Do Or Die (Surreal Blue Rogue Agent 1) (8 page)

Audrianna
stumbled through the jungle brush to a small clearing that led to a steep
ravine. Her steps were slow. Her mind confused, she did not recognize her
surroundings, she felt trapped in a trance from which escape was beyond her
will. She sensed a presence behind her and turned. Her vision impaired, the
seven combatants with automatic rifles, circling her as they entered the
clearing, did not cause her to become alarmed.

Audrianna
backed up, mere feet away from the edge of the cliff. She faltered and dug her
feet into the ground, and her arms lifted responding to inner machinations out
of her control. Her hands cupped together, drawing apart to reveal a small ball
that crackled with electricity. The ball began to pull swirls of air into it as
it started spinning, becoming bigger. It fashioned itself into a glowing,
humming orb of uneven shape.

The
combatants encroached on the space between themselves and Audrianna. Audrianna
stood squarely; the darkly-clothed men took another step closer. They were not
more than five feet away when the ball stopped its out-of-control spinning and
slivers of very sharp, very white electric current crackled and burst from its
surface. It happened too quickly for the men to raise arms against her; a burst
of electricity crashed into every man. Remarkably, they were not shocked- instead,
their bodies became elongated, pulled and stretched.

Each
body was a distorted, massive swirl which appeared to be sucked into a vortex
of spiraling white light. Into each individual vortex, the men vanished, along
with their assault rifles.

Audrianna,
her mind unclear, became aware of the approach of another interloper to her
right. She clapped her hands together and drew them apart to reveal the
formation of another small ball, which had only just begun to spin drawing in
tuffs of air.

Viktor
glimpsed Audrianna. It was just the two of them in the clearing. He saw her
harnessing the powerful element in her hands and was awed by it. He thrilled at
the sight of the orb the woman he loved formed. But even as the thrill
enveloped him, he was realized that the power she possessed was now focused on
him. His heart raced and his shoulders tightened as he inhaled a ragged breath
through clenched teeth. and bellowed to her, “Audriannaaaaaa!”

A
flash of lightning escaped the orb, shot through the air with great speed in
Viktor’s direction, and just as quickly stopped without reaching him.
Audrianna’s arms fell to her sides.

Viktor
fell to his knees, relieved beyond compare. He prayed no one else had seen what
had just transpired.

Dear
God, let me keep this secret just a little bit longer…

“Squaaaaaaaaak!”
A bird’s hollow cry was heard as it burst from the tree behind him, expanded
its wings and glided over the bluff, seconds before the helicopter was heard
above, advancing towards the clearing.

The
chopper was now over them. Xin and the girls had just come into the vicinity of
the ravine. Viktor stood. He watched the glass of the helicopter cabin door and
was not surprised to find Lincoln and Matsenêstse.

Her
mind in a daze, confused about her surroundings, Audrianna staggered backwards.

“Holy
shit!” Lincoln unbuckled his seatbelt. “Mat, get me on top of her-right on
top!”

Mat
could foresee what Lincoln’s intentions were, and he positioned the aircraft
above. “Lincoln,” Mat said as he attempted to stabilize the swaying helicopter
as smoothly as possible. “You sure about this? Remember, penny packets go
splat!”

Lincoln
looked at him with a sardonic smile and gave him a thumbs up. “No parachute, no
rope, no helmet – no problem.”

Looking
back down at the deep ravine, covered with protruding foliage that hid the
bottom of it from view, Lincoln wondered silently what the delay might be
before he
did
go splat.

Viktor
wanted to use his power to save Audrianna from falling over, but Lincoln and
Matsenêstse were two humans in his employ to whom he was loath to reveal the
supernatural. They knew nothing of werewolves, vampires, demons…he didn’t feature
being in their debt for keeping his secrets. He had never trusted a human with
such a secret of the ‘supernatural underground’ before, and he wasn’t going to
start now. Viktor raised his hands to urge his group not to move. “Find your
way back, I’ll take it from here.”

Xin
looked at him and smiled. Viktor guessed at what Xin’s smirk was meant to
convey.

What
you gonna’ do ‘bout this now, huh?

Viktor,
stone-faced, turned his attention back to his wife. Xin, the girls, Darksmith –
they all backed up into the forest. Viktor raised his hand. He felt the
commonplace strain of the power raging within him as he attempted to release
the curtailed amount he needed to save his wife from falling into the ravine.

 Viktor
was no novice when it came to sorcery, though he still struggled with
controlling the craft he had gained through heredity, a power that was unique
to his family. He braced himself for the impact of the feeling of breaching the
dam of a mighty river that had had many years to build. Controlling a flow of
energy so intense could prove deadly for any being.

Viktor
raised his arm, extending it forward and mentally blocking out the loud whir and
earth-tremor made by the helicopter above. He opened his hand and closed his
fingers as though holding a hard ball.

The
power inside him was in his grasp to control. Slowly, he attempted to tap into
his wife’s energy, her ‘non-physical essence’ in order to draw a connection
between her and his power.

The
feeling startled him.

A
barrier
?

He
stared at his wife Audrianna backing over the cliff. There was no time…he tried
again, reaching with his hand. He felt a slow burning in his hand- an unusual
sensation. Viktor looked at his hand and it was on fire, burning from the
inside out with an uncommon white flame. 

He
rushed to his wife. Audrianna fell off the cliff, and seconds later Viktor saw
Lincoln falling right behind her. Viktor rushed forward and looked over the
side of the bluff. He did not see them.

The
ravine was pitch black and Lincoln thought it was sheer luck that he had
managed to hook Audrianna securely with one arm and grab a protruding branch
with the other. They were surrounded by forest, and it was too dark to see how many
feet were left before they would hit the ground; or stream, for that matter.       

Lincoln
felt the branch he held onto bend, then crack, under the pressure of their
combined weight. His hand slipped on the wet, thin bark, which bit into his
hand, breaking the skin. He steeled his courage to brace for the fall before he
willingly let go of the branch.

Lincoln
jumped, hugging Audrianna to him, his hand cupping the back of her head. He
fell seventy-five feet and landed squarely on dry ground. His bionic legs
strained with the impact, his knees bent and almost buckled withstanding the
velocity of the intense fall. His feet smashed the earth with a loud ‘wham.’
The earth was cracked.

Lincoln
attempted to straighten out his artificial limbs. The fall had knocked the wind
from his lungs.  He had never put such an unequal burden on his bionic limbs. His
knee cranked up like an oversized, rusty rivet being was forced to turn on
command. The effect was polarizing- his will to move was fighting against his legs’
need to remain still and recoup their equilibrium. Lincoln pushed on his legs,
forcing himself to walk forward, slowly.

Two
feet, three feet, four feet later, he started to walk normally, with Audrianna
unconscious in his arms. Lincoln made his way out of the dark ravine, following
the path beside the stream to a gravel roadway. Hailing a local taxi in the
form of a Toyota Corolla, he paid the taxi driver extra fare to take him off
route to the local hospital.

“Mmmm,”
Audrianna moaned.  She opened her eyes, looked up, and smiled. Then, as the
face before her became more focused, she stilled.

Audrianna
stared into the mockingly loving eyes of Lincoln Huntington, her secretary.

“Audrianna,”
he whispered softly, hugging her hands gently. He sat in a chair right beside
her bed; their faces were inches apart.

“Yes,”
Audrianna breathed, turning to her side to face him better.

He
stared deep into her eyes. Squeezing her hands he said gently, “I want a
divorce.”

Audrianna’s
smile was wry. “From whom? Me and Viktor, or Viktor and you?”

Lincoln
snickered.

“Not
gonna’ happen.” Audrianna sat up in the hospital bed, and Lincoln let go of her
hand.

“Fine,
then I want a raise.”

Audrianna
looked appalled. “On top of a five hundred thousand dollar Christmas bonus?”

“Audrianna-no
amount of money is worth my life.”

“You
didn’t accept that kind of payout from the U.S. military.”

“That
was different.” Lincoln lay back in his folding chair, pushing the seat backwards,
balancing on its rear legs. “That was for Corps and country; Viktor’s an ass.”

Audrianna
scowled. “Don’t say that about my husband.”

Lincoln
sighed. Folding his arms across his chest, he looked away. “You know you were a
second away from dying tonight.” Lincoln brought the chair down with a harsh
scrape on the floor. “I nearly lost my legs-again.”

Audrianna
was thoughtful. “I remember the explosion…hmmm…” Bowing her head, she looked
thoughtful.

Lincoln
stood. The lighting in the room was dim, though dawn was quickly approaching.
They were secured in a room in the women’s hospital at Mount Hope. Audrianna
was in a room by herself, surrounded by eight empty beds.

Lincoln
looked down on her. Audrianna looked absorbed in thought. She was a small
woman, delicate, but not frail. Her cheeks were high and she had a small, demure
nose and mouth. Her forehead was flat and small.

Lincoln
brought his hand up to ruffle her hair, an act that always made her balk. He
stopped short, not wanting to alarm her with her bald head. He drew his hand to
his chin and looked at her head.

She
looked back at him, her soft almond-colored eyes questioning. “What?”

Lincoln
covered his grin with his hand. “Nothing.” His eyes shifted right to hide the
guilty laughter there.

She is
gonna’ have one sure fright next time she takes a look in the mirror
.

“I’ll
be outside if you need anything.”

“You
could go straight on holiday. Ohhh nooo, you missed your flight, right?”

“It’s
nothing. I’ll catch a later one. I was just looking to take some time off to be
with the kids anyway.”

Audrianna
screwed up her face, her eyes wandering in the opposite direction. Lincoln
watched her suspiciously.

“What?”
Lincoln asked.

“Nothing.”

 “Lincoln?”

He
looked over his shoulder at her.

“Thank
you.”

He
exited the room.

Audrianna,
lost in thought, soon dozed off once more.

Audrianna
awoke to a beaming Viktor looking down at her.

“Morning,
cupcake!” He walked over to the windows and parted the blinds. Early morning
sun bathed the room, her husband made a silhouette by the sunshine.

Audrianna
squeezed her eyes shut and stretched in the bed. “Mmmmm. I’m hungry like hell.”

Viktor
walked over, pulse twitching in his jaw. His voice was soft. “When was the last
time you ate something?”

Audrianna
sighed, her gaze lowered. “I honestly don’t remember.” It’s been nearly three
days, but she wasn’t going to tell her husband that; it would only compound his
anxiety.

“Where
did you get such tight pants.”

“Well,”
he paused, He pulled her up on the bed. “Your ring is gone. And we need to find
you another one.”

She
made a sad pouty face.

He
felt a twinge of regret. “Since there is no other way to protect you from
silver, I’m going to have to find another enchanted item to protect my little
were
from harm. My suit was lined with silver, so I exchanged clothes with Kelly for
a time.”

She
fingered the waist with her index finger and her hand boldly cupped his bulge
in front. He released a small gasp.

“As
you can imagine.” He breathed, “It is a tight fit.”

She
giggled as she caressed his bulge in front. 

Audrianna
reached out with her arms, beckoning Viktor. He pulled her up on the bed. Kneeling,
she hugged him close. “I
need
a large pizza.” Moving her tongue around in
her mouth she screwed up her face. “Ugh, I have to brush my teeth.” She started
to push Viktor away when his arms tightened around her. He gave her a
smoldering look that made her heart lurch. Passion flared within her as its
unspoken meaning stoked her desire.