Strange Trouble (13 page)

Rune had fled Gunnar and his bad news before he could tell
her what else he’d wanted to tell her. He’d held up a finger and said
“Wait,
Rune,”
as if she would. As if she could.

She barely remembered the run back to River County.

She’d left Rock County and its zombies and machine guns and
had sprinted through the night like a shadow. Like a master vampire.

Sheer hatred pushed her on, gave her the wings she needed.
And for what?
They were dead. They were all dead.

Fuck me.

The RISC parking lot was alive with cops and the media and
angry, grieving, terrified people.

Once again, she’d made a choice, and it had been the wrong
one.

Daylight came.

The RISC building was a slaughterhouse.

She’d slipped inside and when a cop had tried to stop her,
she’d looked at him.
Just once, silently.
Recognition
had lit his eyes and he’d backed away and left her alone.

The walls were splashed with blood, the floors slippery with
gore. Dark smears where Llodra had fed and then flung the bodies away.

All dead.

The bodies were gone but the spirit of horror lingered. She
could feel it in the heavy air. Smell it in the coppery, overpowering stench of
blood and vomit and shit.

What have I done?

She needed her crew.

She leaned against a wall and put her fists to her eyes,
trying to block out the sights of murder and pain. It wasn’t possible.

Elizabeth. God, Elizabeth. Don’t be dead.

“Rune!”

She felt them coming, the two she’d made, and realized she’d
unintentionally called to them in her need.
I should have done it sooner.

Levi, his eyes jubilant and grateful,
followed reluctantly by Z, who could not help himself.
She needed him.
He had to come.

Levi pulled her away from the wall and into his arms. “God,
Rune. God,” he kept repeating.

“Hi baby.”

His arms tightened. She would have been forced to hurt him
if she’d wanted to withdraw.

“I told them you were alive,” he said, finally letting her
out of his embrace. He smiled, a little embarrassed as he blinked away a tear.
“I’m not sure they believed me.”

“Where’s George? How is he?”

He shook his head.
“Still out of it.
He’s in the hospital.”

Z stared at the
wall,
his arms
crossed, and refused to meet her gaze. “Z.” She heard the plea in her voice and
winced, but there it was.

He looked at her then, his lip curling. “What?
What,
Rune? Do you want me to kneel down and kiss your boots?” He gestured, his smile
mocking, his eyes full of grief and rage. “Say the words. I must obey.”

Levi shoved him. “Shut the fuck up, motherfucker. She saved
your life. She didn’t set out to make you a fucking slave.”

Rune rubbed her eyes. “Listen to me, both of you.”

Immediately they stilled and stared at her.

Shit.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I made you…” She motioned
helplessly. “But I’m not sorry you’re standing here with me, alive.” She looked
at Z. “So you deal with it, Zeveriah Kader. When everything calms down, we’ll
figure shit out. But right now, I need you to be Shiv Crew. I need you to—”
Fuck if her voice didn’t break. “I need you to be my Z.”

He spoke as though every word were a splinter stabbing his
throat. “I don’t know how to be the man I was. But I must obey.” He clenched
his fists. “You should have let me die. I can’t forgive you for forcing me
back.
For changing my fate.
It was
mine,
not
yours. I won’t forgive you for that.”

“I couldn’t let you die.”

He grimaced. “I
was
dead, Rune. I was already fucking
dead.”

Later, she would give in to the need to feel sorry for
herself. She closed her eyes in a long, slow blink, then shook off the guilt
and did not reply. He was right. “Levi. Where are the others?” She gestured at
the blood decorating the floors and wall. “Who…who did Llodra kill?” She
couldn’t come right out and ask if Elizabeth was dead. She couldn’t.

He took her arm and urged her down the hall.

Z followed behind them, and for the first time since she’d
known him Rune felt a little thrill of fear with him at her back.

“Almost everyone in the building was killed,” Levi said. “A
few of them lived but are in pretty terrible shape. Jack, Ellie, and Raze are
in the break room.”

“The rest of the crew?”
Then
finally, she forced out the words. She had to. “Elizabeth?”

“She’s in the hospital,” he said.

She stopped and grabbed his arm. “She lived?”

He nodded, but his face was grim.
“So far.
But…”

“It’s enough. She’s alive.” She put a fist to her mouth and
pushed down the cries that wanted to escape. She hadn’t killed Elizabeth.

Not yet. They continued walking.

“Owen and Lex are with her,” he said.

His eyes were too sad for her to look into. She watched her
feet instead.

“You didn’t find Denim,” she stated.

“No.” He shuddered.

“I’m going back, Levi. I have to find Llodra and Marta. And
I
will
find your brother. I swear it.”

He nodded, but looked away. “Strad wouldn’t come back with
us, Rune. He’s patrolling the borders of Rock County, waiting for you.”

She thought her heart would explode with the effort it took
her to control her emotions. “Give me your cell.”

Strad answered on the first ring, his voice tight when he
spat out one agonized sentence. “Did you hear from her?”

She smiled, even though a quick sob managed to escape her
control. “It
is
her, Berserker.”

His silence hurt her ears, it was so heavy.
Finally, “Rune.”

She nodded. She couldn’t speak, not then.

He understood. “You’re in River County?”

His voice was shaky and she knew it was because he was
running.
Running back to his truck.
Running
to her.
“Yes,” she whispered, cursing the changes in her, the
vulnerability,
the
fucking
need.
“Hurry, Strad.”

“I’m on my way, sweetheart.”

Wordlessly, she handed Levi back his phone.

At last she stood in the break room doorway. Jack, Raze, and
Ellie sat at one of the tables, huddled in a little circle of grief and rage,
staring quietly down into the black depths of cold coffee.

“Somebody
grab
me a cup,” she said.

Ellis yelled something unintelligible and climbed across the
table, throwing himself against her so hard she would have been knocked into
the hall had Z not been at her back to catch her.

It was reflex—he just as quickly pushed her away.

But she let it go and stood still for Ellie’s hug, winking
at Jack who stared at her somberly as he waited for his turn.

“You look like hell,” Raze said, and dragged Ellis
off
her. Raze wasn’t the patient sort. He yanked her into
the air and held her against his chest in a bone crushing hug. “You look like
fucking hell.”

Rune smiled against his warm neck. “Smooth talker. It’s no
wonder you have such a way with the ladies.”

Her crew laughed, and it was good. The darkness had been
nearly unbearable.

At last she gave Jack a quick hug, then stepped away and
accepted the coffee Ellis handed her. “I lost Fie.” She told them everything
that had happened with the witch, Llodra, and the child. “Tell me exactly what
happened here.”

They did. Twenty seven RISC employees had been attacked.
Four of them were alive—though it was doubtful they’d remain that way.

Elizabeth and four guards had gone to release Llodra. The
cameras showed him waiting at the door, already aware they were coming.

He attacked Elizabeth first, which might have been what
saved her. The guards had started to pull guns from their holsters, and he had
turned his attention from her to them.

Then others came…the ones who had locked themselves inside their
rooms had been pulled screaming into the halls where he’d savagely fed and then
flung their drained bodies against the wall.

The entire slaughter had last only a few minutes,
then
Llodra was gone. He had gone to Rune, had exchanged
blood with her…

And now he was gone.

But not for long.
She’d find him.

“It doesn’t make sense,” she murmured. “Why would he kill
these people?”

“Because he’s mad,” Raze said. “And he’s a killer.”

“Yeah.
I guess.” She swallowed half
her coffee. “He said…” How could she say it so it wouldn’t sound ridiculous? “I
have a dad. Llodra force fed me blood he’d supposedly carried from my father to
protect me from the witch.” Yeah. It sounded ridiculous. She took another gulp
of coffee, avoiding their stares. “Not that I believe it.”

Right.

Ellis took pity on her. “Why would he do something to
protect you if he’s such a coldblooded killer?”

“Exactly,” she said.

“Rune.”
Jack’s voice was gentle.
“We have him on camera killing our people.”

“No, I know. I know. And we’ll make sure he pays for that.
It just doesn’t make sense, that’s all.”

“And you don’t like it when things don’t make sense,” Lex
said.

“Lex!”
Rune turned and grinned at
the blind
Other
. “Are you okay?”

“Am
I
okay?” Lex walked unerringly to Rune, shot a
hand out and wrapped her fingers around Rune’s wrist. “How are
you?
”

Rune gently extracted her wrist. “I’m okay. Where’s Owen?”

“Still at the hospital with Elizabeth.
I called a cab. I felt you were near.” Lex could feed her addiction simply by
being close to Rune. Feed, as she put it, from Rune’s energy. She didn’t have
to have her blood.

But Rune was pretty sure the blood would have been much,
much better.

“Is Elizabeth…?”

Lex shook her head. “She hasn’t regained consciousness.”

“Rune.”
Levi squeezed her shoulder.
“Let me go now. I need to search for my brother.”

“Not alone,” Lex
said,
her dancing
eyes fierce. “I’m going with you.”

“As soon as we get things sorted out here,” Rune said,
“we’re all going to search for Denim.” She brushed a hand over her face. “We
have to avoid the soldiers.”

“They’re going to bomb Rock County,” Raze said. “We can’t go
back in.”

“You know that for sure?”

He shrugged. “That’s what I heard.”

She straightened her spine. “Then I go back alone.”

“We left you there once,” Jack said. “We won’t do it again.”

“You can’t go. I’ll be okay.”

“He’s right,” Raze said. “We’re not leaving you there alone
again.”

“I can’t risk your lives,” she said, her voice barely loud
enough for them to hear. “Don’t make me force you.”

“You’re the boss,” Jack said. “You can order us to stay
behind and sit on our asses while you go in and risk your life.”

“But this time,” Raze said. “We won’t listen to you. When
you go back, we go back.”

She clenched her fists so hard her nails cut into her palms.
She clenched harder. “Bombs might not kill me, dude. But they’ll kill you.”

“Denim is in there,” Levi said. “You have to let me go find
him.”

She was glad Levi seemed to be getting back to normal.
Before he’d been bitten, he wouldn’t have stopped searching for Denim in the
first place. Now, he did what she told him to do—but he was starting to argue.
“We’re going to find Denim.
No matter what.
And we’ll
find Llodra and Marta.” She took a deep breath. “We—”

But she cut off her words when Raze’s cell began to ring.

They all watched him with dread as he answered.
“Yeah?”
He listened for a second, his eyes widening.

“What, Raze?” Rune asked. “What is it?”

He smiled slightly. It was maybe the second time she’d ever
seen him smile.

“That was Strad,” he told them. “And he has Denim. He’s
unhurt.”

“God,” Rune said, and let the relief pour over her. Ellis
grabbed Levi and whispered words she couldn’t understand, over and over.

Then, he left Levi and flung his arms around her. “You see?
It’s all going to be fine. Right, Rune?”

“Yes.” She kissed his cheek. “It will.”

“And,” Raze said, then waited for them all to pay attention.

“What?” Rune asked.
Please don’t be bad news.

It wasn’t.

“Denim found the little girl. She’s hurt, but she’s alive.”

The relief was overwhelming.

She hadn’t realized exactly how wound up and worried she’d
been until Strad called. She really hadn’t believed Denim or Fie were alive.

With that relief
came
utter
exhaustion. It had been a hard couple of days, and she was running on fumes.
Being so fatigued and depleted was dangerous for her.

“I’m going to go eat and sleep,” she said, after Lex, Levi,
and Raze agreed to get Fie settled in at the hospital. They’d make sure she was
next to George.

Rune had phoned one of the only women she’d trust with Fie—a
woman named Lane who seemed like the grandmotherly type until you saw the steel
beneath her smile. She’d been with River County Children Services for fifteen
years, and Rune didn’t know anyone who was better suited to see to Fie and
George. “Tell them…”

“We will,” said Jack. “Come on, honey. I’ll drive you to the
inn.”

But she shook her head.
“My car out
front?”

Raze tossed her the keys.
“In your usual
spot.”

“All of you get some rest after you see Denim and Fie. This
is not even close to over.”

Ellis took her hand, his face pale. Dark blotches lay under
his eyes like thumbprints, and the spark that made him Ellis was dim. “I’m
coming with you.”

“No, baby.
Go home.
Sleep.”
She squeezed his fingers and handed him off to Levi.

But Ellis wasn’t finished. He took her hand again, and with
his other, caressed her battered face. “Don’t ever forget that I love you,
Rune.”

He was always so afraid for her.

But then, he knew her. He knew he had reason to be afraid.

She left them there and stumbled to her car, ignoring calls
from the media. She couldn’t talk to them. She had to eat, shower, and sleep.

And then she’d deal with Llodra.

As she started her car, Bill Rice, the police director,
pulled in beside her. She groaned, but put down her window to talk to him.

“I’ve got to go for a while,” she told him. “We’ll talk
later.”

To her surprise, he didn’t try to stop her. He looked long
and hard at her
regrowing
hair and her wounds, peered
into her eyes, and simply said, “Call me when you wake up. I want you to get
that bastard.” Then he strode away and into the building of blood.

She plugged her phone into her car charger, gave it a few
minutes,
then
called Owen as she drove. “How is she?”
Her hands were shaking, and she clenched the wheel so hard she heard a creak.

“The same.”
He paused. “It’s good
to hear your voice.”

He didn’t blame her. Not yet. Or maybe he just wasn’t ready
to show it.

“Strad is on his way back. He found Denim and the kid.” She
shivered beneath the blast of hot air coming from the vents, pretty sure she’d
never be warm enough again.

“Great news.”

“I’m going to get some sleep. In a few hours we’re going to
find Llodra. I’ll explain everything to you then. You should stay with
Elizabeth.”

“No. I need to work. I need to find that fuck.”

She understood. “Okay.”

She clicked off, grabbed a bag of greasy burgers and a large
coffee, and finally, she was home.

The inn wasn’t really home, but it was a warm place to stay
until she could get moved into the house she’d just bought. The way things were
going, that was going to be a while.

She wolfed down the food and coffee and stumbled to the
bathroom. She had to shower, as tired as she was, but first she needed to find
a mirror.

She didn’t look as messed up as she’d thought she would.
There was only one thing that caused her to stare in shock.

Her hair had grown a couple of inches, and it was no longer
black. At least, not all of it was. It was white, with rapidly growing black
roots.

But her eyes were different. Not in color or shape, but
they’d developed a new flinch, as though shrinking back from all they’d
witnessed.

From the new things they knew.

Father.
Who was he?

She didn’t cry, or mourn the changes that had come, or
curse. Not then.

She climbed quietly into the shower. The water, hot and
clean and washing away every bad thing, was heaven.
Heaven.

But the bad things, they came anyway.

Sometimes, she had to cave. She had to let life crush her so
she could reach the bottom and either die or stand the fuck back up and walk
through the dark with her spine stiff and her fists ready.

So there in the insulated waterfall of her steamy shower,
she let herself cave.

When she lay on the bottom, where familiar despair and
filthy guilt and shameful fear grabbed her by the throat and held her under
black, putrid water, only then could she admit one thing to herself.

She missed Jeremy.

She missed what he’d done for her.

She
needed
him.

But he had gone and there was no one to help her.
No one to make her feel better.
No fucking one at all.

And masquerading as a sane person was exhausting.

So she had to let herself fall to the bottom. She licked the
wicked floor with a greedy, wounded tongue, and cried for herself even as she
gently embraced the darkness that lived inside her.

She was alone, and she was mad.

She held her hands under the stinging spray of water, a
futile attempt at cleansing them of the blood she’d shed.

She did good things, but the good would never make up for
the bad.
Never.

Would they punish her for demanding Llodra’s release? Would
they do anything other than refuse to meet her stare when she stood before
them?

No.

“Then fuck you,” she muttered. “
Fuck
you.”

She didn’t react when she was plucked from her wet hell. The
berserker cradled her in his arms and carried her to the bed, laying her upon
it and then straightening to stare down at her.

She looked at the ceiling.

“Come back to me,” he said.

Unaware she was even going
to,
she
sat up and shot out her claws. “Make it stop,” she screamed. “Make me
stop!
”

“Sweetheart,” he whispered. He drew his spear and tossed it
aside, then ignored her claws and knelt down beside the bed.

She held up a hand, threatening, but he didn’t move.

“Cut me if you need to,” he said, “but I’m not going
anywhere.”

“I don’t want to cut
you,
” she said, and that was
partly a lie. Her voice was so thick she wasn’t sure he’d understand her words.
“I want to cut me. It helps. It
helps,
Berserker.” But she retracted her
claws.

He grasped her arm and pulled her hand toward his chest. He
placed her palm above his heart. “I can’t be that kind of help, Rune.”

“Ah,” she cried.
“Ah, God.”

He had no words to change what had happened or make her
okay. Such words did not exist. So he did what he could do.

Pushing her back, not gently, he climbed to his feet. He
never took his stare from her as he tore off his belts and holsters and
sheaths, then rid himself of his clothes and boots.

She watched him with a ferocious desperation, and began to
calm. “Hurry, Berserker.” She scraped her nails along her bare thigh, drawing
blood, but he didn’t try to stop her.

The berserker was fierce. His energy attacked her, taking up
all the space in her mind. It squeezed out the bad shit until there was little
room for anything but him.

Because whether he understood it or not,
he
would
hurt her.
There was no evil attached to his gift, no
deliberate attempts to crush a girl whose issues were overwhelming. He was
simply that fierce.

She trembled with eagerness. “Do not hold back, Berserker.
Not this time.”

His cock stiffened and grew to almost alarming proportions,
but that was not frightening to her. It was what he held inside himself that
frightened her.

And that was exactly what she needed.

She wrapped her fingers around his hardness, the heat of him
enough to warm her cold palm.

He shuddered beneath her touch.

He shook his head, his long, black hair streaming over his
bare, muscular chest, and smiled. His eyes shot sparks of internal rage and
controlled passion about to be unleashed. “No,” he agreed. “Not this fucking
time.”