The Paladin Prophecy (48 page)

He opened his eyes.

The Paladin stood frozen in place, weapons raised above him just as Nick had last seen it. But it was struggling fiercely, almost imperceptibly, in the grip of what looked like thousands of tendrils shooting out from behind Nick.

Nick dropped to the floor and dragged himself off to the side, then turned to look.

Thin ropy strands of what looked like putty-colored string wriggled through the painted white cage, through every small diamond-shaped gap across the whole broad face of its middle section. Tendrils extending out and wrapping around every square inch of the statue. They moved in concert, like a nest of a thousand snakes. Nick watched in amazement as they wove themselves around the Paladin until it was completely covered and gradually, finally, helplessly unable to budge.

Nick looked past the tendrils into the darkness behind the cage. He got an impression of a huge, indistinct quivery mass pressed against the other side of the steel and he knew that ocean roar was issuing from this thing. Something in the middle of it glowed the color of blood.

Like an eye. Like the eye of some giant freakin’ octopus
.

The metal of the statue groaned as the tendrils squeezed relentlessly tighter. Then something yielded inside it with a sound that reminded Nick of a breaking bass guitar string. All at once, the tendrils released the statue and retreated through the air, waving gently like sea grass.

The sword and hatchet dropped to the ground. Something soft and black dropped out of the Paladin’s right heel and melted to ooze on the floor. The statue cracked and shattered, crumpling to the ground in a dozen pieces.

Nick felt wooziness wash through him and knew he was about to black out. He watched, mesmerized, as the mass of wandering tendrils lifted something down to him, but he didn’t feel afraid. He realized what it was and knew what it was for and struggled to stay awake long enough to use it.

The tendrils gently held the receiver of the equipment cage’s black phone against his ear. As he watched, another cluster of tendrils flowed around the base of the phone and pressed the
C
in the center of the enamel button.

Nick heard the operator answer.

“Dr. Robbins, please,” he said, shocked at how calm he sounded.

While he waited for the operator to find her, Nick’s eyes drifted to the gate in the steel cage just to the side of the counter.

Bizarre. I never noticed that before
.

The lock is on the
outside.

THE BOATHOUSE

The foul smell brought him around, then voices getting gradually louder, as if he were emerging from a tunnel.

“What should we do with him?” someone asked.

“Wait,” said the filtered voice of the Paladin. “Wait for it to imprint on him. It works better that way.”

Will was careful not to move so they wouldn’t know he’d come around. He was lying on his side on the wood plank floor of the boathouse attic. They’d secured his wrists behind his back with one of his own plastic ties and connected them to his ankles; his legs were bent back uncomfortably. His whole body ached from the Taser charge. His mask had slipped, covering his eyes so he couldn’t see a thing.

He summoned his sensory grid. Two Knights stood over him along with the tall, stooped figure of the Paladin. Brooke was in the next room, still bound to a chair. The horrible smell was coming from a thermos-sized black container resting on the floor less than a foot from Will’s face.

Will felt energy flowing from the vile thing moving inside the container and knew it was a Ride Along, somehow “tuning” into him, getting ready to merge. He moved his hand down a few inches to the Swiss Army knife he’d tucked into the back of his boot.

“What about her?” asked one of the masks.

“She’s going to watch,” said the Paladin. “One last chance to come to her senses, or she’ll get one, too. Bring her in before I open it.”

Will heard boots scuffle into the next room. He flipped the knife into position between both hands, flicked open a blade, and with as little motion as possible started sawing at the ties. The plastic started giving way; he needed ten more seconds—

Then a voice slid into his thoughts: “Are you upstairs?”

Elise
. At first it made no sense. Then it made all the sense in the world.

Will tossed out the net of his senses and let it filter down through the building until he found her one floor below, just inside the front door.

“Yes,” he answered.

Will heard the Knights head back his way, dragging Brooke with them.

The first tie snapped under the blade. He moved to the second—

“Stand back while I break the seal,” said the Paladin. He reached down to open the black canister. The creature inside rustled in anticipation.

Will heard footsteps running up the stairs: Elise charging hard. He could see her shape flowing through space, growing brighter and stronger, filling with some kind of vibrant power.

The walkie-talkie in Will’s pocket crackled, and he heard Ajay’s voice, low and urgent: “Will. Cover your ears.”

Two of the Knights rushed to the stairs: “Who’s there?” Another reacted to the walkie-talkie: “What was that?”

Will cut the final tie, clamped his hands to his ears, and called out, “Brooke, cover your ears!”

A wave of energy burst through the doorway. Will’s first impression: a single note encompassing every known frequency, above and below the range of human hearing. Then the note exploded throughout the enclosed attic space like a sonic boom. Even with his hands pressed tightly against his ears, Will felt as if a howitzer had gone off beside his head.

The windows blew out, the planks beneath him rippled, and at the center of this gash in the surface of things he saw Elise standing at the top of the stairs, jaws wide open, arms spread, palms up, her body a field of wild energy, the epicenter of this concussive shock wave.

And it
all
made sense to him: Elise had talents, too. And she was
Awake
.

Crouching near the porch, Ajay had waited exactly a minute, like Elise had told him to, his eyes glued to his watch. “Will. Cover your ears,” he said into his walkie-talkie.

He’d taken two steps forward before it occurred to him:
Oh, dear, I should probably cover mine as well
.

He raised his hands to his ears just as all the windows in the boathouse exploded and the whole building shuddered. The blast wave knocked Ajay backward into another snowdrift.

“Mother of mercy,” said Ajay.

He wobbled to his feet and staggered onto the porch. He opened the front door and walked straight into the sill before he course-corrected and made it inside.

“Elise? Will?!”

“Up here!”

It was Will’s voice. He sounded miles away. Ajay’s ears were ringing louder than at a rock concert. Ajay launched himself at the stairs, weaving from one wall to the other.

“Good grief,” said Ajay. “A direct hit to the gyroscope.”

As he passed a window in the stairwell, Ajay looked down and saw a snowmobile pull out of a garage and head for the woods. The Paladin was driving. Ajay stumbled through a door at the top of the stairs, where he found Will crouched over Elise, who was unconscious and pale on the floor.

“Is she all right?” asked Ajay, but couldn’t hear himself, so he repeated the question, much louder than before.

Will didn’t seem to hear him either time. He said something and Ajay saw his lips moving but couldn’t hear a word.

“What?!” yelled Ajay, moving closer.

“Use the phone! Call for help!”

“Okay! Where’s Brooke?!”

“In here!”

Will led him to a doorway, where Brooke lay on the floor just inside. Two Knights—Pigtail and Pirate—were slumped crookedly against a wall, out cold. They looked like they’d been hit by a bus. Their masks had been knocked off. They were Hodak’s attack dogs from the cross-country team: Durgnatt and Steifel.

A trapdoor in the middle of the room stood open, and a rope descended to the floor below. Will pointed to the rope and said something.

“What?!” shouted Ajay.

Will yelled into Ajay’s ear, “There’s a phone! In the office downstairs! Kidnapping! Attempted murder!”

Ajay gave the “okay” sign and said, “One of them got away! Snowmobile!”

“I know!” shouted Will. “Lyle!”

Ajay grabbed the rope in the trapdoor and tried a heroic slide to the floor below. He lost his grip halfway down and crash-landed on his rump. After making sure Will hadn’t seen him, Ajay lifted the receiver of the black phone in the office. He had to assume an operator answered because he couldn’t hear a thing.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to yell!” shouted Ajay.

Upstairs, Will gathered Brooke in his arms, carried her into the other room, and laid her gently beside Elise. He covered Elise with his jacket. Will stripped the winter coat off one of the downed Knights and was about to cover Brooke when she opened her big blue eyes.

“Who wins the Drama Club Award now?” he asked.

“You came for me,” she said.

“What?!” he said.

She threw her arms around him and closed her eyes and said into his ear, “You came for me.”

He heard her that time.

Downstairs, Ajay had to shout to make sure he got the message across. He was pretty sure the operator told him help would be there in fifteen minutes.

“I’m sorry!” he shouted to her. “I feel like I’m inside a large bell! Actually right inside it! In a bell tower! And it’s ringing incessantly!”

Ajay hung up the phone and left the office as Will leaped down through the trapdoor, grabbed the rope, and landed—without falling—right beside him.

“You stay here,” said Will. “Take care of the girls, wait for help.” Will headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” shouted Ajay, following him.

“I’m going after Lyle.”

“On foot? Wait, Elise brought her horse. You could take him.”

“I won’t need a horse,” said Will.

THE CAVES

The snow had slowed to flurries when Will left the boathouse and started after Lyle. The tracks and furrows of the snowmobile led Will deep into the woods. He dodged and lunged over the unfamiliar ground, training all his senses ahead, calling on his speed to keep pace or narrow Lyle’s lead.

Will pulled up his sensory grid, throwing it out ahead to track Lyle, but it felt muddy, imprecise, and he realized that his hearing, stunned by the sonic explosion, played a major role in this ability to “see.” He couldn’t find Lyle anywhere, and as the ground grew steeper and rockier, he needed more time to pick his path. He left the trees and crossed onto a clear plateau that sloped gradually up toward the ridgeline, where, high above, were the caves he’d noticed the other day.

As he crested the next rise, Will caught a glimpse of Lyle on the snowmobile, moving straight for the ridge. As his hearing returned, Will heard a sound like the distant buzzing of a swarm of angry hornets. He thought it must be Lyle’s engine, but then he realized it was coming from behind him.

Three more snowmobiles were cutting and plunging through the drifts, approaching from behind him to the east. Three more Knights: Ben Franklin, George Washington, and the Wolf. All three masks had rifles strapped across their backs. They were less than a hundred yards away.

Will would reach the base of the ridge in another minute. The snowmobiles weren’t gaining on him, but it occurred to Will that catching him might not be their plan. Maybe they wanted to herd him this way and flush him into the open where they could stop, sit back at range, and pick him off with their rifles.

But if the situation escalated to life-threatening, Will knew his insurance policy would kick in. Dave hadn’t let him down yet, four times without fail. He could count on his angel riding to the rescue. Couldn’t he?

Will hopped over a line of boulders and glanced at his watch: seven minutes since he’d left the boathouse. Help should reach his friends within fifteen minutes of Ajay’s alert. He just had to keep the Knights occupied until then.

As he neared the escarpment, Will saw Lyle scrambling up a rough path in the face of the rock. Piles of rubble ran along the edge of the path, offering some cover. Will passed Lyle’s abandoned snowmobile, struggled through a field of loose, crumbled shale, and reached the bottom of the path. He looked up; he had forty yards to climb, with two switchbacks, to reach the ridge. Will ducked behind a rock and looked back.

The other snowmobiles had stopped in a cluster, fifty yards back. The drivers, already dismounted, rifles cradled in their arms, were walking toward the bottom of the ridge.

If they plan to shoot me, this would be the place. And if I want
my friends to figure out where the hell I am, a few gunshots ringing out in this cold clear air should do the trick
.

Will took a deep breath and sprinted straight up the gradient. Something kicked off a rock three feet to his right before he heard the report of the rifle. Another shot ricocheted to his left, and a third hit just behind him. Will dropped behind a low cluster of rocks, about halfway up the path.

“Any time, Dave,” he grunted. “Now would be really good.”

Will looked up and saw Lyle pulling himself over the top onto the ridge. As Will looked back, a fourth shot kicked off the rocks just in front of him. Will launched himself up the path, pulling with his hands, driving hard with his legs, bursting out of hiding so quickly that the next few shots landed well behind him. As he turned the final switchback, the last ten feet to the top left him completely exposed, so he kept pushing and grabbing and pulling until—

He leaped for the top of the ridge, scrabbled over, and rolled away from it as three shots in a tight pattern zipped just above him. One clipped the shoulder of his down vest and feathers flew into the air.

Will lay still, gasping for breath, cradled in snow as the rifles’ sharp reports echoed off the rocks. He raised his head just enough to look around for Lyle. The ridge, snow laden and only thirty feet across at its widest, ran off in both directions until it curved and disappeared. Another sheer rock wall, unscalable, rose straight ahead of him.