Holocaust (The Deadwood Hunter Series Book 3) (12 page)

By the time Lucy emerged, the forest was flooded with the dim grey light of dawn. Lexia tensed, waiting to see the wolves’ intentions. Lucy trampled through the trees, blissfully unaware of the danger surrounding her, but the wolves made no move. They simply watched her go.

Lexia waited for Lucy to walk ahead and the wolves to clear and then made her way quietly back. Head full of thoughts, she struggled to grasp hold of a plan. Lexia needed more information to make a solid strategy and there were still so many people she cared about that could end up being collateral damage.

The image of Alice, hatred so vivid in her eyes, taunted her as she walked.
There is already too much collateral damage.

Biding her time wasn’t going to be an easy thing, but necessary. If she moved too soon, Lucy might survive and if she did…events would surely repeat themselves.

Chapter 14

“You’re late!” Derrick snapped as Lexia walked into the training center. Her steps didn’t falter, causing Derrick to jog to keep up. “I’ve been calling you,” he whispered harshly.

“Forgot my phone,” she replied coolly. “I went to visit Alice but she wasn’t there.”

Derrick jumped into Lexia’s path. “That’s what I was ringing you for.”

Lexia snapped to sharp focus, “What is it? Is she all right?” she asked urgently.

Derrick never had chance to answer. Alice’s voice echoed around the large room, her tone sounding familiar and alien all at once.

“Just peachy, Lex. Or is it Maura now?”

Lexia stepped around Derrick, her heart breaking a little more. . She stared at her best friend with the dark gold eyes of a stranger.

“You don't have to be here. There is no need for you to fight,” Lexia said quietly, the tremor in her fingers indicating she was coming undone.

The cruel, twisted smile that appeared on her face was nothing like the girl she'd once known.

“Why, Lex...Maura, am I not good enough to be in your little group?” Alice walked toward her, the hatred in her eyes growing with intensity the nearer she got. “Maybe you should have thought about that before you turned me into this.” She waved her hands down her body. Her words were full of such venom, they cut.

“Please, Alice, I...I never wanted this,” Lexia begged, wishing, praying her friend was still in there, somewhere.

Alice’s laugh was cruel and bitter, nothing at all like the joyful laughter she'd once possessed. “You look like Lexia to me. Still weak…still pathetic.”

Lexia didn't move; she was frozen in shock, slowly crumbling inside. She never reacted as Alice’s hands connected with her chest. She flew backward landing in a heap on the floor, the air leaving her in a rush. Sharp intakes of breath came from everyone around her. Lexia looked around not really taking in their shocked faces; all she saw was the monster her best friend had become...because of her, because she'd done nothing.

“Maura.”

Lexia focused on Derrick’s voice, the look on his face confirmed what she felt. Her mask was slipping; she was coming undone. Tears pooled in her eyes, her heart beating a rapid pace.

“What are you staring at? Drop and give me a hundred, now!” Derrick’s command was obeyed by all but Alice. “You. Go back to your room now before I have you imprisoned.”

With a satisfied smile, Alice sauntered away, not looking at all frightened by Derrick’s threat. He hauled Lexia to her feet, leading her away from her unit. “Get it together, Lex, before your mother finds out,” he whispered.

Get it together.
He was right. She needed to end this. She needed to do something before more innocent lives were lost. Playing the game and biding her time was off the cards.
It’s time to take action. To find those five names.

Pacing away from Derrick, her newfound determination held her broken pieces together.

“Where are you going?” Derrick hissed, striding to keep up.

“To get help. It's time to finish this,” she replied firmly.

“What? Lex, how?” he gasped.

“Wolves, Derrick. Wolves,” she replied with a smile, looking back. “Take the lesson will you,” Lexia added, closing the door in his face.

Derrick stared dumbstruck as she marched away.

First, she needed a bargaining chip. The wolves wouldn’t trust her without evidence.

Walking through the compound unseen during the day wasn’t an easy task. Without her ability to read auras, it would have been impossible. She stood staring at the smooth metal covering the door she hoped had her bargaining chip inside. Her only problem: there was someone in the room.

Walking further down the corridor, her back pressed to the rough concrete wall. Glancing at her watch, Lexia decided to wait the forty minutes ‘til lunch. Most of the humans inhabiting the compound all ate together in the mess hall.

She’d heard rumors of what lay behind the door, horrible enough to keep her away.

On cue, the door opened and the small female human wandered out on her way to lunch. Lexia moved quickly, her fingers wrapping around the edge of the door before it closed and then she slipped inside.

Thankfully, there were no cameras on this side of the compound. No cameras, no evidence of the horror going on behind closed doors. Lexia felt as if she’d walked into a movie set. The laboratory looked befitting of a horror movie. Jars of unidentifiable objects lined shelves, glass cabinets looked to be filled with all matter of concoctions, but it was the far end of the room that interested Lexia. Four small cells filled the tiny space and three were occupied.

“Help me. Help me,” came a gravelly whisper.

Lexia stopped, peering inside the first cell.

“Blood. I need blood,” it continued.

The vampire was unrecognizable, looking nothing like the ones she’d killed before. Its skin had shriveled; it was nothing more than skin and bone. She wondered how long it would take without blood for a vampire to look this bad. It looked at her, its red cloudy eyes desperate. “Please,” it begged, lifting an unsteady arm toward her.

Lexia swallowed the bile in her throat and opened the door, wasting no more time pitying a creature who fed on blood. Pulling her sword swiftly from its sheath, she levered off its head.

Without a second thought, Lexia closed the cell and moved on. The next prisoner was so badly beaten it resembled nothing more than flesh and blood. Reading its aura confirmed it wasn’t worth rescuing. Whatever had been done to it had either darkened its soul, or it had started out that way. With a swing of her sword, it was dead, and she turned to the last cell.

Inside, huddled a woman, her clothes so torn and ragged, they hardly covered her skinny body. Apart from looking half-starved and one bruise covering her eye and cheek, she seemed relatively fine.

The woman hadn’t noticed Lexia. She was lost in her own world, rocking backward and forward, saying Adam over and over.

Lexia unlocked her cell, but it only made the woman curl into herself, her rocking increasing.

“Hey, I’m here to save you, not hurt you,” Lexia whispered gently, her heart breaking for the woman.

Her rocking slowed as she looked up, her eyes huge and frightened.

“I d-don’t und-derstand. You’re, you’re a hu…” Her words trailed off as if she was too scared to say them.

“A hunter,” Lexia confirmed. Over time, she’d lost her hatred of the word – not all hunters were evil. “But not like the others. Come on, little wolf. If you’d like to get out of here alive, come with me now.” Lexia reached out her hand.

“How’d you know I’m a wolf?” she whispered, staring at her outstretched hand, still unsure if Lexia could be trusted.

Lexia let the power circulating around her body drop, giving way to the blue eyes of the girl she once was. Smiling, she repeated, “Because I’m not like the others.” The woman took her hand, allowing Lexia to pull her up and help her from the cell.

“How are we getting out of here?” she asked, eyes staring at the other two occupants. “That one used to be a shifter.” She trembled, horror in every quiver. “I was next.”

“You are not next.” Lexia shook the hideous images from her mind. She didn’t have the luxury of cracking from fear, of succumbing to the terror. “Follow me and be quiet,” she told her. If the wolf shifter was frightened, she didn’t say anything. She replied with a firm nod, the look on her face one of determination.

Lexia reached out with her mind. Feeling no one nearby, she opened the door. They walked quickly away but soon ran into company. “Damn it,” Lexia muttered, pausing.

“What is it?” the woman hissed.

“Company.” Glancing around, she said, “Quick, in here.”

“How do you know? I can’t…wait, yes, I hear them.”

“Inside now,” Lexia snapped, gesturing toward the door.

They’d entered a laundry room. Lexia grabbed the nearest set of clean clothes to her and thrust them at the woman. “Get dressed.”

Once clear, Lexia carried on through the compound, the shifter wolf following her. Her plan to take her out through the same exit she used in the morning wasn’t the best of escapes. The outside of the compound was heavily guarded during the day, but Lexia could think of no other escape.

They’d almost made it when Lexia sensed her mother’s dark energy coming up from behind.

“Run!” Lexia hissed, taking hold of the woman’s hand and dragging her along.

“What’s wrong?” she gasped, struggling to keep up.

“Someone’s coming.”

“Can’t we hide?” the woman asked, breathing heavily.

“There is only one door unlocked down here.” Lexia’s heart was hammering so loud in her ears, it was a wonder it didn’t burst. She reached her door just as the sound of Lucy’s heels clicking echoed off the thick walls.

The shifter’s breath caught in her throat. Lexia pulled her to a stop, opening the door to her room and thrusting her inside.

“Maura,” Lucy called.

Pulling in a deep breath, Lexia squared her shoulders and turned around, a fake smile gracing her lips. She pulled the door closed as she spoke, “Mother.”

“I came by to the training center to see you, and it was of great surprise to find Derrick instead of you.”

“Sorry, Mother, I was running late. I’m just on my way there now.”

“No, you’re not. You’re needed with me,” she snapped, turning and walking away.

Lexia knew she was expected to follow, but she couldn’t just leave the wolf shifter inside her room.

“I’ll catch up in a moment. I just need to fetch something from my room.”

Lucy stopped dead, her cold eyes looking at Lexia with annoyance. “I’ll wait. Be quick.”

Lexia dashed into her room, her hands trembling as she leaned back against the closed door.

“Is she gone?”

Lexia looked up at the shifter, shaking her head in a silent no. “What’s your name?”

“Sahara.”

“Look, Sahara, I need you to stay here. That woman out there wants me to go with her and she’s not the type of woman you say no to. Stay in this room and you’ll be safe. Understand?”

Her face dropped, filling with fear, but she nodded before sitting on a nearby chair.

Lexia walked to her bedside table, retrieving the key to her room she’d never used before. “I’ll be back soon,” she whispered, picking up another weapon as she left, locking Sahara in behind her.

“Ready, so what do you need from me?” Lexia said, strapping the knife to her thigh.

“Was another weapon necessary?” Lucy asked.

“One can never be too careful, Mother,” Lexia replied, in her best ‘Maura’ tone.

Lucy glared but didn’t question her. “I require a few things from you. First we’re going to see Sarah.”

“Oh, okay. What about?”

“Nothing really. Just a reminder to hurry along. I do not like others inside my compound,” Lucy told her, sounding genuine.

“And my role?” Lexia asked, wondering Lucy’s intentions.

“To simply look menacing and show a united front. After all, that was our deal, wasn’t it, my dear daughter?”

“Derrick’s deal,” Lexia corrected harshly.