Passing the study, she caught some of Ciaran’s words—something to do with calling in hunters and getting the Alpha involved.
So Ciaran was calling in the wolf pack and their agents. Well, a lot of good that would do if he was the mole. He was likely following protocol so no suspicion would fall on him if Aldrich did manage to take her away.
Leira kept walking, opened the front door and stepped onto the porch. The cool air soothed her heated skin as she closed the door as silently as possible. Now she had to figure out how she was supposed to get across the clearing without being seen?
26
Leira
Leira hurried across the snow and hid within the trees. Wolves could track scent so she knew Ciaran would find her. She had to run, while she did sped up she allowed the heat of her power to filter into the air around her. One thing she’d understood a long time ago was that the fire she generated killed the scent on her skin. Whether it was sweat or perfume, her body odor evaporated if she allowed just the right amount of heat to filter through and eliminate the smells on her skin.
She shed her scent as she hurried away from the cabin, then made a left and went along the right side of the building. Hidden within the trees she could see the cabin clearly, but if Ciaran came out now, she’d have no idea given she couldn’t see the front door.
She circled around and came to the back of the cabin, then scouted the area around her for a suitable hiding place. An old fir looked perfect and Leira tossed her rucksack up first, satisfied when she heard the soft thud as it landed safely within the V of the branch.
She walked around the tree and out within the brush to watch just in case she’d been followed. Nothing stirred around her, which only made her more nervous.
Ciaran would be looking for her by now. She’d wasted enough time.
More determined to protect herself, Leira turned to return to the tree she’d selected as her hiding spot when someone walked out in front of her, seeming to come out of nowhere.
Aldrich stood in front of her, the proud self-satisfied smirk making her want to wipe it off his face. Her body grew hotter, anger and rage swirling inside her at how far he’d driven her.
“Come with me, Leira. Don’t try to fight. You know you will lose. I’ve come prepared.”
She didn’t reply as two black-clad strangers stepped out of thin air, flanking him as though there to protect him. He did need protection. From Leira.
One of Aldrich’s stooges was a woman, her copper hair like flames as it reflected the white of the snow. And when the woman lifted her hands, Leira came to understand everything.
They say knowledge is power, and Leira understanding what Aldrich had wanted from her, what he’d really been after all along, gave her the power to cast off her inhibitions.
A ball of flame flew through the air at her, and she ducked it easily, too late realizing it could quickly set the trees on fire. As she swerved and raised her own hands, she spotted movement in the forest beyond Aldrich. Pale eyes luminescent in the darkness, one pair, then another, then half a dozen.
Had Ciaran called in his troops? Well, he was certainly keeping up the facade.
Anger and hurt forced Leira to focus harder. Another ball of flame flew at her and she cast it aside, absorbing the fire before it fell to the ground. The djinn hesitated then looked over at Aldrich who was staring at Leira, his expression an amalgamation of shock and admiration and satisfaction.
The woman spoke to him then and he simply nodded, his jaw tightening. The second sidekick reached behind him and retrieved a rifle, only it appeared to be made of glass or clear plastic. Within the magazine, tiny balls of luminescent liquid could be seen, shimmering in the sunlight.
Leira felt a moment of fear but a pair of balls of flame came racing at her. She stepped aside and fend them off, funneling the energy out and fizzling it to nothing. The woman growled then straightened her spine and sent out dozens of small cannonballs of fire. They looked like little bathbombs, all pretty shimmery shades of gold, orange and copper.
Leira blinked and thrust a wide arc of her own fire at the oncoming horde, swiping them all away in a few seconds. Aldrich’s djinn screamed her frustration at being so easily bested.
Beyond Aldrich, the pack of wolves were moving closer and Leira shifted her gaze. She’d been shocked to see their actual size, much bigger than even a large human.
The sniper trained the barrel on Leira and pulled the trigger releasing a cloud of pellets that swarmed toward her. She drew a shield of fire around her and directed it to spin like a tornado, fear tripping up her confidence. She didn’t know what she was fighting, and she wasn’t even sure if her little trick would protect her. Aldrich had appeared far too confident, like he knew something she didn’t.
The swarming wind around her was about two feet deep and Leira was so grateful she’d had the forethought to build some distance into the barrier. The moment the pellets began to hit, the glass shattered, and acid and fumes spewed forth. The liquid dripped to the ground eating away the grass leaving bare spots of nothing behind.
The fumes though merged with the swirling wind and spun around her in an ever-growing green acid cloud. How was she going to hold this off or even manage destroy it before it damaged the forest or any of the shifters coming to her aid?
In that moment of fear, she missed the djinn’s intentions. Too late, the woman sent a fan of fire in Leira’s direction. Even from inside the tornado of her own power, Leira was able to feel the heat. But something strange happened when the fire hit the pellets.
The acid changed color and faded away to nothing. Many never reached the ground to cause any damage. Without understanding it, the other djinn had given Leira the solution to her problem.
Now she cranked up the heat to just below what she called her self-destruct level, allowing the heated air to infuse the tornado around her. Within seconds the swarm of deadly pellets were incinerated leaving Aldrich standing there his face red from anger.
His sidekicks looked equally upset though fear was the main component of their expressions. A second later, without even looking at either one of them, Aldrich thrust out his hands, sending thin rods of metal straight into the sides of their heads. The spiked tips penetrated their skulls with ease and a few moments passed before they bother dropped to their knees, skulls run through with half a dozen or so spikes no fatter than your average straw.
They sank to the ground and Aldrich stepped back just as the wolf pack arrived. He didn’t even look behind him and Leira had to wonder if they’d succeeded in catching him unawares.
One of the wolves launched itself into the air and Aldrich spun on his heel, sending a barrage of spikes straight at the wolf.
Leira wasn’t sure when she’d made the decision to act but she thrust out a hand and sent a whip of fire at the group of metal rods soaring through the air toward the wolf. She felt like she was seeing everything in slow motion. The business end of the whip struck the rods down, cutting them all in half rendering them useless. They fell to the grass plinking loudly as they landed in a gleaming pile.
The wolf kept his trajectory, landing on Aldrich and taking him down. Aldrich was lying on the ground, hands outstretched as though in self-defense, while the wolf bore down on him, one great paw pressing onto his chest.
A breath later, Aldrich was gone the way he’d arrived, just winking out of existence. Leira dropped her whirling fire and rushed forward, her intent to check on the condition of his two thugs but they were gone. Aldrich had taken his weapons with him, probably being careful not to leave proof behind.
Leira stood there motionless, still not sure she believed what had just happened. Then, seconds later, a group of people were walking toward her, none of whom she recognized other than Ciaran himself.
He rushed over to her but when he reached her she took a step away from him.
He frowned, confusion and worry coloring his eyes. “You okay?” he asked softly. At any other time, she would ha
ve believed the question came from a place of genuine care and concern but now she wasn’t so sure anymore.
“I’m fine.” She turned and walked away, in the direction of the cabin.
27
Leira
She heard voices as the wolf shifters congregated, speaking in hushed voices no doubt still in shock at what they’d witnessed her do.
Ciaran hurried after her, reaching the porch at the same moment she had. She shifted away from him and then met his eyes. “I’m going to pack and leave. I think I can protect myself much better than you can.”
The tone in her voice said much more and Ciaran scowled. “What happened? Why did you leave the cabin?”
She laughed coldly. “Don’t play innocent with me. You know Aldrich? He’s not just some guy after me, who was trying to kill me.”
Ciaran’s face darkened and his forehead smoothed out as he began to understand. “You heard me on the phone with Frankie.”
“Yes. Isn’t it strange that you knew his name even though I never once mentioned it to you?”
Leira expected Ciaran to flat out deny it, or make some excuse saying she’d mentioned it but must have forgotten. Instead he nodded and sighed, then took a seat on the first step.
Leira felt awkward standing there hovering over him like an angry fishwife. She sank down beside him and waited, eyes trained on the group of men who’d gathered around the fire and were trying to light the wet logs.
One of them, a tall woman with jet black hair yelled at them before waving at Leira to get her attention.
Leira didn’t smile, even though she wanted to. She waved her hand to indicate to the group to keep away from the fire pit. Once they were all a safe distance away she flicked a finger and sent a barrage of tiny flames at the pit. They kept their heat and power all the way until they landed on the wet wood and expelled their heat. The finale hail of flames lit the now dried wood to a chorus of cheers.
Beside her, Ciaran chuckled. “I knew it.”
“Knew what?” Leira was back to being snippy.
“That you are a djinn. The hot coffee. You never needing a warmer jacket. Your dry sneakers in the snow. Lighting a fire in the fireplace when I couldn’t even get a spark going. Oh, and the steam-filled bathroom when there couldn’t have been enough hot water to generate that much hot water.”
“How very observant of you.” She didn’t look at him to see his reaction to her cutting response.
“I’m sorry for not telling you that I knew Aldrich was the one who was after you. He’s the type of person one doesn’t talk about unless totally necessary. I’ve come across him a few times in the past. He’s not a man to trifle with. Which was why Frankie and I wanted to ensure you had the highest security precautions.”
“And yet he still found me.”
“Yeah, that was our concern. I wondered if maybe you were still carrying something on you that you didn’t realize could be allowing him to track you.”
“So you don’t tell me things that were crucial simply because you were concerned that I was my own traitor?”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” He shook his head and got to his feet. “I need to feed these idiots.”
Leira got up and followed him inside then down to the basement where he opened an enormous refrigerator. He pulled out stacks of frankfurters and frozen rolls. Despite her irritation with him, she offered to help carry them up to the kitchen and he allowed it without complaint. Upstairs they covered the rolls in foil and Leira tossed the franks into a bowl while Ciaran hunted down a huge stack of skewers.
As he gathered condiments and sauces he said, “Frankie has a theory, but we weren’t sure how to approach you about it. When I came looking for you, you’d left.”
Leira rinsed and dried the skewers then held them in the air, pointed in his direction. “What’s this idea?”
“We came to the conclusion that it’s possible you have nanotech on you. Or in you.”
Leira’s eyes widened. “What the hell? Way to go making shit up on the fly so you won’t feel bad for not telling me the truth.”
Ciaran paused and turned to face her. “I’m not kidding about this. If we want to get you somewhere else safe then we need to check.”
“How do you check? Zap me with something?”
“Actually, that’s exactly how. Frankie said an electric shock of a specific voltage would be sufficient to kill of the nano.” He spoke with a straight face, but there was something about the way he kept his lips tight together, as though he was preventing a smile, that gave him away.
She shook her head. “What did Frankie really say?”
Ciaran dropped everything onto a large tray that he’d dug out from beside the giant stove. “There’s this gadget he was sending up to us. Apparently, we run it over your body and it kills any of the nano bugs that may be on or inside your body.”
“What makes him think sit’s inside me?” Leira found herself wondering how she would have ingested a bunch of tiny bugs without realizing it.
“You had a bath and washed your hair. You don’t have earrings or rings or any other jewelry.”
“How do you know I don’t have a belly button ring. Or toe rings?”
He blinked. I saw your toes when you came out of the bathroom, so that’s not an option. But I admit the navel ring has me stumped. Do you have one?”
She grinned and shook her head. “Nope. Too much of a chicken. Heard it’s painful.”
Ciaran chuckled and then hoisted the tray. Leira hurried to open the door for him. He’d barely gotten off the porch when a group of the shifters around the fire broke off and came to get the food. There was laughter and ribbing but they were all low-toned, as though reminded of the danger they’d all just been in.
Leira leaned against the porch railing and smiled. “When do we get this device?”
“Anytime soon. Frankie was going to bring it up himself but then he said he’d leave it in the cave. I had one of the guys go get it and he should be here soon.”
The device arrived just as Leira had finished her loaded hotdog. She’d smiled and laughed with the group but she didn’t know any of them, still wasn’t comfortable with them, still kept looking over her shoulder expecting Aldrich to be there.
Ciaran took the package and thanked the shifter who waved him off and mentioned food was a good payment. Then Ciaran glanced over at Leira, a question in his eyes.
She nodded and got to her feet, wiping her fingers on a napkin before flinging the tissue paper into the fire. She followed Ciaran as he entered the cabin and waited for her to come inside.
The first thing she said was, “I better not have to strip for this.”
Ciaran stiffened but then just shook his head. “No. This will work through clothing, even shoes. Basically, nothing more than your regular wanding at the airport.”
First, he waved the wand across her skin and they both listened to the intermittent pinging that confirmed the existence of the tiny nano devices inside her body. Then he shifted the settings and repeated the process this time far more thoroughly, going over every part of her body.
Then he straightened and looked a little uncomfortable. “What’s wrong?” She asked, though she’d already figure out what the problem was.”
He cleared his throat. “It’s just a few other parts of your body that need to be treated.”
She smirked then reached for the wand. “Ok, I’ll do it myself in the bathroom. Back in a sec.”
Inside the bathroom, Leira completed the scan leaving no place unchecked, even going so far as to scan the bottoms of her feet which had resulted in a few more pings. At last, when the device made no more sounds, she returned to the living room and handed over the nano-scanner.
“All clear. I’m not pinging anymore.” She was happy but she definitely didn’t want him to suggest she put it to the test by allowing Aldrich to gain access to her laptop again.
Ciaran didn’t say anything other than having to tra
nsmit the data to Frankie so he could figure out how they’d gotten inside her. Leira paced in the kitchen until Ciaran returned.
“He says they’re tiny enough to have been inside anything. Food, drink, snacks. So you could have consumed it any time in the last month. It’s high quality stuff so maybe even longer.”
Leira’s ears were ringing. How was she supposed to deal with the fact that she was the one to have been bugged all along? She glanced over at Ciaran who was studying a narrow printout from the device.
“I’m sorry for thinking you were in cahoots with Aldrich.”
Ciaran glanced up and smiled. “I’m glad you were. It meant you weren’t being complacent and you were thinking for yourself.”
His hurt appeared to have evaporated but Leira wasn’t falling for it. She’d seen it in his eyes when he’d understood that she’d believed him to have betrayed her, was so convinced that she’d left the safety of the cabin, and went traipsing around the forest only to be attacked and almost killed by Aldrich and his sidekicks.
Leira sighed. “So what now. The nano bug things are dead. So he can’t access my devices to terrorize me.”
“Guess now you figure out why this relic is so important to him and then hide it away so he never lays a hand on it again.”
She shook her head. “If he wanted the relic at all, it was only the smaller of the two prizes.”
“Two?”
Leira stared at Ciaran. “Did you see who he had working at his side?”
He squinted at her. “Yeah. A djinn and some other paranormal.”
“Yes. And she’s not as powerful as I am.”
“So? What are you trying to say? That he was after you in the first place and that the relic was a red herring?”
“It’s possible. The djinn he had with him was older, and not as skilled as I was. I was trained for years as a warrior, learned techniques not known by any random person. You had to earn the privilege of learning from the masters.”
Dark Moon Falls: Volume 2 Page 45