Linked (40 page)

As he
rushed towards me, I couldn’t help but smile as sparks of certainty flashed
through my mind. When Kieran attacked, I anticipated the next move and dodged
the other way. He swung his leg sideways in a circular motion, but the top of
his foot sliced nothing but the warm, cabin air as I evaded contact once again.
Growling, he tipped the table, and knocked it over.

“Kieran,”
someone shouted and pounded on the door as he and I stood facing each other,
preparing for another showdown.

“What?”
he hollered hoarsely and had to take a couple deep breaths.

“Morgan’s
had a premonition,” a male voice rushed on. “And she’s pretty certain we’re
about to get company. A group of Guardians.”

Silence
hung in the air between us. But my nose twitched from a burning smell, an odor
different from the wood smoke. This was something stronger, more like the
stench of burning hair or feathers. A whooshing sound sent both our heads
spinning towards the window where we watched together as orange flames raced up
the long, green curtains.

“Your
boyfriend’s coming,” he muttered under his breath and stared at me. “I’ll make
sure he doesn’t walk away this time.”

“Kieran?”
A female voice shouted.

“Link
up!” Kieran yelled through the cabin door. “Do it now,” he repeated with a
roar.

“Lexi?”

“I’m
good Ash. Do what you need to do out there. I’ve got this under control.”

“Okay,
I…”
but then his voice was gone.

“You
are going to pay for this. You, Jason, and…” Kieran’s eyes lit with
understanding, “and Ash.” His voice lashed through the air like a whip. “I’m
going to make you watch while I rip them apart – limb by limb.”

Hatred
coursed through my veins, and I snapped. “Not if I rip you apart first,” I
seethed.

When
he charged again, I was more than ready. Dropping to my knees just before he reached
me, I braced myself against the scuffed up floorboards. Kieran tripped over my
hunched body and crashed into the wall head first. He screamed in frustration.
Quickly, I reached out, circled my arms around his ankles, and yanked with all
my might – forgetting that all my might was now very powerful and much more
than I was accustomed to. As I pulled his feet out from under him, he toppled
over, and his head banged against the sharp corner of a chair.

The
floor began to quiver, and I thought maybe we were having an earthquake. But
then I heard loud rumblings, things smashing and crashing, and lots of
screaming.

“You’re
friends are here,”
Ash said.
“Don’t come out the front door, you’re
likely to get killed in all the commotion. Head for the bathroom window.”

Eliciting
a roar of protest, Kieran sat up and reached for me, but I scrambled a few feet
away. Smoke engulfed the room, and I covered my mouth with my arm to block out
the fumes. Orange flames, tinged with bright shades of yellow and red, raced
each other across the knotty pine walls. I searched the wall in haste, and
eventually feasted my eyes on an antique, kerosene lantern hanging from a large
hook.

I
grabbed the old lantern, smiled smugly at Kieran, and smacked him over the
head. Splintering glass flew all around as the lamp made contact. I drew back
and watched in satisfaction as blood protruded from a large open gash on top of
his head. It flowed rapidly through his hair and down over his ear, soon
collecting in a bright red puddle on the floor.

The
cabin doors shook, and an axe splintered its way through the boards in several
different places. A female voice was hollering on the other side, but the words
were drowned out by the pounding axe. Flames spread through the cabin, and I
coughed and looked back at Kieran. He was supporting himself with one hand and
examining his open wound with the other. When he drew his hand away from his
temple it was covered in blood.

I
decided a Guardian’s sense of smell must be intensely keen, because I caught a
quick whiff of the blood’s acrid scent in between the dry smoke. Groaning,
Kieran brought his hand out in front of him and eyed the large shard of glass
which was sticking out of his palm. With a snarl, he wrenched it free and flung
it at me. He missed, but that’s only because I’d known it was coming and
swiveled sideways.

“Better
luck next time,” I shouted. Utilizing my martial art training lessons from
Jason, I twirled a full 360 degrees and delivered a forceful blow to Kieran’s
face with my foot. His body went lax and he collapsed onto the floor.

“Expect
company,”
Ash’s voice rang through my head.

The
front door flew open, and Melanie shot into the cabin with Alayne on her heels.
They stopped short, sputtered, and waved their hands wildly at all the smoke. I
met Alayne’s slate gray eyes, and she gave me a venomous look before rushing to
Kieran’s side. If they managed to link again, I’d be in a world of hurt.

Insight
into Melanie’s imminent attack had me narrowly avoiding a spiraling axe to my
head. Sailing past me, it landed with a “thunk” in the pine wall.

“Get
out now, Lexi!”
Ash yelled in my head.

“Got
it.”

Out of
nowhere, a large energy sphere, in the shape of a manhole, blasted through the doorway.
It flew into Melanie’s gut, lifted her off the floor, and carried her backwards
through the flames. Once she crashed into the back wall, she slid to the floor
in a heap where she remained perfectly still. I glanced at Kieran, who was now
making gurgling noises, and saw that Alayne was trying to link with him.

Time
to go! Flames danced across the ceiling, so I ducked low and tore through the
cabin. Once in the bathroom, I made my escape through the small window. After
landing on a mound of hard-packed snow, I dodged through a few shrubs and
finally came to a stop behind another small, brown cabin that looked exactly
like the one I’d just climbed out of.

Crouched
down in the snow, I watched open-mouthed as flames licked across the roof and
charcoal gray smoke poured through the windows of the cabin I’d just escaped
from. I shuddered as a huge, reddish mountain lion burst through the walls with
a loud, “Roww, Roww, Roww.” His powerful hind legs sent him pouncing high
through the air and out of my line of vision. I groaned and slapped my hand
against the wood siding. Kieran had linked and was now running free again.
Standing up, I put my back against the cabin and slowly started inching my way
around the exterior. I needed a better view of the action, and I desperately
wanted to see how my friends were fairing.

A
piercing scream arose from the burning cabin, and I stopped dead in my tracks.
I turned around just as the roof collapsed and flames shot into the air,
following the curly cues of black smoke which had already cast dark shadows
over the woods. I covered my ears, but Melanie’s shrieks went on and on and
didn’t stop until the cabin exploded into a ball of indigo flames with a
thunderous “boom.” Closing my eyes, I tried to block out the hot, bright colors.
I needed to escape the firestorm, because I didn’t want to think about the gray
soot shooting in all directions – soot that was made up partly of Melanie’s
ashes.

I
scurried around the small building, my shoes crunching loudly on the snow. Not
that it mattered much, because the blasting noises coming from the other side
of the cabin were loud enough to wake the dead. Eventually, I made my way to
the end of the cabin and peeked around the corner. What I saw was astonishing.
The forest had become a combat zone between Guardians and Ray-pacs – a real
life good vs. evil showdown. Already it looked like weapons of mass destruction
had caused irrefutable damage to the natural environment. Energy spheres
hurtled and exploded against trees or pounded into the ground leaving huge
craters which blew the snow high into the air. Tools and old tires were flying
in all directions as were native shrubs, rotting logs, and burning boards from
the cabin. I was amazed anyone was still standing. Anxiously, I scanned the wreckage
for Jason, but couldn’t find him anywhere.

A
flash of movement in the trees caught my attention. Upon closer examination, I
realized large animals were weaving in and out of the alpine forest, streaking
through the massive trees. Tensing, I flattened myself against the cabin boards
but bumped against a mound of snow. I wiped the slush off my nose as the cold
nipped at my sinuses.

Wait a
minute. Animals?

Excited,
I watched for their shapes and was rewarded when I caught sight of a tawny
brown mountain lion and a large black bear. They were sprinting through the
snowy brush, hot on the tail of the reddish mountain lion. Oh no! Well…at least
Jason and Max were working together this time to take out Kieran. I heaved a
sigh of relief but jerked in surprise when I spotted wafts of white up in the
trees. Scanning the branches urgently, I zoomed in on a rusty, yellow-colored
cougar, sprawled out on a sturdy branch, panting white puffs of air. Had to be
Kieran’s brother, Adrian. That sneaky creep. No doubt he was sitting up there
assessing his prey’s every move. And in this case, that meant Jason and Max.

Not
good. I needed to get him out of the trees and away from them. But how?

Hovering
in the hazy sky, in a pink leather jacket, was Evelyn with her unique ability
to take flight. Her long, red hair whipped left and right as she dodged energy
spheres – ones being unleashed by Ash.

“Ash?”

“Yes?”

“Can
you shoot a couple blasts past Evelyn and at those cedar trees – aim for about
six o’clock.”

“Be
happy to.”

“But
when you do, you’ll probably be picking a fight with Adrian who is currently
hiding out as a cougar in those cedars.”

“Let’s
see what he’s got, because Evelyn’s not much of a challenge over here.”

Almost
immediately a round of small orbs annihilated the bottom of the tree where
Adrian had been lounging so comfortably. As it began to topple, Adrian growled
and vaulted through the air, disappearing into the thicket. It wasn’t long
before he walked out of the forest in human form. Clearly aggravated at having
been forced out of his hiding spot, he began launching energy spheres straight
back at Ash. His expression was feral, and he was practically foaming at the
mouth.

“Be
careful Ash! He’s really pissed off.”

“Don’t
worry Lexi. This will be fun. But it’s time for you to get out of here.”

“You’re
right. Time to move. But you be careful,”
I ordered.

“You
know it,”
he said.

Scurrying
back around the cabin, I slipped in behind the old shed. The heat and smoke from
the smoldering cabin was close now, almost too much to bear. The massive pile
of glowing embers smoked, steamed, and spit hot coals. The sooty residue hit my
nose hard, and I sneezed.

Behind
a huge firewood pile, I caught sight of Kole rotating his hands in fast,
circular motions. The dude was all punk with his spiky hair, eyebrow piercings,
and colorful tattoos. Manipulating the wind to his own command, he sent several
miniature tornadoes ripping across the ground. Out of nowhere, Trevon appeared
and engaged him in a good old fashioned fist fight, but Kole’s boot connected
squarely with Trevon’s jaw. Kole’s moment of glory was short-lived though,
because Shelby appeared atop the woodpile, and rapidly released several small
fireballs. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have thought she was firing rounds
from a fully automatic weapon. Kole dodged for cover behind an old wheelbarrow
as hot flares pelted the ground, instantly melting the snow. I smiled and
muttered under my breath, “You go girl.”

All of
a sudden, I sensed I was about to be kicked in the stomach. I was mystified,
because I couldn’t see anyone close by. Luckily, my body moved faster than my
mind, and I rolled several feet through the snow. A female voice swore in
anger, but still, her body was nowhere to be seen. Then it dawned on me. Of
course, it had to be Alayne. I might not be able to see anything other than her
footprints in the snow, but if I could sense her moves, I should be able to
strike back. She launched an attack and I held my own for quite awhile. At one
point, I made my move and flew at my invisible attacker with a high kick. I
heard her crash to the ground and watched as the snow displaced in the shape of
a body.

“You’re
gonna have to do better than that,” I yelled and threw myself on top of an
indiscernible Alayne.

“Kieran
will kill you,” she screamed.

“Not
today,” I growled and responded with a series of kicks. When she stopped
moving, I turned and ran across the clearing, wondering why the ground was
shaking beneath me. Objects rained down from above, and I felt like the world
was closing in on me. Diving behind a large piece of plywood, I wondered at an
assortment of huge icicles whizzing by.

Icicles?

Off to
my left Madison and Kiesha were dueling it out with their telekinetic powers.
With her long black hair draped over her satiny orange Soho jacket, Madison
plowed across the snow in her tall Ugg boots as if she was a model who owned
the runway and feared nothing. She walked the snowy battlefield with
confidence.

But
giving credit where credit was due, Kiesha, with her smooth, dark skin, stood
out against the blankets of white snow. She appeared no less daunting than
Madison. With her short, tight curls and blood red lipstick she was also a
sight to behold, and apparently, a woman to be reckoned with. She glanced
towards the partially demolished woodpile and moved her hands around. Several
pieces of cut firewood hurtled towards Madison, but Madison batted them away
mid-air with a huge snow shovel.

Kiesha
let out a shrilly scream when a broken branch pierced her leg and ripped her
cargo pants. A trail of blood colored the snow. Howling in rage, she glared at
Madison, but it wasn’t long before a satisfied smile spread across her smug
face. Without warning, a large rake smacked Madison across the legs from
behind, and she fell face first into the snow. When she didn’t stand back up, I
became worried.