Talons (38 page)

Gideon could hardly stomach the sight
of her as he pushed her ahead of him. Eli wanted all the traitors
executed. He took no pleasure in this part of his duty.

“
We wouldn’t want to
disappoint him then,” Gideon snapped.

“
I’m sorry, Grandfather.”
Lydia avoided his eyes. “I have my beliefs and you have yours. Many
of us want to return to the old ways. We’re tired of Eli’s control
over us.”

“
So you would follow Ryken?”
Gideon asked in disgust and shook his head. “My guess is you would
bring about all our destruction if he was allowed to succeed in
this. The humans would never allow us to take over their world,
Lydia. Be lucky we have any existence at all, and be happy for
it.

Gideon and the warriors took the packs
off the children’s backs and the bombs were gathered up. He gazed
contemptuously at Lydia as he handed the last one off to one of his
men.

“
Eli has not decided your
fate,” he said coldly, his orange eyes burning into hers. “You’re
to be tried when this is all over before the tribe. They will
decide what is to be done with you.”

Lydia looked sick as she was led away.
She hoped for a quick execution but it would be up to the tribe
now. She hadn’t counted upon that. Eli was using the whole premise
for their war against them now. In giving the people a voice in
this, the dissent spread by their group would be diffused. Regret
filled her to know she chose this path.

Gideon had no mercy in his gaze as he
ordered his men to take her below and lock her in a holding cell
within the facility. The children looked up at him with fear in
their gazes. He softened somewhat as he gazed down at
them.

“
Have any of you ever seen a
real farm?” he asked brusquely.

The six children perked up, all shaking
their heads.

Gideon smiled and pushed the elevator
button. “Follow me and you can see ours. It’s a hobby of
mine.”

~~~~

Ryken got Lydia’s text and smiled as he
pulled the detonator out of his jacket. The button on it would set
off the first explosion. The second ones would be detonated when
they arrived at the compound. Dean and his troops were waiting in
the woods for his signal, all one hundred and seven of them,
growling and pawing at the earth.

He paused with his finger over the
button, thinking of how he would enjoy killing Eli and his children
in front of Vivvie. He hoped Eli writhed in Hell to know his mate
would breed the first of his line. The button was pressed and he
heard the sounds of an explosion in the distance.

His troops knew the explosion was their
cue to attack. He dumped all of his gear in the trunk of the
vehicle they stole from Hertz and stripped down. The second group
of his men would stay in form with weapons, waiting for the second
explosion to converge. He shifted and went down on all fours,
growling as he ran across the road to join Dean and the others, a
euphoric wave of victory making his steps light as they flew over
the woods.

~~~~

“
Push now, that’s it,”
Jericho encouraged as he knelt between Vivvie’s legs. “You can do
it we’re almost there with the first one.”

Sweat covered Vivvie and she was biting
down on her wallet to keep from screaming. She endured the last
hours in agonized silence, her eyes clinging to Jericho’s as he
talked to her encouragingly through her labor.

“
It won’t be long now,
Vivvie,” he said as the head was delivered, holding her hand
soothingly as she bit down furiously, her face nearly purple in her
effort to stem the flow of cries trapped in her parched
throat.

Vivvie’s only thought was of Eli now,
knowing from the scent in the air that the battle begun outside the
cave. She heard distantly the sounds of fierce roaring and growling
outside. The sounds of animals tramping through the woods made her
endure the birth in silence. If only for the fate of her children,
she managed it.

Ryken would kill them all if they were
found in the cave. Jericho assured her the beasts outside were too
involved in their war to investigate their hiding spot. He
whispered encouragement as she bore down, the shoulders of her
child sliding free at last. Jericho let out a whoop of delight as
he delivered her son. He removed a pocket knife and cut the cord
and tied it off.

“
Your son is healthy,
Vivvie,” Jericho said admiringly as he placed the wriggling newborn
into her arms. “Now let’s meet that daughter of yours.”

Vivvie’s eyes clung to the tiny face as
she pushed, biting down hard into her wallet. The child’s eyes were
blue like Eli’s and glowed into hers. The baby seemed to know how
she struggled and didn’t cry out.

It will be ok,
Mother.

Vivvie was riddled with too much pain
to answer her son. Jericho’s words were lost upon her as the second
child emerged. She sobbed behind the fierce clamping of the wallet,
feeling her daughter slide from her at last.

Jericho looked dumbfounded as he held
the small newborn covered in blood and amniotic fluid. He cut the
cord and gazed at Vivvie with surprise in his features. Vivvie only
had eyes for her daughter as Jericho placed her in her arms as
well.

The baby had glowing green eyes and
gurgled contentedly, staring up at her with a furrowed brow. A
small tiny fist went to a tiny rosebud mouth, but she remained as
silent as her brother. They seemed to know not to make a sound as
Jericho took care of her. The child spoke to her in her
mind.

Mother, when do we get to
meet Father?

Soon. Very soon.

Jericho looked at both babies with such
incredulity now, Vivvie was getting annoyed.

“
What is it?” she asked as
she held both infants to her chest, concern in her gaze.

Jericho shook his head. “Nothing,
they’re both perfect and healthy, Vivvie. Everything is
fine.”

Jericho gazed at them again in wonder
before he went to the task of delivering the afterbirths. Vivvie
knew by tribal custom she was expected to shift and eat them now,
but given the circumstances, Jericho said it could wait.

When Vivvie was nursing both babies,
Jericho got up and investigated the opening of the cave. They heard
loud shrieks of the beasts in the distance. He returned to her side
with a worried look.

“
You can leave and go to
them if you need to, Jericho,” she said tensely, her eyes meeting
his in understanding. “I’ll be fine.”

“
Eli would kill me if I left
you,” Jericho said and shook his head emphatically. “My place is
here, protecting you and our future leaders.”

“
Leaders?” she asked. “I
assumed it would be the male.”

Jericho scratched his head, unable to
understand how such a miracle took place. “No, we have two now.
Don’t for the life of me know how, but there you have
it.”

Vivvie went back to ogling her
children, in awe of them and their happy chatter as they nursed.
She was so involved in the mental conversation with them, she
completely tuned Jericho out.

“
Eli will find us,” Jericho
promised as he sat next to her. “Have you thought of
names?”

Vivvie frowned. “I have a few picked
out, but none of them seemed to appeal to Eli. I couldn’t pin him
down on even one. I guess we can decide when all of this is
over.”

Jericho smiled as he looked down at
her, his yellow-green gaze filled with amusement. “Your husband
will be pleasantly surprised, Vivvie.”

~~~~

Eli sustained only minor wounds and
already healing rapidly when the battle wore down. Gideon led the
battle from the front and Ty brought the rest of the troops from
behind, trapping Ryken and his rag tag army in between. The Florida
beasts were slow and easy to slay. Not having the benefit of their
powers; they were killed easily. Snapping jaws and ferocious
growling grew muted as the battle waged through the day.

Eli ran quickly to the forefront,
looking for Ryken among the slaughtered beasts that converged
within the meadow. Gideon and his band of warriors quickly
dispatched the five followers from their tribe that led the revolt.
Dean and Ryken were not among the dead or dying. Eli circled the
growing pile of dead in the center, growling and hissing as he
surveyed the bodies of the felled cats being dragged to the
center.

Ryken and Dean scattered when they
realized they were tricked. The bus explosion took out only the old
barn, not the compound below. Gideon’s men placed the individual
bombs within Ryken’s vehicles to keep them from escaping. The five
vehicles exploded within seconds of the first blast, destroying
their own means of escape.

Only the two were unaccounted for now.
Eli loped across the meadow, the scent of Vivvie driving him down
the steep side of the mountain. He sought Jericho in his mind and
was relieved his mate was doing well in the abandoned cave, safe
from Ryken.

He ran then, desperate to retrieve her
now, fearful of Ryken and Dean, who ran when they realized they
were overtaken. The two cats were agitated and desperate now. Ty
and the others were now shifted back to form doing the cleanup,
stacking the dead corpses in the center of the meadow to be
burned.

Jericho became agitated enough to
shift, pacing in his animal form at the mouth of the cave. He
smelled blood in the air and death. He panted and his yellow green
eyes peered out into the growing darkness, waiting for Eli’s
arrival.

He heard them, unable to smell them,
and knew it was Ryken moving forward beyond the cave. He turned his
head to see Vivvie and her young were resting. She was exhausted
and fell asleep not long before her children were fed. Knowing his
grandson was at large kept him watchful. He left the cave,
determined to lead them away from her.

Jericho heard the growling and hissing
as soon as he exited the cave, knowing they found them. The
birthing blood scent was strong in the air. Ryken honed in on it
after his battle was lost.

The two beasts converged upon him as
soon as he was nearly a mile from the cave, at the base of a steep
ridge. Dean barreled into him from the side as he met his
grandson’s charge, teeth open in a ferocious snarl. Jericho swiped
viciously, opening a seam of cuts down Ryken’s back as Dean clamped
down on his neck.

Jericho disengaged himself from Dean as
he flew at Ryken, sending him tumbling backward, using his hind
feet to claw and kick. Jericho fought viciously as he rolled upon
the rock face, the beasts getting ever closer to the
edge.

Dean wasted no time to continue his
attack as Eli jumped down from above, landing in front of him with
blue eyes blazing. One swipe from his mighty paw opened a wide gash
across his forehead and left eye.

Momentarily blinding his enemy, Eli
moved in for the kill, clamping down on the other beast’s throat
savagely, shaking him until a huge chunk of flesh was ripped
away.

Dean let out a plaintive growl as he
lay bleeding upon the rocks, his regeneration not kicking in fast
enough as Eli attacked again, ripping through his chest wall with
his huge gleaming teeth. Eli ripped out his heart savagely and
tossed it aside. Before Dean recovered he clamped his jaws around
his neck, chewing furiously and shaking the fallen beast until with
a toss of his mighty head, he ripped the fallen cat’s head
off.

Dean lay dead, having three souls
dispatched quickly. Eli let out a roar and turned to see Jericho
and Ryken rolling on the rock ledge. Jericho was on top, hissing
and growling, his jaws clamped upon Ryken’s jaw.

Eli stared in horror as the two went
careening over the side of the mountain. He ran to the edge and
watched the two huge cats fall the two hundred feet below into a
rock-covered ravine and lay unmoving at the bottom. He watched and
willed Jericho to get up. He didn’t, and lay broken and bloodied
atop Ryken. A mournful growl escaped him to know his longtime
friend was dead along with his grandson.

He picked his way back up the rock face
to the top of the next ridge, his mate’s welfare now weighing
heavily upon him. She didn’t answer him when he called to her.
Worry filled him as he ran to the cave.

Eli entered the cave with a low growl,
ears back and hair raised upon his back. He crept within and paused
to see Vivvie asleep with the two infants asleep in her arms.
Surprise made him shift immediately into his human form, staring at
the two infants in shock. They both lived! Before he could reason
such a miracle, his mate opened her eyes, the fatigued green gaze
seeing him standing over her with a sleepy smile.

“
Is it over yet?” she asked
drowsily as she looked up at him anxiously, trying to sit
up.

Eli knelt at her side, his blue eyes
filled with concern. “Don’t try to move. I’ll send for
help.”

Vivvie looked him over, seeing the many
cuts covering his legs and torso were rapidly healing before her
eyes. She twisted her head to look past him.

“
Where is Jericho?” she
asked anxiously.

Eli’s grim look and his pained exhale
told her their friend had not survived. Vivvie felt tears fill her
gaze, and bit back a sob of raw grief.