Society Rules (55 page)

It had to be a raccoon, right? She knew that raccoons couldn’t move that fast, but could come up with nothing else. She jumped at the same time Nick did, as the officer reacted to something thrashing around very close to his back.

He leaped to his feet, alarmed, which was the final addition needed to snap Cassandra’s nerves. She began shrieking at Nick, and pointing her weapon at each person, alternately, as if playing a deadly game of the children’s classic ‘one potato-two potato’.

“There
are
too
 . . .
God
 . . .
damn
 . . .
many
 . . .
people
here
!” she screamed, and finally, apparently deciding who the first to go had to be, she leveled her gun at Nick’s chest.

From directly behind Agent Lockhart, came a horrific sound of snarling rage, and the crashing of under brush and branches breaking, causing Cassandra to spin around in a panic. Her mouth and eyes were open wide in shock as a large dark object hurled itself down on top of her.

Chapter 35

The sound of the gunshot made Indie’s stomach lurched dangerously. Her head had been bowed, watching Will’s face when the shot rang out. She had observed through the side mirror of the truck, the approach of the police officer and an elderly man who looked familiar to her, somehow.

She could swear the man had made eye contact with her through the mirror, although he apparently gave no indication to the officer that he had seen anyone in the truck.

The officer had been focused intently on the vehicle in which she hid, holed up with her dying husband. Indie had been paralyzed with fear as the officer had come dangerously close to discovering them; Will in her arms, the life slowly ebbing from him by the minute.

He was completely unresponsive now.

Indie shuddered with grief, but her attention was focused outside, on the issue of her children and the woman holding them, now at gunpoint, as well as two additional hostages.

She had been afraid that she could not escape notice when the officer had attracted the attention of the evil woman. It seemed every eye was turned in her direction.

It would have comforted Indie to know that her defense mechanism was such, that the more threatened she felt, the more efficient her gift became, cloaking her even more effectively. Her defense was practically impenetrable now.

She watched through the driver’s side window with horror, realizing that the crazed woman had shot the police officer without a moment’s hesitation.

Indie noted with relief that his wound was not life threatening, as long as the bleeding did not get out of hand. Even from this distance, she could sense the strength of the wounded officer, and that his body was already in the process of frantically attempting to mend the injury. She was still shaken by the woman’s utter willingness to pull the trigger with so little provocation.

And this woman had her children.

She pulled Will’s old sleeping bag from where it was stashed behind the driver’s seat, unrolled it and wrapped it tightly around Will, to offer him the continued feeling of arms around him.

She rolled his jacket and slipped it under his head, then pulled her hands through his short, sandy hair. “I have to go, Will,” she whispered. “You should be comfortable, okay? The kids . . . I have to go try . . .” Her voice failed her.

No one should die alone.

But had no choice. She said a small prayer, and then whispered against his rough, bristly hair.

“Goodbye, Will. I’ll always love you.” Resolutely swallowing her tears, she opened the door and slid out of the truck.

Indie made her way around the back of the vehicle and took a deep breath, preparing to cross the clear area that would leave her in the open, and possibly attract the attention of the mad woman. She spotted Jackson about thirty feet away, hidden in a dense cluster of trees, and he returned her stare, eyes on fire.

Moving silently toward him, she kept her eyes locked in place on his. She resisted the overwhelming urge to look over to where the woman was now screaming again. Some deep, long-suppressed instinct told her that this was key in maintaining her “invisibility”, shielding her movement from the others.

When Indie had stealthily covered all but the last four feet, Jackson, seemingly unable to help himself, shot forward and dragged her to him, pulling her into his arms. He crushed her silently to his chest before releasing and turning her to face the activity in the clearing.

Jackson was having a refresher course in the lesson that sometimes the most difficult part of any tactical maneuver was observing and biding your time.

It was nearly impossible to stand and watch, taking no action.

He’d tried a little experiment, on the unlikely chance that he could influence the motion of objects with his mind. No descendents of the Archangel blood lines had this gift as far as he knew, but hell, it was worth a shot.

Focusing all of his concentration on a small boulder directly behind the deadly blond, Jackson attempted to make it rise.

It was as pointless as he’d figured it would be. Apparently he was doomed to remain the “hands on” kind of guy he already suspected he was.

Which kind of sucked. That rare type of gift would have been most appreciated right about now. He tugged Indie back tightly against his chest as they took in Cassandra’s murderous tantrum.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jackson spotted the elusive projected image of the Fallen, dressed in his favorite incarnation of
Sobek
, sporting the reptilian head of a crocodile.

It was the most fleeting of images, sifting through and around the trees, but it sent a quake through his belly all the same.

He felt the instinctive rise of bloodlust snake its way up his spine, as his genetics went to work, planning for the kill. But killing or harming a projection was, he knew, impossible. There is nothing to touch, and the actual body could be anywhere.

So Jackson suffered this, as he glared at the image with disgust

Naturally, an act of such evil and negativity as the potential harm of the children of the Seraphim would attract the sniffing and hissing presence of
Evil
Incarnate
, if only in his dreams. The Fallen was forced to travel with only his mind when he was the Speaking Man, if he wanted to cover a lot of ground, and in his dreams he could take any form.

He’d shown a long time preference for his character of
Sobek
, having enjoyed the feeling of being worshipped for that brief moment in Egyptian history.

As quickly as he appeared, he vanished in a shimmer of thin air. However, Jackson felt his continued presence all around, and had to shake off his need to fight.

He turned his attention back to the screeching blond.

The woman was in a perfect pitch of hysteria now, and waving her weapon ominously at the group. Indie and Jax watched as she singled out the police officer to withstand the worst of her rage.

“No!” Indie’s cry was heartfelt, but nearly soundless, as the woman raised her gun and took aim. She and Jax drew back as one at the sight that met them next.

The woman spun crazily around in panic, and was knocked to the ground as an animal, black and caked with mud, launched itself at her with a furious growl.

Max’s front paws hit Cassandra squarely in the shoulders as he simultaneously sank his sharp teeth into the side of her face.

Lockhart shrieked in pain and rage as she struggled with the animal, which, having knocked the woman to the ground was now biting and tearing at every part of her within reach.

Nick, as soon as he recovered from his shock, leaped backwards, grabbing both children and gathering them close to his side. He looked up at the old man, who also rose, but was watching the attack with fascination, as if it were a scene from the National Geographic channel. Nick was hesitant.

He wanted to scoop up the kids and bolt but, incredibly, the psycho blond had not dropped her weapon, and was waving it wildly now as she fought the angry animal with vicious kicks and unceasing curses. He did not dare try to run with the kids.

Not yet. He was afraid that she either would intentionally or inadvertently blow holes in them as they fled.

With a final and brutal kick to the dog’s ribs, Cassandra separated herself from the raging animal, and climbed to her feet, shaking with outrage. Max rolled several feet to the front of Cassandra, whimpering in pain. He rose to his feet also, to face her, still ready to fight.

As Cassandra lifted her silver Berretta, and took aim, Cassidy tore herself from Nick’s grasp and put herself between the woman and her pet. She knelt at Max’s side, speaking softly to the animal.

“Out of the way, Princess,” Cassandra ordered. “That dog is dead, one way or the other!”

Trembling from head to toe, Cassidy stood her ground defiantly.

“Get back over here, kid!” Nick was beside himself. He had no doubt that this woman would shoot a child, no problem.

“I would listen to the officer, if I were you, little girl. I have had enough of this whole thing, and I’m ready to call it a day. Now move!” Cassandra stood, bleeding and disheveled from the attack, yet cold and calm, ready to kill.

“Kid, please!” Nick begged. “I know you don’t want the dog hurt, but come on . . . it’s not worth your life!”

“He was ready to give his life for us, and I will do the same for him,” the little girl stated firmly, although her voice trembled as her body quaked.

“Hey, no problem, freak.” Cassandra spoke now as a shower of debris rained down upon her, the protests from the creatures of the forest becoming deafening once more. “Just know that you’re not saving anything. I’ll shoot you, and then I’ll shoot the dog. What a hero you’ll be!”

The woman’s evil sarcasm was making Nick feel like a trip to Lourdes was in order, assuming he came out of this twisted little adventure alive.

“You’re causing all of this, aren’t you?” she continued, as several larger stones began bouncing across the brick pathway toward her.

“I knew it was you all along. You caused everything to go wrong, and now, I am done. I shoulda just done away with the both of you at Grandma’s house like I wanted, but that’s what I get for being nice, huh?”

She ignored the rocks and pinecones hurled in her direction, focused only on her need for revenge upon this creature, and the tiny little girl trying to shield it with her body. The creature that was the source of all of her angst of the day, in Cassandra’s small mind.

She raised her weapon once more.

Indie nearly gagged when she read the horrible woman’s intentions, and leaped forward to race into the clearing. She was shocked as Jax grasped her by the back of her shirt, and jerked her backwards, catching her as she fell. He wrapped both of his arms around her, unyielding.

As she struggled, he stroked her hair and breathed his words into her ear.

“Indie, no. Trust me. I have seen. You have to let him earn his redemption. It is almost our time, and we will go to the clearing . . . very soon.”

She stared back at him in disbelief first, then as she studied his face, and opened her mind, allowing his knowledge to flow into her, she swallowed down her instincts, and stopped fighting him, tearfully resigned.

“I’ve
seen
it, Indie!” Jax repeated hoarsely. His eyes were wide; clear and piercing. “It’s all because of . . .
Will!
Something in him; he is the
gateway
.”

He shook his head. “I can’t make it clear now, but I didn’t know I could see . . . I mean I couldn’t, until moments ago.” He turned her to face the clearing once more, standing behind her and holding tightly around her shoulders and waist, and they watched.

As Cassandra’s finger tightened around the trigger, Nick let out an anguished cry . . . .”
NO!”
His shout joined with another, emitted simultaneously.

“Cassandra,
no!”
The shouts were cut through by the sharp crack of the pistol firing.

The moment Cassandra squeezed the trigger, she heard and saw Shawn as he leaped in front of her, tackling the little girl, his arms forming a protective barrier between her and the harsh fall to the ground.

Cassandra’s mouth fell open in shock as she saw the spurt of blood shoot from the dime-sized hole in Shawn’s back, just to the left of his right shoulder blade. She knew that the hole from the exit wound in the front would be considerably larger.

“Oh,
God.
Cassandra,
WHAT
DID
YOU
DO?”
Shawn choked out the words, struggling on the ground as his hands sought automatically to clutch at the fist-sized hole in his chest.

Cassandra stood frozen, staring at the writhing figure of the only man she had ever given more than a passing thought.

Nick leaped forward once more and dragged the now sobbing child from Shawn’s arms, pulling her into his. Over her head, he could not tear his eyes from the awful sight of the man attempting desperately to stem the rapid flow of blood from the wound.

“Oh,
no
! Oh, you psycho . . .
why
 . . . how could you do it?” His voice was wracked with fear and disbelief.

Shawn looked directly at Cassandra and screamed; “
Don’t
let
me
die
here!
Not in this place, for God’s sake,
please
!” Cassandra jumped at the sound, but still made no move.

She noted in a disconnected way, that the dog had fled and was nowhere to be seen.

The sounds coming from Shawn were sickening, as the blood rapidly and painfully rushed into his lungs.

Cassandra’s sudden scream startled them all.