Winter's Legacy: Future Days (Winter's Saga Book 6) (27 page)

59 Inverted Love

On the ground Meg heard the plane well before she could find it in the ink black sky.  She knew they would have to lower their altitude but still found herself cringing at the engine rumbling through the otherwise quiet night. 

Knowing she couldn’t reach out to Arkdone to determine whether he was suspicious of the low-flying aircraft, she channeled her sensors toward Ermos.  The simpleminded chauffer was busying himself making coffee on the other side of the base tent from Arkdone.  He wasn’t thinking of anything beyond measuring the coffee and bottled water just right to please his master. 

Meg’s attention was torn between watching her family and feeling for an attack from their enemies.  Through her night vision scope she caught sight of each canopy as they unfurled one after the other.  She and Valen had moved closer to the metamonarch’s new base so they could provide cover.  Valen’s sniper rifle looked for movement from the camp indicating that they spotted the plane and its jumpers. 

“Anything?” Meg asked.

“I was about to ask you the same thing.” Valen said without taking her eye off the scope of her rifle.

“Five chutes just opened,” Meg offered.

“So far so—”

Pop, pop, pop!

“Shit,”
Meg frantically looked for the source of the gunfire.  More concerned about the safety of her family than herself, Meg leaped from her hidden spot, yanked her weapon eye-level and threw her sensors out.  She felt the shooter immediately.

“North side of the tent,”
she hissed, flipping the safety off her rifle.  She exhaled and squeezed the trigger.  Her aim was surgical.  The Monarch spun, his shoulder hit. 

“There are more,” Meg warned as she crouched back down behind a rocky ridge and aim
ed. 

Semiautomatic gunfire echoed off the terrain.

“They’re gunning for us, now,” Valen grunted.

Meg risked dividing her focus between returning fire and feeling for her family as they continued their descent. 

A bullet whizzed past Meg’s ear just as she felt Creed cry out.  She looked up through her scope and saw a corner of his chute flapping free of its cord.  He was falling fast.

Instinctively, Meg bolted.  “Cover me!” she yelled over her shoulder as she sprinted toward Creed’s likely point of impact.  She felt him struggling to regain control over his chute
.  More gunfire burst from both the Monarchs and Valen. 

“Winter, Valen.  We’re at your five o’clock,” Rhett’s voice came in clear through her earpiece.  “You two secure the jumpers.  We’ll draw fire.”

“Copy that,” Valen responded immediately.  The moment she heard gunfire coming from behind her, she began running after Meg.

“Please be okay.  Please be okay,” Meg
chanted under her breath..

She was close enough to imagine she would feel the thump of his impact into the ground, and with every frantic step, she grimaced in anticipation.  But it never came.  Instead
, there was a loud crash.  She rounded a grove just in time to catch sight of him.  Creed had intentionally aimed his chute into a grove of wild trees.  She saw him careening into the branches.  His fall finally stopping abruptly as his chute tangled in the limbs.  For a breathtaking moment, Creed hung upside down, swinging like a huge rag doll, thwacking repeatedly against the thick trunk of the oak tree. 

Meg never stopped running.  She bounded onto a bo
ulder near the base of the tree and leaped to the first branch.  In one fluid motion she swung herself up into a crouched position and clambered the rest of the way until she was face to face with Creed.  At first glance she noted several deep scratches and a pretty thick goose egg on the back of his head, but that’s not what had Meg reaching up with panic.  He was out cold.

“Creed!” she yelled over the staccato gunfire. 

“Do you need help?” Valen called from below. 

“Go check the others,” she managed.  Into her throat
mic she added, “Rhett, four of my family have landed safely.  Creed wasn’t so lucky.  The others need an escort back to the house.”

“Creed’s
sitrep?” Rhett asked over a barrage of gunfire.

“Stand by.”

Meg yelled, “Creed!  Wake up!  We have to get you out of here!”

He didn’t respond.

Meg reached up and rubbed her knuckles hard into his breastbone. 

Nothing.

She tried flicking his face
.  As much as it pained her to hurt him, she had to rouse him one way or another.  Only it didn’t work.

Her heart was bruising itself as it bashed against the inside of her rib cage in panic.

“Please Creed!” she screamed into his motionless face. 

Nothing.

Knowing what she would have to do, she yanked her hunting knife from its sheath and started sawing the harness straps.   She knew she wouldn’t be able to catch him once she cut the last strap and even if she could catch him and flip him upright, there was no way she could carry his weight while standing fifteen feet above the ground on a branch—but she was running out of options.

She spoke into her
mic, “Rhett, I need help evacuating Creed.  His chute was damaged and he landed in a tree.”

Gunfire burst just on the other side of the ridge. 

Rhett wasn’t responding.

“We’re so close, baby.  Please
.” Meg hesitated before cutting the last strap.  Instead, she leaned in and gently kissed his purpling lips.  Her breath caught in her throat when she felt him move to kiss her back.

Gasping, she pulled away from Creed to see for herself.  And there he was, glistening blue eyes alight against his red face, grinning adorably at her surprise. 

“I missed you so much, Meggie.”

Meg couldn’t help it, she blushed and smiled widely.  Her hands still held his face.  “Oh, wow.  I missed you, too Creed.” 

“Wait,” he frowned and looked around them in a daze. “Am I dreaming?” he asked.

Meg had to stifle a giggle, “No, you’re upside down in a tree and we’re about to take gunfire.  Can you help me get you down?”

Creed looked around and blinked.  “I think so,” he said, the smile already returned to his handsome face.

“Stop smiling and cut yourself down!” Meg ordered and hurriedly handed him her knife. “Only you would find something to smile about at a time like this,” she teased, unable to wipe the smirk off her face. 

Creed easily pulled himself up to slice the last cord gripping his leg.  At his last cut, he held onto the branch and let his legs drop smoothly to stand beside Meg. 

She threw her arms around him, overwhelmed with thankfulness for their fragile moment suspended in the air during a gunfight.

Creed hugged her back, burying his face into the beautiful scent of her hair, just as he’d always done. 

“We have to go, Meggie,” Creed hated to break the moment, but as the blood rushed back into place, his grip on their dangerous reality made his heart race.  “It’s not safe here.”

“You’re right.” Meg nodded and hurriedly began scampering down the trunk of the tree.

“Squirrel,” Creed whispered down to her.

Creed’s descent was much more catlike as he landed crouched behind her, using his body to shield her against any further gunfire.

“If we weren’t about to be killed, I’d tackle you to the ground and smother you with kisses,” Creed whispered into her ear over her shoulder.  His hand slipped around her waist and pulled her into a crouching position.

“Not if I tackled you first.” Meg resisted the urge to make good on her threat.

They began running crouched toward the bright lights of the ranch house.

“Gotta warn Rhett,” Meg said over her shoulder before talking into her throat mic.  “Rhett?  Are you there?” 

“Rhett here.
Sitrep?”

“Solid.  How’s my family?”

“Secure and getting geared up at the house.  They’re waiting for you.”

“I have Creed and we’re headed there now. Haven’t heard gunfire in five minutes.”

“Bad guys sustained heavy gunfire but did not pursue.  Their numbers are too low, and they know it.”

“Not for long.  Williams has just arrived on the scene with his Company.  I sense they’re regrouping.  We won’t have
a long reprieve.”

“Copy that.  By the way, we left the front door unlocked for you.”

“Thanks.  See you in three, Meg out.”

“Rhett Hays?” Creed asked softly.

“The leader of 17th Company.”

“I remember him.  Good kid.”

“He remembers you, too.”

They picked up their pace and, true to her word, let themselves into the house through the front door three minutes later.

60
Reunion

Meg was tackled the moment she stepped over the threshold.

“Meggie!” Her mother threw herself at her daughter wrapping her arms around her neck, resisting the urge to sob in relief at seeing her little girl whole and healthy.

Meg had no qualms about bursting into tears in front of a roomful of strangers.  This was her mom and just seeing the unconditional love in her vibrant, warm eyes had Meg quivering with joy. 

The metasoldiers of 17th Company hung back respectfully but watched the reunion with rapt attention.  They’d never seen affection like this displayed in person before and were in awe of the moving scene.

“Mom!  I missed you so much!” Meg gushed.  Her strong arms wrapped around her mother’s back—a child’s embrace.

The family held back for just those precious few moments before rushing in for hugs of their own. 

Impatient, Evan pushed his way through first.  “Meggie, I’m so sorry I put you in harm’s way.  Everything you went through, it was all my fault.  I’ll never forgive myself for—”

“I’m fine, Evan.  Don’t you dare blame yourself for anything!” She pulled back to look up into her little brother’s worried honey eyes.  “We’ve done what we had to do to survive.  Tonight we’ll finish this—as a family.”  She reached out with one arm to hug him then yanked Alik close, too. 

“Wow, I missed you guys.” She pulled the boys closer to her and smiled widely. 

“Your memory—it’s completely restored?” Farrow asked from around Alik.

Meg glanced back over her shoulder at Creed, who stood protectively near, but not too near.  She blushed at the intensity in his eyes.

“Yes, I remember everything.”  Meg swallowed hard against the images flashing in her mind’s eye, as though proving the point. 

“There’s so much to talk about—so much we need to catch up on, but Williams arrived ten minutes ago.” Meg pulled back to include her mother into their loose circle.

“So it begins.” Margo worked her jaw. 

“Maybe not.  Meg can I try to get a precog reading off you?”

“Sure, if you think it will help,” Meg offered her hand.

Evan took it in his and closed his eyes.  It didn’t take him long.

“Yeah, well okay.  We have at least an hour.”  His cheeks blushed deeply as he shoved his hands into his pockets.  “Maybe you should try sensing Williams’ intentions,” he suggested.

“What did you see, Ev?” Margo asked point-blank.

Evan shrugged slightly at his mom.  “Not much.  We’re all just getting some much needed rest an hour from now.”

Margo narrowed her eyes at her son, “Is that all?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” he nodded, pursing his lips together.

Meg and Creed exchanged looks before she jumped in. 

“Let me see what I can find out, Mom,” Meg offered.

Reflexively, she stepped back into Creed’s waiting arms.  Even before she fully evolved, Meg was always able to get a sharper reading with Creed’s help.  Now she was blown away at the intensity of the mental connection she could wield with Williams and heard herself gasp at the effect.

61  Cat and Mouse

“What are we waiting for?”  Anger and disgust over the loss of his slaves was still raw in Arkdone’s aristocratic face. 

“We need to be more cautious with the remaining soldiers, Arkdone.” Williams barely contain
ed his fury and spoke through a clenched jaw.  His silver orbs scraped methodically against one another as he worked them in his hand.  “They’re not going anywhere.”

“I want this done NOW,”
Arkdone flew into the face of his tenuous ally.

“
As do I!
” bellowed Williams.  “That family—that child—has done more damage to me than any of my reckless attempts at medical enhancement.  I ache for the moment of freedom from torment! 
Their mere existence assaults me!”
  Bloody spittle flew from his torn lips as he bellowed.

“Then why do we wait?” 

“We have the high ground now, Arkdone.  They are stuck inside two buildings in the middle of a secluded ranch with more people than they could have possibly planned for.  The longer we wait, the more anxiety builds in that camp, the more supplies dwindle, the more desperate they become.” Williams let his words sink in.

“Wait them out—”

“—until Rhett Hays’ soldiers start to question his decisions.  Let their devotion to him start to crack as tensions run hot and the forty-some people start to suffer from hunger and a lack of sleep.  We force them to lash out first, trying to escape their hole, and pick them off one-by-desperate-one.”

The shadows in Arkdone’s face seemed to darken with menace.  A wicked smile cracked across his lips.

“They’ll have all the time in the world to question themselves—to know no one is coming to rescue them.  They’ll feel the pressure of isolation and turn on themselves in a frenzy.”  Arkdone threw his head back in crazed laughter.  “They just may end up killing Hays and the Winters themselves!”

Williams nodded slowly and resumed his pacing.  A sickly sweet scent seemed to follow him as he moved: strawberries and lilies. 

Meg, dear.  Is that you?  I just bought you some time, though I don’t know why I bother. What will you do for me in return, my lovely daughter?  Come to me.  I’ll take you under my wing and all will be forgiven.