Crais (26 page)

The
enormous wolf shot back, smashing into a tree. His low yelps followed by a whimper had my stomach dropping and fear lodging itself as a lump in my throat.

Brace, who hadn’t succumbed to the energy
, moved in a blur to Colton’s side, gathering his friend in his arms and dashing back over to where we were scattered on the ground.

“Are you okay, Red?”
Brace showed no strain holding the wolf.

I was on my feet
. My energy had mostly absorbed the force instead of it knocking me down.

“I’m fine
,” I said. “Is Colt okay?”

I moved to his side,
relieved to see his beautiful eyes following me. Before I could blink his tongue flicked out and licked my face again.

I laughed and kissed his nose.

Brace lowered Colton down, spinning around to fall protectively in front of us. But the wolf didn’t stay down. He was back on his feet, low growls ripping from him.

Que stood at the edge of the forest, a man on either side of him
. Lucy was being held by the right-side goon.

“Hello
, son, I believe my invitation to this gathering was misplaced. But never mind, I’ve made it in time.”

I watched
Que as he stood, hands on his hips. He looked the same, only there was something ...

“What have you done, Que?” Brace bit out, his anger pal
pable. “How could you bring it in here?

The rest of the Abernaths were standing now and I was amazed as they
moved to our back, openly defying their Princeps.

“I do need to thank you
. I would never have been able to weed out those disloyal to me. Now I know exactly who needs to be eliminated from my plan.”

The way he said
‘eliminated’ sent shivers down my spine.

And I’d finally figured out what was different about him. His skin looked like it was cracking
. Very fine fissures covered him. What could have caused that?

“It
’s killing you,” Brace said without inflection. “You’re not strong enough.”

“You are my son
. If you can safely house the first, I can handle the third.”

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Que was a vessel for the third Seventine, and he was inside the barrier, where no one could escape.

I was sort of getting tired of this kidnapping business. Sure, I’m small, blond and cute, but that doesn’t give these giant a-holes the right to pick me up like a doll and carry me around. I wiggled again, attempting to loosen the iron grip of tweedle-dumbass, but there was no budging it.

I could see the worry on Abigail’s face as she stood across from us. My best friend, who is without any doubt the most stunningly beautiful person I’ve ever known, did not have one hair out of place, despite the fact I
’d seen her sprint into the Abernath area. I’d hate her if she wasn’t so lovable. Damn her. And Brace. Well, there was no denying the man was sex-on-legs. Those two were going to have beautiful babies. Although they could be ugly. Maybe Abigail and Brace had sucked up all the hot genes for themselves.

The headache which seemed to constantly plague me lately was starting to send those spikes into my brain, a sure sign a vision wanted to make an appearance.
But since the last vision during our fight by the lake had left me vulnerable enough to be snatched up by these three morons, I was suppressing any further.

Clearly
I wasn’t going anywhere soon so I decided to spend my time making a list. Number one was to get this helpless-damsel thing under control. No more kidnappings. Next was to start working on my language; the curse words were starting to overtake the regular. Then after all of that I was going to get me a gun and start hunting down asshats. The targets continued to increase every time I met another Walker.

Speaking of, what the cra
... hell ... I mean heck was that monster horse-dog next to Abigail and Brace? And where was Colton? For some reason I was extra disappointed that he wasn’t there. We had a connection. Okay, it was mostly one I had made up in my head, but still, he could have continued to feed my sexual fantasies. It was just rude to cut them off so abruptly.

I couldn’t help but list
en to Que as he spoke, although his nasally voice was damn annoying. Did he just say he was the coat for the third Seventine? That might explain those ricocheting cracks spanning his skin. Looked like he was about to shatter into a million pieces. Which would be very helpful.

The stabbing sensation sliced through my mind again
. It left behind an iciness as if frost covered the pick piercing my brain. With a sigh I gave up trying to fight the inevitable, closing my eyes and letting the images come. It was like watching a movie in my mind, although the scenes weren’t always in order and often made no sense.

The
vision in my head was very similar to the landscape I’d just shut out.

Why was I seeing the
very moment I was living?

Que moved in the vision, stepping closer to my friends,
and I could see it wasn’t exactly the same. He looked a lot worse: the cracks were larger and he was stumbling. Halfway there, he dropped to his knees, a peculiar look on his face. His head fell back. A screech emitted from his mouth in a long echoing sequence. It was ear-piercing and even in my vision I winced.

And then he exploded
with an outward ricochet of energy. I mean atomic bomb shit happening right in front of me. And everyone in the vicinity was shattered into a million pieces. Including the people I loved more than anything. The air around me rained blood like a fine mist of death.

I scream
ed, both in my head and obviously out loud, since dumbass was shaking me around. Yeah, moron, shaking someone’s head off is the best way to stop their screams.

I opened my eyes
and silenced my scream, only to find every face turned toward me.

“What did you see
, my little soothsayer?” Que’s nasal tones washed over me and it was clear he knew my secret.

Who the crap kept telling him these things?

Already he looked worse and my heart jumped. We weren’t far from my vision. I had to warn them.

“Run, Abigail
! Get out of here. Que’s going to explode and kill everyone!” I screamed as loud as I could, and never shifted my gaze from Que.

I managed to get the whole sentence out before my mouth was covered.

“What did you say?” his voice was quiet and deadly. “Who could blow me up?”

The
beefy hand was removed, allowing me to suck in some air before I answered.

“The energy came from within
. You can’t house the Seventine. Its power is too strong, too much from the primal source. It’s slowly destroying you, and pretty soon you’ll shatter and dissolve everyone here.”

His head swung around then, and I saw the briefest flash of pain as he locked eyes with Brace.

God dammit, the crazy psychopath loved his son. He actually allowed an emotional weakness like love to live inside him.

“Leave now
,” I said, my voice low. “There’s nothing you can do to prevent this and you’re going to destroy your son and the girls. And any chance of stopping the Seventine.”

The
dumbass suddenly dropped me. He dashed away into the forest, followed by dumbass two. I hit the ground hard, crumpling in on myself. Ouch, eff, shit, owww. He had to drop me six feet from the ground. I attempted to stand but my left leg crumpled. My ankle was definitely sprained. I tried again, whimpering at the shooting pains. Maybe even broken. Using a nearby trunk, I managed to stand on my good leg.

“Lucy!”

I hopped around so I could get a clear view. Abigail was screaming at me, and not one of them had left the area.

“What the hell are you all doing? I told you to move your butts out of here
,” I bellowed back, trying not to fall again.

Abigail narrowed her beautiful emerald eyes, hands on her hips. I knew what she was thinking and there was no way she was g
oing to leave without me. Damn her stubborn, loyal butt.

Que stumbled next to me.

I grabbed his arm. It was hot to touch, as if his blood was boiling. “Go now, Que. You’re strong enough to gather yourself even after the Seventine erupts. Others may not be so lucky.”

O
f course I had no freaking idea if he could survive this, but I figured appealing to his ego was the way to go.

“I wanted power for Walkers ... for Brace
,” he finally muttered. “Not destroy ...”

His words trailed off, and as I watched he seemed to gather strength and took off into the forest at a speedy blur. Abigail and Brace were at my side in an
instant. I collapsed into her arms, unable to hold my own weight any longer.

“Go
,” I muttered. “We still have to move. This blast is epic and Que’s not strong enough to get far enough away.”

They’d just started to move when the wolf let out a growl
. He nudged at my leg.

“Uh
, is Cujo going to gnaw on me or something?”

He scared me and at the same time didn’t.
Abigail and I had loved to watch that old movie with the killer dog. I hoped this wolf had more restraint.

“Colt wants you to get on his back
. It’ll be faster.”

Brace was already reaching down to grip me under the arms and throw me onto the giant wolf. Damn
, I hate being treated like a chil ... did he just say Colton was the wolf?

The beautiful, snowy
-white animal tilted his long jaw filled with razor-sharp teeth around and nudged me again. And now I could see his familiar icy blue eyes staring at me.

“What does he wan
t?” I turned wide eyes to Brace, when what I really wanted was to do was bury my hands into the soft fur.

“He wants you to hold on
,” was all he said.

And with a leaping lurch we were moving. I clutch
ed deeply into the luxurious fur, hoping I wasn’t hurting him. The ache in my leg eased as it cushioned down his side. The pace was so quick I ended up lowering my head to rest on his back; he really was the size of a horse. We made it out into the field, Walkers from all over following us. Word had gotten around and everyone was bailing.

I could feel the air simmering around us and then the world stood still for a moment. The blast knocked
everyone off their feet. In the last minute, while I was flying through the air, Colton must have transformed again, because instead of hitting the ground, I was cradled in his strong arms as they cushioned the impact.

I glanced down. Holy
smokes, grab your phone and call for help. The man was naked, and he was fine as hell ... heck. I looked again; I was only human ... well, kind of. In fact I was finding it rather difficult to tear my eyes away.

“Keep that up and you’re going to make me blush.”

I lifted my face
.

H
is white-blue eyes looked amused and there was no sign of any pink on his face.

Our friends and fellow Walkers were slowly getting to their feet
. It looked as if everyone was okay. Brace stared out to the forest where his father had been heading. The trees surrounding the zone were flattened to the ground.

“Colt!”

I spun my head at the sound of Abigail’s screech.

“Put her down; you’re butt-naked.”

He laughed. “I don’t usually get complaints about that. And she can’t walk
. Her leg is injured.”

“Brace,” Abigail said as she shoved him. “Go get Luce
. Colt’s junk is hanging out.”

Brace’s face had no expression as he stepped over and removed me from Colton’s warm embrace, although his eyes sparkled with humor. I almost protested my switch of carrier, but knew that would be a tad weird and obvious.

“Remind me to kick her for that later,” I muttered as we neared my best friend.

Brace laughed.

“I’m sorry about your father,” I felt compelled to say.

Although, personally I thought he’d dug his own grave and got
what he deserved.

He shrugged. “Que had it coming
. He played with creatures of power and he paid the price.”

Apparently Brace agreed with me.

Though, despite his nonchalant words, I detected a slight shift in tone. He wasn’t as uncaring as he made out. I wondered again about my parents. I’d always hated that they had been killed when I was too young to remember them, but maybe it was easier that way. Although they might have had some insight into my soothsayer abilities. Maybe it ran in the family or something. Not that they’d know on the dead zone of Earth.

“Lucy
, could you maybe try not give me a heart attack before I’m twenty.” Abigail’s eyes flashed. “This kidnapping business is getting a little old.”

Tell me about it.

“You know me, Abbs, I love the attention.”

“Well
, just go back to drunken stripping. You were getting plenty of attention there.”

I smiled and grimaced. “Wasn’t worth the hangover, trust me.”

“Drunken stripping? What did I miss?” A fully clothed Colton was at my side.

He wore a black tightly fitted shirt and a simple pair of denim jeans. I’d have thought it was his hottest look if I hadn’t just seen him naked.

“Well, if it isn’t the hound-dog himself.” I gave him a leisurely once-over. “Did I ever tell you I’m allergic to dogs? I get all hot and bothered.”

Abigail
snorted, her eyes bright with mirth. I waited for her comment.

“
As long as he doesn’t give you a rash, Luce.”

I laughed, interrupting her.

She continued. “And it might also be time to neuter flea-bag, before he marks you as his territory.”

Abigail never disappoints.

Colton ran his hand through his incredible white-blond hair. “You both know I am a damn wolf, right? Not a dog: two different species.”

“Sure, sure,” I teased, “four legs, fur and a tail; what
’s the difference?”

He snorted, shaking his head
, but didn’t answer.

“Is Magenta a wolf also?” Abigail asked him.

He nodded. “Yep, we’re the famed Walker wolf twins.”

“Which makes me literally and figuratively a bitch.
Keep that in mind next time you want to take me on.” Colton’s stunning but evil sister had wandered over to us.

I’d had to beat on Fury to get rid of her attitude, but something told me that wouldn’t work on the bad twin.

Speaking of, I watched as Dune sprinted into the clearing, his dark-gray eyes frantically searching the crowd. Relief crossed his features when he found Fury. As he moved to her side, she dived into his arms. Damn all of these happy couples.

“I will take Lucy.” Colton
stepped over to me with his arms out. “You need to check the fallout from Que’s little stunt.”

“And we have to find that Seventine
,” Abigail finished.

Brace handed me over to Colton, and right then I’d had enough.