"Do you feel it?" The sound of her question carried no further than the large man kneeling next to her.
"You're safe." The confidence in his voice did little to ease the fears driving her. She would have turned back miles before had he not pushed her further. He was unrelenting; the dominance she had only glimpsed in Broken Butte was showing itself in full force now. It should have grated at her sense of independence, her own strength; instead it bolstered it. If only she could rid herself of that itch at her neck. That primal awareness that something was off, something not entirely right about the whole venture. And she couldn't shake the feeling that Lance was hiding something from her. The man who had assured her in Broken Butte that this was her world, and that he could follow, had changed the rules.
Not that, in a way, he wasn't following her. He was. Sort of. He was covering her back, letting her lead them deeper into the forest despite every instinct inside her that urged her to turn back.
Scanning the area once again, she could detect no signs of life other than that of nature. Breathing in deeply, she rose, straightening as she began to move deeper into the boulder-strewn mountainside, heading for the shallow cave where the box of information and files had been hidden.
The night blended in shades of the mechanical green, reds and violets of the nightvision goggles as they picked up the landscape and the teaming wildlife within it. The night was never still. Crouched in the shadows, a wolf watched as they passed by, his amber eyes narrowed in suspicion, though he let them pass easily.
Harmony was aware of Lance at her back, the powerful automatic rifle he carried loaded and ready. He had slipped the safety off as they began to move again, hoping, she knew, that she wouldn't hear the almost silent slide of metal against metal. But she had. He wasn't as comfortable with this as he assured her he was. He could feel the vibrations of danger, and she was certain the soft breeze rushing past them was bringing him much more information than he had shared with her.
Half an hour later they eased along the rough ground, sidestepping a scurrying mouse before moving past the small, scattered boulders and brush that hid the entrance of the cave beyond.
She lifted her hand to announce her intention to stop before moving into the small clearing. Gazing up, she scanned the trees, the mountain pines, aspens and white spruce that grew to towering heights.
"Get it done, Harmony." Lance's voice was a low, confident murmur. "I'll cover you from here."
She bit her lip in indecision.
"Are you sure?"
"The winds are sure, baby." He breathed softly behind her. "This is your freedom. Now go."
Go. The final word was a command, the force behind it goading her into action. Crouching, she worked her way around the perimeter, her shoulder blades tight with tension as she kept to the shadows. Not that shadows would do her much good if Coyotes watched, or even humans with goggles similar to hers. The night was no longer as safe as it had once been for the creatures within it.
Bending low, she entered the cave slowly, purring softly as she heard the mother cougar issue a warning hiss. She moved into the cave, her gaze softening at the lioness curled in the back. Two cubs stared back at Harmony inquisitively as the mother's amber eyes narrowed and she drew in Harmony's scent slowly.
A rumbling growl of welcome left the big cat's throat. Harmony's scent was a part of the cave, and this cat was the same that had held onto the area for the past five years. She had raised her cubs here, hunted here.
"Yes, we're old friends, aren't we?" Harmony murmured, the words nearly lost beneath the small purring growls that she used to speak to the cougar. "I came for what's mine. That's all."
Moving to her knees to further reassure the mother, Harmony crawled to the fissure that opened within a deep shadow at the side. The case was still there, cool to the touch and layered by years of dust.
As she pulled it free and prepared to turn, she found herself faced with two playful cubs, their little paws batting at her ear as kittenish growls left their throats. The mother had risen but watched with patient caution several feet away. Timidly, Harmony reached out, her fingers tickling the little male beneath his belly as he caught at her gloved wrist.
A smile tugged at her lips as the sister growled and tumbled her brother in jealousy. With the babes distracted by each other, Harmony began her withdrawal. Her eyes connected with the mother as the lioness's head jerked up, her eyes going to the entrance and narrowing.
"I know," Harmony whispered painfully. "They're waiting on me, aren't they?" Tears flooded her eyes as she pressed her free hand to her abdomen protectively and the cougar stared back at her.
"Stay here. No matter what," she whispered. "Keep your babes safe. For me." She jerked as the first shot fired, her head turning to the entrance as fear surged through her heart. Lance was out there alone.
Turning, Harmony tore quickly to the entrance, her weapon clearing her holster as she used the leather strap on the metal case to anchor it to her back and leave her hands free.
"Lance." She rolled from the entrance, feeling dirt and debris pepper around her as she found the safety of a boulder beyond.
The sons of bitches had managed to come in upwind, which explained why she hadn't smelled them, why she had only felt them. God, she should have heeded her own instincts rather than Lance's.
"Stay down. They're at twelve and three," he barked into the link she had nipped down at the side of her ear. "We have at least a half a dozen out there gunning for us." He had moved. He was no longer at her back, but in front of her. Scuttling between boulders and fallen logs, Harmony fired at the flashes of fire in the night that indicated their positions.
There might have been more than half a dozen. She peppered the night with gunfire, knowing their best chance was to head down the mountain and get the hell out of there. Standing and fighting wasn't going to work. They were out-manned, and possibly outgunned.
She heard an enraged canine scream as her lips tightened in satisfaction and she turned to the flash of gunfire to her right. The night had erupted with violence.
"We have to head down the mountain," she snapped into the link. "This is no place to make a stand. There's more cover in town and less chance of being trapped.""Get out of here," Lance snapped in reply. "I'll be behind you." She heard it in his voice then, smelled it in the air. He was lying to her. He wasn't just being evasive, which was harder to detect. He wasn't going to follow her.
"What have you done?" she cried into the link, terror racing through her blood. "You go, I'll cover your six. Don't fuck with me here, Lance."
She heard his curse then.
"Harmony. Go." Hard demand filled his voice. As did resignation. He wasn't going to come out of that forest alive.
Harmony felt terror race over her flesh, weakening her, nearly collapsing her lungs with her need to scream. They were surrounded, firing was automatic, and she knew the chances of escape were growing slimmer.
Eyes narrowed, she surveyed the flashes of gunfire through the goggles she wore, firing back, hitting what didn't move fast enough, only to have another replace what she hit. She should have known it was a trap. Dammit, she should have never disregarded her own instincts.
"I'm not going without you, Lance. Get a move on it. We head out now."
"I said go." His voice was firm, demanding at her ear. She could almost feel his strength, his warmth. She couldn't live without feeling it again.
"We don't have much time." She heard the tears in her voice, the ragged plea she would have never voiced before. "Get your ass out of here. I'll cover—"
"I love you, Harmony."
"No! You fucking bastard, don't you do this to me!"
Harmony felt as though she were moving in slow motion. There were too many around them; they were closing in, gaining ground despite the shots she fired and the marks she hit. If they didn't go, if they didn't go now, then they were going to die. Lance was picking off his own targets, but he was stationary, keeping their only line of escape open.
"Lance, we can both get out of this," she screamed into the link. "I won't go alone."
"Go. Now." His voice was a fierce, commanding lash. "Get your ass back to Estes Park. Dane will find you…"
"No." She was forced to retreat, searching for a break as she rapidly reloaded and began firing again.
He was too far away from her. She would have to get to him. God, he couldn't do this. He couldn't leave her alone, not now. She couldn't be alone now.
Chills raced over her flesh as she gauged the distance between them. There were fewer assailants now. There was a slim chance that, together, they could shoot their way out of this.
It was a long shot. The path between them was less than twenty-five feet. There was little cover, but enough. Maybe just enough.
"Go on, baby. Get the hell out of here." Lance's voice was steady, patient. "I'll keep them off your ass."
"Get ready, I'm coming to you…"
"No!"
"Damn you. We live together or we die together. Take your choice." ___________
Lance inhaled roughly. He had known it would happen this way. He had known what would happen. He had heard his own death in the wind, heard its price for surrender, its demand for payment. He would miss Harmony. Even in death, he would miss her. He lifted his head, his eyes narrowing behind the night-vision goggles as he timed what he knew was coming. He hadn't questioned the knowledge when it came to him during the long drive to Colorado. He hadn't debated it or attempted to find a way to change it. Nothing came without a price. The life and happiness of his woman and child was worth more to him than his own life ever would be.
Covering Harmony, he slid from the protection of the boulders he had placed himself behind, giving the shooters the target they were looking for. The price of her freedom was his blood. She would be safe. The winds had made their promise, and his blood would seal it.
Her precious Dane would hide her and the child Lance had created with her. They would be protected, and that was all that mattered. He might not understand the price the winds claimed for her freedom, for her life, but he wouldn't deny it. He could hear the wind howling through the mountainside, its demand for his blood a banshee cry he couldn't ignore. And in that moment he saw why. As she moved to save him, a tall blond-haired soldier stepped from the shadows, a maniacal smile twisting his lips. The bastard stepped from cover, his gun aiming for her, his expression twisted into a snarl of fury as he fired at her.
Lance threw himself in front of Harmony, knowing the moment the bullet left the barrel that it would strike flesh. Better his chest than hers. Better his heart than the one who had never known freedom, never known love. The winds had whispered its promise for his sacrifice. His child's laughter, his woman's freedom. They would survive. ______________
Harmony felt the impact of Lance's body against hers as they went down. She knew. Her eyes went to his chest as her howl rent the air. An enraged feline scream that echoed with a cougar's cry.
"Motherfucker!" Her gun came up, her finger depressing the trigger as the rounds slammed into the figure. "You diseased fucking bastard!"
She saw his eyes widen in shock, as though he believed he couldn't die. As though he had the right to live, to destroy what belonged to her.
She knew him, one of the fanatical bastards who had joined Alonzo. Alonzo would pay as well. So help her God, if Lance died on her, then they would all pay. She threw her gun as she came to her knees, before tossing the satchel that contained the information she had thought was so important to preserve. She had no idea where it fell; she didn't give a damn.
Her hands hovered over Lance's chest; she didn't care who fired at her now. It didn't matter. Death was preferable to the horrible, aching agony twisting through her mind now.