Wynter's Horizon (36 page)

I stared at her, contemplating who might be quicker at this moment. “All right. Next weekend. Happy?”

“Thrilled.” She handed over the can. “Also, there’s a message on our home phone from that Corey girl asking about rec league lacrosse. You need to call her back and be the responsible person I know you are. It’s like the tenth message.” I groaned, fighting the urge to collapse back on the bed. Corey had played on our high school team and was now pestering me to join some Sunday night team. I had been avoiding her for two weeks.

Julia’s face softened. “Didn’t Abby’s grandmother tell you something about moving on? Maybe playing lacrosse is a good step.”

I stood up, tired of the topic already. “It was ‘letting go,’ and I never should have told you that.”

Julia waved her hand dismissively. “Moving on, letting go. You’re the psych person. Figure it out.”

I popped open the tab on the way out the door and fished my phone out of my pocket. Noon here. What time was it in the southern hemisphere? I wondered what Beck was up to. I kept having these dreams with him where he told me he was getting ready.
Ready for what?
Dreams were so weird.

Chapter Sixty-Eight

Beck—Fight

The copter dropped us two miles out. We hit the ground running coming up on the right of the compound. Scattered over three acres, it was mostly comprised of outlying wooden huts, except for the main two-story building that looked like one decrepit structure glued to another.

Quinn turned to me. “You ready?”

I twisted my head until my neck cracked. “Yes,” I answered more assuredly than I felt.

The others split up, each going to predestined locations Nathaniel and Eamon had picked for the best attack. We needed surprise and stealth to make this work.

“Watch Fiona’s and Joanna’s backs.” I warned. It had been awhile since I had been on a mission with all of us. I didn’t know if I could stomach seeing people so close to me in the midst of battle.

Quinn’s blue eyes twinkled in the dark. “You take care of the diplomat and his daughter. I’ll take care of Drew and his crew. The others will take care of the rebels. And somewhere in there will be that fucking bitch. Whoever gets first shot takes it. Don’t hesitate.”

I set my crossbow and crept forward into position, feeling a rush of adrenaline. “Don’t worry about me. This is one thing I
do
know how to do.”

Quinn chuckled then disappeared after the others.

There was a guard on the west side of the building. I waited and let the arrow fly. He fell quietly to the ground. Dropping the crossbow in the brush, I yanked the knife from my waistband and kept going. I crept forward and through the door. The hallway and stairwell were quiet, strangely quiet. I checked right and left, one hallway after the other, following the maze of pathways down. I had memorized the layout of this building months ago, reliving each moment of the drop and the fatal mistakes that had nearly cost Quinn and I our lives—had cost Finolli, Unger, and Curtis theirs.

I turned another right and waited. The holding cells were underground. The smell of dirt and rot became stronger at each turn. I breathed through my nose and peered around the corner. One guard lazed against the wall, smoking, his gun pointed down. He turned left to look down the hall the other way, and I jumped, slicing his neck in one motion. I eased his lifeless body to the ground, avoiding the spurting blood, then grabbed his gun. Twisting the handle of the door quietly and keeping an eye on the hallway, I peered into the room. A heavily armed Colombian sat in front of a bank of screens. I slid in and discharged my gun silently. He slumped over the keyboard. I looked closer. Each of the outbuildings was on camera and monitored. I could see Fiona in the shadows on the east side, waiting for a signal from Nathaniel. The guard fell sideways, an arrow sticking out of his chest, which was all she needed. Fiona swung out of the shadows, opened the hut door, and easily killed the three occupants. She proceeded forward to the next hut. Quinn was working from the north. I identified the diplomat in a hut on the west side, with two guards patrolling the paths around it. Two girls lay chained in a hut on the south side.
Damn!
Opposite sides of the camp. I gazed from one hut to another. Where was Drew and his crew? And where was Lilly? My gut churned. I flicked the camera settings off and crept out, checking the rooms further down the corridor. Nothing. Strangely, the camp was undermanned. Not a good sign. What was she playing at?

I killed one guard while exiting the building and kept going toward the diplomat’s hut. I needed to free him and deposit him with Campbell, who waited just on the outskirts of the camp. I convened with Harold. The silencers on our guns made quick work and the guards were dead before they knew it. Harold stood outside as I went in.

The diplomat cowered in the corner, just skin and bones. A ragged gray and black beard covered his face. He went to scream, but I jumped across the dirt floor of the hut and covered his mouth. He struggled.

“Shh. I’m here to get you out.” He shook his head, his eyes wide and huge in his gaunt face. “I’m going to remove my hand, but I need you to keep quiet or they will hear us.” I slowly moved my hand down.

“You can’t. You can’t.” He hissed at me. “They will find us and kill you.”

“My job is to get you out of here.” I ripped the rope from his hands and legs. His eyes grew even bigger. There was no time to waste with conventional tools. I wasn’t worried, though. Most of the time, our victims were so shell shocked they never remembered our abilities, and who would believe them, anyway?

I helped him up. His legs shook as well as his hands. Bugger. This guy looked near death. That’s what happened when the kidnapping went on too long.

“My daughter. My daughter. Magda.” He grabbed my arm feverishly.

“I know. I’m going to get her, but first I need to get you safe. Stay behind me, and, when I tell you, move to the light.” I quietly swung the door open and listened. The night was still silent. God, what was going on? A croaking sound. I whistled back and waited. A light flashed. I grabbed the diplomat, and dragged him after me, my eyes roving the night. Something rustled to the right. I pushed the diplomat the rest of the way toward the light then threw myself to the ground. Nothing more. Campbell gave me the sign of success, and I left. Scurrying right, I started to Magda’s hut. I wondered how Quinn was making out.

Magda was in better shape. I ripped her bonds off then took care of the emaciated girl. She clung to my leg, and I wondered what we would do with her, but I sure as hell wasn’t leaving her behind. Outside, I heard screams followed by gunfire. Fuck. The dawn was about to explode. I pressed the knife into Magda’s hand.

“Stab anyone that gets in your path. You need to get to the helicopter. Your father is there.” She nodded, her long, greasy hair stuck to her face, but her hand was steady. I threw the skinny girl onto my back, grabbed Magda’s arm, and left the hut. In the distance, I could hear the whir of the helicopter. We started for the path through the woods where, hopefully, Campbell and Katherine waited.

We didn’t get far. Blazing lights filled the camp as each overhead light switched on. I froze. We were on the edge, not entirely lit up. I pushed the girls behind me, dropping the skinny one off my back. Three feet of bush separated us from the path to the helicopter. I tightened my fingers on the trigger of my gun and waited. From the side of the building came a woman with deep copper-colored red hair. And, following her, El Teniente with Drew, cuffed and clearly beaten.

“Beck. Sweetie. I knew you’d answer my call. Come on out. You and I need to talk.” Her raspy voice was filled with saccharin. I stepped back one foot and motioned with my hand to Magda. Words were useless. Lilly would hear them, and I didn’t want her to see the girls. I pointed to the bush and motioned again. Magda darted in that direction, dragging the other girl with her. I prayed Katherine would be on the lookout.

I scanned the compound quickly. Nobody would break cover unless absolutely forced to. I kept my gun trained on her and stepped forward.

“What do you want, Lilly?”

Her bright crimson lips turned upward. “Well, if it isn’t my favorite betrayer. Hello, Judas.”

I squinted at her. “You tried to blow up a building filled with people I liked. That’s a little like the kettle calling the pot.”

“Do we really need to rehash the past?” She tilted her head sideways and stared at me with those blazing blue eyes.

“What’s the point of this, Lilly?”

Sanchez and Watson came from the west side of the building, guns drawn.

“The point is I get some justice.” She motioned to them. “Throw down your weapon, Beck. It’s over.”

“When hell freezes over.”

“Well I can just take out your friend Drew here.” Always the soldier, Drew narrowed his eyes at me. His way of saying don’t let his life stand in my way.

“Where are the others, Lilly? Where are the rest of the guerillas?”

El Teniente stepped forward next to her. “We are freedom fighters, fighting against you westerners set on keeping us down. And we swear loyalty to her.” He pointed to Lilly. “She’s a goddess, and she will show us the way.” He yelled then, something in Spanish. The guerillas moved out of the shadows. I could see Joanna and Campbell, Harold and Fiona, guns drawn at a standoff. Lilly had done a good job preparing for us and them. Even with our powers we couldn’t outpace that many guns.

Fuck! She now had a bunch of fanatics loyal to her and her powers. I knew how she did it, too, dazzling them with mind manipulation. She used to tell me about it. One of her many plans to conquer the world. She grabbed Drew and pulled him closer, then shoved him forward. He fell to his knees.

“Throw your gun down and let’s finish this.”

“Let him go,” I commanded.

“Throw your gun down.” She placed her pistol on his head. “Or we can start the killing right now. With him.” Quinn and Sara were missing. Still hidden and waiting for the best moment. Fuck it. I pitched my gun to the side. She motioned to El Teniente, and he pointed his own gun at Drew. She smiled evilly at me, and then, in a split second, she was flying across the square.

I deflected her, throwing her down. She rolled and regained her feet
, a formidable hunter’s knife now clutched in her hand. She was always quick. I glanced around and grabbed a broken piece of wood nearby, blocking each of her blows. She didn’t look as breathtaking as I remembered. Perhaps all her festering anger and insanity had destroyed her beauty. Her hair still flowed to her waist in bronze ringlets, her eyes blazing and as blue as the Caribbean ocean—but the light had gone from her face, her skin pasty and flat.

I twirled the piece of wood slowly in a figure eight, trying to gauge her reflexes.

She smiled viciously. “Why didn’t you just die from that overdose? You ruined my life. I was fine in that alley.”

“Is that what this about? Still angry about that damn fight in the alley? I should have taken you out then.” We ambled around the dirt yard, sizing each other up. I wasn’t sure who was quicker or stronger, but I did know I still had more training. I just didn’t know if it would be enough.

“You could never kill me. Not then and not now. You’re not strong enough.” she teased as we circled, keeping a few feet of distance between us. “Poor Beck. Torn apart about having super powers. Feeling guilty about all he’s done. You know that’s going to kill you.”

“Thanks for the advice, but I’m not afraid of what’s going to kill me.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Bullshit. You’re petrified of failing. Isn’t that what happened here? You failed. El Teniente beat you and you can’t get over it.” She looked at me tauntingly, twisting her knife hand.

Screw her!
I threw myself across the yard, grabbing her outstretched arm and catapulting us both into the wall of the building. We came up hard against the wall. Using all my strength, I smashed her hand against the stone, hearing the bones crack. She screamed, shaking me off but not before dropping the knife. We were even now. Weaponless except for our born strengths. She kicked me off, and I tumbled backward. I clambered up in time as she rammed into me, feeling my ribs crack, but I held on, surprising her when I thrust her down just as hard. More bones cracked, and not all of them mine.

We exchanged a few punches and kicks before scrambling apart. I could feel blood trickling down my face, and my side pounded. The whir of a helicopter filled the air—Katherine, Nathaniel, and Eamon, leaving with the hostages. I had succeeded. Partly, at least.

Lilly came at me again, side kicking me back several feet. I let all my barriers down, my anger free flowing, and returned the kick, sending her reeling. She laughed then, launching herself at me with renewed frenzy. We tumbled backward into one of the walls of the huts, the wood cracking and giving under our onslaught. I staggered, trying to get my bearings. Lilly recovered before me, and grabbed my leg, lifting me into the air.

I heard my leg crack from the force as she let go, and I careened airborne over the rubble of the hut we had just smashed.
Fuck. One-legged was really going to complicate matters.
I landed with a thud against the building, sliding down and coming up against something metal. Lilly’s knife. I scrambled up the wall and hobbled a few yards forward.