Guardian's Grace, page 5
“Well, there’s a skill to getting the right angle and moment that are beyond many, ah, people,” Grace returned smoothly. Yep. Direct hit right back at ya, dumb animal. Her phone buzzed, and she glanced at the face. “Um, I have to take this. Excuse me.” She lifted the phone to her ear and dodged inside. “Hey, Doc,” she whispered, heading for the kitchen. “Tell me you have good news.”
“Nope,” Dr. Palendrom said, his cheerful disposition gone. “Your bloodwork is worse, meaning the mating is completely disappearing from your body, which isn’t a surprise since you mated without the sexual component.”
Yeah, no kidding. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. “If my chromosomes unravel from mate to human, will I end up back in a coma?”
“I have absolutely no clue,” the doctor said. “This is uncharted territory.”
Okay. She’d never asked this, but she had to know all the facts. “What if we mate again?” Not that she’d ask Adare. But still.
“Again, I don’t know, but it looks like his cells are attacking yours instead of strengthening them, so if I had to bet, I’d wager that a second mating would kill you.” The doctor sighed. “You really need to see the queen—she’s the expert in this situation. Well, with genetics. There never has been this situation.” He coughed. “I’m totally guessing, but if you took the virus, negated the mating and somehow survived, you could conceivably mate some other immortal whose cells don’t try to kill you.”
It figured the best kisser on the planet would be unexpectedly trying to kill her on a cellular level. Time was not on her side. Adare wouldn’t like it, but she had to finish what she’d started and get some answers in case she soon faced coma or death. Nobody understood how it felt to have blanks in your memory that tortured you every night. If she was going to die anyway, she’d die knowing who she’d been. Maybe who she could’ve been. She couldn’t let Adare stop her. “Thanks, Doc.” She hung up and hustled back outside, ready to say goodbye.
Her car and driver rolled to a stop, its headlights piercing the darkened winter day.
“Let’s go, Grace,” Adare said, reaching to pluck up her camera bag. Did he sound relieved? She could swear he sounded relieved.
With one last fake smile at Jacqueline, Grace stepped out from the protective overhang toward her car, wondering when she’d lost her mind. What did she care that a snotty feline shifter was making the moves on Adare? Would the old her have punched Jacqueline in the nose? It was doubtful.
Suddenly, all four doors of the black sedan opened at once.
“Grace!” Adare bellowed, turning and lunging toward her.
Chapter 6
Adare smelled the enemy a split second before the first boot hit the ground. Sour lemons. He dropped the bags and pivoted, manacling one arm around Grace’s waist and twisting to shot-put her over the hood of the SUV. She flew high, her arms windmilling as she disappeared on the other side. Before she hit the ground, he turned and charged, head down, into the chest of the driver, smashing him against the rear door. Glass shattered and metal dented with a loud crunch.
Bullets pinged above his head, and he rolled the soldier over, punching repeatedly toward the bastard’s face. Blood began to blend with his blackish red hair, and the driver struck up, slicing Adare’s neck with a knife.
Blood arced and pain lashed through Adare’s head. He growled, letting his fangs drop low, while sending emergency healing cells to the injury. The Kurjan beneath him, his eyes a swirling purple, struck up again.
Adare blocked the blade and went into a pure fighting state, which was where he belonged.
The Kurjan clapped a hand against Adare’s ear, grabbed his hip, and rolled them across the icy ground. Thunderous pain clashed through Adare’s head, but he reached down and drew his knife from his boot as they moved, slashing up and through the Kurjan’s white skin from beneath his jaw to his brain.
The monster flopped down, and Adare shoved the heavy body off. The guy would be out for a while. Adare crouched against the vehicle to take in the scene. It was dark enough that the Kurjans probably didn’t need the caps they’d donned, and there was no sight of the sun beneath the clouds. Damn it. He wouldn’t mind the sun frying the bastards. Two Kurjans remained on the other side of the vehicle from him, shooting wildly at the SUV while Jacqueline leaned around the side and returned fire.
At the rear of the SUV, Benny fought hand-to-hand with the final Kurjan, their movements so fast they were only blurs. Blood spurted from them both, and the glint of silver could barely be seen through the storm.
Adare was too big to roll beneath the sedan, so he edged toward the front, planning to jump over and take down one of the shooters.
Two more vehicles burst up the road, traveling so fast the gravel beneath the ice spun up.
“Grace? Get into the SUV and lock the doors,” he bellowed. “If you have to, drive out of here.” It was doubtful she’d make it past the other two SUV’s headed up the drive. He plunged his blade into the front left tire of the Kurjans’ sedan and slid to the back to take care of the other one.
Benny punched through the throat of the Kurjan he was fighting and tossed the body to the ground, instantly stomping on the neck to decapitate the enemy. This Kurjan had red hair with black tips, and his pale skin melded with the snow as the head rolled away.
If there were eight more Kurjan soldiers in the oncoming vehicles, Adare had to get Grace inside the house and now. They could defend that position until reinforcements arrived.
Benny ran around the SUV, firing over his shoulder at the two shooters, no doubt deciding the same thing.
Adare took a deep breath, caught Jacqueline’s eye, and she nodded, prepared to provide cover. She partially stood just as he bunched to run, sliding across the ice to the SUV and around it, landing behind her and pressing his back to the vehicle. “Thanks.”
She ducked down, excitement dancing in her eyes. “Plan?”
Grace crouched on her knees, her hands on the SUV. “I need a gun,” she said, her eyes wide.
He reached to the back of his waist for the Max-20, one of the Realm’s most deadly firearms, and handed it over. “Aim for center mass.”
She took the weapon and it looked far too large in her delicate hands, which were shaking. The cold had turned her skin pink, but her movements were deliberate.
Benny leaned around the rear of the SUV and fired as more bullets impacted the vehicle, shredding glass and metal in every direction. The tires popped with loud hisses, and the engine blew with the sound of metal shrieking. The smell of gasoline and other liquids morphed together into a warning that they should flee and now.
Adare grasped Grace’s arm. “We need to run for the house.” He had to cover Grace and fire, and he’d be faster carrying her than dragging her. “Just hold on to me.” He looked toward Benny. “Provide cover until I hit the porch, and then I’ll do the same for the two of you once I get Grace inside.”
“I can shoot,” Grace said, her voice harsh.
“Once we’re inside the home,” Adare said. The female had trouble healing an injured wrist; who knew what a series of immortals’ bullets would do to her. “Get ready.”
The first SUV rolled to a stop, and three Cyst jumped out. The elite soldiers and so-called spiritual leaders of the Kurjan nation rarely engaged in small skirmishes. In the eerie darkness, their creepy white hair and red eyes made it look as if evil had decided to join the fight.
“Shit,” Benny muttered, firing rapidly.
A whoosh of sound penetrated the storm, an explosion cracked, and the entire area was lit by fire. Wood and debris flew in every direction through the snowstorm, falling fast. Adare grasped Grace and folded his body over hers, grunting as a coffee pot slammed into his back. Even though his torso was protected by his Seven shield, the impact still jolted his body. Heat flashed toward them.
Adare waited a beat to make sure nothing else was falling before turning to see what remained of the flaming cabin. The Kurjans had blown up the entire structure.
Benny ducked low as a multitude of shots slammed into the SUV and the trees behind them. “New plan?”
Adare pulled Grace up, keeping her pinned against the rear tire and safe from fiery falling debris. A hill, thick with snow and trees, rose behind them, leading to a mountain. If they went that way, they’d be easy to track, and the going would be too slow to find safety.
The second SUV came up on the other side, and three more Kurjans, their black hair visible against the snow, jumped out of the car. They were fully armed.
“Think we can get out of here with two tires blown?” Jacqueline twisted back to the sedan, her gun in hand.
“Not far,” Adare said. “Ben? Can you get to the explosives in the rear of the SUV?”
Benny, blood flowing down from a cut above his eyebrow, nodded. “Might as well give it a try. They’re gonna blow anyway.”
He had a point. “I’ll cover you.” Adare looked at Grace, who’d gone stark white. “Keep your back to the tire so they can’t shoot you beneath the carriage. I’ll be right back.”
She nodded, her eyes dark with shock, her hands surprisingly steady on the gun.
Jacqueline edged around the front again. “Feels like old times, right?”
Even in the old times, they’d never been outgunned like this.
The shooting stopped for a moment. Adare paused, looking at Benny, whose face was set in furious lines.
A loud voice, garbled yet strong, came through the storm. “Just give us the Key, and we’ll go.”
Well, shit.
* * * *
The Key? Grace held her position against the snow-covered tire, her mind swirling. This was her fault. Obviously the Kurjans had found her interaction with Freddy on the internet and had managed to trace her here. Now Nick and Simone’s house had been blown up, and there was no escape from the fight. There was only one solution that would keep everyone from being killed. She swallowed, sucking in freezing air. “They won’t kill me. Yet. I’ll go.”
Adare turned his head almost in slow motion to face her. Bruises mottled the left side of his face, and blood trickled from beneath his jaw. “Have you lost your mind?”
She clutched the heavy weapon with her gloves, even though her hands were freezing. Her stomach cramped, but her mind quickly calculated the odds. They sucked. “No. There’s no way out of here, and we’re definitely outnumbered. They have to have all three Keys to kill at once, and they’ll only have me.” She’d at least understood that much of the mythology. She knew her plan made sense. Her voice shook, but she couldn’t stop it. “That’ll give you time to find me.” With a lot more soldiers at his back.
“No.” He motioned for Benny to get the explosives out of the rear of the SUV. “I smell gas. We need to get away from this thing.”
“You have five seconds to decide,” the booming voice continued.
Taking a deep breath, Grace levered herself up to look through the broken windows. With one glance, every organ in her body froze. She’d never seen Cyst soldiers in real life, and they were much bigger than in the drawings Adare had shown her years ago. These were the religious leaders of the Kurjans, but they looked like the bringers of death. One stood in the headlights of the SUV, his stance wide, weapons visible against his black uniform. A strip of white hair down his head continued into a long braid; the remainder of his head was bald and paler than the snow. Despite the storm and distance, she could see that his eyes were an odd purplish red. He apparently stopped counting and reached for a glowing green gun at his waist.
“Wait,” she called out. “Just give me a minute.”
He paused, his gaze swinging toward her location.
“Stop it,” Adare hissed.
Benny pulled the back hatch open an inch. Then another.
Grace panted as her heart rate sped up uncontrollably. In addition to the Cyst, there were at least seven Kurjans spread out, all armed, all waiting. They had either black hair tipped with red or red hair tipped with black, frighteningly pale skin, and light, purplish eyes. Most were closer to seven feet tall than six, and they were lean and muscled. The drawings she’d seen hadn’t done justice to how frightening they appeared. She looked up at the sky, praying for a hint of sun to weaken them.
The clouds were too thick.
Benny pulled a long box out of the hatch and slid it back to Adare, who ripped it open.
It was ten Kurjans and Cysts to the four of them, and though she knew Adare and Benny were good, nobody was that good. Grace bunched her legs to run.
“You won’t make it,” Adare said grimly, not looking up from a set of six square gray blocks with silver pins. “But start bargaining with them as I set these.”
Okay. She could do this. Her stomach rolled over and she forced herself not to gag. “Um, promise you won’t kill me,” she yelled, not having to make her voice shake since it did so on its own. They didn’t answer, so she cleared her throat and tried to kick some ice loudly to give the impression that she was on the move. She had no clue what she was doing.
Adare pressed something on the gray squares and handed a couple to Benny, took several, and then pushed the box toward Jacqueline. “You still have an arm?”
The shifter nodded, her eyes gleaming. “Definitely, and you’re gonna like these explosives. They’re new generation.”
“Okay.” Adare crouched, one in each hand. “Benny, you throw at the group to the left, Jacki right, and I’ll hit the bastard in the middle. Grace, the second these land, you shoot through the window at anything still moving, but keep your body down. On two.”
She couldn’t breathe. A buzzing set up between her ears, but she clutched the gun, waiting for the signal. Thank goodness she’d spent the last five years learning to protect herself.
“Two,” Adare muttered, standing up and heaving the square toward the Cysts while the other two did the same.
There was a beat of silence and then a rush of movement. Three explosions echoed in a row, and a cry of agony came from the left. Grace lifted up, aimed, and fired toward the different smoldering fires. A series of gunshots instantly impacted the SUV from every direction, and she ducked down to protect her head.
Adare threw another square, while Benny and Jacqueline did the same.
A clink sounded, and then a larger explosion annihilated the stormy day. Shaking violently, Grace lifted and fired the gun again, sending green lasers that turned into steel bullets toward a burning SUV that had smoke and fire billowing out of its interior.
At least six soldiers were still standing, spread out and approaching from three directions.
Benny grunted. “I’ll get another box.”
A Cyst soldier threw something into the SUV, and it glowed in the back seat.
“Fuck,” Adare shouted, manacling Grace around the waist and turning them toward the trees, running full bore through the snow.
The blast threw them into the air, and he tucked himself around her, holding tight. She screamed, her eyes shutting as they were propelled through the trees and landed in the snow, sinking several feet. Faster than she could blink, Adare was on his feet and shoving her behind a large spruce tree with icicles hanging from its branches.
She coughed snow out of her mouth.
Several more explosions detonated as the devices in the rear of the SUV all caught fire. He ducked as a wave of heat washed over the snowy land.
Grace tightened her hold on her gun. “There’s only one solution,” she whispered, the wind nearly stealing her voice. “I have to go with them.” He’d saved her once, and she had to do the same for him. Even if she had to shoot him to do it.
Benny leaned up from a tree to the left, half of his face burning. “Not a good idea.”
Jacqueline crouched to the right behind a spruce, her arm bleeding red onto the snow. “It’s our only chance.”
Unfortunately, it was a true statement. The wind blasted into the forest with the smell of burning metal and flesh. The enemy were advancing and fast, their heavy footsteps on ice echoing through the storm. “What the hell do you think I’ve been doing for five years?” she hissed.
Adare frowned.
“I’ve been training.” Well, as much as she could with her schedule. “Yeah, I’ve taken pictures and worked, but I’ve learned to fight and shoot, just for this kind of situation. I’ll go, stay alive, and you’ll come for me.” It was the only option.
“No,” Adare said.
Grace lifted her gun. Adare’s chest had been sealed with an impenetrable shield in the Seven ritual, but his head was another matter. He’d be out of commission for a while, but he’d survive a bullet.
“I’m not giving you a choice.” She aimed right between his eyes.
Chapter 7
Adare jolted, the adrenaline flooding his system seeming to coagulate in his brain as he looked into the barrel of his own gun. Grace held the weapon high, her face unnaturally pale and the pupils of her eyes all but swallowing up the color of her irises. She looked small and determined against the tree with the wind whipping her hair around wildly and snow covering her from head-to-toe.
“Don’t make me shoot you,” she whispered, her voice shaking even more than her hands. She might just shoot him by accident if she didn’t calm down.
The Kurjans were advancing, and he didn’t have time for this. “Put the weapon down.”
“No.” Regret crossed her face and her shoulders went back. “I’ll try not to hit your brain.”
He turned and fired at a Kurjan who crossed around the burning heap that had been Adare’s SUV. The soldier scrambled back for cover. “Grace? It took us three years to finally find one of the Cyst strongholds.” It was easier to find the Kurjans, but to win this war, they needed to take out the Cyst faction of the Kurjan force. “If they get you, we might never find you.”
