Through The Veil (21 page)

Marcus turned back to Samson. “Do you need us here?”

Samson shook his head. “No, we’ve shut down all the
production lines except the wool and blanket lines. We’re in the process of
moving our clothing production to create warmer garments, but that’s going to
take another eighteen hours to get on-line. Whoever isn’t working in the
production plant is out gathering firewood and supplies. We already have a cart
loaded up for you all to take back full of provisions for the southern
villages. The trip home will take longer with the cart, but the southern
villages are going to need the extra blankets. We have no idea how far south
this storm is going to dip. I’m afraid that’s all we can offer right now.
That’s the last of our stores.”

“You said eight to twelve hours, right?” Marcus glanced out
the window to the darkening sky.

Samson scowled. “Unfortunately, yes, and that’s just a
guess. I know it’s not ideal with the danger from the Predators, but you all
need to get back on the road tonight or you’re going to get trapped in this
snowstorm with us. You should still have enough time so you and your horses can
rest for a couple of hours before you have to head out.”

“Damn,” Marcus cursed and ran a frustrated hand through his
hair as he scowled at the map.

“I’m sorry Marcus. If we weren’t already stretched so thin
here, I would have sent word to you, but we simply didn’t have the manpower to
send a messenger. With the storm coming, something seems off with the
telepathy. Our reach isn’t as far as normal, but I also knew you would want
these blankets headed south.
 
The
southern villages are going to need them.”

Marcus had explained to her how they used a telepathy chain
to communicate long distances. It was curious that the weather could disturb
that, but if that power came from within the Earth and the
ley
lines… Was this another sign that things were changing within the Earth?

“Don’t worry about it, Samson. Do you have a place where we
can bunk down for a couple of hours and get some food?”

“Yes, come on and I’ll show you where you can rest.”

* * *

Two and a half hours later and they were back in Samson’s
office. He stood in front of them looking grim. “I’m afraid we have a
situation.”

Marcus didn’t like the sound of that. They didn’t need any
more complications. “What’s happening?”

“There’s a group of nine Predators at the front gate, trying
to get into the village compound.”

“There are nine of them? Together?” Things were becoming
more and more bizarre. Predators never travelled together. On occasion they had
seen two together, but never more than that.

Samson nodded and scowled. “Yes, and you’re not going to
believe what they’re doing. Come with me so you can see.”

The three of them climbed the interior stairs of one of the
buildings flanking the gate. Once they got to the roof, they joined half a
dozen others watching the Predators below with morbid interest. Up here, the
wind rushed bitterly cold, and Marcus shivered despite his double shirts. He
drew Lori closer to share their warmth.

The exterior walls were lit, so they could see the Predators
below. They growled and made unhappy noises as they pushed on the gate. When
they weren’t trying to get in, they huddled together. He’d never seen anything
like it. In fact, he’d never seen any sign of intelligence from these creatures
at all. Before they’d only shown signs of madness.

“They’re cold,” Lori whispered. “They’re trying to get in
for shelter and warmth.”

Samson nodded. “That’s what we think, too. We’ve never seen
them work together as a group like this. Maybe it’s some sort of instinct for
them. Maybe they can sense the storm coming. They obviously can already feel
the cold.”

They watched the moaning Predators shiver. They were covered
with fur, but like any animal, they’d grown accustomed to the normal
temperature of their environment. They weren’t equipped to handle the drastic
change in temperature.

Samson turned to Marcus. “There’s no way to get you out of
here with them blocking the gate like that. You’d never make it through that
many Predators without either you or your horses getting hurt.”

“Wait just a minute. I have an idea,” Marcus said. “We think
they’re just here because they’re cold, right? Maybe we can lure them away with
some heat. I know supplies are low, but it may be worth the sacrifice of a few
blankets.”

Samson nodded. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

As Samson and Marcus worked out a plan, Lori watched the Predators.
Besides the one at the waterfall, she hadn’t gotten to see any others. From
everything she’d been told, they were mindless, crazed creatures, but the nine
down below didn’t appear that way. They were definitely not happy, but they
seemed more scared and worried, huddling together for warmth. Even though there
were several different sizes within the group, they were all huge. Their fur
was matted, and the colors of their fur ranged from light to dark shades of
browns. But they didn’t have animal eyes. Their eyes had colored irises
surrounded by white just like humans—blue, green, and brown.

Where did these creatures come from?

Marcus touched her shoulder, interrupting her musings.
“Let’s mount up. We need to be ready to move as soon as they’re distracted.”

She nodded and joined him in his trek down the stairs to
their horses, waiting for them. She looked over at the third horse, pulling a
narrow trailer that would fit on the riding trails. These were the supplies
they were supposed to deliver.

As they mounted up, three men flew over the wall carrying
blankets to draw the Predators away.

Marcus looked at her for reassurance. “Are you ready?”

She gave a short nod and tried to quell her rolling stomach.
The one thing she’d been told from her very first day here was never go out at
night and here they were on the verge of doing that very thing, with a
snowstorm barreling down on them and Predators outside the gates. Much too
soon, the all-clear signal sounded and the gates began opening.

Marcus reached across to stroke her arm. “Stick close,” he
instructed and then grabbed up the reins of both his horse and the one pulling
the trailer. They took off out of the gate at a hard gallop.

They’d gone a couple of miles before he let up on their
pace. Lori felt every one of those years she’d been off a horse through her
already sore muscles.

The dark of the night pervaded her senses once they were
away from Cottonwood. Because of the low-lying fog, no moonlight showed through
to guide them. They had to rely solely on Marcus’s night-vision, memory, and
instincts. Lori couldn’t be sure if she shivered because of the cold or the
fear of what could be out there in the dark.

They’d been traveling quietly for some time when Lori heard
the sound of a growl nearby which sounded like some sort of big cat. She
fingered the sword strapped to her thigh. Marcus wore his the same way since
they were both wrapped up in blankets.

“So, I know about the Predators,” she said. “Maybe you
should tell me what else is out here that might eat me.”

He chuckled low and even with the pervasive fear of the
night, that sound sent a spiral of arousal across her spine.

“Are you sure you want to know?”

She thought about that for a moment. “No, probably not. So
maybe you could tell me about the Predators, though. When did they first
appear?”

“It happened about six months after the Veil fell. They
weren’t so violent back then. They seemed just as confused by the change as
everyone. We were just kids then though, and they were straight out of our nightmares
about the boogieman and things that go bump in the night. We’re probably as
much to blame for their violent demeanor as they are, because they certainly
didn’t start out that way. But they were starving and they started attacking us
for our food. We reacted accordingly, and that’s how we’ve gotten to where we
are today. We never kill them unless they’re threatening, but they tend to
attack…” his voice dwindled off.

She thought for a moment about the group of them standing
outside the gates today, shivering. They hadn’t seemed nearly as fearsome as
they had before. In fact, they’d seemed somehow vulnerable, not knowing how to
adapt to their changing environment. Again, the question arose, where did they
come from?

They’d been riding for about an hour when the first
snowflakes started to fall. The cold had permeated all of Lori’s layers and
she’d begun shivering non-stop about thirty minutes before.

After another hour and several inches of snowfall, Marcus
rode up beside her. “I think I know where we are. We can’t continue on like
this. We’re risking hypothermia for both us and the horses and that’s only
going to become worse with the wet snow.”

She nodded mutely, unable to unclench her jaw and stop her
chattering teeth to speak. She trusted him to keep her safe. A violent shiver
shuddered over her. He cursed and pulled her across his lap onto his horse and
immediately wrapped her within the heat of his wings and blankets. She snuggled
into his strong, warm chest and tried to control the spasms wracking her body.

“
Shhh
,” he soothed.
 
“We’re close to one of the old towns. I’ll
find us some shelter for the night.”

She nodded into his chest and stuttered out, “
Th
—thank you.” The heat rising off his body felt so
amazing.

They rode for another fifteen minutes before she saw the
mammoth shapes of buildings coming up out of the dark. With the overgrown
foliage, they looked like huge bushes looming over them in the night, but Lori
knew there were buildings underneath all those green leaves. They’d seen other
creepy ghost towns like this during the daytime, but in the middle of the night
that creep-factor softened.

As the snow fell heavier, the forest became hushed. Lori
could hear the clopping of the horses’ hooves, their heavy breathing, and the
snowflakes falling across the leaves. She’d finally started warming up again,
thanks to Marcus sharing his heat.

They rode through the middle of the small town. It actually
looked like it had been one of the little North Carolina mountain tourist
communities like Lori and her family had visited every summer growing up. As
they slowly moved through it, they didn’t see any signs of another living
creature. They stopped in front of a larger building and stood there for a
moment before Marcus seemed to make a decision.

He leaned down, his warm breath on her cold ear and face
sending tendrils of desire and goose bumps down her body. “Stay here while I go
check it out. If you see anything, especially a Predator, I want you to take
off. Okay?”

She nodded, because it was simply easier than arguing with
him. Was the man crazy? She would never just leave him here alone. He gave her
a quick kiss and then lowered himself off the horse. She watched him draw his
sword and approach the building. His hair glistened with ice at the tips where
the heavy snow clung to it. He looked like an ice god, striding across the snow
with his sword drawn like that. As he cleared the foliage from the door front,
she glanced around the empty street nervously. They appeared to be all alone
here. She hoped that wasn’t just an illusion.

Ten minutes later, he reappeared, just as she’d begun to get
really worried. He reached up and pulled her down from the saddle. “This will
work for tonight. We’ll take the horses in too so they’re protected from the
weather.”

They worked together to cut away the foliage at the door so
the opening spread large enough to allow the horses in. When Marcus leapt away
in fright, Lori panicked and jumped back with him.

“What’s wrong?” she whispered, looking around trying to find
the danger.

“Um…” He rubbed at the back of his neck and a full-body
shudder went through him.

She squinted at the door, but didn’t see anything, but a big
spider and spider web which had been hidden behind the ivy. And then it dawned
on her…his spider phobia. After the stress of the last few hours, she couldn’t
hide the giggle that erupted.

He glared at her. “It’s not funny,” he mumbled. “Phobias
help protect you from real dangers.”

“It’s okay, baby.” She patted his arm. “I’ll protect you
from this one.” Biting her quivering lips to keep another grin from further
humiliating him, she reached forward with the tip of her sword, picked up the
spider, and moved it to the side of the building.

“That’s it? You’re not going to kill it?” he asked,
disgruntled and casting worried glances to the side like the spider would come
back and launch its body at Marcus as soon as he turned his back to it.

“It will be okay,” she placated him. “You should be safe
now.”

He just grunted and cast one more sidelong glance to the
edge of the building before pushing the door open.

Once inside, Lori shivered at the utter darkness, but then a
light flared as Marcus lit up a torch and Lori couldn’t help her gasp of
surprise. They were inside an old hotel, which had probably been built two hundred
years before. Even in its derelict condition, the beauty of the building
couldn’t be disguised.

They stood in a large lobby open to the second story of the
building. Above them, the remains of massive jeweled chandeliers, now covered
by hanging moss, glimmered in the shadowy light. Ornate columns surrounded the
perimeter of the large room with live ivy spiraling up them to get to the
second floor. The flecked remains of bright, decorative paint on the columns
and moldings teased with the beauty they once had.

At one end of the lobby stood a huge stone fireplace. Marcus
started to take the saddle off his horse, so she went to the side of hers to do
the same. “Do you think it’s safe to use the fireplace?”