Leviathan (Fist of Light Series) (39 page)

“The future is uncertain.” Zack nodded.

Razor clenched his massive fists around the steering column. “Isn't it always?”

Mary grinned. “Looks like we're stuck with each other until this all blows over.”

“And you aren't going anywhere anytime soon,” Kathryne informed me in a no-nonsense tone.

“I sure hope that old healer is still haunting the mansion,” Jas said.

The conversation continued, but my consciousness faded. Still, the pleasant lull was comforting, my shivers slowly stopping as Shadow's and Kathryne's heat finally seeped into me. My brain felt like I'd taken an ice pick to it, but there was nothing to help that but time. Time, which was always in short supply. I meant to make the most of whatever short respite was granted to me.

A week passed by in a blur, hastened by a morphine drip and an excess of friendly attention. The master healer had remained stationed here in our absence, and his presence was welcome. Jas and Kathryne refused to leave the room for all hours of the day, a constant nuisance that was simultaneously reassuring. Jas had made a call to Xavier and Monique, filling them in and letting them know we'd made it out alive, relatively. Sanders, ever graceful, had offered to fly them up to the mansion via its private landing strip. He'd even promised to take care of the charges that were likely to come our way from our grand theft auto spree, with the promise that we'd try to avoid jacking cars in the future.

His unit was busy trying to exterminate the bloodthirsty vampires crawling all over Frisco, but they were hopelessly outnumbered. Fortunately, the Order provided their assistance and the two combined forces proved enough to drive the vampires back into hiding. Contrary to Jas' prediction, the people of San Francisco had come together in the dark days that followed as the government struggled to return power to the bustling city. Work had dragged to a halt, only the necessary occupations were allowed to continue operations. Herk was pinned for destruction of property and numerous counts of murder. Someone probably got a golden star pinned on their door for bringing a ring of eco-terrorists to justice. We let the matter be, allowing the traitor to take the fall without comment, other than a grim conversation with Tanner and Sanders.

But those were only the most pressing problems demanding our collective attention. There was yet another storm brewing on the horizon and this one promised to be even more deadly than the others. The problem was there wasn't much we could do to stop it, even though we knew of its approach. Nobody had taken classes on patching up holes in the fabric of the universe. No one knew what might slip through the breach, either. According to Mr. Tanner and his Order, any number of dark beings would love the chance to sink their teeth into the savory masses of humanity. We also needed to seek out the reasons behind the Leviathan's arrival into our dimension, as it wasn't often Earth had meteor crashes through a dimensional gate. No, I'd become too cynical to believe in coincidences anymore. It seemed that as one insurmountable obstacle was climbed, another would take its place, each more deadly than the last.

Although not wholly unexpected, Herk's betrayal had come as a shock. I wasn't able to get off scot free and blame him, though. He'd had a harsh, bloody existence. If not for that, his life might have turned out differently. He might’ve been a beacon of life, instead of falling to misguided direction. No doubt, the allure of power had been irresistible. Glory was traded for infamy, a consolation that was more than enough for him, apparently. I couldn't hold a grudge, though. Feeling that seductive power pour through me, I'd almost given into its enticing whispers. We were all prone to dark promises of power, I realized. Even though we didn't all have pronounced passengers like Jas, we all had to fight against our dual nature.

After a period of protracted recovery from frostbite, exhaustion, a stab wound, and brain damage, I'd been able to make good on the power owed to Jeeves, with interest. Unfortunately, he was even worse off than me from being subjected to the draining and harmful effects of absolute zero
twice
, which he wasn’t shy to blame me for. Although he was able to communicate haltingly, he was a long way from being able to make any surprise appearances. His forest had shrunk and withered, but it held on stubbornly. We're alike in that regard.

Jas was struggling through his affliction, and we supported him as much as he'd allow. He put up an affable front, but I knew he was hurting. The death of Noah was hard on all of us, something that had to be taken day by day. To pass the time, Jas told us tales of his childhood, sticking to bright memories instead of dwelling on tragedy. It would be a long time before any of us could move past the gaping chasm Noah left when he departed into the abyss. Jokes and smiles made it easier, somehow, though they were forced instead of flowing as they had been.

My eyes blinked, wavering after minutes of meticulous observance. I'd been following the chaotic swirl of dust motes, watching their constant eddying at the disturbance of a ceiling fan. The specks of dust were unaware of the fan dictating their path, but it was there regardless. Shaking my head, I brought myself reluctantly back to reality and the many pains it entailed. I wrenched the IV from my arm, wanting the return of certainty that pain provided. Jas had only shook his head and smiled, while Kathryne looked on disapprovingly.

“If someone doesn't get me out of this room I'm going to go insane. Too many thoughts swirling around in this mushy thing.” I poked at my forehead, wincing at the numbed pain emanating from it.

“You were prescribed rest,” Kathryne said, as I levered myself into a sitting position.

“If I rest any more, I'll drop into hibernation.” A defiant growl escaped me.

Jas stepped in on my behalf. “We'll do something restful in the sun.”

Kathryne crossed her arms, the injured one held protectively behind the other. Shadow detached himself from his shadowy domain, padding around excitedly, pleading with our uncompromising taskmaster. The hard exterior cracked, budging a miniscule amount. We'd all been cooped up in the infirmary far too long. I knew an opening when I saw one.

“Pleaseeeee,” I dragged out the word with a pleading grin, hands held up to my face, praying.

“Fine,” Kathryne snapped. “But only if you stop
that.”

“Happily.” I smirked, throwing off smothering blankets.

Jas extended a helping hand, and I took it in my weakened grasp. Throwing my legs to the side, I settled my bare feet onto the cold stone. Any sensory input was welcome, so urgent was my need to leave this room behind. My stomach twinged as atrophied muscles flexed and tested themselves against the heavy shackles of gravity.

“Slowly,” Jas advised.

I had refused to wear hospital attire and so didn't have to pit myself against the rigors of changing. Black shorts and a soft shirt were donned, though I missed the comforting weight of my leather jacket and its many pockets. After a few steps with Jas supporting a goodly portion of my weight, I turned and glared at the cold room, bare except for medical equipment and the hospital bed. Jas pivoted with my sudden movement admirably, keeping us upright.

“I've defeated you, rickety scum,” I proclaimed loudly.

“You tell it!”

Kathryne shook her head, red locks flying. “You're such children.”

We passed through the short door into the room beyond. My savior stood there, bustling about from place to place, his motives undefinable. His piercing eyes speared us as we made good on our escape, brows furrowing.

“We're taking a walk,” Jas said.

“I see.” The healer paused in his work, looking me up and down, ascertaining.

“I needed some air,” I offered, slightly uncomfortable with the appraising stare. “Sir,” I added belatedly.

He nodded. “Two days later than expected. Your ability to heal is matched only by an ability to find trouble. I assume telling you to find a life without danger would be pointless.”

“He has a knack for what he does,” Jas agreed. “He'd be horrible at anything else.”

“I'm probably a lost cause.” I flourished a self-depreciating grin. “All the same, thanks for patching me up again, Doc. I’ll try to give you a break but can't make any promises. Trouble finds me just as often as go looking for it.”

“That's the nature of these things.” The wise healer smiled sadly, hidden knowledge lurking in his experienced eyes. “Go, enjoy the sun. You're as white as a sheet and those muscles aren't going to recover without prompting.”

We exchanged farewells with the man before moving through the room and out the door. As the morphine faded, Jas had to take more of my weight. I walked through the corridors without seeing them, I was so focused on keeping groans of pain. After an eternity, we made it outside and into the peaceful glade where I'd trained so long ago. Memories of that time surfaced and I had trouble comparing myself to the untested youth of my past.

A light wind stirred the long grass, sun warming my cold skin. I felt the earth with bare feet, reaffirming my existence. There was tranquility in having no dangers assailing me, for once. With minimal fuss, I seated myself on the inviting ground below, scenting the musty smell of life all around me.

“Worth it?” Jas asked, his meaning all-encompassing.

“Definitely,” I responded without hesitation.

“
Men
.” Kathryne scowled, settling down beside me.

There was little we could do to fend off that implied accusation. She was right, after all. Hesitantly, I reached out to Kathryne's uninjured hand. Still scowling, she laced her fingers through mine, but some of the sharp edges retracted. For a time, we sat in silence, soaking up the sun in silence, each of us mulling over recent events.

“How many do you think will come?” Jas asked suddenly.

I'd been lying down, but sat up at this. “Can't be sure. The Clan is falling to pieces, but there's still a portion that consider themselves indebted to me. That'll get their ears perked up and allow us to get a word in when they make it here. The rest is up in the air.”

“They'll need leadership,” Kathryne said, looking to Jas.

He was aghast. “Me,
lead
? I'm too young. There are more experienced Skin Walkers who could take the reins.”

“Plus, you can barely tie your shoes by yourself, let alone lead a summit of Were.” I chuckled, taking calculated vengeance for past wrongs.

“Thanks.” His eyes narrowed.

“Damn lucky you've got all of us behind you, then,” Zack said as he strode into the clearing with the rest of the pack, smiling.

“Damn lucky is right,” I agreed. “Don't forget, there are plenty of
experienced
Were who will be willing to take a leadership role. The Clan has never been ruled by only one of its members.”

“You know the way it works, Jas,” Simon said as he twirled a stalk of grass between his fingers. “The strong survive, the strongest lead,” Simon said.

“Half of me is a monster,” Jas said. “I don't think our Were brothers and sisters will want me calling the shots. Have you seen my half brother? Think of how I might've turned out if I'd been raised like he was.”

“But you weren't,” Razor pointed out with his customary rumble.

“We're all monsters here.” Xavier grinned, his arm slung around a tired-looking Monique.

The pack settled down in a rough circle and we all grinned stupidly. Mary, I noticed, scooted closer to Jas than was strictly necessary, given the amount of space available.

“Can we talk about this later?” Jas groaned, but he threatened a smirk.

“We've a couple days, I suppose.” Monique drove in the stake.

“Kill me now.” Jas covered his eyes.

Derek Edgington was born in Pleasanton, California. Like all teenagers, he was unsure of what path he wanted to take for the future. So many choices, each decision with a different outcome. During this time of indecision, school and obsessive reading prevailed, with the daily grind of life taking its usual toll. Then, like it was always meant to be, writing clicked into place. Like a bug you can’t quite get rid of, it forces him to write, write, write. He plans to make sure that each successive book is an improvement on the one before. Writing is a passion, but its more than that for him. It’s what makes him tick, what drives him forward and grounds him in reality.