Heroes of Falledge Book One: Black Hellebore (32 page)

"No, we're not," she said firmly. "The chair itself is booby-trapped, but if we replace your weight with weights..."

"Oh. Hurry up!"

She carried over dumbbells, Karl helping her to figure out which ones she needed to reach two hundred and twenty pounds, while she concentrated on hurrying. She loosened the rope so he could stand, and slowly added the weight. Once she got half the weight on, Karl lifted his one leg off, dangling it. He wrapped the rope around the weights already on the chair, and soon it was done.

Forty-five seconds left.

"Let's get out of here!" she cried.

It took them five seconds to reach the garage door.

Another five to realize it, too, was booby-trapped, and they would not be able to open it.

Seven seconds to get back into the kitchen.

Five to reach the front door.

Three to realize it, too, was booby-trapped.

Six to reach the window she had broken.

Eight for Karl to climb out.

Four for her to climb out.

Two more and the bomb exploded.

*****

They had failed. Their plan had failed. Skull Krusher was unstoppable.

Nicholas backed up as Skull Krusher advanced toward him.

Thunder roared.

Lightning flashed.

The storm was here.

Nicholas continued to step back until thunder roared again. He took off for the house, Skull Krusher right behind him, and raced toward the roof after grabbing a metal umbrella near the front door.

Lightning flashed before he got through the roof door, striking the building. Immediately, the house blazed into fire, fueled by the gasoline-soaked rooms.

Hadn't needed the umbrella after all.

Skull Krusher was fast, but not as fast as Nicholas. He'd only made it halfway through the house before the lightning struck.

A coughing, sputtering Nicholas jumped onto the roof and, again, onto a nearby tree. He climbed down. Skull Krusher walked out of the house, flames covering his body, dancing high above his already tall frame, casting shadows across his skull. The rain washed his fire away within seconds, leaving streaks of burned marks and ashes across his open chest and legs. Smoke exited his mouth and ear holes.

Not waiting for him to recover, Nicholas raced over. He leapt onto his body, clinging like a monkey so his legs wrapped around his neck. He twisted and yanked, and twisted and yanked, and twisted and yanked.

Plop!

The skull popped free of the body. The skeleton body collapsed to the ground, Nicholas with it.

He turned the skull around so Skull Krusher could see him.

"Do it," the skeleton head whispered. Nicholas barely heard the voice over the roar of the strong storm.

Nicholas turned the skull over and removed the brain. It felt warm and alive and pulsated in his hand.

He threw it over his shoulder into the burning house. Green smoke exploded from it, and soon the brain burned to ashes.

Nicholas glanced at the skeleton, now, too, a pile of ashes.

He had done it.

He had destroyed Skull Krusher.

His gaze found Gavina's still crumbled form.

But at what cost?

Chapter Forty-Nine

Julianna grabbed Karl and shoved her body on top of his. The blast rocked the ground near them.

She lifted her head. Rain streaked her face. They were still alive.

She yanked Karl's remaining arm and helped him to his feet. "We got to keep going."

He looked even whiter than before but nodded.

The house had caught on fire, and she hurried him away from it. A second blast rocked the night -- surely another of the booby traps going off -- and a large piece of the roof flew toward them.

Julianna shoved him behind another house and took a moment to wrap her coat tightly around his arm stub, not knowing what else she could do first aid-wise. With Karl leaning heavily against her, they walked down to the street in the pouring rain. Finally a car slowed near them. Ginny. The old woman said not a word as she drove them straight to the hospital.

*****

Nicholas raced over to Gavina and cradled her body to him. "Gavina. Gavina!" She was still, so still, too still...

One sky blue eye opened, then the other. "Is he dead?" she whispered.

He almost dropped her, not sure whether to be pleased or pissed. "You faked it? Being dead?"

"Well, yeah, I couldn't even do my part. Nothing I could do helped. So, did you do it? Did you kill him?"

Nicholas nodded.

"Oh, good." She wiggled free and danced a little jig, her foot connecting with an arm, which flew toward Nicholas' head. She shrieked.

Nicholas rubbed his ear. "Ouch."

"What is that?"

He sat down on the wet grass. "An arm. The mayor's maybe?"

"No. He has his arms." She bent down and examined it. "Can't be reattached, not even by magical means. Too dirty, for one thing, too dead for another. The nerves are shot, and..."

She continued to prattle on, but Nicholas was having a hard time hearing her. Eventually he realized she was waiting for an answer.

"Can you repeat that?" he asked.

She cocked her head to the side. "Are you feeling okay?"

He waved her concern away. "What were you saying?"

"I did have an important role in killing Skull Krusher." At his frown, she added, "Okay, in
your
killing Skull Krusher."

"How?" He lay down. Rain continued to drench him, but he didn't care.

"I electrocuted the house!"

"With me in it?"

She made a
pshaw
noise. "I knew you would get out of there in time, and you did! See, I knew I could be of help. Aren't you glad I was here? And now we can..."

By now, he couldn't even hear the rainfall. His vision darkened to blackness and he couldn't tell if his eyes were open or closed. Sleep called him, and he answered.

*****

Julianna opened her eyes to see Gavina. She struggled to sit up, but wires held her back. "Where am I? Where's Nick? What about Skull Krusher?"

"Relax." Gavina gently forced her back into a reclining position. "I didn't know if you wanted me to heal you or not, so I didn't. Do you want me to now?"

The witch looked pale, reminding her of Karl, so Julianna shook her head. "Just answer my questions. Where--"

"You're in the hospital."

"Thanks, I figured that much."

"You know, you're just as impossible as Nick." The witch hung her head, her purple hair hiding her face.

"No!" Julianna's chest grew tight, and one of the machines started to beep.

"He's not dead -- again -- but he's not quite here either." Gavina shrugged. "I don't know exactly."

"Take me to him."

"Not until you're better."

"Now!"

Gavina stood, her tattoo glittering from top to bottom. "No."

"Then heal me." Julianna yanked some of the wires off of her. The machines protested with chirps and whistles. "What's wrong with me?"

"Wood shrapnel from the explosion. Your adrenaline probably prevented you from feeling it."

"Where?"

"Your leg. And your back."

No wonder her back felt as if it was on fire. "No burn?"

"Nope. Karl's in okay shape. Dehydrated, malnourished. Not sure what Skull Krusher did to him. And that's not to mention his arm--"

"Heal me, please."

"Wasn't a whole lot they could do. Looked like Skull Krusher had burned the skin to stop the bleeding. No one but the hospital staff knows Karl's here. They, and the two hunks guarding Karl's room the entire three days he's been here. I think their names are Ron and Steve. Man, those guys are gorgeous!"

"Three days?" Julianna couldn't believe so much time had passed. Dimly, she remembered coming in and out of consciousness.  A sinking feeling filled her empty stomach, and she eyed Gavina. "You can't heal me, can you?"

"Of course I can." She bristled. "I just don't know if I want to."

"Why wouldn't you?"

Gavina sat down on the bed, and Julianna winced. "Sorry." She jumped back up and returned to the chair beside the bed. "I'm tired. So tired. I can try, but I might not be able to heal you completely."

"Then don't."

"But you want to see Nick. And you should." She stared down at her clasped hands.

"What's wrong?"

Gavina stared at her. Two tears ran down from her left eye. "You almost died. And it's because I let you try to play a hero."

"First of all, you didn't let me anything. Second of all, I
am
a hero. Third of all, why must everything be about you?"

That got the witch to laugh. "I was just worried about you."

"And how is Nick going to feel when he comes back to realize you 'let' me do my job?"

If he comes back.

She pushed the thought away.

"I'll do my best. But know this, Julianna, I think only you can bring Nick back. And you'll have to be one hundred percent to even try. Promise me you won't try until I let you."

"I have a feeling you won't tell me where he is until you deem me one hundred percent," she said bitterly.

Gavina laughed again. "You know me well. Now lie still."

Julianna lay down and held her body as still as she could, but her thoughts raced on about Nick and how she couldn't bear the thought of living without him.

Warmth swept over her body, the areas where she felt pain experiencing intense temperature. As quickly as the heat came, it fled, followed by a soothing chill sweeping over her body. Again, the cold vanished, and with it, some, but not all, of her pain.

A few minutes later, Gavina said, "Okay, how do you feel now?"

Julianna sat up with minimal effort. "Better. Do you know when Karl is going to be released?"

A throat clearing drew their attention to the doorway. Dr. Holiday stood there, a clipboard in his hand. An older doctor with hair still as black as when he had first graduated medical school, he eyed her over the rim of his glasses. "How better is better?"

Julianna smiled. "Better enough to go home?"

He flipped through her chart. "I would have to run more labs first, check your blood work..."

"Please? I still have work to do."

"I can't--"

"I'll sign any paperwork I have to. I'm refusing treatment."

He stared at her with a disapproving glare. "Julianna..."

She held up her hand and stood. "I'm fine. Please." Actually, her back still pained her when she moved in certain ways, but she wasn't about to stay here any longer than necessary.

"Fine. I'll have the nurse bring the form and discharge papers." He left the room, still shaking his head.

Julianna turned to thank Gavina, but the witch was gone.
Probably won't show up again until I'm one hundred percent. And she's far too smart to be keeping Nick at her house.

She walked over to the chair Gavina had been sitting in. Beside it, on a small wooden table, were some clothes. She entered the bathroom and changed, a task which took much longer than normal. By the time she finished and sat in the chair, she was sweating and out of breath.

The nurse stopped by then, and Julianna signed the line the nurse indicated. Finally cleared to leave, she entered the hallway, looked left and right, and walked with purpose, albeit at a slow pace, to Steve and Ron. Their postures relaxed when they saw her.

"How are you?" Steve gave her a hug.

She bit her tongue so as not to cry out when he touched her sore back. "I'm fine. How's Karl?"

"He's all ready to go," Ron said in his firm voice. "But we wouldn't let him leave without you seeing him first."

"I appreciate that. Thank you both, for everything." She nodded toward the door. "If you'll excuse me?"

"Of course," they said, and stepped aside.

She entered the room. Karl was staring out the window. He had to hear her footsteps but neglected to turn and see her. "Karl? Are you ready to go home now?"

Now he stared at her. His eyes looked haunted, and she could tell he was a changed man. Between being held hostage by a madman -- mad skeleton -- losing an arm and outrunning a bomb, there was no way he could remain a punk mobster's son.

"What are you going to do now?" she asked.

He stared at his bandaged stump.

"There are prosthetics..." she tried.

"I know that." His hand curled into a fist. "And what am I supposed to do? Go crawling back to Daddy with one arm, and beg and plead for the money for one? I'm done with it. Done with running errands for him. Done with the lot of it."

"But he's your father." She walked to him, watching him carefully. Family was always a touchy subject, and it was never easy to write someone off.

"I never want to see him again."

"How about one more time?" She sat beside him on the bed and told him her plan. If she had to wait to heal before she could try to save Nick, she wasn't going to stop working in the meantime.

*****

It took a lot of wheeling and dealing to convince Steve and Ron to drive her and Karl to the Big Don's mansion, but they did. Against her better judgment, all four walked inside, guarded by five burly mob goons.

The guards brought them into a cavernous room with three sofas, two TVs, and a huge fireplace. Big Don sat in a huge leather seat, almost a throne. When he saw Karl, he jumped to his feet. "I never thought I would see you again!"

Before he could step forward, Julianna held up a hand and approached him. "We need to talk."

He tried to look around her to his son. Finally, he snapped his fingers, and the mobsters left them alone. "Go on, talk," he said gruffly.

Typical. Still trying to act like he's in charge.

"Karl is in my custody."

"On what grounds?" he roared.

"I will only release him on one condition." She glanced behind her to Karl, who nodded. It was brave of him to do this, but it could cost him some day.

"What's that?" Big Don spat out.

"Leave Falledge and never come close to it again. Not you or any of yours." She stared at him, her sweaty hands clasped behind her back.