The Reluctant Amazon (Alliance of the Amazons) (21 page)

Necessity dictated these women not be weighed down by families.
A pregnancy would take an Amazon out of commission, and a child would be
ammunition an enemy could use against a warrior. By making them barren and
impervious to disease, the goddesses had given the women freedom to find their
pleasures where they could.

Rebecca dropped her hand and looked at him, eyes brimming with
tears. Before he could try to ease her hurt, the door was flung open, and Sarita
came striding in.

She froze, taking a long look at them and their disheveled
appearance. A broad smile crossed her pretty face. “Didn’t mean to
interrupt.”

He threw her his best Sentinel frown.

Her face blanched. Clearly, she was more afraid of him than
Johann, because Sarita’s response to any of the new Sentinel’s frowns was a
flippant smile.

“Sparks is gone again,” Sarita said, her tone concerned. “She
wasn’t in her cabin, and none of us can find her.

“Damn her.” Rebecca shook her head. “She’s going to get hurt.
And she’s going to get us hurt too.”

“This was all she left.” Sarita reached out her hand, and
Rebecca took the silver offering.

Artair had to swallow his anger at Sparks for all she’d thrown
away. Her legacy wouldn’t be sharing all she knew, all she could do with new
generations of Amazons—it would be pain.

Rebecca’s face was strained. “She left her Zippo, Artair.”

“Aye, lass. She did.”

“She left it because she’s not coming back this time, is
she?”

He drew his lips into a grim line. “Nay. She’ll not
return.”

Not alive.

Sarita ducked out the door, then stuck her head back. “Johann
wants to see all of us. Meet you in his cabin.”

Alone with Rebecca, Artair reached for her hand.

Every emotion was written on her beautiful face. Hurt. Fear.
Anger. The lass had truly ridden a rough path in a short time. She’d lost any
chance at a family. She’d lost her mentor and friend, and until he had a chance
to tell her of his decision, she had to fear losing her lover.

She gave her head a small shake and fled the storage room
before he could set her straight.

He would sit her down tonight and explain. That would ease some
of her pain. Oh, she’d argue, no doubt thinking she was taking away what she
believed he still wanted. He would make her understand that the choice was his
to make so she bore no guilt that could become a wedge between them.

Chapter Twenty

“I don’t understand? How can Jin move through wires?”
Artair asked.

Johann thumped the monitor with his knuckle. “Rhiannon said he
was energy and patterns, right?”

Artair nodded.

“He’s moving around the Internet as code—as damn binary code.
Our enemies have jumped into the twenty-first century. Somehow Jin realized
anything can be reproduced on a computer using binary. He moves from computer to
computer along Internet connections as electricity. He’s gotta be the one who
got into my files.”

Rebecca stared at the screen, a sick feeling forming in the pit
of her stomach. Their enemies had taken a terrifying leap into modern
technology, and now the Amazons were even more vulnerable.

“That’s how they hacked my system.” Johann reached behind to
jerk the ethernet cable from the back of his laptop. Holding up the sky-blue
wire, his face grew hard. “I invited the bastard into our world the minute I
connected all of our computers. Who knows how long he’s been watching us,
monitoring every keystroke? God, I’m a fucking idiot. I led Jin right to
us.”

Johann’s hands flew across the keyboard as images flashed on
the monitor faster than Rebecca could see. “What are you doing?”

“I’m looking for ghost codes. You know, keystrokes, footprints
that asshole or his followers might have left behind. Maybe I can trace it back
to them. They must’ve been tracking us for weeks, waiting until they found us
together. Shit! I might as well have held the gates to Avalon open and put out a
goddamn welcome mat. They waited like a spider over a web—and we’re the flies.”
He typed faster.

“They’ll nae find us any weaker,” Artair commented with a
frown. He looked over at Gina and Sarita. “Have you lasses seen Megan?”

“She wasn’t in her cabin,” Sarita replied. “And then I found
Sparks’s place was empty too.”

“The last place I saw Megan was on the tower.” Dread swept over
Rebecca. Not that she gave a damn their little swapped identity game had been
exposed. Megan was gone. Did she follow Sparks? She brushed aside her gnawing
doubts and reached out with her mind.

Megan was off her radar for the first time since she’d led
Sparks and Artair to that bar, to Condemned.

Artair’s expression showed he shared her concern. “She’s
missing. Just like Trishna was. Just like Sparks and Helen. Oh my God, Artair.
What are we going to do? We’ve got to find her. We’ve got to find
all
of them.”

“If our enemies wish to hurt us, now would be the opportune
time.” Artair shook his head. “We’re nae more than sitting ducks.”

The comments were barely out of his mouth when all hell broke
loose. The trees whipped into a frenzy as if Rhiannon was pissed about
something. Then the sound of a helicopter appeared, growing louder with each
passing second. The occupants of Johann’s cabin froze as search lights flashed
through the window.

Small explosions rocked the courtyard. “The blasts may nae kill
us, but they’ll slow us down ’til the revenants attack. Out! Get your weapons
and get out of Avalon!” Artair shouted before anyone else could find the will to
move.

Rebecca followed him out the door, glancing back to see Gina
and Sarita pulling weapons from Johann’s cabinet.

Johann slammed his laptop shut and grabbed a sword. “I’ll find
you, Rebecca,” he called to her. “I’ll monitor the GPS units. We’ll meet again
soon. We’ve got a better chance if we split up. Get the hell out of here and
stay with Artair. I’ll get Gina and Sarita to safety. We’ll regroup and find
Megan and Sparks.”

She trusted him. Johann had probably known about their stupid,
childish game for quite some time and had been a good sport to play along. He
cared about them. When she’d finally figured him out, it might be too late to
work with him to save their world.

“I’ll find you, Rebecca.”

She gave him a brisk nod, glanced at her sisters, then ducked
out of the cabin.

Stumbling to keep up with Artair’s serpentine run across the
sandpit, she ducked the helicopter’s searchlights. She plowed right into his
back when he stopped abruptly. The ground next to him exploded. His gaze
followed the chopper, tracking where they would be dropping the next charge.
Trying to shake the paralyzing fright, she drew strength from Artair’s
no-nonsense approach to getting to the arsenal.

Once secured inside the armory, he armed himself with a sword
and a dirk before he helped her don her bow and quiver of arrows on her back.
She grabbed a sword before following him to the door, where he cautiously
scanned the scene.

“Get yourself out of Avalon. I must be sure the others have
fled and find the changelings. Fight your way out. Fight like I know you can.”
His desperate tone cut through her fear. “I expect the revenants any time now,
and I won’t be able to fight if I worry for yer safety. Promise me, Becca mine.
Promise ye will flee and fight if you have to.”

She nodded, knowing he was right. They had to split up to get
away safely. She would be able to find the other Amazons, but she didn’t know
how she would find him. “Where should we meet?”

“Don’t fear. You’re Earth—I’ll find you. See to your own
safety.” He grabbed her, gave her a hard kiss, then turned her loose. “Trust me.
I
will
find you.” Artair was out the door in a
heartbeat, Rebecca close at his heels. He shoved her toward the woods. “Now,
lass! Get yourself out of here!” He was gone before she could be frightened for
him.

Before she could tell him how much she loved him.

The courtyard was chaos.

The helicopter hovered above, shining lights so bright that
they blinded her when they passed over her face. A bizarre flash popped into her
head of old prison movies where the inmate escaped as the bloodhounds barked and
the searchlights scanned the yard.

The best thing she could do was listen to her Sentinel and put
some distance between her and the outbuildings before the revenants arrived.

She took a deep breath.
Too late.
The stench of the decaying creatures filled her nostrils.

Ducking into the trees bordering the compound, she crouched
low, trying to see where the zombies would launch their attack so she could
figure out the best direction to escape. The first wave came from behind her old
cabin. Three revenants entered the building and tossed it like cops with an
ambiguous search warrant. Rebecca could hear things breaking and mourned the
furnishings they were destroying.

About to slip deeper into the woods, a cold chill raced over
her skin, raising gooseflesh. Two small, brown rabbits were hopping madly across
the sandpit.

A burst of energy replaced her fear. Jumping from her cover,
she readied her sword and rushed the revenants that had emptied from her cabin
and were lumbering toward the sandpit. She wasn’t sure if rabbit was on their
menu, but she wasn’t letting them anywhere near her beloved changelings. Rebecca
beheaded two revenants before they had a chance to touch her.

Sheathing her sword, she ran across the grass, fearing the
other revenant would catch up. She grabbed the two rabbits by the scruffs of
their necks. Explosions shook the ground, and she was blinded by one of the
bright searchlights. Squeezing Beagan and Dolan against her chest, she zigzagged
back to the woods. The light seemed to have picked up her pattern as it followed
her from the sandpit back toward the woods.

Rebecca reflexively ducked at the first gunshots. She flinched
as the bullets drilled her back. The feel of the scalding pieces of metal
sliding around in her shirt was almost as bad as the force of the shots.

“Damn it!” The stupid light shadowed her every move, and each
time it passed over her, more gunshots hit her back and arms. A couple of shots
pounded off the back of her head, leaving spots that throbbed. The sickening
moan of revenants sang behind her. She ran faster.

Leaping into some small bushes at the edge of the trees, she
put the rabbits down and set her sword aside. They scrambled to huddle next to
her ankles. The changelings were frightened, shaking and cowering, and she
needed to see to their safety.

She pulled the hem of her shirt out of her pants, letting the
bullets slide down her skin and tumble to the ground. She counted a dozen
bullets before she gave up her tally. A shudder ripped through her at the
thought of what those bullets could have wrought. Hopefully, they hadn’t done
too much damage to the bow and blessed arrows she carried on her back.

Rebecca tucked her T-shirt back into her pants, picked up each
rabbit and dropped one and then the other down the neckhole of her shirt. They
settled on either side of her waist, and she was grateful they weren’t
scrambling around, tickling her. She could feel their frightened trembles. She
grabbed her sword again, ready to fight.

The revenants poured into the courtyard, destroying everything
in their path. The overpowering stench forced her to breathe through her mouth
to keep from gagging, but she couldn’t seem to drag herself away from the morbid
sight as she watched Avalon die.

* * *

How many miles had she run through the woods? Run? No,
loped. Rebecca had been afraid to run too hard or too fast. If she tripped over
some of the underbrush, she would have fallen and crushed Beagan and Dolan. But
she’d traveled fast enough to have scrapes and cuts on her face and arms from
unseen branches grazing her skin.

Not entirely sure where she was going, she simply tried to put
as much distance between herself and Avalon as she could. The fetid odor of the
revenants had followed her for a short while, but the comforting smell of pine
was the only thing that now tickled her nose.

For once appreciative of all the training she’d received during
Girl Scouts, she used the North Star to help her move in something other than a
blind path that might have inadvertently led her back to her enemies. Fatigue
caught up with her, and after what seemed like hours of moving, she needed to
rest. She stopped and tried to catch her breath.

She stabbed her sword into the ground. She’d held it the entire
time in case she might need to defend herself and the changelings. Perhaps she’d
learned something after all. The old Rebecca would have sheathed it and chosen
not to let its bulk weigh her arm down. Her biceps felt a little sore, but she’d
definitely toughened up. Artair and Sparks had done their jobs well.

Artair.
How in the hell was she
supposed to find Artair?

I am Earth. Artair will find
me.

Tugging her shirt out of her waistband, she caught the first
rabbit that wiggled free. Setting him on the grass, she lifted the other side
and pulled the second one loose. “You guys okay?”

They changed right in front of her. She couldn’t remember
seeing anything as fascinating as those tiny, furry animals growing into the
Beagan and Dolan she knew and loved.

“Mistress, are you well?” Dolan came to her side and worriedly
ran his hand over her arm. The poor shape-shifter stared at her, and for a
moment, she was afraid he would cry.

“I’m fine.” Her words didn’t seem to calm him, and Beagan moved
to her other side and started to pat her hip over and over until she was sure
she would bruise from his concern. “Really, guys. I’m fine.”

“You saved our lives, mistress,” Dolan said, his voice tinted
by a quaver. “We can never thank you enough.”

She sure didn’t think she deserved praise for doing the right
thing. Besides, she loved them. She could never have left them to fend for
themselves.

Beagan actually grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it as
she had seen him do for Rhiannon. She wasn’t about to let
that
nonsense happen again. Not only would it piss off the goddess,
but Rebecca wouldn’t have them think they owed her anything. Drawing her hand
away, she reached back and tousled his hair. “It’s all right. I couldn’t leave
my friends behind.”

“We must make a camp for you,” Dolan insisted. “It might not be
perfect, but it shall be comfortable.” He reached for her hand, probably to kiss
it.

She threaded her fingers through her own sweaty bangs to keep
it out of his grasp. “Make camp?” She gave the changelings a lopsided smile.
“Kind of hard to do without any supplies.”

Beagan and Dolan exchanged knowing glances. “Leave it to us,
mistress.”

They scurried away into the trees.

Should she call them back? If they went too far, she’d never be
able to find them. If the enemy chose to attack, she wasn’t sure she could help
them. “Guys? Stay close.”

Sitting down on a fallen log, Rebecca pulled the bow and quiver
from her back and laid them on the ground. Her hands trembled now that she had
nothing to occupy them. She watched her shaking fingers as if they belonged to
someone else.

She’d maintained her control through the attack on Avalon, and
there’d been little fear. She was in one piece.

“Man, I need a stiff drink.”

“’Twill be a bit difficult, but I will get that for you
shortly, mistress,” Dolan replied from behind her, causing her to jump. She
wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to how soundlessly they moved, and she didn’t
even bother asking how they could get liquor in the middle of nowhere. “Was
there a certain libation you would prefer? Wine? Whiskey?”

“That’s okay, honey. I was only kidding.”

“We shall have a shelter for you soon. Then you can sleep. You
need your rest, mistress.” He scurried off into the woods again.

Picking up her bow, Rebecca ran her fingers over every inch.
While there were several pings where the bullets had struck, it seemed intact.
She checked each arrow. A couple were discarded because of bent shafts. The
quiver had some through-and-though bullet holes, but at least most everything
was useable. If any of the goddesses caught up with her, she’d ask for some more
blessed arrows. One could never be too careful or too well armed.