sunfall (14 page)

“After Alexa…brought me back,” I began, “I was so confused. Disoriented. My psychology, my emotions, were out of sync with my memories. Every new feeling threatened to overwhelm me.

“We were in my apartment, talking. I was struggling to process everything that had just happened. The day was overcast, and in my confusion I didn’t realize the curtains had been drawn back. Suddenly, the sun broke through the clouds and streamed into the room, illuminating everything. As though some deity had plunged the world into gold leaf.

“I was terrified beyond all reason. I cowered in the light. But Alexa knelt beside me and reminded me that I was whole again. That I had nothing to fear. She coaxed me up and I stood at the window, letting the warmth play across my face. It felt like a benediction.”

Tian looked down into her mug, as though the tea leaves held a revelation. “Thank you.”

“When this madness is over,” I said, “I’m going to study my own case. If I can figure out how to synthesize the herb that Alexa found, you’ll be the first to know.”

Before she could reply, several sets of footsteps became audible in the hall. A moment later, Malcolm emerged, Alexa and Constantine behind him. Tian’s professional façade immediately snapped back into place.

“Good afternoon. Did you rest well, I hope?”

“Very well,” Malcolm replied. “Thank you for the accommodations. The others will be here in a moment. They are finishing a call with Consortium Headquarters.”

I rose from my chair, wanting a moment with Alexa. “How are you feeling?” I asked as I pulled her aside.

She brushed a quick kiss across my lips. “Better. Sharper.” She cocked her head slightly. “What were you discussing?”

“Sunlight.” I smoothed my thumb along her jaw, then stepped back as Summers and Foster rounded the corner. “I’ll tell you all about it later. Looks like it’s time to figure out the game plan.”

*

The house hummed with activity. It was nearly six o’clock, just shy of sunset. Soon we would be on the move again in four separate vehicles—one decoy, one scout, and two comprising the caravan that would head for the airfield where the Consortium jet would be waiting to take us all back to New York. Alexa, Karma, and I would scout ahead in the Jeep, while several of Tian’s entourage would use the Humvee as the decoy.

I adjusted my gun belt, zipped up my vest, and turned to Alexa. “I’m ready.”

She glanced at Karma, who was riffling through her duffle bag, and grabbed my hand. “I’m not,” she murmured and led me into the hall.

The bathroom was unoccupied and she pulled me inside, then locked the door. Pressing her back to the wall, she twined her arms around my neck.

“God only knows what we’ll find out there, or what will find us. You need to be strong. Drink, Valentine.”

The food prepared earlier by Tian’s servants had satisfied my hunger but not my thirst. I stared into Alexa’s eyes, emerald pools shining with love and promising peace, and let myself surrender to my own need. Blazing a trail of kisses from her collarbone to her earlobe, I forced myself to claim her tenderly, telegraphing the magnitude of my emotion even as my teeth parted her skin. She gasped, clutching me harder as I drew from her vein. Her desire was headier than the finest perfume, and I cursed our imminent departure when her body called mine with such strength.

As I eased my teeth from her, I licked the small wounds until they closed beneath my tongue. Her fingers played in the short hairs at the back of my neck as she worked to steady her breaths.

I kissed her softly. “I promise we’ll do that properly next time.”

“We’d better.” She caressed my face, then reached for the doorknob. “I need you.”

Karma joined us in the hall, and as we made our way downstairs, I exulted in the clarity of the world around me, rendered bright and crisp by Alexa’s gift of blood. Every thought, every movement became more precise, and I embraced the strength and vitality flowing through me.

Summers flagged me down on our way through the kitchen. “We have people doing flyovers of the area. They’ll be in touch about any suspicious activity.”

“Sounds good.” I looped my Bluetooth headset over one ear as we exited into the garage. Almost everyone was gathered there already. When Constantine saw us, he approached.

“We just got the green light. The Jeep is out front. Tian’s caravan will be ten minutes behind you.”

Alexa embraced him quickly. “Be safe.”

“And you.”

We departed without fanfare. I settled in behind the wheel, Alexa beside me, while Karma took the backseat. The airfield was located to the north and west of our location, outside the city limits. The first fifteen miles passed uneventfully as we followed the route Malcolm and Tian had agreed upon. Occasionally, it doubled back on itself, allowing us to determine whether we were being followed. Traffic grew sparser as we distanced ourselves from the city, but as the scenery became more rural so did the chances of being beset upon by Brenner’s soldiers.

Shortly after we merged onto the country road that would lead us directly to the airfield, my cell phone rang.

“Missionary, this is Spotter One,” came a male voice. “A small force is lying in wait two miles ahead. We suspect an ambush. Detour as soon as possible.”

I slowed the car. “Ambush ahead,” I reported to Karma and Alexa. “Any suggestions?”

Alexa consulted the GPS. “This is the only road. You could turn around, skirt the city, and make an approach from the north, but they’d probably have that side covered, too.”

“What about off-road? Is that an option?”

“There’s a lake between us and the airfield,” she said. “But—”

“It might be frozen,” I finished. “Spotter One, tell me about the status of the lake to the…”

“Northeast.”

“Northeast. Think I could drive across it?”

While the surveillance team checked into that idea, I pulled off the road and cut the engine, not wanting to betray our position in case Brenner also had people in the air.

“I’ll call Malcolm,” Karma said.

“Missionary, we’re seeing ice-fishing huts and a few ATVs along the edge of the lake,” the spotter reported a few minutes later. “Nothing out in the middle, but our best guess—taking into account depth charts and local temperature gradients available online—is that it should be frozen solid.”

“Roger.” I glanced back at Karma, who gave me the thumbs-up. We had Malcolm’s approval. “That’s where we’re headed. Stay in touch.”

I hung up, started the car, and flipped on the high beams. I leaned over and kissed Alexa, hard. And then I gunned the engine.

The first few minutes were the worst, as we descended into the shallow basin where the lake lay. Pitched and jostled by the bumpy ride, I worked to maintain both the Jeep’s balance and its momentum. Finally, the ride smoothed out as we approached the shoreline. Small huts dotted the coast closer to the road, but the path before us was clear.

“Our orders are to cross the lake, then wait in concealment on the far side in case we’re needed,” Karma reported from her ongoing conversation with Malcolm. “Now that the game’s up, our decoy vehicle is being rerouted to assist us if necessary.”

“Take it slow,” Alexa said. “If you drive too quickly, you could create waves under the ice.”

“I’m glad you grew up in Wisconsin,” I said as I nosed the Jeep onto the lake. I had expected a thick layer of snow to be coating the surface, but gusting winds must have worked to partially clear the ice. Breathing shallowly, I listened with all my might for the sound of a crack.

After what felt like an eternity, we reached the far shore and I backed the Jeep into a copse of trees so we had a clear view of the caravan’s approach. Alexa reached for my hand and I allowed myself to relax ever so slightly.

“That wasn’t so bad,” I murmured. “Thanks for the advice.”

“The caravan is just leaving the road,” said Karma, still on the phone with Malcolm.

My cell rang again. “Missionary, this is Spotter One.” The voice was breathless, his words clipped. “The ambush force has mobilized. They have ascertained Tian’s destination and are on an intercept course, due east of your present location.”

“Good work,” I said, forcing my voice to remain calm. “If you can give us any help from up there, now’s the time.” I cut the call and fired up the engine. “The ambush force has figured us out. They’re trying to cut off the caravan. Tell Malcolm we’re going to trip them up if we can.”

When Karma relayed the message, I could hear the chaos through her receiver. Adrenaline raced through my blood as I steered back onto the icy surface. This time I pushed a little faster, knowing that Brenner would not be cautious. Just shy of the middle of the lake, I parked the car with the passenger side facing east.

“Hand me my sniper rifle please, Karma. And, babe, how do you feel about driving?”

I would have only a few seconds before their own shooters would be able to retaliate, but in those seconds I could at least do some damage. Alexa and I swapped places, and as I inspected my weapon I heard them readying their shotguns.

“Once they’re on to us, I’m going to drive toward them on an angle.” Alexa turned to face me. “Will you keep shooting while we’re in motion?”

I nodded. “And when we’re in shotgun range, Karma can join in, too.”

As I powered down the window, the freezing night air sluiced into the car. I set the rifle on the sill and peered through my infrared scope. I would aim for tires first and then for the drivers, in the hopes of incapacitating at least one of their vehicles.

“Here they come,” I said as several heat signatures descended from the bank. “Four of them.”

Releasing a deep breath, I emptied my mind, took aim, and squeezed the trigger. My fourth shot hit the lead car’s tire, causing it to veer wildly to the left. My sixth shot hit the driver of the third vehicle.

Suddenly, Alexa gasped and the world exploded. Shockwaves skipped us like pebbles across the surface, and it was a miracle that our Jeep didn’t roll. On the north edge of the lake, a ball of fire roared toward the heavens.

“It fell,” she said. “I saw it falling in the rearview mirror. Is it our spotter plane?”

Karma was shouting into the phone. Brenner’s vehicles had also been scattered by the impact, but already, they were reforming their ranks. The caravan had been far enough away not to suffer a debilitating disruption from the blast and was approaching the center of the lake.

Alexa turned the wheel and stepped on the accelerator, but the Jeep didn’t move. “Damn it! Are we stuck?”

I heard a loud cracking sound at the same time that Karma pointed out her window. “What is
that
?”

It swooped down like a bird of prey, silent and menacing—a helicopter, but somehow silent, soldiers clinging to its landing skids. They took out the tires of both caravan vehicles with surgical precision, causing each to tip onto its side, easy pickings for Brenner’s approaching squad.

“Forget the car,” I shouted. “Let’s get over there on foot and help!”

I shoved open my door, stepped onto the frozen surface, and immediately broke into a run. Only moments later, I was thrown off my feet as a second tremor rocked the lake. After skidding painfully along the jagged ice, I finally regained my footing. When I glanced over at where the plane had crashed, all I could see was a column of fire reaching toward the heavens.

Alexa had remained on her feet and I raced after her, focusing on the shadowy figures that swarmed over the disabled caravan. Gunshots snapped the air as our team scrambled to defend Tian against Brenner’s attack. When flames began to lick at the underbelly of one of the vehicles, I pushed myself even faster. One of the bullets must have pierced the gas tank.

Over the gunfire, a woman screamed. As the blaze rose higher, I shielded my eyes against the eerie light, trying to pinpoint Brenner’s soldiers. Several people leapt out of one window, but I couldn’t tell who they were. Without any idea of who was inside those vehicles, or whether Brenner had succeeded in capturing Tian, I couldn’t risk firing at anyone. We needed to get in the mix as soon as possible, but the flames, fanned by the wind from the chopper’s rotors, had become a blazing wall. As I began to skirt the wreckage, the fire crackled in my ears, drowning out whatever Alexa was trying to shout to me.

And then a splitting crack rent the air as my world tilted sideways. Fractured by the explosion, weakened by the burning caravan, the ice beneath us gave way. The water’s chill was an icy hand squeezing my heart, my lungs, and I struggled not to panic. Swim up—I had to swim up. But when I tried to move my legs, they felt as though they’d been tied to an anchor. Sluggishly, I pushed through the water, trying to lift myself to the surface. Every stroke, every kick, was a battle against the extra weight of my heavy clothes and weapons. Even as the chill pierced every cell of my body, my lungs began to burn in protest. The surface. Which way was the surface?

When my right hand brushed soft fur, I realized Karma and Alexa must have shifted. Surely, their beasts knew the way to the surface. Pumping my frozen legs, I struggled to move in their direction as the dark water churned all around me.

Finally, my head broke the surface. I sucked in a breath and choked on the smoke that wreathed the gap where the vehicles had been. The collapse had sucked them both under. I could dimly hear the chopper’s whirring rotors, but it sounded as though it was on the move. It had returned to stealth mode—no lights appeared in the sky, and the only illumination came from the ball of fire to the north.