Winter's Wrath: Sacrifice (Winter's Saga #3) Read online

  WINTER’S WRATH

  Sacrifice

  Book 3 of the Winter’s Saga

  By

  Karen Luellen

  Winter’s Wrath—Sacrifice

  By Karen Luellen

  Published by Karen Luellen

  Copyright 2012 Karen Luellen

  License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please return to the author and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  For the love of my life,

  Dan Luellen,

  who believed in me.

  Special thanks

  to my daughter Kathryn Ammon, a gifted storyteller in her own right, for reading through my first attempt at this book and helping me come up with an even better storyline. I love you!

  Thank you

  to my fellow authors and dear friends who were kind enough to beta read Winter’s Wrath: Sacrifice.

  Lynne Couvier, Elise Marion, Franz McLaren, Madison Moore and Mia Zabriskie, you are the best!

  I love you guys, and I owe you!

  “Envy and wrath shorten the life.”

  Ecclesiasticus 30:24

  Prologue

  October 12

  Location: The Facility, Germany

  Two days after the infamous Retribution Match between brothers, Gavil and Creed Young.

  Gavil breathed deeply, trying to calm down. It didn’t work. He had refused all pain killers, choosing instead to punish himself for the humiliation still seeping poison into his collapsed pride. His little brother, the golden child who could do no wrong, beat the crap out of him in front of everyone at their Retribution Match. Every time he thought about it, he had to stifle a groan.

  Wincing with the effort and breathing through the pain, Gavil gripped the hospital’s side rails to help him gain leverage. He wanted to look out of the recovery room window. Self-loathing mingled equally with self-pity in the metasoldier, even as he forced himself into a sitting position. He breathed through the pain.

  Along with dozens of cuts and bruises, Creed had broken six of his ribs and shattered his left cheek bone. One or more of the broken ribs punctured his lung. He could only take shallow breaths and when he did, a strange crackling sound could be heard from his chest.

  Gavil waited for the room to stop spinning before gingerly swinging his legs over the side of the hospital bed.

  This was the first time his feet had touched the ground in two days, and he was desperate to make it happen, despite the piercing aches and shallow breaths. He yanked off the oxygen mask and used his I.V. stand to help maintain balance as he wobbled toward the window—determined to see the world outside his muted, mint-green hospital room.

  The remaining leaves on the trees were crispy with autumn colors, dancing their last in the breeze. The sky was overcast—gray and heavy—matching Gavil’s mood.

  A knock came at the door. Gavil didn’t even bother to turn around.

  “What?” he said to his own muted reflection looking back at him from the glass window.

  “Hello, Gavil. I’m Esther Haverford. Dr. Williams sent me.” A female’s voice spoke from the door way. Gavil still didn’t turn. He was too embarrassed to see anyone, but he would never admit it.

  After a silent pause, Esther realized the soldier wasn’t going to speak, so she continued.

  “You took off your oxygen mask,” she said with a gentle scolding tone. “And you really shouldn’t be standing without a nurse near you.”

  “I don’t want anyone near me,” Gavil growled.

  “Yes, I feel like that too sometimes, but we all have to do things we don’t want to do,” she said with compassion.

  Gavil heard a scuffling behind him, and then with a practiced hand, the girl reached around his right shoulder and held the oxygen mask over his swollen mouth. “There, at least you’ll be less likely to keel over from oxygen depletion.” Her small hands were soft and warm as they brushed the mask’s elastic straps neatly behind his ears.

  Another scraping noise behind him had him curious enough to glance. The female was dressed in the standard issue military fatigues, but her hair was down; it was her flaming red locks that caught his eye instantly. She was pushing a chair up behind Gavil so he could just fall backward and land safely in a seated position. When she looked up to see Gavil watching her, she smiled shyly. The green of her eyes sparkled.

  “Autumn is my favorite season,” she offered. “I love the colors on the trees and the cold, crisp air.” She stood beside the soldier and gazed out the window. “There,” she said, “that’s my favorite tree in the whole courtyard. Your room has a perfect view of it.”

  Gavil watched her from the corner of his eye. Her face was smooth under a sprinkling of little brown freckles splashed over a pixie nose. She crossed her arms and leaned against the window frame as she continued to gaze at her favorite tree.

  Feeling strangely awkward, Gavil felt compelled to fill the silence. “Why is it your favorite?”

  “It has a handsome shape, with a curious trunk and intricate branches, but that’s not why it’s my favorite. Look closely,” she nodded to the tree, her face inches from the window pane. “Do you see the nest? It’s a squirrel’s nest, near the center, toward the top. Do you see the cluster of leaves and twigs? That’s where the little fellow lives.” Her warm breath on the cold window left small white puffs. Gavil resisted the urge to run a finger through the condensation.

  “I see it.” Gavil’s sharp blue eyes saw the messy nest right away, but it was the girl he wanted to watch.

  She sighed and turned to look up at Gavil, the green of her eyes demanding attention. He couldn’t help but wonder who she really was and what she really wanted from him.

  “Can I help you walk around a bit, or are you ready to rest?” Her gentle mannerisms were obvious. Gavil wasn’t accustomed to trusting anyone.

  Clenching his jaw momentarily beneath the mask, he narrowed his eyes and asked, “Why did Williams send you?”

  “Oh, he wanted me to tell you he’s looking forward to speaking with you as soon as you feel up to it,” she shrugged.

  “That’s it?”

  “That was the message,” Esther’s green eyes were large with innocence. “So, walk or rest?” she prodded.

  Afraid he was too weak to walk around with this girl watching, probably waiting for him to make fool of himself, he turned and motioned for the bed. Esther nodded discreetly and grabbed the oxygen tank to help him back to bed.

  Gavil, not ordinarily self-conscious, was worried about what he must look like to this red-headed beauty. He must look weak with his black eyes, cuts, bruises and stitches, all wrapped in a dumb ass hospital gown wrapper. At least he had managed to put on a pair of loose boxers this morning so he wasn’t mooning her when leaned over the bed to steady his wobbly legs.

  Once he was seated, Esther carefully adjusted Gavil’s pillows until she believed them to be just right, and then draped a warm blanket over his legs. All the while she made small talk about the weather, the hospital food and even the squirrel in the tree outside. Her hands kept busy, straightening small items around the room at first. Then she filled a glass with ice water, slipped a straw into the cup and thoughtfully held it still at his lips so he could sip.

  Gavil was mesmerized by her graceful movements, so different from his own gruff ways. Her voice was soothing, her words ch
eerful and light-hearted. Everything about her was the exact opposite of himself. His crystal blue eyes watched her wearily as she flitted from one task to another, afraid to say anything in case it came out wrong and scared her away.

  “Do you know about me?” he finally blurted.

  Esther stopped talking, turned and looked curiously at the battered metasoldier staring back at her.

  “I know your name and meta number, and that you were in a Retribution Match recently.” She smiled coyly, “I also know of your injuries because I glanced over your medical chart before coming to your room.”

  “Were you there? At the match?” Gavil’s pride flinched as he waited for her response.

  “No, I don’t usually leave my assignment. Dr. Williams asked me to step away from it for awhile just now so he could tend to business, but usually I’m there.”

  “What is your assignment?” Gavil couldn’t imagine a duty that would occupy so much of one soldier’s time.

  The girl glanced down at her hands, showing uncertainty for the first time since she walked into Gavil’s recovery room. “It’s not something I’m supposed to discuss.”

  Esther didn’t miss the frown forming in the handsome, though bruised, face of the soldier.

  “Oh, don’t look so worried,” she soothed. “I just take care of someone.”

  “Are you a nurse?”

  “I am trained to be a nurse, yes, but that’s not my only duty in this assignment.”

  “You said you take care of someone—only one person?”

  “Yes.”

  “Here at the compound?”

  “Yes.”

  “Who?”

  “I can’t say.”

  “Do you know anything about the Match I fought?”

  “No, should I?”

  “No.”

  Esther nodded, absolutely accepting Gavil’s words without further question. He watched as she walked back to the chair she’d moved to the window and brought it back to his bedside. She sat gracefully in it, folding her hands in her lap.

  “Why have I never seen you before?”

  “I live with my assignment, take my meals there and exercise there…like I said, I don’t leave my assignment very often at all. To be honest, I was surprised Dr. Williams asked me to step away today, but—” Esther’s slender legs moved to cross, slipping comfortably into position, as though she sat like this often.

  “Am I allowed to ask where your assignment is located?”

  Esther thought for a moment before answering in a whisper, “I’m here. In the basement of this building.”

  “What’s in the basement?”

  “Mr. Young, I’ve already explained to you the secrecy of my assignment,” Esther’s little brow furrowed above her sincere green eyes.

  “Right, of course,” Gavil quickly amended. He had an irrational fear of this gentle little doll jumping from her chair and bolting from the room. If she did, there’s no way he’d be able to catch her in his current condition. If she left, he may never see her again.

  Gavil’s brain searched desperately for topics, trying to think of something she would be willing to talk about. “Your assignment is lucky to have you.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  Gavil shrugged, searching for where he was going with this. It’s not like he had much experience talking with females. His only interaction with them consisted of giving and receiving orders—all business. He couldn’t remember ever just sitting and talking to a female for no reason. But, he wanted to talk with Esther. He wanted to say something smart and funny so he could see her smile. He had this crazy need to hear her laugh; he was sure it would sound angelic.

  Esther watched the soldier unabashedly. She could stare at his pale blue eyes for hours, counting the tiny freckles marked in a beautiful pattern around the outer rim. He wasn’t the biggest metahuman male she’d ever seen, but there was something about him that made her heart beat faster. He was intense, so serious and vigilant in his contemplation of the world around him. She recognized him to be a hunter by nature, a predator and though she had no experience with males outside of her military life here at the Facility, she knew he was an alpha personality.

  She was drawn to him.

  With her message delivered, she should be returning to June’s room, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave Gavil. Not just yet. He seemed like a caged jaguar. He was obviously accustomed to being virile, dangerous and feared. To see him vulnerable and weak was heartbreaking to Esther.

  Gavil held perfectly still completely aware the girl was studying him, forming an opinion about him. He watched her, watching him.

  “May I come back to visit?” Esther heard herself ask, amazed at how composed her voice sounded, though her heart was racing.

  Gavil wanted to leap out of his bed and tackle her to the ground, desperate to taste those pink lips. Instead, he slowly nodded. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

  Esther’s wide smile turned her green eyes into sparkling slits. “Tonight—it may be late. I’ll have to sneak away when I can. Is that okay?”

  “I’ll be here.” He offered a smile of his own; oblivious to the pain the movement caused his battered face.

  Esther reached out instinctively to touch Gavil’s hand. Static shock zapped them both with a crackling pop causing the two metahumans to flinch. Their nervous laughter echoed off the mint green walls of the recovery room.

  Part 1

  Location: The Big Island

  Present Day

  Chapter 1 What Have You Done?

  Everyone stared in shock.

  Cole was face down on the non-slip floor of Paulie’s lab. His cotton T-shirt clung to his body, wet with sweat. The bandages still wrapped around his biceps from the bullet wound were soaked with fresh, bright blood. In his left hand he clutched an empty syringe. The vial of Infinite serum was nearby, still spinning from having been inadvertently kicked when the rush of people clamored into the room. Farrow’s limp body still hung in Alik’s arms.

  No one moved.

  Theo dropped to his knees beside his son.

  Then, everyone spoke at once.

  “Oh, dear God!”

  “Cole! Cole! Wake up!”

  “How much did he take?”

  “Is he still breathing?”

  “Son!”

  “Cole, come on! Open your eyes!”

  Alik turned his focus back to the girl in his arms and hurried her to a waiting gurney. He gently laid her down and yanked the drop-sides up to prevent her from rolling off the bed before returning to Cole.

  “Why did he do this?” Margo groaned as Evan lifted Cole’s spent body off the floor and carried him carefully to the only other gurney in the lab.

  “Mom, I’ll get to work on Farrow. You and Theo stay with Cole,” Evan said pragmatically, even as he hurried to the sink to scrub in. Over his shoulder he added, “Alik, I’m going to need Paulie and Creed.”

  Alik was already running back through the lab doors to get the others. “I’m on it!”

  “Evan,” Margo looked up from the bottle now held in her hand, “what effects will the .5ml have on him?”

  Evan shook his head and scrubbed under his nails even harder. “I don’t know, Mom. He’s sixteen. I’ve only studied the effects of the serum given to those dosed very young. We’re going to have to run some tests on his blood, but now that he’s been exposed, I really think it’s going to be a wait and see.”

  “That’s what I was afraid of.” Margo reached to the drawer containing the blood drawing equipment. Theo sat holding his son’s hand, eyes reddened, head hanging in anguish.

  Evan slipped gloves over his sterilized hands and hurried to Farrow. By the time Paulie stood beside him, scrubbed in and ready for surgery, Evan had already started an I.V. Margo only left Cole’s side long enough to help Evan by discretely removing the female metasoldier’s clothing and draped her with a surgical cloth before returning to Theo and Cole.

  “Someone want to
tell me what’s going on?” Paulie mumbled to Evan as he began helping to cleanup Farrow’s gunshot wound.

  Evan glanced at Cole’s feverish-looking face just a few yards away and whispered, “Looks like Cole injected himself with the meta serum I made, and he doesn’t seem to be reacting too well from it.”

  Paulie glanced over to the boy who had become like family to him since they first arrived from Kansas all those months ago, and sadly shook his head. “‘Envy and wrath shorten the life,’” he quoted quietly and resumed his efforts to clean Farrow’s abdomen.

  Creed was on hand to donate blood, and though he did so without question, he wondered if these people knew what they were getting into trying to save Dr. Williams’ personal assistant. Once the transfusion was complete, and Farrow seemed to be resting comfortably, everyone focused their attentions on Cole.

  “What are his stats, mom?” Evan asked as Paulie prepared the blood sample on a slide for the microscope.

  “His pulse-ox is now one-hundred percent. It was ninety-two before we started oxygen therapy twenty-two minutes ago,” Margo said, reading the chart in her hands. “His temperature is still hovering around 101, blood pressure is normal, he’s taken half a bag of I.V. fluids, and he’s still unresponsive.”

  “Do you think it’s safe to give him acetaminophen to try to get the fever down?” Theo asked the room in a small voice.

  “Honestly Dr. Andrews, I worry about introducing any chemical to his system. He already had some residual pain killers from his wound and then the serum,” Evan stood shaking his head slowly. “I think we try cool cloths and keep vigil.”

  “I have to agree with Evan,” Paulie added. “We don’t know what’s happening inside his body right now. The fever may be important to the process of his human body changing to meta.”

  “What does his blood look like, Paulie?” Margo asked nodding to the microscope, primed and ready for viewing.