Heroes of Falledge Book One: Black Hellebore (16 page)

Nick brought up his hands and kept its mouth close, its saliva dripping onto him.

Terrified, unwilling to watch the scene, Julianna grabbed onto the twisted metal frame of the car and pulled herself up into a sitting position. Her legs burned as if on fire, but she breathed through the pain and felt around for her cell phone. She had to get help.

Grunts and screams and growls distracted her, and she fell back down in time to see Nick fighting the beast. At least, she thought it was Nick. It was strange to see everything upside down, but she didn't dare risk moving to see better. He moved so fast he appeared to be a blur. The cat fought him just as fiercely, batting him away like a pest. Although blows were exchanged by both parties, neither appeared harmed.

What was going on?

Nick held still long enough for her to confirm that the blur was indeed him then grabbed one of the beast's paws. Whatever he was doing -- she couldn't see from her vantage point because his back was to her -- caused the beast to roar, and it ran away before collapsing a few feet away from them.

Nick ran over. "Oh no, Julianna," he muttered. Dirt and sweat covered him.

"Find my cell phone."

He shook his head. "Have to get this off of you." He placed his hands on either side of her trapped legs.

Pain filled her, every inch of her body aching. She bit her tongue to block it out, and blood filled her mouth. Turning her head to the side, she spat it out.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice hardly audible. "You can't lift a car."

"Already have." He bent at the knees and lifted.

The pressure on her legs decreased.

Then she couldn't feel them at all.

"Can you move?" Nick asked, his arm muscles bulging as he still held the car.

She shook her head, the only part of her body she was willing to risk moving. Tears streamed down her face.

With a grunt, Nick rolled the car onto its side, picked her up, and moved her away from it. The car teetered before rolling onto its top.

Julianna pointed to her gun, and he retrieved it for her. Nick cradled her and carried her to the tree. She snuggled against him, feeling safe within his arms despite the danger around them, despite her broken body. He eased her down in front of the tree and brushed her hair behind her ear. "You're shivering." After shrugging out of his shirt, he tucked it around her like a blanket, with a small rock for her pillow.

The sight of his muscles... Wow, did he look like he could compete in Greece. They captured her attention until she noticed movement to her left.

The monster. Somehow it was back on its feet.

Her face must have given it away. Nick jumped to his feet and whirled around. Instead of heading for the cat, he ran toward the car.

The beast deliberated before giving chase. Julianna could only watch and pray as the monster gained on Nick. How he was able to handle it time and again, she didn't know. How he didn't seem the least bit winded, how he was so strong, so fast... so amazing...

Nick jumped on top of the car then behind it. Once again, with his incredible strength, he lifted it and threw it.

It landed on the cat's back. The monster slumped to the ground, its eyes closed. They flew open a moment later, huge and blood-shot. It lumbered to its feet, shook off the car, which landed a good twenty feet away, and launched itself toward Nick.

Julianna let out a noiseless scream.

For some idiotic reason, Nick didn't run or do anything. He just stood still and waited. The monster bore down on him and that was it. Julianna couldn't see him anymore.

Her hopes that despite his past they could have a future together disappeared as well until she realized the cat stopped moving and looked around.

It couldn't find Nick either!

Because he stood directly beneath it.

How clever, she marveled. Her neck was rapidly growing sore from lifting it to see everything. Bracing herself with her hands, she shimmied back until her head hit the tree trunk. Inch by inch, she lifted herself until she was propped up.

The sight before her shocked her.

Nick was swinging a tree -- a tree! The monster batted away the blows.

Someone walked into view, atop a nearby hill. The monster stopped, seemingly allowing Nick to hit him before turning to the newcomer. After bellowing a vicious hiss, the cat bounced away out of sight.

Nick started toward her, as did the newcomer from twenty yards away. Gradually the other guy closed in enough to come into focus. A hard face. Nasty eyes. Smirk.

A gun in his hand.

Pointed at Nick.

Despite her wounds and sluggish body, she gripped her gun. With every bit of strength she had left, she raised her arm and fired.

Her first shot missed.

Her second didn't.

The guy dropped.

So did she, and everything went dark.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The sound of gunfire spurred Nicholas to race toward Julianna. His first thought was of her, wanting to protect her.

She wasn't moving. Her body felt like ice. He was too frantic to be able to locate a pulse. God willing, she had one.

Belatedly he realized they might still be in danger. Something frightened the beast off just before the gunshot.

He found a guy nearby, a bullet wound through his stomach. Blood dribbled from the corners of his mouth.

Nicholas grabbed him by his shirt. "Who are you?"

The guy coughed. Blood sprayed everywhere. With a snort and a gurgle, he died.

Nicholas dropped him and turned to Julianna, when the dead guy started to ring. In his back pocket, Nicholas found a cell phone. He opened it.

"'Lo, Rich, you there? The Don wants an update. Rich? Rich?"

Nick shut the phone and returned to Julianna's side. He gathered her to him, cursing himself for leaving her, even though it had only been for a minute.

"Come back to me," he pleaded. "I can't lose you."

He cradled her body to him. She was cold, oh so cold.

Maybe he should call an ambulance. He was far from a medical expert, but somehow he knew she was beyond medicine now.

Nicholas lifted his gaze from her wet face -- her tears or his, he wasn't certain -- and bellowed, "Gavina! Get your ass here now!"

The witch had granted him a second chance at life, and now his life finally had meaning again. If she wanted to live to see another sunrise, the witch had better make sure his meaning did, too.

"Gavina! Gavina!" He called her name again and again until his voice grew hoarse. Even then, he continued to mouth it.

When it finally sunk in that the witch wasn't coming, he climbed to his feet and lifted Julianna. His knees buckled, and he lowered her to the ground before collapsing beside her. His heart raced. Massive chest pains left him breathless. His vision blurred. His power faded.

He had failed her.

*****

Julianna could hear Nick's voice. He was repeating a name, but he sounded as if he was calling to her from a canyon away. No, not her. Someone named... Gavina?

She tried to muster the energy to be hurt but all she wanted to do was sleep. Death awaited her, and its siren call sounded more appealing with every passing second.

Shockingly warm hands cupped her cheeks, pressed against her chest, and then nothing. Her teeth chattered, and she longed to ask for the warmth to come back, but she couldn't do more than lull her head back and forth, her eyes still closed.

Massive pressure built up in her legs, and she whimpered, first in pain then relief. Feeling her legs again had to be good, right?

The pressure grew until she thought her legs must be the size of tree trunks before disappearing. Her eyes flew open, her lids no longer feeling like heavy weights. She tried to speak, but nothing came out other than a grunt. After clearing her throat, she asked, "What happened?"

Instead of the face in front of her being Nick's handsome one, she saw a young lady with purple hair and feather earrings, the tips brushing against her shoulders.

"Is she going to be all right?" Nick asked. The worry in his voice, the tightness around his eyes, the concern in his features warmed her even more than the hands before.

The woman patted Julianna's hand. "She'll be just fine. Would've been just fine, too, if you had taken her to a hospital."

"I just thought... her legs..." Nick sputtered, running his fingers through his brown hair.

"Well, this way she won't have to worry about rehab or nothing." The woman sat back onto her heels, satisfaction stretched across the smile on her lips.

Julianna sat up and stood. Her legs felt completely normal, as if she hadn't been injured in the first place. "I thought I broke them..."

"You did. I healed them." She jumped to her feet and pulled Julianna close for a tight hug. "You gave Nick quite a scare. Don't be doing that again." She wagged her finger at Julianna, her finger so close it touched Julianna's nose.

"I'm confused..." Julianna stepped back and received another hug, this time from Nick. She inhaled his musky scent and embraced him. Being held by Nick felt so right. Like returning home.

"I'm Gavina," the woman said.

The name Nick had been repeating.

"Gavina," Julianna reiterated, holding his hand but moving out of his arms. "You healed my broken legs. How?" Not bothering to wait for an answer, she turned back to Nick. "And what was all that? You moved so fast you were a blur. And your strength. Lifting the car, not once but twice and--"

Gavina stepped between them, forcing Julianna to stop touching Nick. "You haven't been pushing yourself too far, have you?"

"I'm fine." Nick waved her words away and stepped around her, but Gavina cut him off.

"You were unconscious when I got here. Let me look at you."

"I told you I'm fine," he growled.

Julianna pressed her hand to Nick's firm chest and to Gavina's shoulder, wedging herself between them. "What the hell is going on?" she demanded. "I feel like I'm missing something."

Gavina crossed her arms. "I'm a witch."

"I have superpowers."

They spoke at the same time, but she heard them both. Incorrectly, of course. "A witch? Superpowers?"

"Yep." Gavina nodded, her feather earrings bobbing up and down. "Don't tell me you're like him, and you don't believe in magic. How else could you be up and walking around after breaking your legs?" She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, as if daring Julianna to deny her words.

"But... superpowers?"

Nick wore a sheepish smile on his face as one of his shoulders shrugged. "Well, that's what she calls them."

"Super speed, super strength..."

"My sense of smell is enhanced, too. Not sure what else yet."

"There are side effects," Gavina broke in. "His heart tends to speed up."

"I get nauseous and dizzy. Might pass out. That's all." He glowered at the witch.

Gavina opened her mouth, then shut it, her lips curling downward.

"This is too much." Julianna threw up her hands and walked ten paces away from them before whirling back around. "You mean to tell me your Falledge's superhero? As in real superhero, not just make believe?"

"The Black Hellebore." Nick threw his shoulders back, his chest puffed out with pride.

"Unbelievable. When did... how...?"

"The explosion at the laboratory. I died. Gavina saved me."

"That doesn't explain your... powers." She shook her head. How could they expect her to believe all this?

"He had a black hellebore in his pocket," Gavina cut in.

"So?"

"The flower has mystical properties. It affected Nick's body, messed with his coming back to life."

"You can raise the dead?"

"Nick's alive, ain't he?" Gavia threw out her arms, a gleeful smile dancing on her face.

The woman was batty. Julianna smirked. A batty witch.

"I must have hit my head." Julianna touched her temple and walked to the tree, her back to them. Her foot stepped on something, and she bent down to retrieve her gun.

Just before she had passed out, something had happened. She had fired her gun. At someone. Firing it at the monster had been one thing. Firing at another person was a far different thing. Never before had she had to fire her weapon at someone.

Although it was probably her imagination, she could swear she smelled death. She stumbled up the hill, came across the body, and promptly wretched until her stomach emptied its contents.

Someone rubbed her back and held her hair back. She used a leaf to wipe her mouth.

"Lots and lots of gray," she murmured.

"Not only black and white," he agreed.

She sat back onto her heels. "You better start from the beginning and not leave anything out."

Nick nodded, his brows tightened, his jaw muscles tight, but an easiness in his movements showed a weight had lifted.

She wasn't sure what to think, what to believe, but whatever he was about to say, she knew he thought it true.

That was good enough for her.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

He couldn't believe it. Killa had been injured. He caressed his pet's fur and used his fingers to remove the crusted blood. Fury filled him, and he longed to lash out at those responsible.

"What happened?" he snarled.

Killa let out a low moan.

He placed his hands on the side of Killa's face. Their eyes closed, he mentally pushed against Killa's mind. With no barrier to prevent him access, he retrieved the memories of an hour ago. A man with incredible strength fought Killa. Threw a car at him!

He focused on the man through Killa's limited vision and recognized the guy as the same bastard who had been at the laboratory.

Stepping back, he severed the connection. As much as he despised the man, he begrudgingly felt a rush of gratitude. If not for him, he might not have his powers right now. He had planned on destroying the lab, yes, but gaining powers like Killa's had not originally been part of the equation.

"Did you kill him, my pet?" he asked, reopening the mental connection.

No, Killa hadn't. Instead, the beast had been frightened off. Who could have scared off Killa, transformed as he was?