Heroes of Falledge Book One: Black Hellebore (26 page)

"You want them alive?"

"They could be a wonderful research--"

"They will not be an exhibit. They will not be studied. They are dangerous. We can't risk keeping them alive as a science experiment."

"You're right." Hunter lowered his head, but not before Nicholas could see gears churning. He still wanted them alive. Too bad, bud.

"Do you know what they came in contact with? Is there any way to reverse whatever changed them?"

"I do know what they came in contact with, but there's no way to reverse it. The damage is done. If given enough time, I might be able to come up with a drug that might or might not help, but there wouldn't be any way to test it. Besides, how to get them to take it..."

"It would take you months if not years to come up with it?"

"Realistically, yes, many years. If anything changes, I'll let you know."

"Be sure to call the station and ask for me if you think of anything that might be helpful."

Hunter headed toward the corridor. "I'm very busy and must get back to work. Can you show yourself out?"

He nodded and waited until Hunter turned a corner. Taking off in the opposite direction, Nicholas quickly became lost and had to duck to avoid people. Ten minutes later, when he was starting to wonder if he should just give up and leave, he found Alan Richards' office. Locked. Nicholas bumped it open quietly and went inside.

It hadn't been touched yet, no dust disturbed anywhere. Nicholas opened the filing cabinets and skimmed the charts. Not knowing what he was looking for didn't help, but eventually, in a desk drawer, he found a rough draft of an article on bones. He tucked it beneath his shirt and walked out of the laboratory.

Next stop, the library.

*****

Mrs. Paige looked up when the bell jingled softly, a bright smile on her face that dimmed when she saw him. "Nick."

He saw Justina standing between two book shelves. She took out a book, then put it back, another, and another.

"Hello, Mrs. Paige. I wanted to apologize. I didn't mean to put anyone on the spot last night. I love both of your daughters."

"Nick..."

Justina returned a book and faced him, standing a few feet behind her mom.

"I will never stop loving Justina. I will always love her."

Justina's face beamed with a bright whiteness that blinded him.

"I also love Julianna. I know it might seem strange to you, and believe me, it was for us, too, at first."

"But love is love," Mrs. Paige whispered.

A saying she had often told others when they saw how close Justina and Nick had been despite their youthfulness.

"Yes, love is love."

Mrs. Paige's smiled rivaled her dead daughter's. "Maybe you'll be joining the family after all. Come here." She walked around the desk and enveloped him into a big hug. She pulled back to stare at him, her hands in his. "I'm sorry for overreacting last night. I was just so surprised... You have grown into a wonderful man. I'm so glad you found love again."

"I didn't think I would."

She wiped a tear away. "Is there anything else I can help you with or did you come here to tell me you loved my daughters?"

"Actually, can you point me in the direction of some books on bones?"

"Sure, right this way."

For the next three hours, Nicholas poured over various texts in an attempt to understand the late doctor's paper, but it was far too technical. It would always be beyond his understanding. He rubbed his eyes and cracked his neck.

"Let me see."

He was so surprised he didn't stop Gavina from taking the paper out of his grasp. "When did you get here?"

"A minute ago." She skimmed the paper. "Interesting..."

"You understand that?"

"Don't sound so surprised. The doctor was trying to create a miracle cure for bone cancer."

"How ambitious of him."

"His latest attempt was to try to combine the medicine with another drug that helped those with osteoporosis."

Nicholas snapped his fingers. "That's it! If there's a way we could make Skull Krusher's bones weak again..."

"How would we do that? It's not like we can zap his body of vitamin D or leech his bone density."

"Why not?"

"I hate to break it to you, Nick, but I don't know if there is anything we can do."

He slumped over, his hands on his face.

She patted his shoulder. He could hear her going through some of the books, but he wallowed in misery until she said, "Nick, listen to this."

He lifted his head, waiting, not willing to get his hopes up.

"There's a condition called osteomalacia. It's basically softening of bones."

"That's it! What causes it?" Hope flared within his chest.

"Let's see... vitamin D deficiency... that won't work... nope... ah. Maybe. I have to go if I'm going to even the playing field tonight."

"What are you--"

She clapped her hands and disappeared.

Nicholas shook his head. Unfortunately, she'd taken the book with her. He returned the other ones, waved to Mrs. Paige, and left for the police station. If tonight was the showdown, he wanted to spend as much time with Julianna as he could.

*****

It took Julianna and Oscar two hours to track down Fergus. Unfortunately for everyone involved, he had driven into a stone bridge and died on impact.

What a senseless act. Why did such horrible things continue to happen here?

Oscar's wailing faded into the background of her mind. The horrific acts were beginning to not faze her quite as much, a fact she found troubling. She paced the scene, widening her path with each pass. Eventually, she spied enormous paw prints in the grass, a tuft of fur in the middle of one, and some claw marks on the side of the bridge.

Fergus must have seen the beast. Maybe the distraction or his fright caused the accident. At least, she assumed it hadn't been intentional.

After the coroner arrived to remove Fergus' body and the tow truck showed up, Julianna returned to the police station. Her body ached, craving sleep, and she yawned as she opened the door.

"Catching flies?" Nick stopped swiveling her chair. The next instant, he was squeezing her tight. "What's wrong?" he asked, and kissed the top of her head.

"Rough day." She closed her eyes and leaned against him. His heart beat slowly, almost too slowly, but it was every bit as strong as he was.

"Tell me about it."

Julianna didn't move as she recounted the day's events. He stiffened in her arms when she mentioned the beast.

"Killa," he said with contempt. "That blasted cat needs to be put down."

"Maybe we should contact the army. This is too much. Skull Krusher, the monster..."

"You don't think I can handle them?"

"It's not that. It's just..." She looked up into his eyes but had to look away. His gaze was too intense.

Justina sat in her chair now, twirling it around faster than Nick had. She gulped. Seeing her dead twin was always a shock.

"You have your job. I wouldn't dream of telling you to stop being sheriff."

"Nothing would make me turn in my badge."

"Exactly." He stared at her pointedly.

Justina jumped out of the spinning chair and walked toward them.

Julianna clasped her hands behind Nick's head. She waved goodbye to her sister and focused her attention on the man in front of her. "I can't lose you, Nick. I love you."

His smile made her heart skip a beat. "I know." He kissed her forehead. "It's my job to protect Falledge."

"It's mine, too. It shouldn't all fall on your shoulders."

"Then whose? Soldiers who will have no idea what they're up against? Men and women who will serve as a feast for Skull Krusher? They don't stand a chance against him. I do. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

She wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe they would grow old together, spend the rest of their lives together. She wanted
him
.

"I love you, Julianna."

"I love you, Nicholas."

Before their lips touched for a heated kiss, Julianna noticed Justina's absence.

Chapter Forty

Every time he opened his mouth, Nicholas carefully forced himself not to blab his plans for tonight. He didn't want Julianna to worry needlessly. He tucked her into bed and waited until she fell asleep before racing to Gavina's. Only the witch wasn't there.

Nicholas waited for five minutes before he grew too impatient to wait any longer. Not sure of Skull Krusher's location, he took off toward Lightmeadow. He smiled as he could almost hear Julianna say, "It's outside of my jurisdiction."
I don't have jurisdiction.

The stars above him shone as one massive light source as he zoomed along the street, darting toward the sidewalk whenever a car came by, jumping on top of roofs when people walked along the sidewalk. The night was quite warm, but he felt cool. The breeze he generated from his swift speed even made him rather chilly.

The town of Lightmeadow came into view, but with no signs of the skeleton, Nicholas changed direction and sped toward the place he had tangled with Killa. Before he reached it, sinister laughter filled his ears, and a punch landed on his kidney.

Nicholas' feet tripped from under him, and he plowed into a nearby tree. Not even bothering to groan, he jumped to his feet, his hands up. He glanced around. "Come out and fight like a man."

More laughter. "But am I a man any longer?" Skull Krusher mocked.

The voice sounded behind him. Nicholas whirled around, bent his knees, and launched himself into the tree. He still couldn't see the skeleton.

A bony finger scraped the back of his neck.

Nicholas reached behind him and yanked but grabbed nothing but air. The super-villain moved even quicker than him.

"I'm evolved," Skull Krusher continued. "I'm the next set in evolution."

Nicholas snorted. "How can that be when you can't reproduce?"

Skull Krusher let out a loud hiss and shifted slightly, moving the bushy branch just enough to reveal Nicholas' location. The skeleton cocked back his right arm for a punch, but his target leapt down.

Before Nicholas could get a strong enough grip on the tree to rip it out of the ground, the trunk burst into flames. He stumbled back in surprise and covered his mouth with his cloak. Smoke made his eyes water.

Familiar female giggling filled his ears, and someone else dropped to the ground beside him. "Gavina. 'Bout time you showed up."

"I can't believe your nerve. How dare you go after him without me! Speaking of which... where is he?"

Glowing against the brilliant flames, the skeleton jumped down from the top of the burning tree to stand before them. He stared at Gavina and cocked his head.

She patted her hands together as if packing a snowball, and a silvery blue ball of light formed. She threw it at him.

Skull Krusher didn't move or react until it was in front of his face. Then he blew it out.

Gavina gasped and picked up something off the ground. A stick. She flew into the sky and pointed at a cloud. A lightning strike followed her pointed finger.

Skull Krusher stepped aside. Blue sparks jumped onto him, and his bones sizzled, but he appeared unharmed.

Nicholas had no idea what the witch was planning next -- they really should have prepared more, talked about what her magic could do before ganging up on him -- but he wasn't about to stand here and do nothing.

Skull Krusher ripped off a burning tree branch. The fire traveled down his bones until he became engulfed in flames that matched his burning eyes. He threw the branch toward Nicholas like a javelin.

Nicholas caught it. The fire burned his hands, and he dropped it, stomping out the flames before it could spread.

Gavina threw more balls of light toward Skull Krusher, but the skeleton warded them off by waving them away or sidestepping them, even plucked one out of the air and threw it back to her. In her shock, she flew into a tree and tumbled to the ground.

Nicholas reached her side instantly. With a groan, she stirred. Her forehead dripped with blood.

"Get out of here," he demanded, annoyed he'd agreed to let her accompany him in the first place.

She shook her head. "Without me, you'll fail." She reached for her makeshift broom, but Skull Krusher picked it up and snapped it in half over his raised leg.

"This is your last chance, girlie. Leave now or die. I have no qualms killing you but my revenge does not include you."

"Oh really? You'll let me live?" From the light of the still-burning tree, Nicholas could see Gavina clasp her hands to her heart. "But I'd much rather see you dead."

Nicholas had to smirk. She had guts, that was for sure.

But he couldn't shake the feeling that if someone was going to die tonight, it wasn't going to be Skull Krusher.

*****

He had no idea who this chick was, the young girl aligning herself beside the stupid flower hero. He'd never thought the so-called hero would find a sidekick, even though he himself had one in Killa. Too bad Killa was off on a mission to sabotage a boat that charted smuggled mob goods. Not that he couldn't handle the two of them himself.

The girl had to be a witch of some kind. To think that magic existed made his mind itch. He wanted to dissect the girl, study her, discover the mysteries linking her to magic. He had never thought magic a possibility before. His rebirth opened up a whole new world to him, a world he would understand, control, and dominate.

The light she kept flinging toward him appeared chemical in nature. He needn't worry about breathing in the fumes as he had no nose. If he had to guess, the chemical was probably cadmium, or at least contained traces of it. Cadmium poisoning caused osteomalacia. Bone weakening. However, cadmium had to be absorbed through organs, of which he had none remaining. He was invincible. The girl's plan, although clever, would fail.

Offering her a chance to leave had been a lie. He never intended her to leave. If she forced him to, he would not hesitate to kill her. Yet, if he could capture her, or convince her to join him, she would make a wonderful addition to his aide.