Splintered (14 page)

"Then you choose to stand in his
place."

"Such is the duty of all leaders."

A ripple ran through the watchers. Those behind
Agony leaned forward eager, those behind Alec's father huddled
closer together. Alec's father stripped down to the same kind of
ha'bit his son would wear a decade and a half later.

"It's not too late, Cyrus. You can
still change your mind, still choose the course of
reason."

Agony's lips drew back. "You're wrong, Kaleb.
There is too much at risk to allow your insolence to go
unpunished."

Between one breath and the next Agony exploded
into his hybrid shape, and lunged at Alec's dad. For the first time
I could actually follow the fight. Agony was smaller and appeared
to be weaker but curiously had his opponent on the
defensive.

It only took as long as the first few passes
for me to figure out why. Both fighters collected a wide array of
shallow gashes, but while Agony's quickly began healing, the
trickle of blood from Kaleb's didn't slow.

Kaleb was moving around more now, seeking to
use his greater reach and speed to create holes in Agony's defense.
Agony was fully on the defense now, slowly backing away from
Kaleb's blurring strikes.

Agony's retreat took him over
rougher ground, and he misstepped slightly. It was a small thing,
invisible to most, but it put him just enough off balance to create
an opening. Kaleb seized the opportunity, absorbing a deep gash on
his right arm as he darted in and clinched.

It wasn't a clean hold. Rather than being
completely behind Agony, Kaleb was off to one side. Muscles rippled
up and down Kaleb's back as he pulled Agony's arm back, seeking to
break the one obstacle preventing him from getting the death hold
he was looking for.

Agony's free hand flailed away,
cutting long ribbons of blood in Kaleb's right arm and leg. The
moonborn on both sides of the fight tensed up as they sensed the
critical nature of the next few seconds. Agony's arm was bent back
nearly to the breaking point, but blood loss would quickly come
into play if Kaleb wasn't able to finish him off.

Even with my enhanced senses I almost missed
the turning point. Agony finally got a good grip on Kaleb's leg and
started pulling. Kaleb tried to change up his grip, tried for a
better hold and Agony slipped away.

Both hybrids renewed their attack but I could
feel the initiative slipping back away from Alec's dad. Exhaustion
and weakness were robbing him of the advantages he'd been relying
on. Agony ducked an overhand slash and scored another set of
furrows on Kaleb's ribs.

With a fresh surge of tingling power, Kaleb
went back on the offensive, landing three separate blows to Agony's
arms. There was no opening this time, but Kaleb lunged forward in a
second bid to end the fight. Agony seemed to have been anticipating
the move. Rather than backing away, Agony moved into the attack,
sticking the talons on his right foot into Kaleb's leg, using it as
a platform as he brought his left leg up into Kaleb's
chin.

The unimaginable force involved in the blow
would've snapped the neck of an elephant but somehow Kaleb rode it
out. For a second I thought Kaleb was going to manage to roll away
but Agony was already there. Between one heartbeat and the next
Agony locked onto Kaleb's back. Once again it wasn't a clean hold
but it left one of Agony's hands free to rake his
opponent.

My body settled closer to the ground, relaxing
like this was a scene I'd seen a hundred times. I saw the same
motion repeated over and over as Agony's people came to the
conclusion the fight was over.

The blur of motion from the other pack's midst
caught everyone by surprise, but the rest of Kaleb's people were
only a split second behind.

Donovan hit Agony a split second before Mallory
did. Donovan's jaws locked on the back of Agony's throat only to
slip off as Mallory knocked Agony off of Kaleb.

My body exploded forward, my perspective
shrinking down as I too morphed forms. It was harder to see now.
The wolf I'd become focused solely on its next target, gathering
its legs underneath it and then launching itself at a brown
hybrid.

I sailed past outstretched claws,
taking a gash on my right side but I connected with the hybrid's
throat, latching on and shaking powerfully. The sensations were
almost too much for me. I pulled back, trying to disassociate
myself from what I was seeing and feeling. The effort was futile,
the experiences kept pulling at me in an emotionless onslaught that
refused to be denied.

I caught glimpses of the action in between
kills. Mallory fighting Agony as Kaleb struggled to his feet. A
group of scared-looking wolves huddled back several yards away from
the fighting.

An enemy hybrid sank claws into both
my flanks and started ripping at me before a friendly hybrid
knocked me free.

I caught more flashes as I flipped through the
air. A bloody heap I was sure was Mallory. Kaleb on his knees,
Agony tearing at his throat.

I landed and streaked back into the
fray. One of Kaleb's wolves intercepted me. We circled for a
moment, and then we sprang at each other. As her pulse weakened I
caught another glimpse of the combatants.

There was a pool of blood where
Mallory had been lying, but her body was gone. The rest of Kaleb's
pack had dispersed, leaving Agony's people victorious. My eyes took
one last pass across the valley, cataloging corpses and noticing
the blood trails indicating where Kaleb's people had
fled.

I had a second to wonder at the sheer scope of
the violence and then I was back in darkness and the voices were
back.

"Much…Later."

I was in a room now: rock walls, empty but for
the stone table in the center and the shape shifters watching
Agony. I edged slightly closer as if trying to figure out what was
on the table but stopped well before I could make sense of the
splashes of color.

The longer I stared at the table the more I got
the feeling my mind was trying to protect me by refusing to
recognize what my eyes were telling me. The object on the table
moved and suddenly I found myself staring at Donovan's pain-racked
features.

The ghastly sight before me suddenly made
sense. I wasn't seeing splashes of color, I was seeing two colors,
pale skin and crimson.

After several more seconds I finally pulled
myself back far enough to listen to what Agony was
saying.

"I do believe you, Donovan. I've
believed you for more than an hour now. Mallory died while you were
trying to carry her to safety. What you're experiencing now isn't
part of the quest for truth. I'm now instructing you regarding the
consequences of your actions."

Agony did something to the ruin of Donovan's
leg and Donovan screamed.

"You see, I'm very aware that you'll
be raising the next generation of Graves children. I want you to
think very carefully regarding the course you will lead them
on."

The darkness was back. The voices imparted a
final set of commands.

"Act…Scared…Say…Nothing."

As soon as the last voice had faded away I
found myself back standing against Jasmin's Mercedes. Marco crowed
when he saw my eyes flicker back open.

"Bet your tune is going to change now. How does
it feel to have a huge hole in your memories?"

I opened my mouth to respond and Oblivion
slammed me against the car.

Marco leaned down and whispered into my ear.
"How about you and I get a little more friendly? I can show you
things Graves hasn't even thought of yet."

My voice came out even and strong. "If you
touch me I'll do my absolute best to kill you. I'll probably fail,
but you're going to have to kill me to stop me. Trust me, you don't
want to be the guy who kills me. Alec will tear you apart
regardless of what else it might cost him."

Marco blinked. It wasn't something I saw, more
like something I felt. Somehow I knew I'd just made him stop and
consider the cost of what he wanted to do. Oblivion had let me go
when Marco leaned in. There was nothing stopping me from
leaving.

I turned my back on both shape shifters, got into the car and
drove away.

Chapter 19

The Jeep was in the driveway when I
pulled up to our house. I felt my stomach sink as I realized how
mad she was going to be. I didn't even have a decent story yet to
try and pass off as the truth. The only thing I had going for me
was the fact that I'd found a first-aid kit in the car and bandaged
myself up in such a way that my sleeve covered everything. It had
hurt like crazy when Marco had put his claw into my arm, but it
didn't seem as bad now that I'd wrapped it in gauze.

I got ambushed before I was even through the
door. Luckily I was able to keep the side of my face that wasn't
bruised towards Mom.

"Adriana Paige! Where have you
been?"

"Sorry, Mom. I should have left a
note but I wasn't thinking."

"A note? Do you have any idea how much trouble
you're in? I specifically told you not to go anywhere."

Mom's pacing brought her to the window. Her
eyes got really wide when she saw the Mercedes.

"Where did that car come from?"

"It's not what you think, Mom."

"You haven't answered any of my questions
yet."

I took a deep breath and hoped whatever was
about to come out of my mouth wouldn't have any gaping holes in
it.

"When Ben got hurt Jasmin rode in
the ambulance with him. Her car's been sitting at the Funcade all
night and she was really worried. She asked me to go get it and
bring it back here so nothing happened to it."

Mom wasn't stupid, but she normally
spent so much time thinking about her art that I could get away
with everything short of murder. When that wasn't the case, when
she really started focusing on the here and now, it was almost
impossible to get anything past her.

"And how did you get to the Funcade to retrieve
it for her?"

I could feel the pieces start to unravel. The
more truth I used the more believable things tended to be, but I
wasn't sure exactly how much truth I could afford to
share.

"Ben came and picked me up."

"Ben who was in the hospital getting his leg
operated on less than twenty-four hours ago?"

"Um, yeah. I don't think he was supposed to be
out yet but he left the hospital anyways."

"Isn't Jasmin interested in Ben?"

"Yeah, that's why we were at the Funcade in the
first place."

"Then why didn't Jasmin just ask Ben to get her
car?"

"He lives a ways out of town." I was
praying that was true. If it wasn't I'd be in even deeper trouble
once Mom got to a phone book. "He had a car though so he told her
he could come get me and between the two of us we'd take care of
things."

"Why exactly couldn't Jasmin get her own
car?"

"I'm not sure. It sounded like she was out of
town though. She travels some to help Alec with the family
business. I'm really sorry, Mom. I should have left a note, or
better yet told Jasmin that I couldn't help her until you got back
and I could ask permission. I just wasn't thinking."

Mom had been pacing back and forth on the one
side of the living room and I'd been very careful to keep the left
side of my face out of her line of sight.

She stopped and looked at me for a moment.
"Look at me, Adri."

"I am, Mom."

Moving faster than I'd realized she
could, Mom reached forward and captured my face between her hands.
As her eyes traced the massive bruise Marco had given me, she
gasped.

"Adri, what happened?"

I reached out for an explanation but
came up blank. "I…I can't tell you."

Mom pulled me towards the couch, more concerned
than angry now.

"Sweetie, you need to tell me what
happened."

"It's not important. I'm fine."

"It was Alec, wasn't it?"

I felt my mouth drop open that she
would even think such a thing. It was pure surprise but she
interpreted it as surprise that she'd been right.

I tried to explain. "No!"

"Listen, Adri. I don't care what he's told you,
he doesn't love you, especially not since he's doing that to
you."

"It's not like that!"

Mom talked right over me. "Boys like Alec can't
be trusted. He's got way too much money. It's not healthy for a
child to grow up without limits like that. Now he's hitting you. He
can't be trusted."

"Mom, Alec didn't hit me."

"I know you're trying to protect him, but he's
not worth protecting. You're grounded. I don't want you seeing him
anymore."

"He's never hurt me. Why can't you see
that?"

"Adri, sweetie, it's not just this. I've
started hearing rumors since I got back into town. Why didn't you
tell me Brandon and all of his friends had disappeared?"