaydenn grinned down at me; grinned at me! “I told you we’d make it.” He chuckled, which sent a wave of revulsion through me as I gave him a curled-lip scowl.
Sweat glinted on Vyn’s skin. Dark hair matted on his forehead. His shirt clung to his body and I could see the infinity birthmark on his left chest through the moistened cloth. He actually smiled. “It’s okay now, Elle, we’re here.” He moved for a hug.
I stiff-arm stopped him, my palms to his damp chest as I gave him a glare. “It’s okay? What the flap are you talking about? What do we do now?”
“Let’s get in the house,” said Jaydenn.
“No,” I snapped. “I’m putting the horses away. You two can go if you want but they can’t just stand here shackled all night to a cart. They need to be sprayed off, given water and put away, and I’m—”
“Okay, Elle, okay,” Vyn cut me off, turned to Jaydenn. “Go in the house, Jay. Tell them we’re fine, and we’ll be out here for the night.”
A tip of the chin, and Jaydenn was off. He pushed open the doors, a quick glance up, stepped out and slapped the doors shut behind him. Vyn stepped over, checked the door latch.
Dreadful squawks ripped through the air outside, tripping my pulse for a beat. Jaydenn’s laughter came next, guttural and loud … He shouted, “Nice try, chicky! Better luck next time you flappin piece a flyin trash. I’ll be seeing you later.”
Vyn grinned at me. “Sounds like he’s havin’ fun out there.”
What the flap is wrong with these males? I heaved a frustrated sigh. Then tore myself away, tramped over to Lady, stroked her moistened white head. Dirt and sweat tangled her mane, sopped her skin. She lowered her head, blew some air while I patted her neck. “It’s all right now, girl, let’s get you cleaned up. I bet you’re thirsty, huh? You did a great job girl. I’m proud of you.” I looked to Angie’s horse. “And you too, Giselle.” She let out a force of air, her lips quivering as she shook her head.
“Vyn, help me get this harness off.”
Vyn stood near the back of the cart, checking his lab supplies. “I’ll be there in a second.”
Patting Lady’s clammy neck, I said to her, “I’ll bet that thing’s heavy, isn’t it girl?” I went to gather up the brushes and supplies. The horses perked their ears at the sound of water splashing into the bucket. “I’ll be right there,” I reassured them, then requested, “Vyn?”
“All right, all right.”
After we removed the harness and pushed the cart into a corner, the horses lowered their muzzles into two full buckets, a sucking sound as they drank. As we began to brush them down, the barn odors brought some comfort. I always loved the natural aroma of wood, dirt, ropes, straw and hay.
Then reality brought me back.
“Vyn, I’m serious. What do we do now?” I brushed, patted.
“The only thing different is nighttime.” Vyn pulled a brush stroke down Giselle’s neck. “You did a great job. You saved so many angels with that warning.”
“What about the ones that didn’t get away?”
“Don’t worry about that. I’m sure they all got to safety. And just think”—his brushing stopped with a look at me—“The dreks might not be out in the daytime anymore.”
“Really, why not?”
“Because they know.” He tossed me a grin over Giselle’s neck. “We can kill them now.”
A few minutes went by with that thought, as I absently brushed Lady down. The sirens outside had stopped, but there was no silence in my head. As much as I disagreed with killing, the dreks deserved it. Everything they’d done to me all my life: The mental torture, the teasing, prodding, the tears and the nightmares. Still, it was their nature. Did we have to—?
“What’s wrong, Elle?”
“Nothing. I just don’t like killing, that’s all.” A brush stroke down Lady’s back.
“You do remember they’re just young hunters, right? We have to.”
Did he just ask me if I remember? Out of all of us, I was the one who couldn’t forget. Dakarai had been my friend, once upon a time, until the evening that he flew away a hunter, leaving a scar of remembrance on my mind. A permanent reminder of the dark.
“You still want to be part of the team?” Vyn asked.
My mind wandered. Were they right, was it just a phase? The screech in my mind reminded me of purpose.
“Don’t pay attention to that, Ellie.”
I gawked at Vyn across Lady’s neck. “You heard that?”
“Yeah, how could I not hear that?”
“I mean, that was—” I paced around the horses into the feed room opposite the stables, leaned over a stack of hay bales and spied through a sliver of an opening in the shuttered windows, searching through the night.
And there it was; a gargantuan vulture perched on the house roof, talons clutching the brick chimney.
The hunter cocked its wrinkled-skin head side to side, his hooked beak and gloss-black feathers glinting in the night. Then it hit me like a punch to my stomach: Oh, Source, no. Dakarai! He’s waiting for me! Dakarai cackled and clicked his beak. His red eyes blinked down at me as I sucked in a breath of barn air and pulled back from the window with a trembling hand over my mouth.
“What’s wrong, Elle?” Vyn hustled over to me as fog began to fill my mind. Hunching forward, I folded up into him. “What’s wrong, tell me.”
“It’s Dakarai. He’s waiting. For. me,” I muttered into his chest. There wasn’t enough air in the room. “Please, help, me.”
Vyn released. I tried to pull him back but he jerked away. He stepped to the window, studied, then turned to me. “It’s okay. He can’t get you in here. You need to get used to the sight of him. If you still want to kill him, that is. Come over here. Force yourself to study him. Face him, Ellie. It’s the—”
“Ellie, are you okay out there?” Mom called out across the driveway.
She was outside! The fog bank lifted from my mind.
“Mom, I’m fine,” I yelled where I stood. “Get in the house, now. Dakarai’s on the roof!”
The sound of the house door slammed, followed by the muffled voice of Mom screaming at Dad. Hearing the house door swing open again, I ran out of the feed room to the barn doors and watched through the crack between.
Under the porch lights, Dad stood bare-chested on the deck, folded wings shimmering.
“No, Dad,” I shouted through the barn doors. Jaydenn stepped from the house, also bare-chested, and stood beside Dad. Like muscle-stacked machines, warriors in a defensive line, they exchanged a nod, stepped off to the driveway. “No. Go back inside, please!”
“Quiet down, Elle!” shouted Dad.
Vyn had already made his way to me. We watched as Dad and Jaydenn stood like glowing marble pillars, scanning the star-dusted sky. They each held a wooden spear straight up with the ends in the dirt, the silver tips pointing to the moon. Where did those come from?
Dad boomed his voice up to Dakarai, “Well, what are you waiting for?”
Jaydenn, eyeing over the treetops, said over his shoulder, “They’re on the way, Phil.”
“Get off my roof!” Dad roared.
A different hunter glided to land on the driveway. Dad spun around, sneered at the hunter, placed his palm up and curled his fingers in. “Here, chicky, chicky.” The black vulture just stood there, shifting its weight from talon to talon, until it leaned and stretched its neck forward, opened its beak and sent a horrid screech at Dad.
“What the flap is he doing? Dad has lost his mind,” I said through the doors.
A squawk fell down from the sky as another hunter descended from the treetops.
Bub was barking inside the house, Roaf! Roaf! Roaf!
Wings tight to his back, Dad launched forward, spun a circle with the spear trailing him like a whip. It landed square into the hunters head, stunning the vulture to the ground.
Roaf! Roaf!
Jaydenn was busy with the other hunter. A beat later, his spear plunged into the hunter’s neck. The lifeless vulture dropped to the dirt. The other hunter had already recovered and sent a beak snap at Dad, grazing Dad’s leg and tearing his slacks. The hunter lunged again, ripped the spear from Dad’s grasp and sent it hurtling into the pines.
Jaydenn yelled, “Down!”
When Dad crouched, Jaydenn swung the post of the spear, only to have the hunter intercept it, snap it in two with his beak like an inconvenient twig. “I’ll keep him busy,” Jaydenn said. “Get to the barn.”
“I am not going out there,” I said to myself.
Dad rambled toward the barn.
Vyn reached down, unbolted the door and Dad busted through, hit the floor and tumbled. Vyn slammed the bolt shut. I looked out again. Jaydenn was backpedaling to the house, holding the hunter off with half-spear jabs. The hunter sent Jaydenn a last squawking snap before Jaydenn disappeared into the house, the door banging shut behind him.
The hunter spun and bounded into flight, pushed up into the night. A dead hunter lay on the driveway. Shadows swept across the dark sky. Distant screeches—indistinct sounds of a thousand nightmares under the stars.
When I turned around, Dad had already pulled up into a slouched and seated position on the dirt, his knees drawn to his chest, one pant leg in shards, bulging veined forearms resting on his knees with clasped hands. His wingtips lay bent on the barn floor, feathers mottled and matted with grime and sweat. He looked up at me. “Well, that was fun.” He smirked.
“Dad, are you flappin crazy?” I asked … then angled a look at Vyn as he stood above Dad with an amazed look of shock and admiration. “What are you thinking, Vyn?”
“What? Oh. I’m a scientist. I’ve never— that was just, awesome.”
“Yeah, well,” Dad said to Vyn, male ego peeking out, “now you know. Now you know how important your work is. We need to get started, soon. Tomorrow morning sounds about right.” He slid his dark jade eyes up to me. “Changed your mind yet, Ellie?�
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“I can’t think about that right now. I’ll get some leg wraps. We need to stop that bleeding.” His shredded pant leg was soaked with blood, an open gash in his thigh oozing red and dripping to the dirt.
Dad glanced at his leg. “Hmm. Yeah, I guess.”
The cabinet with the wraps, tools and medical stuff hung near the back doors. The horses perked their ears as I walked by, nervous twitches, on edge. I knew how they felt. While pulling a bundle of wraps out, I happened to notice through the crack between the back doors, a red eye blinking in, startling me for a moment. A jaw clench pushed the feeling aside. NO. I grabbed a hoof pick from the cabinet, sidled close around the wall, and waited … Just as Dakarai blinked again, I swung and jabbed the pick through the door crack. A loud squawk rang out, followed by the fading sound of wings flapping away.
Slack arms by my side, the pick in my right hand, adrenaline pumping through me, I turned to see Dad and Vyn staring at me.
“Got em right in the eye.” I fluttered my wings with a smirk. “Does that answer your question, Dad?”
Dad chuckled aloud. “That’s my girl. I knew you wouldn’t quit on me.”
Is that what he knew? That’s not what I’d heard. I made my way over, went knees down on the dirt, and ripped the fabric away from Dad’s injury.
Even as I began to clean and wrap his thigh, a heavy patter of hunter feet on the roof sent all eyes up. Dust sifted off the ceiling rafters. The horses stirred. The hanging light bulb swayed and flickered in the stuffy barn air.
CHAPTER 16
We had stayed out in the barn all night. Dad had offered ideas to get us to the house, but I’d stifled those when I’d pointed out the fact that the barn had no door locks, and there was no chance I would leave the horses vulnerable. A new lock jumped to the top of my morning chore list. The boys had attempted to keep my awareness on lighter things with talk of the new home and such dreams, which had helped, as I had drifted off semi-peacefully on Vyn’s lap.
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