Into the Lair

Chapter Thirty-Five

Lights nearly blinded her as two snowmobiles roared up to the cabin. As soon as they stepped clear, she could make out their outline in the pale moonlight. Eli and Tits. And then Eli simply disappeared.

Tits started for her, his expression fierce. Indecision tormented her for all of two seconds. An eerie sensation wrapped around her body, her neck and her wrists, momentarily paralyzing her.

And then she remembered that Eli could shift to smoke or mist.

Her hands shook as she warred with the need to hold onto the rifle while Eli exerted steady pressure on her wrists.

“Drop it, Katie,” Tits ordered as he trained his gun on her. “Where are Ian and Braden?”

A shot cracked the night, and Tits staggered then fell to his knees. He squeezed off a series of shots into the trees before he fell face-forward into the snow.

Esteban was here.

Fear, cold like the snow, trickled down her spine. She thought of Ian and Braden inside the cabin and knew she couldn’t allow them to be killed.

“I know you can hear me,” she whispered to Eli. “Don’t shift back. Ian and Braden are unconscious in the bedroom. You have to protect them. I’ll lead Esteban away.”

“No.”

She felt more than heard the faint whisper as it trailed over her ear.

“You know I’m right,” she hissed. “Let me go. You have to cover Ian and Braden. They’re defenseless right now. At least give me a chance to live, Eli. Give us all a chance.”

The pressure lessened at her wrists, and she didn’t waste any time. She leaped off the porch and threw herself on the still-running snowmobile. She gunned the engine and spun the machine around, sending a spray of snow arcing into the air.

As she headed around a clump of trees, she saw a group of four snowmobiles headed straight for her. She had always loved a good game of chicken. And it wasn’t like she had anything to lose.

She yanked her rifle up with her right hand and gripped the wheel with her left. She gave it everything she had.

The snowmobile lurched forward and flew toward the oncoming lights. When she was impossibly close, she laid down a line of fire and aimed straight for the middle.

At the last second, the one on the far right spun out and turned end over end into the trees. The second and third split right and left to avoid her, and she skimmed past, kicking up snow in her wake.

She lowered her head, blinking against the stinging wind and the water forming in the corners of her eyes as ice pelted her face.

She hit a soft patch of snow and the snowmobile bogged for a moment. She gunned it, fishtailed and finally broke free. A glimpse behind her told her that she had at least three men on her tail.

She turned in the direction of the village and prayed she’d be able to find her way in the darkness. The headlight bounced off the snow but didn’t give her much lead time to avoid pitfalls.

Lights reflected off the snow in front of her. They were getting closer, flanking her as they closed in. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the one on her right creep up. She veered sharply in front of him. His machine clipped her back end as she cut him off.

It yanked her right but she recovered while he careened wildly into the path of one of the other snowmobiles. A loud crash splintered and then an explosion rocked the night. A ball of flame shot upward, bathing the area in an orange glow.

She jumped a rise, becoming airborne. She hit the ground with a resounding jolt and skidded sideways, bogging down in the snow. She yanked the wheel, gave it some gas and righted herself. As she chanced a look over her shoulder, her spirits sank. How many more were there?

Four sets of headlights bore down on her. Did they reproduce like bunnies? Every time she took one out, two took its place.

And then a loud rumble reverberated over her ears. The ground shook, causing the snowmobile to vibrate wildly. She looked behind her again only to see a wall of white envelope the headlights like a suffocating cloud.

Panic welled, fierce and nauseating.

Avalanche.

One of the snowmobiles raced before the steamrolling wave of snow. She was no longer the man’s aim. Survival was. He raced in front of her as they both stayed barely ahead of the rumbling crush.

She leaned forward and let loose. She surged past the other snowmobile, her lights dancing over the snow like a drunken ballerina. Trees, rocks, bushes bounced up and down, puppets on stiff strings. She rocked over inclines, nearly thrown free of her seat.

She looked again just in time to see the other snowmobile go under the rolling white death. The machine flipped and then rolled end over end, the man’s body bouncing with it before finally being thrown clear and quickly buried under several feet of snow.

Her heart sank. She couldn’t outrun it.

Not wanting to become entangled in the snowmobile, she made a quick decision. Closing her eyes, she dove right, hitting the ground with a bone-jarring crunch. She rolled as both she and the snowmobile were swallowed whole. White descended and all went silent inside her icy tomb.

Eli simmered through the air, a thin plume of smoke, and streaked toward where Tits had fallen in the snow. Blood, brilliant red, stained the pristine white on the ground as the snowmobiles bounced by in pursuit of Katie.

“I know you’re there, you crazy bastard,” Tits grunted out. “Leave me and go after her.”

When he was certain the snowmobiles had passed, their engines echoing in the distance, he came to form beside Tits, his hands already going out to staunch the flow of blood from Tits’ shoulder.

“Why’d you let her go?” Tits asked in halting stutters.

“Because she was right,” Eli said grimly. “Ian and Braden are our priorities, and they’re lying in the cabin out cold.”

“Why’d she go crazy?”

“Hell if I know. She could have shot us both. She could have left Ian and Braden to die.”

“But she didn’t.”

“She didn’t,” Eli agreed.

Holding his palm to Tits’ bleeding wound, he pushed at the larger man, helping him to his knees. “Come on man, let’s get you into the cabin before you bleed to death.”

“It’s not bad,” Tits said as he hoisted himself to his feet. “I’ve had worse.”

Still, he stumbled as they started for the cabin, and Eli dug his shoulder under Tits’ arm to support the larger man.

They slowly climbed up the steps, and Tits paused for a long moment, catching his breath before they headed for the door.

Eli maneuvered it open with his free hand and started to haul Tits forward when a loud rumble had them both turning around. The entire porch shook. The sounds of breaking glass came from within as plates fell from the counter and splintered on the floor.

“What the fuck?” Tits demanded.

“Oh hell,” Eli muttered.

He and Tits exchanged looks of horror as the realization hit them both.

“Avalanche!” Tits yelled.

“Get in, now!” Eli shoved Tits forward just as the spray of snow hit him in the back. He fell to the floor but kicked at the door with his foot and prayed like hell it would hold.