Page 3 of Legacy of Danger
The whistling scream of Vaughn's ability blasted to redline levels and sliced through his skull. Like acid poured onto whip-raw skin. His vision went blood red.
Danger.
There, at the bottom of the cliff, lay his sister's broken body next to Kerr's business partner, Eric. They were partially buried under and surrounded by rubble and rock fall. And a weird, lurid, green fire licked over their bodies. Vaughn reared back as a blast of hot sulfur shot up the bluff.
A few feet away from Shelby and Eric loomed a cloudlike, dark shape, with two red glowing points of light where eyes should be. That green fire came from within the goddamned thing.
Kerr yelled, "Shit!"
"Is she alive?"
His brother froze and cocked his head to one side. "Yes. Barely." The words ripped out of his throat.
Vaughn's ability drove him as he half slid, half fell down the slope, the scree shifting underfoot. He didn't care if he joined the motionless mess of humanity at the bottom of the drop-off. All he wanted was to get between his sister and that... thing.
As he slammed into the ground, the air left his lungs. No matter. He didn't need to breathe to take care of that bastard creature in front of him.
His power ramped up as light and sound whirled then reconstituted into different forms. He stepped in front of the black creature that sucked up light and oxygen. Vaughn's head burned.
But this time, his power didn't want to protect Vaughn.
For the first time in his life, his ability indicated danger to another person. Shelby.
Then he mentally whiplashed, head snapping back, as pain clicked to a brand-new agonizing level.
A boiling mass of pressurized, pissed-off, super-charged fury grew out of his mind, expanding from Vaughn and toward the black figure that reached dark fire-coated claws toward his baby sister's limp body.
Get away from my sister.
With a roar, he stepped in front of Shelby's bruised face and battered body. Too long. He'd been away too long, and this was the price paid for his absence. No way would his sister die. No way would Eric die. Not today.
The creature emitted a horrible sound halfway between a dying wolf howl and a blast furnace. It grew larger, the fiery dots of what passed for eyes in its shadowed depths glowed brighter red.
More terrified of his sister's death than his own, Vaughn gritted his teeth, rolled his hands into fists, and his power followed, pushing out into a desperate sphere, creating terror to match the beast in front of him. Pure hell faced pure hell. He ignored the headache that ripped through his skull.
He pressed harder.
With a roar that turned into sucking vacuum of a sound, the creature receded, screamed once more, and disappeared, leaving hot sulfur in the air that stung Vaughn's nose. Desire to hunt down anything that threatened his family gripped him, but his sister's hoarse voice stopped him.
"Vaughn?" she croaked before she crumpled over Eric's body and the pile of rocks. Dark smears of dirt tracked over her face. Even unconscious, she maintained a death grip on the back of Eric's shirt. One of her legs bore a makeshift splint, but the angle of her limb beneath the straps seemed all wrong.
"Yeah, sis." When he gave an awkward pat on her head, she didn't move. "Shelby?"
Her eyes rolled back in her head. His heart stopped.
"Kerr?" he yelled.
"On it." His brother picked his way over rocks to reach them. "Shel?" He pressed fingers to her neck. "Still alive. Damn it, Eric's half buried. Is he...?"
"They're both still alive, but they don't look good," Vaughn said. "What the hell was that thing?"
"Probably the reason why Shelby tried to contact you. She had a feeling. And also, we've seen that thing before." He held up his hand. "Details later." Kerr whipped out the sat phone and mumbled then looked up. "Okay. Search and rescue guys are nearly at base camp. We are getting these two out of here. Now."
"Fucking A, you bet we are."
