Winter's Legacy: Future Days (Winter's Saga Book 6) (32 page)

Farrow had been battling so hard, her breathing was ragged and face pale
under the smears of blood trickling down her cut cheeks.  She was fighting with a knife trying to give just as many slices as she received before the blade was kicked from her hand.

Alik was huge—his body having responded to his adrenaline rush by growing markedly larger.  The thick, bulging veins in his neck, chest and arms resembled a roadmap.  He had already flipped a Jeep and used emptied rifles as baseball bats, but still the enemy surged, pinning him against
a wall of rock and earth.

Evan’s honey eyes were bright
, reflecting the ball of light in his hand as he tossed them, one after another at the attacking throng.  His jaw was set, pent-up anger spurring his lethal gift.  The scent of burning skin and hair was already starting to make Meg gag. 

She looked around the chaos in horror at what her family
had to endure and at the blood they were forced to shed.  The images assaulted.  An oblivious breeze brought the coppery-sweet scent of blood to Meg’s anguished face.  She forced herself to her elbow then pushed into a sitting position. 

Maze whined at her
, prancing protectively between her and the Winter war. 

Meg craned her head around his thick, silver fur to continue watching in abject horror at the violence.  Bile rose in her throat.

No,
she moaned inwardly trying to breathe through the nausea.  She grabbed Maze’s thick coat for leverage with her one good hand and pulled herself onto her knees. 

“
No!”
she yelled into the wind.

The wind only yelled back. 

It bathed her in the hellish smells of death and destruction.

She blinked at stinging, salty tears of sorrow and when she opened them again, she saw him.

Williams.

His bloody head was thrown back in uncontrollable peals of laughter.  His body shook with joy at what he saw around him—bloody lips pulled back, face contorted in a freakishly macabre expression of delight.

That’s when Meg snapped.

Righteous fury replaced
the anguish in her heart.  A sense of complete calm settled over her beaten body.  She felt no pain as she moved to stand.

Devotion and fear fought in Maze’s yellow eyes as he watched his Meg.  He leaned his flank against her legs, offering h
is support. 

Meg looked down at her best friend and smiled sadly as she reached down to stroke the soft fur at the top of his head.  She heard him whine painfully even over the roar of battle all around. 

“It’ll be okay.  You’ll see,” she whispered.  A teardrop from her dark eyes fell from her lash and landed on his sensitive muzzle.

Meg kept one hand on Maze and closed her eyes.  A bullet whizzed past her ear, but she didn’t flinch.

In her mind, Meg knew what she had to do.

She opened her psychic energies and unfurled the largest white blanket she’d ever built.  The edges of the cloth kept building onto itself as it billowed across a quarter mile
radius.  She willed herself to breathe slowly, pushing her gift harder than she’d ever dreamed possible. 

As she worked, s
he prayed for strength beyond herself.

“No more!  No more fighting.  Drop your weapons to the ground.  Kick them away.   Drop your arms to your sides and when you exhale your next breath, all anger and hatred will blow
away in the wind.”  Her voice reverberated clearly over the chaos.  All eyes turned to watch the girl who was beaten and broken stand as if held upright by sheer determination.

She stood trembling violently with effort
, but she refused to succumb.  Maze pressed himself more firmly against her quivering legs. 

Meg
fought harder against the evil resisting her.  She leaned forward, as though pushing through a concrete wall of violence. 

“NO MORE!”
she screamed into the angry silence that had oozed into the space.

Blood began dripping from her nose, painting her lips and chin with red, but she didn’t stop.

“Meg, no!” Creed croaked from the ground where he watched in heartbreaking horror as the blood began leaking from her tear ducts.

“Oh, God, please!  No!”  He pushed himself off the ground and ran across the stunned scene.  No one moved to stop him. 

“No more fighting,” her brow furrowed with her extraordinary effort.

“No more hurting,” she released Maze’s fur and raised her fist to the sky.  It trembled with effort, fatigue
gripping her by the throat.

“No more evil,” she opened her hand and the air around her and as far as anyone could see vibrated as though a sonic blast surged from the girl crying tears of blood. 

Creed had to brace himself to stay upright against the waves of energy coursing from the small girl standing alone against the world. 

H
e felt her psychic strength weaken and cried out in anguish for her.  He closed the distance between him and the girl he loved in time to catch her crumpling body before it hit the ground.

“Meg!  Oh, God, no!  Please, Meggie!  Why?”
He shook her rag-doll body.  “Why would you do that, Meg? Why?” He pleaded to her pale face. 

Meg’s eyes fluttered open, the light that always danced there was fading fast. 

“Peace.  God wanted peace.”

Margo, Alik and Evan had rushed to her side in time to hear her whisper her last words.

“I love you.”

74  Check Mate

“Weak-minded fools!” Kenneth Williams ranted, breaking the silence left in Meg’s sacrificial wake.  “Fight!” he screamed.

Evan
had collapsed at his sister’s side, taking her still warm hand in his.  At the sound of Williams’ voice he ripped his eyes away from his sister’s ashen face and stood.  The scene was surreal—dazed expressions on enemy faces.

“Get her to Danny.  Now!” Alik shook Creed from his shocked horror.  “Go!”

“What about him,” Margo nodded toward Williams.

“Leave him to us.” Evan never looked away from the enraged man. “Cover them,” he ordered the 17th Company soldiers who had gathered around the leader of the Original Three.

“About face!” Rhett barked.

Immediately, the soldiers spun on their heels, turning their backs to the heartbreaking scene and protected them with their silence and loyalty.  Several hardened soldiers felt the first salty stings of real tears—most for the first time in their lives. 

Across the camp, a collective clattering of metal crunching to the ground began until every hand was empty.  Boots kicked weapons away.  The entire space looked like a weapons bunker had exploded.

A low murmur rumbled softly as voices were found in the forced peace.

“What are you doing?”
Williams screeched, waving his arms frantically. 
“She’s just a girl!  A little useless girl!  Obey my orders immediately!  Don’t listen to her!”

Some soldiers looked at Williams as if he were insane.  Others just ignored him entirely as they turned and started walking away from the scene.  Several climbed calmly into the cabs of
nearby military trucks and waited patiently as others jumped into the back. 

Williams was incensed.

He reached down to pick up one of the guns himself only to stop inches from it, unable to finish the task.

Maze had appeared in front of him.  His teeth glistened wet with blood-tinged saliva. The fur on
his muzzle was darkened, brackish red. Arkdone’s blood stained his face—evidence of his brutality.

Williams’ wide, obsidian eyes locked onto the canine’s. 

Evan calculated his move and began walking purposefully toward the devil of a man.  As he walked he reached into the zippered pocket of his cargo pants.

Alik used his body to shield Creed as
the heartbroken soldier stood cradling his sister.  Margo moved quickly, falling into step behind while Rhett raced ahead with the keys to their truck.

Alik
pulled his eyes away from his sister’s pale face jostling against Creed’s biceps and focused on Evan’s determined expression.  With a slow, deep breath he prayed for calm and jumped into the scene.

“It’s over, Williams,” Alik hollered, catching
the crazed scientist’s attention from across the emptying space.

Out of the corner of his eye, Alik saw his little brother shift his route so his approach was just beyond Williams’ peripheral vision.

“You have lost everything: your metahumans, your power, your control and your quest for blood and violence.  You lost,” Alik’s voice reverberated in the emptying space.

Williams narrowed his eyes
to study Alik as he drew near.  His body had returned to its normal state of muscular.  He walked with his wide shoulders back, but relaxed.  He exuded a sense of calm and peace, infuriating Williams even more than his words.

“This isn’t over!” he spat  His fingers twitched as he tried again to retrieve the pistol.  Maze burst into a series of ear-piercing barks punctuated by the snapping of his powerful jaw.  The scent of his Meg’s blood shoved the devoted coydog to the edge of control.  Only the sound of Alik’s voice stayed the
coydog’s gnashing, bloodstained fangs.

“Even you with all your demonic hatred—even you can’t go against her will.” He nodded toward the gun Williams could not grasp.

Alik continued his slow approach.

Williams gave up trying for the weapon and stood abruptly.  Bloody sweat droplets had formed on the sporadic chunks of intact flesh.  His eyes shifted, angling to look around Alik’s imposing figure as he tried to see Meg.  Alik bristled protectively and glanced over his shoulder at his sister.   Out of respect, the soldiers of 17th Company created a human shield around Creed, Meg and Margo as they hustled toward the truck parked twenty-five yards away.  Alik
leveled his gaze back at Williams.   The monster couldn’t do anything to his sister anymore, but he didn’t deserve to see her either.

“I might not be able to shoot you, but you can’t hurt me either.  My daughter was very specific.  Her edict included you.”   

“The words she spoke didn’t come from her, but through her.  She was fulfilling God’s will.”

“God?” he scoffed.  “Your God killed her!  I would rather you credit the girl herself for the ability I gave her.  If anyone was her
‘god’
it was me!”

Alik shook his head slowly forcing himself to breathe through the surge of anger the demon’s words sparked in him.

“She gave her life to save us from the brutality and violence you were forcing us to commit.  Her faith saved us from ourselves—from you.”  Alik raised an accusatory finger at the devil who stood just an arm’s length away.

“She was
weak
—an emotional
fool!
”

“Her empathy saved lives—even yours.  My sister lived and died with courage, humility and honor.”

“How blinded you are!” he shook his head in disgust.  “Your sister came to me today to
start
the bloodshed.  Your little martyr oozed arrogance as she sauntered into my camp.  She thought herself better than you, Alik.” He stepped up Alik’s face, challenging him.  “I do believe pride is one of your ‘Seven Deadly Sins,’ is it not?  Where do you think your sister’s soul is now?”  He shrugged self-righteously.  “That is, if she even had a soul.”

Viper fast, Evan was on him.  The needle pierced the rancid flesh at his neck and the plunger depressed in one quick movement.

Williams had been too caught up in his evil splendor to notice Evan’s approach from behind.

He leaped back clutching his neck.

“What?  What did you just do?”

“I gave you two small gifts.  Meg would have wanted you to have them.”

“But,” confusion was clear on his bloody face. “But you can’t harm me!” he blurt stupidly.

“These small gifts won’t harm you, unless you harm someone else.”

“What?” he spun to look at Alik.

“We couldn’t do anything to hurt you, but she didn’t say anything about you hurting yourself.  If you perform even one act of violence against anyone, you will have killed yourself.  It’s really very simple
.” Alik refused to explain further, preferring to remain intentionally cryptic. He crossed his thick arms.  Evan stood beside his brother mirroring his mannerisms.  The brothers glared at Williams.

“Leave this place with your sorry life, but know you just won the lottery with my sister’s compassion.  Only she could have shown forgiveness to a wretch like you.”