Heroes of Falledge Book One: Black Hellebore (22 page)

"I just need to lay low for a little while."

"If Big Don wants you dead, he's not going to stop until you are. Neither is Skull Krusher."

"You think I don't know that?" the doc snapped. "Just leave me be."

"It couldn't have taken you long to gather all this," Nicholas mused, "So, what else have you been doing? You could have been long gone by now."

"Don't worry about it."

"You're not even going to stick around for your wife's funeral?"

Dr. Richards slammed down on the gas, and the car jerked forward. "Get out of my car."

"You know, I don't really make it a habit to jump out of a speeding vehicle."

He slammed on the brakes. "Get. Out. Of. My. Car."

Nicholas looked in the rear view mirror. "We have company. Might want to see how speedy this car can be."

The doctor cursed under his breath, and the car leaped forward again. He ran through red lights, but it didn't matter. The car wasn't fast enough, as Nicholas knew it wouldn't be.

A loud bang sounded on top of the car. The doc jerked the wheel, and Nicholas reached over to straighten it. "Pay attention to the road," he instructed. "No matter what you see or hear, you got that?" He unbuckled his seat belt.

"What are you doing?" Dr. Richards glanced over.

"Just drive." He rolled down his window, crawled out like a spider, and pulled himself onto the roof of the car.

To his surprise, Skull Krusher was no longer there. Something heavy hit the side of his face, and colorful specks danced in his vision. Nicholas zoomed around to stand behind Skull Krusher, a nearly impossible feat as the skeleton was almost off the edge of the car roof. Nicholas grabbed the neck bones and twisted.

Skull Krusher's head pivoted around to face him. He laughed, a wickedly sinister sound. "You're going to have to do a lot better than that, flower." The skeleton hadn't bothered with clothes or his hat tonight, and the starlight caused his bones to glow ethereally.

"My name is the Black Hellebore."

A gun fired, and the car swerved beneath them. Nicholas' legs slid off the roof. He grabbed onto a side view mirror and glanced behind to see a dark car racing toward them. "Drive faster," he snarled to the doctor.

"If I go any faster, the engine will blow," the doc snapped.

"Pick your death," Nicholas retorted. He climbed back on top, careful to keep closer toward the center.

Skull Krusher stood there waiting for him, his grin every bit as twisted and grotesque as Nicholas remembered. He cocked his arm back and shoved it forward so swiftly Nicholas barely had time to duck, his leather mask almost coming off from the gust of wind the punch created.

He stood tall, and Skull Krusher made a "come here" motion with a long, bony finger. Nicholas bent his knees and dove toward the skeleton's stomach region. His hands slipped against the bones, forcing him to grab onto skeletal feet.

Skull Krusher kicked his face, and Nicholas flew into the air. He managed to grab onto a bony toe. His nose was sore. If not for his powers, it would have broken. Or been shoved through his brain.

He yanked the toe this way and that. It pivoted and flexed but would not break off. How the heck Nicholas was going to hurt Skull Krusher, let alone kill him?

Skull Krusher kicked to loosen Nicholas' grip, so Nicholas shifted to the car roof and hoisted himself up.

More gunshots fired. Glass shattered, and the car swerved across the lanes.

Nicholas looked behind to see mobster goons in a dark car inches from theirs. Wonderful. Keeping the doc alive through all of this wasn't going to be easy either.

Skull Krusher picked up Nicholas and threw him onto the other car. The windshield broke his fall with a loud cracking sound. He climbed to his feet, waved to the mob guys, and jumped onto the back of the doc's car. Skull Krusher now hung onto the driver's side door.

Crap. Nicholas hurried forward, and his right foot fell through the roof. Skull Krusher must have punched holes in it.

Nicholas freed himself. The air around him hummed, and he ducked. A bullet whizzed by his head. Too many close calls. He was losing his touch. Perhaps being out of practice had made him rusty.

"Hey, Bone Brain!" he called.

Skull Krusher punched through the window. Glass shattered. The doc grunted, and the car swerved again. Skull Krusher reached inside.

Nicholas planted his feet as best he could despite the holes and grabbed a thick tree branch. He batted the skeleton away with it. Skull Krusher dropped to the street and disappeared from view. One of his arms remained attached to the car window and inched toward the doctor.

Nicholas dropped the branch onto the roof and grabbed the arm. The hand twisted toward him and reached for his throat. He banged it against the roof once. Twice. Three times. Finally it stopped moving.

The car jerked violently, and the tree branch rolled off. It thudded to the ground, and the mob car drove over it, the front undercarriage slamming onto the street.

More gunshots rang out, and the car slanted. One of the tires had been hit. Before Nicholas could do anything about the mobsters, Skull Krusher did it for him. He crawled out from beneath their car and shoved the driver's head into the steering wheel. In a flash, he moved to the opposite window and bit the other guy's neck.

The dead driver's foot must have stuck on the gas pedal because the car continued forward and smashed into theirs. Nicholas slammed to the roof, still holding onto the arm.

Skull Krusher raced over and stood in front of Nicholas, his jaw and upper chest bones stained with blood.

Nicholas jumped to his feet. "You will not harm him."

"Why do you care about him so much?" Skull Krusher hissed.

"Why do you want him dead so much?" Nicholas swung the arm bones like a bat. It connected with Skull Krusher's head. He stepped back, as if dazed. The skeleton's ribs were fused together, one huge bone plate. Nicholas punched it with all his might. Something rattled within. Skull Krusher still had a heart!

He wound up to strike again despite his sore, bloodied knuckles.

Laughing manically, Skull Krusher gripped his arm and squeezed until Nicholas had no choice but to stop. "Don't need it. There's no way to kill me," the skeleton said. "I am invincible." He grabbed his arm, reattached it, and made one last punch in the roof before disappearing.

The mob car was still pushing theirs forward.

"Doc! Doc!" Nicholas hurried back to the passenger seat.

The doctor's head had been bashed in, most likely from one of the punches. Nicholas had failed. Again. When would he ever learn to do something good with his powers?

He held his breath so the stench of death and blood wouldn't overpower him and switched seats. He pressed down on the brakes. The flat tire squealed in protest. The mobster car refused to relent though, and Nicholas couldn't get the cars to slow down despite his efforts.

Up ahead, he saw the blinding lights of a truck coming in the other lane. When the truck passed, he saw another set of lights: the brake lights of a car stopped five feet in front of him.

Nicholas burst through the windshield and landed in front of the doc's car. He dug his heels to the road and pressed against the front bumper. The cars slowed and slowed and slowed, until they started to move backward and the end of his coat swirled up to hit the back bumper of the car behind him.

He pushed the mob car off the road, put on the spare tire, and drove the doc's car back to Falledge. Julianna would know what to do. Hopefully.

Chapter Thirty-Six

The sound of someone pounding on her front door had Julianna reaching for her bathrobe. It never failed. The one time she was actually sleeping somewhat peacefully, someone had to ruin it.

Her grimace turned into a smile when she saw Nick's muscular form in the doorway. "Hey..." she said softly before noticing the look of terror -- there was no other word for it -- on his face. She opened the door wider. "Come in."

He paced back and forth, wound up like a caged animal.

She touched his shoulder, and he jerked back. "Relax, it's just me. What happened?"

"He's dead."

She had feared as much. "So no chance for a cure. Not that I had much hope for one." Julianna sat down on the couch, hunched over, her head in her hands.

After a moment, Nick sat beside her, rubbing her back. "I don't know how to kill him."

"Even with your powers?"

"Even with. He's strong. Stronger than me. He does have a heart still, but unless we can crack his ribs open somehow, which I doubt is possible, I think -- as he assured me -- he is invincible."

Blood drained from her face. "You need to start at the beginning." Ten minutes later, Julianna didn't feel any better. "I'm going to brew some coffee. Do you want some?"

He shook his head and stood when she did. Nick gave her a small smile and gently pushed her back into a sitting position. "I'll make it."

She hadn't the strength to argue and gladly accepted some quiet time. How could she keep her town safe and protected from a mutant skeleton?

Slowly, her body woke up enough to keep up with her racing thoughts, and she walked over to the window. Holding back the neutral-toned curtains, she stared at the doctor's car. Even in the dark, she could see his bloodied form. Or maybe it was just her overactive imagination.

"It's ready." Nick's breath tickled her ear.

She turned to him, her eyes level with his chest. He was so tall.

He pulled her close. One of them was trembling. Maybe they both were.

He released her and handed her a ceramic mug. The coffee made it too hot for her to hold so he placed it on her end table, one arm still wrapped around her. As much as she wanted to give into his warmth and succumb to the security he offered, she couldn't. Now wasn't the time for her to be selfish.

"I thought you might want to go through his papers. He wanted to relocate."

She lifted her gaze to his soft eyes. Had he read her mind? "Thank you. Yes."

He stepped back, and she missed his warmth. She grabbed the cup, but the heat it generated did nothing for her. A timid sip scalded her mouth.

Nick removed an envelope from his pocket. "Found this in the glove box. Didn't think until afterward that I probably shouldn't have moved it." He shrugged.

"No, you shouldn't have." She took it from him and opened the unsealed envelope. "It's his will. He leaves everything to a Hunter Walter."

"Who's that?"

"Not sure. My best guess is a coworker."

"Maybe all hope isn't lost then." He ventured another small smile, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Skull Krusher..." She shook her head. It seemed so ridiculous to call him that, but he was a villain, and the name was an apt one. "His bones are so strong."

"Unbreakable. I did manage to remove one of his limbs, but he reattached it just like that." He snapped his fingers.

"Okay, here's the game plan. I'll call the coroner. The car is in evidence so Hunter Walter can't have it until we go through it. We, meaning me."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"You talk to your witch. See if she knows anything about Skull Krusher, or bones, or anything useful."

He snorted. "She knows a whole lot of nonsense. Not sure she'll help."

"Do you have a better idea?"

He shook his head.

"All right, then I'm off to bed." She placed her half-emptied mug on the coffee table.

Nick covered her hand with his. "I'll talk to her in the morning. I may have failed at being Doctor Richards' bodyguard, but I'll be damned before leaving you tonight."

Julianna patted their hands. "You didn't fail. The mob and Skull Krusher were after him. It was only a matter of time." She pointed to the envelope. "And he knew it. His will is dated today."

He wiggled his eyebrows. "So you want me to leave?"

She giggled. "I want you to stop blaming yourself for everything. Not everything is in your control." She headed to the stairs, paused, and turned back to see him lounging on the couch. "Not coming up?"

"Is that an invitation?"

Julianna hesitated. She opened her mouth to say yes when she glanced out the window to see her parent's bathroom light on. "Maybe another time."

This time, his smile did reach his eyes. "Coward."

She ran upstairs, her heart pounding. Normally she slept with her door closed, but she left it open, in case Nicholas wanted to check in on her. It wasn't long before she was sleeping and dreaming of him.

*****

When the sun began to shine, Nicholas quietly left Julianna's bedside. Every hour on the hour, he'd checked on her. He knew she would be safe even if he left, but he didn't want to. She was a part of him now. Just like Falledge. His home. He'd been a fool to leave in the first place. Julianna was home, too. She had claimed his heart, and he would never get it back.

He wrote her a short note and walked next door. The sight of the twin's childhood home made his chest grow tight. It was silly. He was a superhero, and a house was causing him pain. Before he could lose his nerve, he knocked on the door.

Mrs. Paige opened it. Julianna looked so much like her. She blinked a few times before her face broke out into a wide smile. "Nick Adams. I never thought I would see you again. Would you like to come in?"

Nicholas nodded, his throat dry. He swallowed. "Mrs. Paige, how are you?"

"Getting ready to leave for work. You just missed Harold. He would have loved to see you. When did you get back in Falledge?" She gestured for him to sit down at the table, disappeared into the kitchen, and returned with cups of coffee.

"A little while ago. Mrs. Paige, I wanted to apologize for leaving so suddenly--"

She lowered her mug and reached over to pat his hand. "You have nothing to be sorry about. You did nothing wrong. None of us could have known..." Her eyes filled with tears.

He gripped her hand. "I didn't mean to make you sad."

"No. I'm so glad you stopped by. It almost makes me feel like Justina's here again."

Nicholas shuddered and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he could see Justina glide down the stairs, her white gown trailing behind her. She sat down at the head of the table, smiling at them.