Therian Promise(2)

Crossing the bedroom in darkness, she rushed across the cool wood floor. The rental cabin was small and rustic, but she’d thought the secluded mountain setting would offer her a reprieve from the people pursuing her. She hurried into the tiny bathroom and closed the door. There were no windows in the room, so she turned on the lights, relatively sure it wouldn’t alert anyone to her location.

Ava’s childhood had been filled with stories of Osric, her abusive father. Her mother, Willona, had been convinced the only way to protect her daughters from Osric’s obsessive violence was to stage their deaths and leave everything and everyone they’d ever known behind.

Willona had died believing she’d escaped her past and built a new life for her girls. But six days ago Osric resurfaced, yet he hadn’t even cared enough to come himself. Like some arrogant dictator, he’d sent teams of “his men” to collect Ava and Carissa.

Ava wasn’t sure what Osric wanted or why he’d waited so long to reenter their lives. All she knew was Willona’s fears had been justified and her desperate actions no longer seemed rash.

For the first few days Ava had been completely focused on evading her pursuers. She had a general feeling that Carissa was safe, but she hadn’t understood her certainty. Two nights ago, she’d briefly touched her sister’s mind and was again reassured by her composure. The most recent dream was disconcerting, but even during the bizarre ritual, Carissa had seemed unharmed. At least physically.

With a heavy sigh, Ava pushed away the past and focused on the situation at hand. If her father’s men had found her again, there wasn’t much she could do about it. Hopefully, her intuition had given her enough warning that she could make a clean getaway.

She took a deep breath to reinforce her resolve then gathered her toiletries and splashed water on her face. After hastily binding her hair at the nape of her neck, she rushed back into the bedroom.

Each night before she went to sleep, she laid out clean clothes and packed her belongings, so she could be ready to leave in under a minute. The vision had slowed her down, but not for long. She had to put some distance between herself and this madness. She couldn’t help Carissa if she became the next victim.

Focusing on the conclusion, she unlocked the side door in the bedroom and stepped out onto the wraparound porch. Dawn had just arrived, making the treetops glow and casting a crimson haze across the horizon. She acknowledged the beauty without becoming lost in its majesty.

She’d stashed a motorcycle in back of the cabin. The enduro was powerful enough to tackle most mountain trails while not drawing attention to her on legal roadways. There wasn’t a door leading where she wanted to go and the stone path that wound around the other side of the cabin was too visible. She climbed over the porch rail and dropped to the ground a few feet below.

Settling her backpack over her shoulder like an oversized purse, she headed for the motorcycle. She’d avoided the house she shared with Carissa, as well as their sporting goods store in the heart of Breckenridge, suspecting they were being watched. But circumstances left her no choice now. She needed her car and she needed more clothes if she was going to disappear for good.

She ducked around the corner and a large hand covered her mouth. A long, muscular arm wrapped around her waist, pinning her arms to her sides and plastering her back against a tall, hard body. Terror blazed through her mind and she screamed, twisting desperately against the man’s grasp. The backpack slid to her elbow before his forearm stopped its descent.

“I won’t hurt you, Ava.” His voice was deep and insistent. “I am not one of your father’s men.”

The words should have soothed her, but panic blasted through her mind. She was breathing too fast and her skin prickled. Then pressure built deep inside her, rushing up through her torso like a geyser. Pain pushed against the backs of her eyes, blinding her as it set the world in motion. She screamed again, the sound so raw his hand barely muffled the cry.

Heat pulsed through her head and sound roared in her ears. His arms tightened as her legs collapsed, leaving her limp within his embrace. She heard his voice near her ear, but his words were lost in the building cacophony. Clutching his forearms with both hands, she clung to the only solid object in her heaving world.

Then reality shattered and light blasted out of her, propelling her beyond the mountain scene. She screamed and screamed, but the sound only existed in her mind. Both his arms banded her now, holding her snugly against his chest. Why was he still here? Wasn’t death a journey meant to be taken alone?

The earth rushed up to meet them. He twisted violently as if to take the brunt of the collision, but her shoulder slammed into the ground and something even harder punched into her side. Pain exploded through her, driving the breath from her lungs then slicing down her arm.