Phantom Warriors: Riot (10 page)

Nina’s head shot up as a monstrous sound
battered the woods. She couldn’t tell where it had come from, but
it had sounded
close
. Birds instantly stopped chirping and
the forest shivered, then grew unnaturally quiet. Hank and Mark
looked around nervously.

“What was that Hank?” Mark ran a shaky hand
through his red hair, then clutched his pistol.

Hank’s grip on Nina’s arm tightened and he
checked the safety on his shotgun. “Don’t know. Don’t care,” he
said, but she felt his hands tremble.

He yanked her forward and she stumbled,
falling onto the ground. Hank didn’t give her a chance to get up.
Instead, he pulled her to her feet, dragging her over twigs and
rough stones.

“Where are we going?” Nina asked.

“We’re going to scare you. Scare you bad,”
Mark said in a taunting voice. “You won’t ever come back in these
woods again. Right Hank?”

Hank nodded, but the look on his face said he
had more in mind than just frightening her. The stark hatred
burning in his eyes scared Nina more than any verbal threat.

“Why are you doing this?” she asked.

“You know why,” he spat.

Nina shook her head. “I’ll pay for the traps.
Just let me go.”

He squeezed harder. “I don’t take handouts
from red trash. You people with your casinos and government checks
go around flaunting your status as a sovereign nation, while
hardworking folks like us lose everything. We don’t get a land
grant from the government. We have to buy our own. It ain’t right.”
Hank shook her so hard that her teeth rattled.

“Yeah,” Mark said. “The least you can do is
give up a few bears.”

“Oh, she’ll do more than that,” Hank said.
“She’s going to bring the bears to us. Aren’t you sweetie?”

How did they expect her to do that?

They marched her deeper into the woods.
Nothing looked familiar. Nina spotted a small clearing up ahead,
then a drop off where the land sloped down. She could hear water
running, but it didn’t sound deep. A creek? Maybe if she could
twist out of his hold, she could get to the creek and follow it
downstream. It would have to lead back to the Qualla
Boundary…eventually.

“Don’t even think about it,” Hank said. “I’ll
fill your backside full of buckshot before you make it ten
steps.”

Nina shivered as her body broke out in a cold
sweat.

“Tie her to that trunk.” Hank pointed to the
nearest tree.

Mark grabbed her arm and wrapped one end of
the rope around her wrist. He pulled her over to the tree that Hank
had indicated, and looped the rope around the trunk before tying
her other wrist. Nina twisted her hands. If she kept twisting, she
might be able to work herself free. Even as the thought crossed her
mind, Mark wrapped the rope around her body until she was trussed
like a Thanksgiving turkey. He tied the ends behind the tree, way
out of her reach.

Unless a hiker stumbled upon them, she wasn’t
going anywhere until they released her. Which from the looks of
things, wouldn’t be anytime soon. No one knew where she was or who
she was with. With Harold in the hospital and her shifts at the
clinic over for the week, no one would even think to look. Oh
Harold would notice when she didn’t show up for her daily visits,
but he wouldn’t be able to do anything about it, but worry. Her
eyes started to burn, but she blinked back the tears. She wouldn’t
give these men the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

The men proceeded to set up snares and bear
traps around the perimeter. They even placed one by her feet. Nina
pulled at the ropes, while they were distracted. No matter which
way she twisted the ropes wouldn’t budge. Mark may be stupid, but
it was obvious he knew how to tie a good knot. By the time they’d
finished laying out all the bear traps, all she’d managed to do was
scrape her wrists raw and tighten the rope. Each breath cut into
her chest, compressing her lungs.

“Could you please loosen the rope a little? I
can’t breathe.”

Mark took a step in her direction, but was
stopped short by Hank.

“You should’ve thought about that before you
tried to wiggle out of it,” Hank said. “Take shallow breaths.
You’ll be fine. Least until the bears get here.” Hank walked up to
Nina and pulled a knife out of his pocket. He flicked the blade
open and stared at her. The knife wasn’t long, but the curved blade
looked well cared for and sharp.

Nina straightened against the tree trunk.
“What do you plan to do with that?”

“You need bait in order to catch bear.” His
gaze scrolled down the front of her long-sleeved T-shirt, but there
was nothing sexual about the look he gave her. “We forgot ours, so
you’ll do.” Hank’s hand shot out. The blade sliced through her
shirtsleeve and opened the skin on her arm. Blood welled, then
began to run along the cut before dropping onto the leaves at her
feet.

It took the pain a second to register. When
it did, Nina screamed.

He cut her again, tearing through her other
arm. She thought he might stop then, but he didn’t. Instead, Hank
moved onto her abdomen, crisscrossing over her stomach. Blood made
her shirt stick to her body. The cuts weren’t fatal, but they were
deep enough to bleed for a while. Happy with his handy work, he
stepped back.

Mark’s face was green and his eyes were wide
with fright. He obviously hadn’t anticipated this part of Hank’s
plan. He stumbled over to a nearby tree and ducked his head behind
it. Retching followed. Nina listened to him empty his stomach. Her
mouth watered and she barely kept her breakfast down. Her skin
burned. Every breath hurt.

“Get yourself together!” Hank shouted. “It
won’t take long for the bears to smell her.”

Mark staggered out from behind the tree, his
face pale and his hands shaky. He wiped his mouth with the back of
his sleeve, then carefully made his way to the creek. Nina heard
splashing and gargling. When he returned, his color looked better,
but he appeared wary of Hank. He should be. If things went the
direction she imagined, neither she nor Mark would be leaving these
woods today.

Riot ran through the woods frantically,
stopping every so often to sniff the air. Where was she? What had
they done with her? He snarled and switched directions, nearly
missing the sweet aroma wafting on the breeze. His ears perked as
he jerked his head toward the scent. He inhaled again and froze as
the coppery perfume registered with his beast. Blood. And lots of
it. Riot filled his lungs, his head swimming as the delicate
fragrance washed over him again.

Nina.

Fear enveloped him, locking every muscle,
while causing his hearts to hammer in his chest. Never in his long
life had he ever experienced this level of bone shattering fear.
Not in the midst of battle. Not when he’d fallen under an enemy’s
sword. Never. Nina had scrapped her hands the night they’d met,
when she’d fallen into the shallow ravine. Riot had gotten a good
whiff of her blood then. He’d recognize her scent anywhere. He was
moving before the thought filtered through his mind. Nina was
hurt—or worse.

She had to be alive.

He couldn’t think of any other possibility.
Refused to. Riot barreled through the woods, shattering small trees
into kindling and crushing the underbrush beneath his massive paws.
His anger quickly morphed into despair, as the scent grew stronger.
Riot was so focused on reaching her that he didn’t see the first
trap. For once, his massive size worked in his favor. The trap bent
under his considerable weight.

Riot bellowed in rage. He couldn’t see Nina
yet, but the smell of her blood was so thick that it practically
dripped from the sky. He caught movement out of the corner of his
eye. The sun glimmered on something silver a second before there
was a loud crack. Pain seared Riot’s side. A crimson blossom
appeared along with a hole where his flesh used to be.

Riot roared again and changed directions
mid-stride, bearing down on the man holding the pistol. He caught
sight of Nina bound to a tree. Tears streamed down her cheeks and
blood covered her shirt.

“Get out of here. It’s a trap!” she
screamed.

Riot switched directions again and ran toward
her.

“Watch out for the snares!” she shouted.

He stepped on one and it sprang up toward the
treetops. It yanked Riot’s right foot out from under him and
toppled him onto the ground.

“We got him Hank!” The man who’d shot him
shouted. “We got the big one.”

“He’s not down yet. Finish him off.” Another
man stepped out from behind a tree and raised the barrel of a
longer weapon and pointed it at Riot’s head.

Nina jerked at the ropes binding her. “No!
Don’t shoot him! He’s the Great Bear. You can’t kill him.”

The man snorted in disbelief and took careful
aim. “He’s just a bear.”

Riot jumped to his feet. He raised his free
paw, spreading his massive claws wide, then sliced through the
metal holding his right leg like it was fine lace.

“What the hell?” the red-haired man said, as
he took a step back. “How he do that Hank? He shouldn’t have been
able to do that.”

“Damn it Mark! Shoot him! Shoot him now!”

Both men took aim. Riot’s image wavered and
he disappeared.

***

Nina shook her head to clear it. Her brain
refused to believe what her eyes were telling it. The bear had
disappeared. One minute, he’d been in front of her. The next he was
gone. But bears couldn’t just disappear, she reasoned.
They
could if they were the Great Bear,
the little voice inside her
head chided. She glanced around the clearing, but there was no sign
of Riot.

“Where’d he go?” Mark scoured the clearing,
and then looked down the slopped hill. “Hank?”

“Shut up!” Hank shouted. “I’m trying to
think.” He walked over to where Nina was tied, to examine the
ground.

Nina followed his gaze and noted the smeared
bear tracks and fresh blood. Her heart slammed against her ribs
painfully. The Great Bear was hurt.

“He couldn’t have gone far. You shot him.”
Hank sounded far more reasonable than the situation called for.

“But he disappeared.” Mark’s brow furrowed,
making it look like two red caterpillars were inching their way
across his forehead. “Bears can’t disappear.”

Hank rounded on him. “Don’t you think I know
that? Shut up and let me think.” After a few more minutes of
silence, Hank approached her. “Why were you talking to it?”

“What?” Nina asked.

He backhanded her before she saw him raise
his hand. “I’m going to ask you again. Why were you talking to that
bear like it could understand you?”

Nina clenched her jaw, then turned her head
to spit blood out. “I talk to all the animals. I’m a vet. It’s what
I do.”

Hank smacked her again. “You were warning
this one to stay away. Are you somehow controlling it? Is that why
it disappeared?”

“Are you listening to yourself?” she
asked.

He raised his hand.

Nina flinched.

“I’m going to give you one more chance to
answer. If you don’t say the right thing, then I’ll start to think
that you’ve outlived your usefulness.” He glared at her, but his
gaze kept shifting to the woods around them.

“I didn’t make the bear disappear. I have no
idea how he did that.”

Hank brought his face next to hers until Nina
choked on his rancid breath. “But you do know more than you’re
telling us.”

She started to shake her head no, but stopped
short when she got a good look at his expression.

“Now here’s what’s going to happen. You’re
going to call out to the bear. Get it to come back from wherever it
went. And when it does, I’m going to blow its head clean off its
shoulders,” Hank said.

“And if I refuse?” Nina asked.

“Then you’ll be joining the bear in the
afterlife,” he spat. “Now call him!”

***

Riot’s side burned, but the pain was nothing
compared to the anger churning inside of him. How dare this puny
male threaten Nina’s life! He moved around the perimeter of the
clearing, examining each trap that they’d set for him. It was easy
enough to disable them, but he did so with care to make sure the
men wouldn’t immediately notice until it was too late. He watched
them take their positions on opposite sides of the small clearing.
This would give them a clear shot at anything unfortunate enough to
wander in. With any luck, they’d end up killing each other. Riot
glanced at Nina. Tears still shimmered in her eyes, but her fear
had been replaced by rage. He needed to get her clear before the
men started firing. It would be all too easy for her to be killed
in the crossfire.

He finished with the last trap, then made his
way to Nina’s tree. Riot needed to let her know that he was still
there, but he didn’t want to startle her. The men would notice and
want to know why. He moved as close as he dared, then leaned in
next to her ear. “Nina, can you hear me?”

She jerked to attention and slowly looked
around.

“You’re not hearing things,” Riot said.

“How?” she whispered.

“How isn’t important right now. What is
important is that I get you out of here. Nod if you
understand.”

Nina gave him a slight, almost imperceptible,
nod.

“Good. Now I’m going to slice through the
ropes holding you. I want you to keep your hands in place until I
tell you to move,” Riot said.

Another slight head jerk.

“Call to him!” Hank shouted.

“Do as he says,” Riot said.

She inhaled deeply and said, “Bear. Here
bear. Where are you?”

Hank scowled. “What in the hell are you
doing?”

“I’m calling to the bear like you asked me
to,” Nina said.

“That’s not how you call a bear,” Hank
said.