Fate Succumbs (3 page)

“
Are you here alone?”
Cliché Cop asked.

“
Yes, sir.”

“
Were you last
night?”

There was a pause and the sound of something
rubbing together. It must have been Liam rubbing the back of head,
a habit of his, because his smell momentarily intensified.

“
I…ummm…” A gulp. “I had
company last night.”

“
I see.” The cop was moving
around in the tiny motel room. I heard him slide open a drawer. Did
he think I was hiding in the dresser? “Don’t suppose it was your
sister or something like that.”

Liam made a sound which might have be a
laugh, although it couldn’t have been since he didn’t know how.
“No. Definitely not a sister.”

“
A friend?”

“
Just a girl I met in the
bar last night.”

The cop was now standing directly below me.
I made a conscious effort to breath more quietly, which of course
made it sound like an elephant was panting for breath.

“
Don’t suppose you got her
name and number?”

“
Beth. Or Elizabeth. Yeah,
Elizabeth. That’s what she said her name was.” Liam sat down on the
bed. “Listen, man, she told me she was nineteen. She said she went
to college. I swear. I mean, I met her at a bar.”

The cop ignored Liam’s extremely well done
panic attack. “Was this the girl you were with last night?”

The silence seemed to
stretch on forever. Finally, Liam said, “No. I mean, that Elizabeth
chick was a blonde and looked a little bit like this girl in the
face, but she didn’t look this… weird.” My face flushed with
embarrassment and hurt, which was just ridiculous. Of course Liam
thought I was weird looking. I
am
weird looking. Somehow, though, hearing that
didn’t help.

“
Are you sure?”

“
Man, I was a little buzzed
last night, but not drunk enough to forget that.” Yep, definitely
not helping. “Is this Photoshopped? Or is this chick for
real?”

“
You don’t know who this
is?”

The bed springs creaked. “I’m telling you,
I’ve never seen her before in my life.”

“
That’s interesting,” the
cop said in a way that said he found it to be something a bit more
than interesting. “Haven’t you been watching the news
lately?”

“
The news? No. I can’t
really afford cable at home, been laid off from the plant for six
months now. I’m actually on my way up to Denver to see about a job
my cousin thinks he can get me.” Liam shifted on the bed again.
“Has something happened to this girl? Is she missing or
something?”

“
Or something,” the cop
said. The sound of paper on paper and then, “Here’s my card. If you
change your mind, decide maybe this is the girl you were with last
night, give me a call.”

“
Of course.” Liam stood up
and moved towards the door. “Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful. I
hope they find this girl, and she’s okay and
everything.”

The cop snorted. “Don’t count on it.”

I was going to wait until Liam gave me the
all clear before coming down, but then I felt something on the back
of my neck. Something hairy and crunchy.

I rolled out of the ceiling and onto the
vanity, pulling chunks of hair out in my attempt to get the hell
spawn off of me.

Liam was completely unaffected by my
hysterics. While I frantically searched my body for
creepy-crawlies, he turned the TV to CNN. After a story about yet
another celebrity entering rehab after making a complete and total
idiot out of themselves within twenty feet of someone with a video
camera, which is to say “in public”, my face appeared on the
screen.

“
The search still continues
for Harper Donovan, granddaughter of Senate Majority Leader William
Harper,” the anchor woman said as I stared at my senior yearbook
picture. “Donovan has been missing since a car crash over two weeks
ago. The crash occurred just miles from her home, and according to
the Senator’s spokespeople, was the work of a radical militant
group known as God’s Army of Defenders.”

The screen changed to show a video of people
examining a crash site in what appeared to be the Land Between the
Lakes National Forest near my home in Lake County. It was hard to
see past all the emergency response vehicles, but the cameraman
finally got an angle clearly showing the car my grandfather gave me
for graduation wrapped around the trunk of a tree.

“
The crash occurred around
3:00 a.m. on the morning of August third. According to a statement
given to police by the girl’s parents, Donovan had been camping
with her brother and some friends that night. One of the crash
survivors, Talley Matthews, said a large, unmarked black SUV began
following them as soon as they left their campsite to head into
town for provisions. When Donovan, who was driving, tried to lose
the vehicle, they began nudging the smaller Toyota. Eventually,
Donovan lost control, crashing into a tree at what experts believe
to be about forty miles per hour.”

The screen cut back to the studio where a
stone-faced anchor woman relayed the lies of the night I went
missing. “In a press conference given two nights ago, local police
stated that after the crash three men in masks approached the car.
Two of the men held guns on the other occupants as a third lifted
an unconscious Donovan out of the vehicle and carried her back to
their SUV.

“
Four people were in the
car when it crashed. Matthews and Jase Donovan, Harper Donovan’s
step-brother, both escaped with minor injuries. Charles Hagan, the
third passenger, is still in critical condition due to both
injuries sustained in the crash and a bullet wound inflicted when
he attempted to stop the abduction of the senator’s granddaughter.
Although his wounds are extensive, Hagan is expected to make a full
recovery.

“
Another unidentified man
who came to assist when he heard the car crash is also in critical
condition due to a gunshot wound inflicted during the incident. He
is reported to be on life sustaining equipment and doctors are not
hopeful about his prognosis.”

I sucked in a breath and then couldn’t let
it out again thanks to my throat, which decided to close itself
off.

“
The incident was kept
under wraps until just three days ago when Senator Donovan released
a statement to the press stating he had received a ransom demand
from known members of God’s Army of Defenders. The letter was
received by his office on August fifteenth and verified by
government intelligence officials as legitimate twenty-four hours
later. In the letter, of which CNN has been able to obtain an
exclusive copy, a member known as Michael Avett asks for several
members of both his organization and the Secret Brotherhood be
released from government holding facilities by the end of the month
if the senator wants to see his granddaughter alive
again.

“
As you may remember,
Senator Harper has been very outspoken--”

“
Turn it off,” I choked out
through the tiny opening that was once my throat.

“
--Many experts believe his
vote on Senate Bill--”

“
Turn it off!”

The screen went black, and I concentrated on
pulling air into my lungs.

“
Charlie…” Oh God. I had
left him standing there in the middle of all that carnage knowing
the rest of the Alpha Pack was closing in. What did they mean
critical condition? Two weeks in critical condition was bad, right?
I mean, if he was going to get better, he would have by now. And a
gunshot wound? I had heard the gun go off, and I kept running. I
chose my life, my freedom, over Charlie’s. What the hell was wrong
with me? “What will they do to him when he recovers?”

“
Depends on what happens to
Stefan.” Liam began moving around the room, shoving the few things
we had back into the two duffel bags that had been in the trunk of
the car when we made our escape. “If he lives, he will be under the
protection of the Alpha Male, putting him on the exact same level
as any children Stefan and Sarvarna might have. Even if he dies,
Charlie will probably be offered a position in the Alpha
Pack.”

I opened my mouth, shut it, and then tried
again. “Charlie shot Stefan.”

Raising a single eyebrow, Liam said, “You
shot Stefan.”

“
No, I’m pretty sure it was
Charlie.” There may be many things wrong with me, but memory loss
isn’t one of them. It was the night of my trial, after the Alphas
delivered the guilty verdict. Not one to keep an innocent girl
wasting away on death row, the Stratego led me out in the woods to
dutifully remove my head from my shoulders. My arms were handcuffed
behind my back. Charlie had hugged me, a last goodbye, and then
pulled a gun. He shot Stefan in the chest before the Stratego
tackled him.

Charlie shot Stefan and killed Mandla. Liam
killed Hashim. I killed Travis.

“
How do you explain
Charlie’s gunshot wound?”

“
Bob? Cory? Rocco?” I named
off the three Taxiarho, the Shifters in the Alpha Pack stationed
just below the Stratego who also oversaw my care.

“
No, it was you. You
managed to get out of your handcuffs and attacked the guards.
Because of the life debt, Charlie was forced to protect you in the
battle, although he tried very hard not to actually inflict any
true damage to any member of the Alpha Pack. Once they were all
dead by your hand, you shot Charlie, knowing he would bring you
back to face your rightful punishment. He had, after all, shown the
strictest of adherence to Shifter rules and traditions.”

“
What are you talking
about? That isn’t what happened at all.”

Liam walked over the sink and began to
gather up strands of hair. “Makes more sense than Charlie turning
on the Alpha Pack, who considered him a friend, and then shooting
himself.”

My butt slammed down onto the corner of the
mattress when my knees finally gave out. “I… What…?” I shook my
head, hoping to clear some of the confusion but only jumbled my
thoughts further. “I don’t understand.”

“
Charlie worked for two
weeks to gain the confidence of the Alpha Pack. He claimed the life
debt, which gave him an excuse to be near you, but it also gave him
the appearance of someone who followed the old traditions. The
Alpha Pack likes the old traditions. It’s what gives them absolute
rule.” Liam’s hair scavenging duties took him to the bed where I
slept. “By the time your trial rolled around, he was highly
regarded by Stefan. I even heard the Alpha Male offer him a
position in the Alpha Pack as they walked to your execution
sight.”

I nodded. I had heard that too.

“
When the Taxiarho finally
made it to the clearing after hearing the first shots fired, they
found three dead Stratego, a mortally wounded Alpha Male, and
Charlie with what was supposed to be an
almost
life-threatening gunshot
wound.” He rubbed the back of his head. “I told him to watch the
artery. Dammit. I should have Changed back and done it
myself.”

With nothing else to do for two weeks, I had
plenty of time to think about what happened that night. It was
obvious Charlie and Talley had been working with Liam. I mean, they
both knew where the truck would be, and Talley had shown me through
our more-special-than-most Seer-Shifter link where to go. Since the
clothes found in the trunk of the get-away car were made for Liam’s
hulking body as opposed to Charlie’s much shorter and more lithe
frame, I knew Liam had been a part of the plan from the beginning,
not just a guardian wolf who happened to show up at the right time.
But hearing the plan aloud, realizing that it was more complicated
than just asking Liam to take me away and hide me, seeing it was
Liam’s plan all along… There was an actual threat that I might go
catatonic from information overload. My brain was in serious danger
of completely shorting out on me.

“
Do you think…” God, I
couldn’t even complete sentences. “Will he live?”

Liam ducked his head even lower. Even though
we didn’t spend a whole lot of time having face-to-face
conversations, I knew this was purposeful avoidance. “The news said
he was expected to make a full recovery.”

“
That’s the exact same
moron who said it was surprising an actress the size of a broom
handle and has more nervous twitches than a squirrel on caffeine
has a drug problem. I’m not putting my faith in her
opinion.”

Liam looked up and met my eyes. “But you’ll
put it in me?”

“
You saw him. You know
where he shot himself. This was
your
plan.” I gave him a second to
correct me on that point, and when he didn’t, I continued on. “So,
tell me, Liam. Is Charlie going to be okay?”

I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if he
wasn’t. I knew that with absolute certainty. Charlie would never be
the love I dreamed of for so many years, but he was still mine in
every way that mattered. We parted as friends, but friend didn’t
seem the right word to encompass what Charlie was to me. He was a
part of me, the good part. If he died, he would take that part with
him. I would still exist, I would still live, but I wouldn’t be
me.

Liam grabbed what appeared to be a container
of Clorox wipes out of his bag and started scrubbing down all the
surfaces in the room. “I would say the injuries from the fight are
probably causing more problems than the gunshot wound.” He
disappeared into the bathroom, but kept talking. “I’m surprised the
doctors haven’t said anything about how they’re not consistent with
a car wreck. He had scratches from human fingernails down his face
for God’s sake.” Liam trailed off, talking to himself more than me.
“Of course, Sarvarna could've called in the Alpha Pack’s doctor,
probably pulled some strings to make it appear he was called in by
the Senator’s office. Or maybe she did get the Senator’s office to
call him in. Who knows what kind of connections she’s got her claws
into.”