Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (68 page)

Two hours of hiking later
the
final
ray of the sun
light
disappear
ed
and bec
a
me replaced with beautiful
and twinkling
stars.
They
walked at a casual pace and didn’t make the first diversion. In the
far
distance
Connor thought he
sa
w a flash of light, but it must
have
only
been
his
imagination.

Connor then
felt the presence of a threat, but pushed it out of
his
mind.
No predator would dare attack four humans, even at night.

Several minutes later Connor
heard something whistling through th
e air and it came from behind the group
.
He
spun around as
he
heard whatever it was connect
with something solid
. Immediately
Deputy Burrow
crumple
d
and
f
e
ll face first to the
muddy
ground.

Jack and Mark wheeled
around just a moment later and tried taking their machetes from their hips until a
n angry
voice came from the shadows. “Put your weapons down!”

Connor
knew that menacing
voice
all too well
.

Mathew
snaked
out from behind a tree where Connor
saw the flash of light a few minutes ago. He was wearing dark clothes and had on a community service jacket.
He still looked like the all American football quarterback, but his eyes were cold
,
dangerous
and filled with hate
.
What made the situation more dangerous was that he held a
real
handgun at
them
, the 9mm pistol
look new
.
“You heard me. Drop them!”

Connor
glanced down at the fallen deputy and saw that he was still breathing and that he had
several
wood splinters in his
bald head
from a
broken
stick
that laid at his side
. Mathew
began
walking toward
them
slowly
,
with a measured pace
. Maggie knew there was danger because she made a small whimper and tightened her grip
around Connor’s
neck
while hiding behind his wide back
. “When I kill you, I’ll bring the girl back
myself
.
She won
’
t disagree with my story when I tell the reporters how I found little Maggie or I’ll kill her and her grandparents too. I’ll be a real hero after this is all over.
” His voice
dripped
with greed and malice.

Connor
pushed
his
thoughts out.
“Jack
.
Mark
.
D
on’t look away f
rom him. Listen closely to me. Drop the blades to
the ground and step backwards.
Jack
,
I want you to get Maggie off my back and I want you to run; fast. Mark
,
you will provide cover for Jack and stay with him until I catch up.”

Jack thought
first.
“No, you get her out of here. I’ll take care of this
child once and for all
.
It isn’t the first time I’ve killed someone as selfish as him.
”

“Jack, he’s after me. If I go, he’ll
try to
kill you. You’re not a Metal Balancer
you’re a Fire Balancer
. His bullets won’t have an effect on me
like they will with you
.”
He
made
a logical
point.
“
Mathew’s untrained
eyes will follow the blades
movement
to the ground
,
when you drop them.
He isn’t
well versed
in battle like we are
and won
’
t keep his focus on his one target
.
T
hat will be your cue to get her to safety.”
Connor
sighed
quietly
while focusing on
the
opponent
.
“No time for practice. One, two, three!”

As one, both Mark and J
ack dropped their machetes
. Mathew’s eyes followed them to the ground
just
as
predicted. The qualifications were met. Jack whirled with his superhuman speed and ripped Maggie off
Connor’s
back.
H
e swiftly
cradled
her to his chest and ran
away
as quickly as possible. Mark provided cover and
ran
behind
Jack to get her to safety.

As the blade
s
hit the ground, Mathew looked up. His eyes went wide wi
th shock. He waived his gun demanding
“Where are they?
!
Where did they go?
!
” He stepped over the unconscious deputy.

Connor
stepped back and to the right as
he
tried to keep
his comrade in his
peripheral vision.
He
used blind
ing speed to slip
Tool from his
belt and hid the weapon where
Mathew
couldn’t see it
in the darkness
. “It looks like you still haven’t learned your lesson
,
Mathew.” Connor
stepped again to
his
right.
The deputy was no longer in the way.

Mathew
pulled the hammer back on hi
s
pistol
with a
loud
, quick
series of
click
s
. “I have. I’ve learned that humiliation isn’t enough. Death is the
only
solution
for what you did to me
.”
The gun
grew still and level
.

Mathew was now fully committed.

“You
couldn’t be more right
,
but
this
will be
your
execution.
You’ve made your last threat against me
.
”
Connor
called upon
his
power instantly and called upon the element Metal
to stop any metal from penetrating
,
within a three foot radius of
his
body.

Connor
threw
Tool
with
his
Balancers advanced strength
and speed at the same time a
gun
went off
.
When the hatchet s
ide of
Tool connected with Mathew’s sternum, it
buried itself deeper
and
stilled
when it hit his spine. The problem was that his bullet never came out
or flash
ed from the muzzle
. As Mathew’s lifeless body collapsed backwards and hit the ground
,
Connor looked to his
right
.

Deputy Burrow
laid
on his side with his gun pointing
straight
out. His face was covered in blood and
plastered
in
dark
mud.
His features
express
ed
rage and pain
to which he focused through his gun
.
One of his eyes were tightly closed and his jaw clenched
as he breathed heavily through his teeth
.
Connor
ran over to
his side
as he coughed
out some mud
and
his
gun fell
down in the muck
.
Connor
closed
his
eyes and used
his
sonar ability to see inside
the deputy
and
the results showed
that he did have a concussion, but the blood wasn’t pooling in his brain.
Also
,
he had a small fracture to
the back of his sku
ll
from the strike with the stick
.
B
efore he
said anything
to the deputy
he
looked
over
his
shoulder,
at Mathew. In his left temple was a
bleeding circular
bullet hole. Th
e gunshot came from the deputy
’s firearm
.

Checking him over
again,
he
ripped
the officer’s
shirt open and saw that it was only his he
ad that was bleeding. “Deputy, a
re you hurt
anywhere else besides your thick skull
?”

He coughed
painfully
a few times
before answering
. “No, but the wind’s been knocked out of me.
That much is for certain.
”

“That’s a good sign. You’ll be alright.
Just don’t go to sleep. I’m afraid that you
might
have a concussion.
”

Deputy Burrow
continued to
breathe
heavily, but managed to
smile
wryly
. “Who would have guessed that
we would use up both favors in a single day
?
” He
coughed as he tried laughing. W
hen his
coughing
fit settled he asked “What should we do about him?”

“Nothing.” The deputy’s dark eyes looked
back
at
Connor
. “On the way here I saw both grizzly and cougar tracks
and they were fresh, no more than a day
.
They know what a gunshot sounds like. It’ll be a dinner bell for them.
They will dispose of his body the way he should be.
He’ll be nothing more than what they make of him.
” The deputy caught
on to
the crappy
joke.

Connor
stood and sat
his
friend
’
s back against a tree and retrieved Tool from Mathew
’s
c
aved
in
chest
;
while breaking more
of his
bones on the way out.
The bullet went cleanly out the other side of his head
,
which
i
s a blessing
.
A
pool of water
sat
from the rain
it recently collected
and meticulously washed the visible blood from
Tool
’

Sli
ding the two machetes through his
belt,
Connor
picked up Mathew’s gun and the deputy’s and handed both
over
to him. He put his
weapon
back in the holster and the other
slid
in his
front
pocket.
He
didn’t want
his friend walking so Connor
picked him up
and
turned out to be
li
ght
a
s a
feather.
Deputy Burrow
said he felt uncomfortable being
manhandled like a child, but
knew he couldn’t walk properly in his condition since he
said that he
saw two of
his friend
.