A
commotion rattled out in a quick staccato from the front. Edward and I cut around the corner, not
bothering to go back through that death laden house. Two motorcycle riders were just cutting the
engines of their mean looking bikes.
With the black leathers and matte helmets with tinted face shields, I
couldn’t even tell if they were male or female.
I presumed male simply because the bikes looked to be the kind men would
ride – big, heavy, powerful.
“May I
help you?” Edward’s voice sounded too loud in the silence. His arms were crossed and he moved toward the
riders, blocking their way to the house.
The
first rider reached up to remove the helmet.
In that instant before I saw the rider’s face, I knew it was
Caiden. I’m not sure if it was something
in the way he moved, or if I’d grown telepathic powers in the time since I was
abducted, but I was so certain it was him I staked my life on it.
I ran
past Edward. His arm shot out to block my
way, but I ducked under. I missed Micah,
though. He’d been angling behind the
bikers and managed to tackle me just short of my goal. Caiden.
“Let. Her.
Go.”
I’d
never heard Caiden’s voice sound like that, not that I’d spent all that much
time with him. That tone was one I
generally put high on my “do not mess with that person when I hear that tone”
list. I also noticed in that moment that
the temperature was dropping. From my
position half twisted toward the sky I realized the sky had grown to an ominous
dark greenish yellow. Any good
Midwesterner knew that meant nasty storms and tornados.
“I do
not know who you are, but you are on private property and I must ask you to
leave.”
Edward
was sealing his fate with that statement.
A bolt of lightning arced down to connect to the ground just a few yards
from where this vignette played out.
“I didn’t
offer an option. Let her go.”
Edward
stood for a few seconds studying Caiden and the other biker.
“Let us
negotiate a deal. Her value to me is
greater than you can imagine.”
The way
he said that, I knew Edward was trying to angle for his little ceremony to go
off before he let me go.
“Fine. Let us parley.”
“Ah. The old terms.”
“I know
who you are,” Caiden hung his helmet from a hook on the rear of his bike and
swung his leg over, “Now. Let the lady
up. If you know the old ways, treat her
as she deserves.”
Edward
ducked his head, “Touché. You have
caught me out. Micah, help her to her
feet please.”
“But- “
“No,
Micah. It does not matter what she
did. A lady does not merit such
treatment.”
Micah
helped me to my feet. I jerked my arm
away from him when he held it a little too long after I stood. Dusting the dirt and grass off, I watched as Edward
and Caiden bent their heads together to speak in low tones. After several minutes of this, Caiden
gestured to the other biker, who got off the bike and joined them, still
helmeted.
I tried
to inch my way closer to hear what was being said, but Micah stopped me, “That
is parley. It is not to be interrupted
or attended by any who are not leaders.”
“I am
my own leader, thank you very much,” I said trying once again to inch my way
closer.
“Not
here you’re not.”
I
sighed and gave up. Micah would likely
call his crony in if I kept trying to push it.
So, I started to mull over the whole deadly illness issue Edward had abducted
me in an attempt to address. While I
didn’t know that much about Weather Riders and such, my parents were both
doctors and I knew a decent amount about illness.
“Micah,
what happened to start the illness? Who
got sick first?”
Micah
stared at me for a long moment saying nothing.
“Come
on! I’m trying to help here. That is why your boss kidnapped me.”
“Abducted.”
“Whatever. Are you going to answer my question?”
Micah
scrubbed his hands over his face, “There was an ancient ceremony. It was meant to bring an end to the drought
that’s been killing us as surely as this is.
But, there had to be a sacrifice.
Jana volunteered.”
“Wait a
minute. Ya’ll killed someone?”
“No!” Micah looked as if I’d slapped him. Hard.
“You
said you sacrificed someone.”
“Sacrificed,
yes. Killed, no. Jana was ill.
Her powers were a burden to her, so she volunteered to sacrifice her
power in order to fuel the ceremony.”
“Then
what?”
“People
started to get sick after that. We tried
the healing ceremony on our own first. Marcus
volunteered his power.”
“Was he
ill too?”
“No. Old.
Nearing the end of his time and he said he didn’t feel like he’d miss
the power.”
An idea
was starting to form in my head of what may have been happening to these
people.
“It
didn’t work, did it?”
“They
started to die. Even when we brought
outsiders here for the healing ceremony, it didn’t work.”
Caiden,
Edward, and the biker gestured for us to join them.
“We’ve
struck a bargain for your release,” Edward said.
“Is it
a done deal?” that idea blossomed into a plan, “Or can I add a bonus to the
deal for not harming me?”
“A
lagniappe? That has not been done in
centuries.”
Caiden
grabbed my elbow hard and whispered in my ear, “What the hell are you
doing? We need to get out of here!”
“I need
to save these people first. At least the
kids, and I think I might know how. Help
me!”
Caiden
shook his head and let go of my arm.
“Yes. She is offering Lagniappe.”
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