Talons (34 page)

Eli encouraged Ty to give Mara access
to bogus notes made during their conference calls. The
misinformation would be passed on to Ryken. Ty was sure Mara was
unaware of him being onto her. His control over his emotions kept
him from exhibiting the disgust he felt every time she came to
their bed.

Hearing Mara go on to disparage and
mock Vivian now almost made him slip and rip her head off. Instead
he kept his emotions steady, knowing she would immediately sense
his contempt, having inherited that skill from Jericho.

“
Eli had nearly four hundred
years to make up his mind on a mate,” Ty said smoothly, knowing it
galled Mara to hear it, her being one of Eli’s former favorites. “I
guess it just took him that long to find the right one.”

“
Yes, well it won’t last. We
both know Eli.”

Ty longed to tell Mara exactly what he
thought of her, instead he smiled tightly. “Eli does not take a
mate every day, Mara. Can we agree on that?” She shrugged and left
their room to return to the classroom.

Ty glared at the doorway she exited
through, knowing his pretending to not know what she was doing was
critical to catching Ryken. Eli needed to find out where Ryken
hid.

The money Mara stole helped finance the
weapons purchased to exterminate her former tribe. She made free
with nearly fifty thousand dollars with only new schoolbooks and
school supplies to show for it. It was obvious she had Gideon’s
arrogance to think none of them noticed.

Ty was tired of funneling money to feed
Ryken’s plans. Eli contended until Mara made actual contact with
Ryken to just watch the man who collected the money at the fence.
Ty went better to install close captioned security cameras and
heard every damning word from Mara’s own lips that sealed her
guilt.

Ryken found a site for his new
compound. The one in Colorado was targeted for attack. They were
invading the compound and taking over. Mara showed no remorse to
learn every man, woman, and child who didn’t agree to follow Ryken
would die, most of them her relatives.

Mara was cold and heartless when she
told the man at the fence she would eat Vivian and Eli’s children
in front of their mother before she killed her too, sending a
feeling of fury through Ty. Eli encouraged him to continue the
masquerade until he discovered the time and date of the attack.
Killing Mara wasn’t an option until they had a date.

Ty flipped off his computer, his email
detailing every bit of information the courier gave Mara. The
attack was imminent. Ryken recruited a hidden sect of their kind he
found living in swamps in the Everglades. The new members were
grossly ignorant, but easy to control. They were ill-bred and
appeared happy to do whatever Ryken asked just for food.

Ryken would arrive around the same time
Vivian’s children were due. The timing of it wasn’t lost upon Eli.
News of Eli’s taking Vivvie as his mate and her having his children
obviously enraged Ryken enough to invade. Ryken didn’t dare allow
them to be born, knowing from Mara they both possessed Eli’s gift,
but only one could rule.

Ty had the hardest time keeping all of
it from Gideon. The man would be horrified to know his
granddaughter plotted their tribe’s annihilation with Ryken. It was
a bitter pill for them all to know this was very much family
against family now. There was no telling how many followers Ryken
had in Colorado, still within the compound.

Gideon had only been told to mobilize
the men to return to their mountain retreat, not why. Ty kept Mara
busy during their leaving the only way he knew how and despised
every moment of it while she keened in delight under
him.

Whatever war Ryken planned would be
fought on the mountain. Eli wanted no blood spilled until they were
far from prying human eyes. Ty objected to Eli’s other plan for
Ryken, knowing it was precarious in the hands of one so
young.

~~~~

Ryken shook himself from sleep and
reached for the human beverage that kept his heart racing. He
looked around the hotel room and the woman bound on his bed in
disgust. The woman was begging at a truck stop. She satisfied him
briefly, but the image of Vivvie kept him from getting off. That
was when he noticed the dark haired child playing upon the floor.
She was no more than five or six by the size of her.

He glared at the little girl who sat
playing with the doll, wondering which of his men fathered the
brat. They were too few in number for them to spare the children in
this war. He soldiers as young as five in his ranks, but bombs
secured to their backs would insure their victory when he sent them
into the compound. Ryken thought little of the sacrifice, realizing
they could make more of their young once the compound was under his
control.

“
Get out of here!” Ryken
snapped at the child as he sat up on the bed and swung his legs
over the side. “What are you doing in here?” he demanded as he got
up, his sleep-fogged mind not realizing he was far from
awake.

The child played with her doll, humming
and ignoring him. Ryken rose and stood over the little girl
threateningly.

“
You heard me! Get your ass
back to your room!” he snarled and reached down to snatch up the
child and toss her out.

The little girl turned her head, her
green, glowing eyes meeting his with little fear in them as he
lifted her. The doll became a knife in her small hand.

“
My mother says hello,
Ryken,” the child purred before she plunged the knife into his
throat.

Ryken dropped the little girl then,
stumbling back and clutching his throat. He held his severed
jugular and watched as the little girl giggled and picked up the
blood-covered knife, watching it turn back into a doll before his
gaze. She cuddled it to her chest, eying him without sympathy as he
slumped to his knees.

Cursing under his breath as blood
poured through his hands, he felt one more of his souls slip away.
He held his throat, gasping as he fell to the floor, watching her
walk out of the hotel room, closing the door behind her.

~~~~

Eli lifted his hand off Vivvie’s
engorged abdomen in relief, listening to his daughter’s happy
chatter within. She regaled him with her exploits in the dream
quite dramatically, much to her twin brother’s disgust. Eli sighed
as he watched his wife sleep knowing what he did now would make her
furious.

His children were far better than their
mother at using their gifts, having been conceived with it. Knowing
Ryken wouldn’t expect a visit from one of them was a rash decision
of his, one Ty tried to talk him out of. Ryken needed to be slowed
down. Eli’s daughter relieved Ryken of one of his souls. He had one
left. He would be too scared to sleep now. His mind would be tired.
Eli counted upon it.

Why does a girl always get
to go first, Father?

Eli smiled at his son’s complaint. He
had no answer for him. His wife used the catch phrase of ‘ladies
first’ so often, he wasn’t quite sure. Their son was outraged his
sister got the privilege of going after Ryken first, ahead of him.
Eli knew unless he gave some explanation, a tussle in the womb
would ensue, and be sure to wake Vivvie.

Your mother says it’s to be
polite, son. Don’t argue with it.

That seemed to satisfy his son, and the
pair settled down after stern orders from him for them to sleep.
Eli eased back up next to his wife, brooding over knowing a war was
soon to arrive.

Gideon and his men were due back in
days. The stress of planning a war and the arrival of his children
wore on him. The members of the tribe were oblivious to the threat.
Eli wasn’t certain which of them were helping Ryken.

Eli stared up at the ceiling with a
frown. Someone let Ryken’s men into the compound as they had
before. It tortured him to wonder which of his people betrayed him.
Ty couldn’t see it and Jericho sensed nothing unusual in his
people.

They had another traitor among them,
maybe more than one. The pain he felt to know he was soon to be
betrayed by one of his own was nothing compared to his rage to know
what they planned for his wife and children after they killed
him.

Sending Vivvie away before the children
were born was dismissed. It would only alert whoever turned upon
them that they knew of the impending attack. Eli fought the urge to
take his family out of the compound to safety.

Sleep was slow to come.

~~~~

Gideon and the other warriors arrived
back and were all formed up waiting for Eli and Jericho. The
warriors of the tribe looked grim to know Ryken was attacking the
compound. They no idea how many he had coming with him, and no way
to plan.

Eli looked grim as he looked at them
all. “Ryken has only one soul left. He has nothing to lose. Expect
that he will take out as many of us as he can. ”

“
What of my granddaughter?
Has she been dealt with?” Gideon asked harshly at the head of the
group, orange eyes filled with wrath.

“
Ty took care of it when the
troops left Florida,” Eli said with a look of regret in his eyes.
“I’m sorry, Gideon.”

Gideon looked pained as he looked away.
Mara was one of his favorites. Her turning against the tribe was a
bitter pill for Gideon, whose loyalty was unwavering. All knew he
was devastated.

“
I’m glad it was Ty, and not
some of my men,” Gideon replied tightly. “Then she would have
gotten what she deserved.”

Eli watched as his general stomped away
to go tell his daughter about Mara. All could see he suffered to
know one of his own did this.

The rest of his men appeared dismayed
to know the general’s granddaughter aided Ryken. There was no way
to keep it from them. The schoolteacher was very popular within the
tribe.

“
Ryken has only one chance,”
Eli said as he stood before the group, his eyes glowing fiercely.
“He comes here to kill us all unless we agree to go back to the old
ways. I give you all a choice before he arrives. If his views are
yours, walk out of here to wait for him. None will stop
you.”

None left the area, gazing at their
leader in surprise. It wasn’t like Eli to give choices.

“
I want no traitors in my
ranks,” Eli said coolly as his eyes slid over them. “Ryken has
spies here among us, those who would aid him to come in and kill
your fathers, your mothers, and your children out of ideals that
have no place in our world anymore. I have no wish to stand in
anyone’s way. There is the door if you want out.”

None left, grumbling among themselves
to know they had a traitor here too.

“
We have less than a week
until Ryken arrives,” Eli imparted with a smile to see none left
him. “Keep your ears to the ground until then.”

Eli and Jericho left the field and
headed back inside. Jericho looked at him approvingly. “That wasn’t
so bad, was it? We both know it killed you to give them any choice
back there.”

“
I won’t hold any here who
feel like Ryken, Jericho,” Eli said with a sigh. “But you realize
what this means?”

Jericho nodded sadly. “They must be
destroyed the same as my grandson if they leave.”

“
I saw none leave, Jericho.
They know they go to certain death if they follow
Ryken.”

Jericho changed the subject. “How is
Vivvie? She was quite worried last night after dinner.”

Eli smiled and was relieved to talk of
anything but the impending war. “She is fine. You know better than
us all how first time mothers are. She is scared.”

“
Eli, did you tell her?”
Jericho said quietly, a sad look in his eyes suddenly.

Eli looked grim and shook his head. “I
can’t bring myself to tell her. Knowing won’t make it any easier
for her to bear.”

“
Vivvie will understand the
nature of our kind one day, Eli. There can be only one with your
power.”

Eli heard Jericho, but was thinking of
Vivvie’s reaction to know of the power struggle going on within her
womb right now. The children were evenly matched with both their
parent’s gifts. Only one could lead the tribe. Only one would
survive the birthing.

Vivvie wouldn’t understand how rare it
was both were born with both their gifts or forgive him for not
telling her there could be only one. His children would fight to
the death before they were even born, and he could do nothing to
stop it.

Already they grew silent as the day
approached, refusing to answer him. He couldn’t know which of them
would survive. Contemplating they could possibly have a female lead
them in the future was the only thing that made him smile. They
were ahead of the humans in that at least.

Vivvie’s inevitable pain was nothing
compared to his. Eli bonded with both already, loving his son as
much as his daughter.

“
Vivvie can’t deal with that
right now, Jericho,” Eli said reluctantly, his blue eyes filled
with pain. “Allow her to think one was stillborn. She won’t know
any better.”

Jericho nodded, looking miserable. “Do
you know which one-” he began but Eli shook his head and looked
away.