Chapter 40
Huddled in the entrance of the cave, Mariah shook like a quaking aspen in a stiff breeze. Despite her wool coat and borrowed snow pants, the hard rock conducted cold straight into her butt. Scant light from the moon trickled in to her location. Behind her, darkness yawned. Waiting. Tempting her to retreat there. Warning her what might await.
Maybe there were worse things than the guys who tracked her.
Voices and the scuff of booted feet triggered a flurry of palpitations in her chest. She glanced up. Her tracks were plainly visible leading into the cave.
She edged back into the darkness, running her gloved hand along the rough rock wall. With each step, she probed back with her foot to make sure solid ground remained underneath her. Wyatt and Linc's voices echoed louder.
A nasty chuckle made her skin crawl.
Oh, God.
Scooting another few feet back into the depths, she crouched behind a rock just as a flashlight beam swept the cave. Despite the freezing temperature, sweat dampened her skin. She was trapped. Again.
"Where is she? Not like she could go far."
"No idea. Wanna go in there?" Linc asked.
"Not particularly." Wyatt hocked and spat. "But yeah, we need to find her. Forget using her as bait. She's too much trouble. We'll make her an example of what happens when a Taggart goes up against us. The Great One will be pleased with our efforts."
No, no, no. Lack of oxygen made her head spin. This could not be happening.
Before she could scramble away, a warm, strong hand clamped over her mouth. Her scream fizzled out as an arm around her chest squeezed hard.
"It's Kerr Taggart. Don't move." His friendly whisper was the sweetest music she'd ever heard.
At her nod he moved his hand away from her mouth and patted her on the shoulder.
How had he gotten in here without anyone seeing him? Heck, how did he know where to find her?
"Vaughn's on his way," he murmured, a ghost of sound in the darkness behind her. "You'll be okay. Promise."
Every muscle in her body went limp.
"I'm going to draw them away," he said. "When they pass by, you need to run for the entrance. Got it?"
"You sure?" she whispered.
"Yup."
She had questions, but now wasn't the time to figure out how they'd found her. How Kerr had entered the cave in front of the men, undetected.
A reassuring squeeze of her arm, and he was gone. From the depths of the cave, the sound of scrapes and crunches bounced in all directions.
"What was that?" Wyatt's light swung in wild arcs over the cave walls.
She peeked behind her. Nothing visible in the area illuminated by their flashlights.
She remained crouched behind the rock, her gloved hands pressed against the rough stone.
"That's gotta be her. Let's go." Wyatt kept his flashlight beam fixed on the recesses of the cave and stormed toward the sounds.
Linc trailed right behind him. Two wretched peas in a pod.
At the dust kicked up, she barely stifled a sneeze.
"What was that?"
The flashlight beam skimmed three inches above her hiding spot.
She crouched into the tiniest ball possible.
More rock sounds came from farther into the cave, and the light slid back to the depths.
Another few feet, and they'd be past her position.
She held her breath.
Wyatt and Linc snickered as they stalked their presumed prize at the back of the cave.
Three feet away from her.
Two feet.
One.
They drew even with her position, within a foot of where she crouched. She shook with effort to tuck her head and curl into a small, rocklike shape. If they so much as turned their heads in her direction...
With three more steps, they were past her position.
Keeping her hand on the rock, she eased out of her hiding place. The beams of light shone forward, but Wyatt and Linc were only a few feet away. She struggled to make her ragged breathing soft and even.
Now fully exposed to view, she remained low, thighs burning as she duck-walked toward the entrance of the cave.
Her pulse pounded, too fast. She wasn't getting enough air. Her legs quivered and burned.
Ten, maybe fifteen more feet. Had to keep going.
She lost her balance, and stumbled. Harsh, bright light spiraled around, pinning her like a moth on a spider web.
"What the—? She's right there!"
Damn it. With a sob lodged in her throat, Mariah pushed to her feet and sprinted for the entrance. Just as she hit the opening where moonlight cast the world in an eerie, gray glow, a massive figure loomed in front of her.
A scream bubbled out of her throat as iron bands of muscle clamped around her. She swung out over the cliff edge.
The scent of familiar shaving cream anchored her as surely as the warm arms that pulled her back to reality. Vaughn. Here. She sagged as he tucked her next to him.
And then he faced Wyatt and Linc as they emerged from the cave.
The ledge they were all standing on was narrow. Four feet wide. Would only allow two people to stand side by side. And beyond the ledge was empty space for who knew how many feet down.
She peeked back over her shoulder and, in the moonlight, made out Garrison's grim expression and Odie's oddly reassuring smile.
Kerr was still somewhere inside that cave.
"Taggart." The sound of a gun safety being released... she crushed Vaughn's jacket in her gloved hands.
"Garrison, please move her away from here," Vaughn's voice rumbled through her forehead she had pressed to his back.
No, she couldn't let go of him.
A hand tugged on her upper arm. "Come on. Please," Garrison muttered, urging her away from Vaughn. "Odie, you got her? I'm going to help my brother. Here. Hold my hat."
"Absolutely." A warm, almost fatherly, arm went around her. "Don't worry, ami. The boys will take care of things."
Mariah's knees locked as the two brutes faced Vaughn and Garrison.
"Seems like a fair fight to me." Wyatt's laugh scraped like dead tree branches against a glass pane.
"Put down the fucking gun and maybe I won't call you a wimp." Vaughn glanced back and stepped to one side, blocking any clear shot at Mariah.
"Once we've dealt with you Taggarts, we can finish our business with Dr. Mariah."
"The hell you'll ever touch her again."
"You have no idea what you're messing with," Wyatt growled, eyes flashing red. Mariah reared back at the wave of hot sulfur that blasted past her. Odie kept a solid grip on her arm.
"Neither do you, sweetie pie." The voice came from the mouth of the cave, and suddenly the gun flew out of Wyatt's hand and off the cliff.
"What the hell was that?" Wyatt spun and swatted at empty space, then stumbled.
A shrug, then Wyatt ran straight at Vaughn.
When they hit the ground and rolled, Mariah leapt forward, reaching out to Vaughn. Odie pulled her back to a safe distance. Punches flew faster than she could follow.
Unlike in the octagon, this fight had no rules.
But it had an outcome.
Her heart stopped when Wyatt caught Vaughn across the face with an elbow.
On the far side of the ledge, Kerr suddenly appeared out of nowhere behind Linc, nailing the guy in his kidney with several solid punches.
Linc spun, swinging at Kerr, but Vaughn's little brother ducked and disappeared. Disappeared. She squinted. Linc staggered close to the brink of the ledge and howled. Garrison tried to get past Vaughn and Wyatt, who were locked in a brutal pummeling match, but couldn't pass.
"Leave her alone," Vaughn panted, driving Wyatt back with several blows. "And leave my family alone."
Wyatt shook the blow off like he'd been hit with foam, not a hard fist. "You cannot win." His voice reverberated off the rocks in an eerie echo that seemed to get louder the more the sound bounced around. "We need one more. And then we will have all of the Taggart family."
"The hell."
"Exactly." Wyatt's teeth gleamed in the moonlight before he tackled Vaughn.
Mariah gasped.
Vaughn's head landed on... empty space over the cliff edge.
Her palms sweated.
Kerr reappeared and danced around Linc as best he could. Linc shot forward with a jab, sending Kerr sprawling on the ground. Garrison caught an opening, leapt around Vaughn and plowed into Linc's midsection. Then the two brothers worked together to level the big fighter.
After a solid minute of relentless punishment from both Taggart brothers, Linc lay on his side, air rasping in and out. Garrison and Kerr stood over him, their postures daring Linc to get up.
Vaughn rolled Wyatt under him but couldn't get a good angle to punch. Wyatt's hands kept moving, darting blows to Vaughn's torso and face. Screams and yowls flowed out of Wyatt and grew until they became louder than a police siren. Mariah clapped her hands over her ears.
"You. Cannot. Win." He spat blood, his voice ringing. Gravel and frozen clods of dirt rained down on them from the hillside above. "We cannot be destroyed. The Great One is coming. Soon. You'll see."
Vaughn locked his hands around Wyatt's thick throat. "Know what? I don't care about your future plans. You just need to stay away from me"—he slammed the man's head into the ground—"my family"—another slam—"and the woman I love." Wyatt's eyes rolled back in his head.
Mariah's heart stopped.
Pushing up and away from a limp Wyatt, Vaughn turned and stalked toward her as she leaned against the cliff wall. In the moonlight, the shadows poured over his face, casting his features into skeletal hollows.
Vaughn stood in front of her, facing away from the drop-off.
Wyatt lunged.
The seconds in Mariah's life slowed down.
His power. Could Vaughn still sense danger to himself?
Wyatt's massive fist was aimed right at Vaughn.
A feral grin ghosted across Vaughn's face, and he dodged out of the way then gave the guy a push to change momentum.
Wyatt flew over the edge of the cliff with a howl that abruptly stopped.
Without a backward glance, Vaughn rotated to Mariah, pressing her into the wall behind her. He braced his arms on either side of her head.
"Damn it. I thought I'd lost you," he breathed.
In front of the cave entrance, Linc groaned and pushed to his knees.
Kerr piped up, "Bro, can you do the smoochie make up bit later? I'm tired of hitting this asshole." He pointed. "Stay down, already."
Garrison did the honors, kicking Linc in the ribs. The man crumpled to the ground again in a sloppy heap.
Vaughn brushed his lips over her forehead. "We're leaving."
The tingle from being in physical contact with him brought stinging tears to her eyes. She didn't even mind the dull headache that accompanied the sensation of safety.
Anywhere. She'd hike with him for hours if it meant getting away from Wyatt and Linc.
Wyatt. The cliff. She craned her head around Vaughn's big shoulders. Should she help? She had taken the Hippocratic Oath, after all.
"Leave him. Linc can take care of it," Vaughn muttered.
On second thought, maybe the oath didn't count when the patient tried to kill the doctor.
Vaughn guided her up the narrow path of the cliff. She panted, scrambling on the snow-dusted rock.
She slipped. No way would she come this far, relive her personal nightmares, and escape Wyatt and Linc only to slide off this cliff. Forget that.
Vaughn grabbed her and pulled her up the steep track. Odie gripped her ankle to stabilize her foothold and helped from below. Garrison and Kerr brought up the rear of their group.
Keeping her hand in his, Vaughn hurried across the stark, moonlit, gray landscape. Snow melted in her hair, chilling her to the bone.
She didn't care. Vaughn was here.
She was safe.
They were both alive.
A sliver of brighter gray appeared through the trees. The forest road she had crossed over earlier. Her legs turned to Jell-O. Thank God.
"Almost to the horses," he said. "What the—?"
A yell lodged in her throat as a black figure loomed out from the trees.