Whispers of Darkness (The Deadwood Hunter Series) (13 page)

It was turning dark when Lincoln paused with Lexia asleep in his arms. He had to open the sleeping bag she was wrapped in to try and cool her down. Her skin was on fire, sweat beads gathered on her face and soaked through her clothes. Lincoln had run all day with her and she’d barely been awake at all. His every muscle screamed in pain. He’d thought earlier he was at his limit but he’d somehow managed to find some more energy to get Lexia here. When it came to his mate there was nothing he wouldn’t do, no limit too high; he’d keep going until he dropped dead.

There was nothing that marked the change onto his parent’s land but he knew he was here. He may have only spent six years of his life here but it was his home, every detail bred into him. He’d run this perimeter hundreds of times in the years he’d lived here but not once had he been back here since he’d left with his grandfather all those years before.

He took a step and resumed his quick pace. Any minute his parent’s home would come into view. He took a deep breath, prepared himself, and then froze. His breath came out in a strangled whisper, nothing could have prepared him for this moment. What he saw shocked him. The house hadn’t been lived in for nearly sixteen years, he’d expected it to be in ruins, a shell of what it once was, but it would have been shelter, somewhere to hide. Except the house wasn’t a ruin. His legs started moving on their own, his breath still hadn’t come back to him. He could hear his heart trying to jump from his chest.
             

The house stood tall and proud. The once golden boards, silver with age and a few hanging loose but it wasn’t a ruin. This house had been the heart of the pack, the alpha’s home and when the alpha had died so had the heart. But looking at the house, Lincoln could almost believe it still beat. He wouldn’t have been surprised if his parents walked out the front door to greet him.

He’d reached the steps leading up onto the porch that spanned the front of the house, a seat swing still stood at one end, swaying softly in the wind. As Lincoln took a step the board creaked and he was flooded with a memory.

A panther cub, small and brave, creeping towards his mother who rocked on the swing, her eyes closed, her head tilted back with a small smile on her lips. The little cub had forgotten the creaky boards; he froze as they made a sound, unsure if his mother had heard.

The smile on her lips widened but she made no move so the panther cub carried on. He crept stealthily and low and then leapt onto his mother. She squealed and laughed as the little panther cub turned back into a boy.

“Did you hear me, mother?” he’d asked her with eyes wide.

“No Lincoln, not at all, you are the scariest panther in the whole pack!” she answered with a warm smile, hugging her son to her chest.

******

Lincoln was in front of the door. His hand brushed the key still hidden in the place his father had left it.

For a moment Lincoln just stood there holding the key wondering if he was ready to step back into this house, to deal with old pain, old wounds he barely kept closed.

Lexia moaned in his arms, her face creased with pain, and Lincoln put the key into the door. He’d open a thousand wounds, create a thousand new ones, and deal with any pain, no matter how raw, how unbearable. Lincoln would destroy the world if that’s what it took, fill the oceans with blood, there was nothing he wouldn’t do to keep her safe because to let her go, to have her leave this world would be a million times more painful than any past pain he’d felt.

As he walked into the house he forced his legs to keep moving, his eyes took in every detail: the clean polished floors, the picture frames still hanging from the walls, he almost expected his mother to come out of the kitchen now and tell him to take off his boots.

Who has been keeping the house clean, alive? Why is everything just as it had been when I left?

He went straight up the stairs, kept on walking past his room and straight into his parent’s bedroom. His knees nearly gave way as his eyes landed on the patchwork quilt laid on the end of their bed. He could picture his mother now, sitting in the corner on the rocking chair, her belly swollen and round. His mother had spent most of her pregnancy stitching the quilt, a keepsake for him and his sister, she’d said. Only his sister had never been born. She’d died along with his parents leaving him alone and his grandfather had not allowed him to take the quilt, he’d not been allowed to take many things,
it’s just too painful
his grandfather had said.

Lincoln laid Lexia gently on the bed, her eyes opened slightly.

“Linc, where are we?” she whispered.

Lincoln opened his mouth to answer but no words would come out, he couldn’t say it. If he said it, he’d break, and he couldn’t afford to let his old wounds open, she needed him, he needed to be strong.

Standing, he looked around the bedroom. Everything was as it should be.
A shrine,
he thought, memories preserved in the possessions around him but there was a silence that told of heart ache and loneliness, the house whispered of death and destruction. Everything may have been where it should be but there was no life, no family, no love; all that had died along with his parents leaving a once thriving pack splintered and bleeding.

Lexia’s eye’s shot open, bright and gold. She wheezed in a breath, her hand clutching Lincoln’s leg. “We’re not alone!” she croaked.

Lincoln bent down beside her. “What do you mean?” But she never answered, she’d slipped back into unconsciousness.

Lincoln froze, listened to the night around him. His claws slipped through his skin, eyes flashing panther as he silently walked to the door.

A savage growl ripped from his chest as he crushed the man who’d been creeping down the hall against the wall, his claws pricked through his skin, drawing blood.

“My god,” the man whispered, “Lincoln Turner, is that you?”

Lincoln’s claws loosened their grip as his brow creased. He recognized the voice but couldn’t place the face. He looked at the man, at his salt and pepper hair, his deep lines around his brown eyes. His eyes... He’d seen them before, in a younger man’s face.

“Caleb?” he whispered.

“It really is you? For a moment there I thought I was seeing a ghost... Look just like your father, well, except for your eyes... Your eyes always seemed to belong to you.”

Lincoln still didn’t let him go. “What’s going on here?”

“Lincoln, calm down... I saw someone... Well, you, in the house and came to check it out, you can let me go.”

Lincoln released him but the panther in him never calmed, he stood rigid, jaw clenched. “Why are you even here? I thought you’d left with the rest of the pack.”

Caleb’s eyes hardened. “I never left, this is my home.”

“So you just kept this place clean?” So many questions were rushing around Lincoln’s head he wasn’t sure what to ask first.

“Your grandfather pays for the upkeep. He asked me to pack everything away but I just couldn’t do it... I knew someday the alpha would return home.”

“My father is dead Caleb, he’s never coming home.”

Caleb’s eyes closed for a few seconds and when they opened sadness clouded the brown depths of them, “No, he’ll never be coming home but that doesn’t mean this pack doesn’t have an alpha... You.”

Lincoln laughed a bitter twisted laugh. “Me? Being alone all these years hasn’t done you so good Caleb... I’m no alpha.”

“Son, you were born an alpha.”

“Maybe... Maybe before everything happened, but there are no packs anymore. There is no one here but you and the memories of the dead.”

They stood in silence both staring into the past, both wondering what could have been if things had just worked out different.

“I can’t believe my grandfather paid to keep this place together when he left and never looked back.”

“Your grandfather is weak, but you Lincoln, you could make a change, you could be the new alpha of a new pack.”

Lincoln was going to tell him how impossible that was when a whisper cut through them.

“Lincoln?”

Caleb’s eyes widened, his mouth opened but Lincoln cut him off, blocking his way to the bedroom.

“It’s time for you to leave,” Lincoln ground out, his beast rising to the surface again.

“Leave! I was your father’s second, Lincoln! I didn’t abandon my home like the others, your grandfather pays me like I’m some housemaid! I’m a goddamn leopard and I will not take orders from you!”

Growls erupted, echoing off the walls and night-glow eyes lit the darkness as the two shifters stared each other down.

“Caleb, you step in there you might as well sign your death warrant. This isn’t something you want to be involved in,” Lincoln ground out between clenched teeth.

“Just like your father! Always fighting things alone! If he’d have just listened to me, maybe your parents would still be alive now,” Caleb shouted back, his eyes alight with anger.

Lincoln growled, slamming Caleb into the wall. “How dare you! You stand in their home and say such things!”

“Lincoln, son, I don’t want to fight with you... Let me help, let me help you and make up for failing your father.”

The anger drained from Lincoln and he took a step back, the panther leaving his eyes. “My father was stubborn, don’t blame yourself for him leaving the safety of pack. Does this place still have power? Water?”

“Yes, the water’s still on and there’s a generator but it’s off.”

“You want to help, turn on the power and find me some towels, my mates sick; she’s been poisoned, I need to get her fever down.”

“You’re mated?”

“It’s a long story, one I don’t have time for, but I’ll warn you one last time, I’m deep in something that I probably won’t get out of. Just you being near us could be enough to get yourself killed.”

“We’re pack, pack fight until the end.” Caleb turned and walked away leaving Lincoln standing on the dark landing remembering the days when he had pack around him, his family, and now it was all lost.
One day the hunters will pay,
he thought as he walked back into the bedroom. Lexia hadn’t moved but her eyes opened when she heard movement.

“Linc?”

“I’m here.”

“Where are we?” she whispered, her eyes closing.

He knew he should tell her but he wasn’t ready. it was too painful just standing in their room. He couldn’t explain his parents to Lexia, relive the horror of his childhood.

“Some place safe. Come on, baby... You’re not going to like this but I need to get your temperature down.”

His eyes froze on the huge clawed-foot bathtub in his parent’s bathroom; he remembered his father moaning when his mother had found it and insisted it was perfect.

The pipes creaked and moaned as water moved through them and spurted out of the taps. Lincoln stood and watched the water fill the tub and then he went to Lexia. She whimpered as he pulled off her clothes but sighed into his chest as he gathered her into his arms, walking back into the bathroom.

Her skin was clammy and flushed with fever, her eyes half opened and found his.

“Hey baby, this isn’t going to be nice but we need to cool you down, okay?”

She frowned confused as her eyes drifted shut again but they shot open, her breath catching in her throat as her burning body sunk into the cold bathwater.

“Linc,” she rasped, her hands digging into his skin.

“I know, Lex, I’m sorry,” he whispered, stroking her hair.

There was a soft knock at the door. “Lincoln, towels.”

“Thanks, just leave them there... Hey, Caleb?”

“Yep?”

“Do you have any medical supplies? Paracetamol? Bandages?”

“Yes, I’ll go get them.”

Caden crept through the long grass at the edge of his parent’s garden. His green leopard eyes shined in the dark, searching for any sign of life in the dark house before him. The house was quiet but it was late and he hoped as he let a loud growl leave his throat that one of his parents was home.

He didn’t want to go back to his surgery to get supplies so he hoped he could get his parents to bring him what he needed from the hospital but if he needed to, he’d go to his surgery, he’d fight whoever was hiding there because Lexia couldn’t die.

A light switched on in the kitchen and a shadow passed by the window. Caden hissed low, waiting in the shadows until his mother walked to the back door and then he shot forward from his hiding spot and through the door.

He shifted and laughed as his mother squeaked and jumped back, her eyes widening.

“Caden?”

“Hello, Mother, would you mind getting me some clothes?”

“Oh, y-yes yes,” she stammered, bustling out of the kitchen.

Caden switched off the kitchen light and closed the blinds. He then walked into the front room and closed the curtains in there, too. Once the house was in darkness, he relaxed and sank into a sofa chair.

His mum come rushing back into the room. “Why have you switched off all the lights? Caden, what is going on? We’ve been worried sick about you... Really! Do not sit on the chair naked.”

Caden chuckled softly to himself and took the clothes from his mother.

“Can we at least have a lamp on?” she asked him as he pulled on the trousers.

“Just one, where is dad?”

“He had a late surgery, should be home soon, though.”

“Perfect. Ring him, Mother, I need him to bring me supplies.”

“Caden! Tell me what is going on! You can’t possibly think we will steal from the hospital.”

“If you don’t get me what I need, Lincoln’s mate dies. I know we aren’t a pack anymore, but I thought we were still family.”

She sucked in a breath and sat in a chair. “Of course we are family but Caden you can’t expect us to not want to know what is going on. We’ve had the police over here, your house is ruined, and your surgery had been broken into. What has Lincoln gotten you into?”

“This is not Linc’s fault. He’s my friend, like my brother, you know I’d do anything for him.”

“Yes, darling, I know but where is he? If you’d all just come home then we could help.”

Caden stood, his hands clenching into fists. “No mother! There is too much going on to explain and I can’t tell you everything because it will put you in danger but I need your help, Lincoln needs your help... Will you help us or shall I go elsewhere?”

“No, no of course we’ll help but really Caden, please tell us what’s going on?”

Caden let his hands uncurl and walked to the little notepad near the phone, he started to write everything Lexia may need on the pad.

“Ring Dad, I need all of this now and I need a 4 wheeled drive too, some water and food supplies and some clothes, men and women’s.”

His mum took the note and gasped as she read the list. “Caden, what’s wrong with her?”

“She’s been poisoned by something, probably a manmade chemical, it’s in her blood stream.”

“She needs a hospital.”

“Mother! She has me, that’s the only option she has and if you don’t ring Dad now and get me that stuff she’ll be dead.”

His mother stood, fear in her eyes and dialed his dad. After a heated discussion, she put down the phone. “He’ll have it all in a Jeep here within the hour. Now Caden please tell me what’s going on.”

“I can’t tell you everything but Linc has mated to someone but she’s in trouble. The Hunters are back, Mum. They’re back.”

“What? No, no they were wiped out.”

“Why then, Mother if they’ve all been wiped out, do we still hide in the cities? Why did we never go home?”

They sat in silence for a minute. His mother wiped the tears from her eyes. “So the Hunters were at your house? What do they want with her?”

“Yes, they were at my house. Linc and his mate had been hiding at my house for a while but I can’t tell you why they want her. It’s best you know nothing, I’m already putting you in danger by being here.”

“So where are they?”

Caden just shook his head.

“Your leopard... It’s closer to the surface.”

He smiled and nodded. “A lot’s happened, Mother, too much to go back. The Hunters are back and they are strong, we can’t just hide forever.”

*****

Lexia opened her eyes. They were heavy and just opening them took a lot of effort, but her skin wasn’t on fire anymore and her head didn’t pound quite as badly. She groaned inwardly, she was in desperate need of the toilet.

Turning her head she moaned as the muscles on her shoulder pulled tight. Lincoln lay next to her asleep. Even asleep his face was a mask of worry; deep purple rings hung under his eyes and stubble covered his jaw. She wondered when he’d slept last, when he’d stop worrying, she hated that she was the one that made him look this way.

Biting her lip Lexia sat up, her body screamed in protest. All the energy drained out of her limbs and it took all her willpower not to just collapse back down. Her eyes looked to the bathroom door,
it isn’t far, I can make that.
Just looking at the few feet she had to walk tired her out, her skull pounded behind her eyes and she felt woozy.

One last glance at Lincoln gave her the strength she needed to get up. She wasn’t going to ask Lincoln to help her to the toilet, she was strong she could make it but even after one step she wanted to just drop to the floor. Her legs felt like they were filled with lead, each joint ached as it moved. Her feet touched tiles and Lexia leaned against the door frame, gathering strength to make it to the toilet.

Come on Lex, it’s just a toilet, I can do this, I can do this,
she chanted in her head, moving one heavy foot after the other, barely getting them a centimeter off the floor. She sat on the toilet with a sigh.
Now all I have to do is get back,
she thought looking at the short distance to the bed that had felt like miles.

The trip back to the bed was even worse than the trip to the toilet. Lexia felt like she was moving through fast flowing water, struggling to make it upstream but in reality she had to take a few steps across a smoothed tiled floor. Leaning in the doorway she looked at Lincoln asleep. His brow was still furrowed with worry, his hand spread out on the spot where she should be. All she had to do was say his name and he’d have her back in bed in a second but she didn’t. She slipped down the wall, her body protesting as it bent to sit. She couldn’t call him, she wasn’t ready to be that weak. She was the all-mighty Hunter, capable of killing many, and here she was broken and weak not even able to make it to the bed. Tears fell from her eyes; one cut, that’s all it took to take her out. She supposed it was her own fault for being so arrogant, for laughing at the Hunters’ attempts to harm her. You cut me and I heal, she’d thought, until her mother came up with another cruel game. It was ironic really that Lucy wanted Lexia as her weapon and here she was broken, dying. She’d created the very poison that was going to kill her.

Lexia knew she was dying, Lincoln wasn’t ready to admit it yet. He still held onto the hope that she’d somehow fight her way through it, that Caden would fix her, like he always fixed them. Maybe she could survive this, maybe if she put in more effort to fight the poison flowing through her veins but she didn’t. She sat on the floor and hoped for death. She’d had enough of fighting, life shouldn’t be so hard. Maybe they’d be better off without her. If she was gone from this world then her mother would have no reason to hunt Lincoln and Caden. But even as the thought crossed her mind she knew it wouldn’t stop her mother from doing wrong, from bring more darkness to this world. But Lexia squashed that voice, she was too beaten down, hurting too much, both physically and mentally. Why should she have to be the one to deal with her mother? Why did she have to save the world?

Maybe you are the only one with the power to stop her.
Lexia closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. It was too hard, life shouldn’t be this hard, and trying to be good shouldn’t be this hard.