Prophecy (33 page)

The car moved swiftly over dark country roads, hugging curves and sailing over mountainsides. My phone buzzed and Liam snagged it from my hand. My fingers ached from the grip I had on it. I stretched and curled them in my lap.

He pulled over. “Allison?”

I sat straighter.

“Very well.” He tossed the phone in my lap and retrieved his from the cup holder. “They have them at the Dover Dam. We’re about three minutes away. She’s with me. Alive.” He peered at me from the corner of his eye. The muscles in his jaw ticked.

Our car swerved onto the road, tossing gravel behind us. “You will stay in the car when we arrive at the dam. The Stians don’t know your importance to me. If they did, you’d be with Allison right now. Don’t think for a moment about leaving the car. Putting yourself in harm’s way won’t help her and it will distract me.”

I couldn’t agree or disagree. My harried mind slid over horrid memories of Buddy in pieces and worse possibilities in my immediate future.

“Tell me you’ll stay.” Liam turned his face to mine, ignoring the road.

I stared ahead blindly.

Liam growled. “Your involvement will cost lives, Callie. Guaranteed. Do you understand? Stay in the car.” He parked alongside the dam and kissed my cheek. “I’ll return with your friends.”

I shook my head. His words were lies.

“I assure you. There is a plan here. We’re old and wise. Don’t be afraid.” He kissed my temple. Tears squeezed free from the corner of his eyes. “Your love has strengthened me, as Allison’s has strengthened Oliver. We owe you, and we’ll right this imbalance as we were called to do. You must trust.”

I nodded.

Liam hesitated before shutting his door and jogging into the night.

The roar of water from the dam penetrated the window between us. Liam’s car sat alone on the roadside, cooling in the cold autumn night. The moon was a sliver of white beneath a blanket of grey. Clouds sped across the sky on harsh autumn wind.

My phone buzzed. Allison’s face appeared on the screen. A text.
On the dam.

I leaned my forehead against the glass for a better view. The monstrous cement dam stood tall over pounding waters. Trees loomed at the river’s frothy edge. A small set of stairs wound down from the road to a narrow walkway where a metal guardrail separated tourists and fishermen from their deaths. A second set of stairs led up. Those stairs gave access to a small maintenance building on the dam and stopped at a ladder. The ladder rungs led to a thin cement walkway atop the structure. The ladder had haunted me as a child. I’d worried for the workers on duty and people who ventured out for a dangerous thrill. Mom had assured me no one ever climbed the ladder unless completely necessary. I hadn’t believed her. Tiny movements on the sky-high walkway caught my attention. Tonight the ladder was necessary.

The ravens flew in wide circles overhead.

I texted Liam.
On the dam.
Then I climbed from his car, covered in Buddy’s blood and gooseflesh as the wind ripped through my wet clothes. Allison’s scream pierced the night. I moved toward the ominous metal ladder on silent feet, pulled by destiny, broken by imminent loss. Recognition dawned. Hers was the scream that woke me every night. Somehow, I’d known this night was coming for us.

My eyes and ears strained against the darkness and roaring waters. A blink of green ignited over the dam. Thunder rolled. This was it. Rain pelted the ground, burning my frozen skin with each icy torpedo. Clouds thickened in the sky like smoke, masking the sliver of moon. I slid on gravel, stumbling and falling before hitting the concrete path around the dam. A sign with information for tourists stood before me. The maintenance building was protected by a chain link fence. The gate swung open in the wind. A large padlock lay broken on the ground. Wind whipped hair into my eyes.

“Release them.” Liam’s voice carried in the air.

“Nice of you to show up, Watcher.” The voice from the diner, Calder, stung my ears.

I stayed in the shadows on the deck below the maintenance catwalk, where the men spoke. Leaning over the edge provided a view of the gathering above me. Liam wasn’t in sight, but a knot of large silhouettes stood near the railing over my head.

“It is my duty,” Liam responded. “Release the humans. Return my brother. Do this and avoid war.”

The group chuckled.

I edged to a stop directly beneath them. The water twenty feet below was deep and angry.

“In case you haven’t noticed,” the first voice boomed, “the Stians are in charge now. The Hales are no more. Zeus has removed his favor from you and we have grown in number. We came to stop the prophecy, but this is better. With no more Hales, the prophecy means nothing. We’ll meet each new Viking. They’ll join us and I’ll rule them. Your balance is over.”

The group raised their arms to heaven.

“Show us your favor,” their spokesman called.

Lightning struck the metal beam above me. The clansmen roared in approval.

“Release the humans and I’ll come with you.” Liam shouted against the thunder.

They laughed.

“You won’t surrender. I’ll take your life with my hands and be rewarded with great victory!” White light flashed overhead. “We battle.”

“I won’t.” Liam’s voice was steady and calm. “Release the humans.”

“As you wish.” The crowd parted and a man, two heads taller than the rest, lifted something over the edge of the little wall. My stomach churned.

The sky blinked in small silver strikes over the water. Justin dangled in the air, unresponsive. I pressed both hands to my mouth. The Viking grabbed his wrists in one hand, waiting for the order. I was Justin’s only hope. I swung trembling legs over the guardrail beside me, keeping my eyes on Justin. I couldn’t afford to look down. Twenty feet wouldn’t kill us. The pounding water would drown Justin. He was knocked out cold, or worse. He couldn’t survive. My last hope was that the Hales were right and if I failed, he’d still rise and lead them.

“Stop,” Liam called.

“Tell us what he and the girl mean to you. She’s not a nymph. We’ve checked her body for the mark.”

I leaned forward, gripping the icy metal rail in my palms. Forcing away thoughts of Vikings checking Allison’s body for my rune.

I focused on Justin. The minute he dropped, I’d go after him.

The ravens circled in the flashing sky.

“You’re weak before us because you don’t partake of the Viking life. You deserve no honor. Your brothers deserve no honor. Tonight, Stians change destiny.”

The crowd roared.

Justin fell.

“No!” I flung myself from the railing, pushing off with strong legs toward the dark waters below. White foam spit and swirled at the base of the dam. There was no splash, only the angry roaring of water and pounding thunder of the sky. Justin disappeared a moment before my hands broke the surface behind him. Angry water cut my skin like a thousand blades of ice.

My hands hit something solid and I fisted my fingers around the thing, kicking against the current before the waters tossed us into the dam and killed us both. My right arm was weak against the rushing water. The undercurrent pulled me down, forcing what I had hoped was Justin out of my grasp.

I turned in all directions, seeking the surface. Darkness enveloped me. Every direction looked the same. Striking out for the surface, I knocked into a wide mass and grabbed tight. Pounding water shoved the remaining air from my lungs and a rock or limb caught in the flow blasted me in the face. Kicking with fervor reserved for saving a life, my face found air. Talons ripped into my shoulders.

“Caw!”

Justin’s lifeless body bounced beside me in the foam. A raven towed me to shore, as I pulled Justin behind. The moment my knees hit grass, I went to work. Years of lifeguard training kicked in and I breathed for him, counted, pressed and breathed. Muscle memory kept me on course. Mindless CPR.

Water dribbled from his mouth, but he didn’t move.

“Justin!” I pounded weak fists against his unmoving chest and the ravens swooped between us, forcing me back. They formed a barrier with their great ebony wings and opened their beaks in protest.

“Caw!” They beat a menacing rhythm.

I stumbled in the wet grass, sobbing and wishing for something to throw at the infuriating mythical birds.

“Caw! Caw!”

Between their shiny wings, Justin’s hand lay still as stone. Between their ugly complaints, I heard heartbreaking silence. Unable to penetrate their inhuman protest, I climbed the muddied bank to the walkway I’d visited with friends, parents, and on field trips. I prayed the ravens protected Justin now, though it was unclear what two birds could do. If he wasn’t breathing… I stifled a sob. If he wasn’t breathing, then he’d rise again soon. He wouldn’t die the way I would. Justin was more than I would ever be. I nodded to comfort myself. The ravens were guarding him, but Allison was still lost. I pulled myself together, embracing the icy wind on my skin, allowing the cold to snap my mind into focus.

I inched through the swinging gate at the maintenance building and wrapped shaking fingers around the metal ladder once more. I couldn’t pull her from the water if they dropped her. I was spent. My muscles ached and shook, unwilling to carry me farther, but without an option. A bolt of lightning struck the trees beside the water, splitting the great timbers. My feet pushed me upward. Rung by rung, I moved toward my destiny. My final breath. Thunder shook the world, rattling the ladder. I held tight and hurried to the walkway above.

Electrocuted on a metal ladder wouldn’t be a valiant way to die, but I wondered. If warriors went to Valhalla, could I join them? Did nymphs have the same right as Vikings? Would I one day see the Hales, and later, Justin, if I made it to Valhalla and waited for them?

I crawled along the walkway, hidden in the shadow of a stout wall three blocks high. The barrier was probably meant as a guide to keep workers from falling over the edge. The drop from this point was eighty-five feet, according to the sign on the ground. I’d read the dam’s details a dozen times in my life. Below, raging waters churned and beat against the dam. Lightning struck and the world glowed, illuminating a line of Vikings I recognized from the deli tonight, plus Adam and his henchmen from earlier this week. The Stians were less than twenty feet away with Liam just outside their reach, staring defiantly back at them. If I waved, I might draw his attention, but he’d warned me distraction would mean death.

Through the crowd’s legs, Allison sat propped against the wall. I hurried closer, sticking close to the wall, praying she was alive and I might go unnoticed. Liam growled and I froze.

“Who’s this?” Calder moved toward me in slow calculated steps, as if I might explode.

“I don’t know.” Liam turned away, disgusted.

“And yet, she’s here.” The monster who’d dropped Justin erased the space between us and pulled me by my hair to my feet. “Why are you here?”

Tears welled in my eyes and lodged in my throat. “You took my friend.”

“Hmph.” He rubbed his chin. “Now we have two women to share.”

The men laughed.

Liam stared at the leader with indifference. “No more humans, Stian. I warned you.”

“You don’t warn me.”

The man tossed me into the air. I hit the ground with a sickening thud. Wind rushed from my lungs and I gasped for breath. My arms and legs stung where cement ripped through my clothes and flesh. Allison stared, unmoving.

“Allison.” I scrambled onto my knees and crawled to her side. I checked for new injuries. Her skin was as pale as the moon and blood coated her neck and shoulders from her fall at the deli. “Can you hear me?” I pressed my icy cheek to hers, listening for breath. “Your breathing’s too shallow. Stay awake. Can you speak?”

Lightning flashed on the heels of thunder and she winced. Good. She wasn’t completely knocked out. Mom would say a concussion. A purple welt lined her forehead where it had hit the counter. I touched my head on instinct. I’d had a similar mark not long ago. The back of Allison’s head rounded with a goose egg.

Men argued behind me. The Stian leader demanded a battle. Liam demanded they release the humans. No one paid attention to us. I pulled Allison against my chest. Looping my arms under hers, I scooted down the walkway above the dam, away from the danger and begged the gods to intervene.
Send the other clans to help Liam.

A whisper came in the night, sweeping past my ears. “Calypso.”

The nymphs huddled at the end of the walkway, motioning me to keep moving in their direction. I worked harder, praying Allison had a chance. Praying Justin would rise again. Promising, if he did, I’d lead with him. I’d fulfill the prophecy and accept a broken heart for the sake of saving the others. I’d rule with Justin if it saved Liam’s life and returned the balance. I’d do anything. Give anything.

“Stop!” A clansman pointed in my direction and marched toward me.

“No!” Liam screamed. He moved faster than I could follow, appearing before the man. Liam hoisted the Viking over the dam’s edge and released him.

Screams rose from the Stians and they barreled down on Liam. Allison grew heavy in my arms. I pressed my eyelids together in prayer. A boulder rolled onto the walkway, knocking men into the small wall and crumbling the barrier into pieces where it hit. A hundred screams joined the thunder. Vikings climbed over the railing and onto the walkway’s edge, scaling ropes nearly transparent in the shadows. They crept free from cement crevices and between girders, all swinging heavy weaponry and tearing into the Stians. They’d been hiding beneath us, waiting for the right moment to attack. My heart soared with hope and thanks.

“Hurry.” A blond nymph appeared at my side, lifting Allison’s feet. “I’m Isla. Let’s go.”

We struggled with Allison’s weight, dodging shards of metal and chunks of battle debris on the walkway as we moved in hurricane-force winds. Thunder and lightning transformed the sky. Trees snapped with electricity. The heavens opened and a storm poured out in a deluge of hail and rain, pummeling the earth.

I gasped in horror as the Mahonings captured a Stian and lifted him to the edge of the wall. How many would go over the dam tonight? How many would live? Would they come out of the water and find Justin alive? A Viking ran for the Mahonings, swinging his great light sword. The allied clans fell at a frightening rate. The Stians were far more powerful than the Hales’ army. The Hales needed a leader.