Page 51 of Legacy of Danger
"Either, I guess," she murmured. "Never mind my asking. It's not my business." She waved off Odie's hand from her shoulder.
Her voice faded away as another tingle began in his mind. This time, though, insistent terror swept like a flash fire through his veins. Without his releasing the latched control, power flared to life. Pushed him. It wanted his ass outside the barn. Now.
That meant he had to get Ruth and Odie out of here.
"So, uh, thanks for the drink." He patted the bag, giving an Oscar-winning casual act. "But I really need to get back to work here."
"Sure," Ruth said, brows drawing together.
Fighting to keep the tone nonchalant, he said, "Hey, when you get in the house, would you ask Garrison to come out here?"
Odie smiled. "Will do." He guided his wife out of the barn, hand on her back.
Damn it, could those two move any slower? As the door closed behind them, a sulfur scent permeated his nostrils. Like when Vaughn had found Shelby in the forest that night. Shit. His skin twitched.
His power had gone from a warning chime to a screaming klaxon blasting into his skull.
"Oh crap." He let go of the punching bag and crumpled to his knees, holding his head together as his power expanded outward, seeking danger, blaring an alarm.
Gritting his teeth, he planted his hands on the hay-strewn floor. Then he staggered to his feet and sprinted out into the night, ripping off his training gloves on the way out of the barn.
Against the backdrop of the clear, wide, star-filled night sky stood a dark object, one hundred feet from the ranch house.
The only light from the thing came from two glowing dots passing for eyes.
Fighting to stay conscious through the intense stab of pain through his skull, Vaughn focused on repelling the blast of hot rage coming from that thing.
The two red spots locked onto Vaughn.
The creature consumed more and more of the night sky as it drew closer.
Between the roaring in his head and the weird howl that warped sound around the creature in front of him, it took all of Vaughn's strength not to assume the fetal position on the ground.
He didn't know what this thing was, but he would be damned if he'd let it reach the house.
Who was in the house? Garrison, Sara, Zach, Dad, and, hopefully, Ruth and Odie.
Danger. Vaughn detected danger coming right at him.
Shit. Anyone with half a brain cell could figure out that this thing meant danger—it didn't take a fancy psychic ability to put those sick puzzle pieces together.
Yes, this was the thing he'd seen hovering over Shelby's broken body at the bottom of the bluff. The same creature that had threatened Sara and Zach a few weeks ago here at the ranch. Thank God Garrison and Shelby had been here to protect them.
Now it was back. What the hell did it want, and how could Vaughn eliminate it with extreme prejudice?
A slither of sound like a dry lizard tongue brushed by his ear. "Ah yes, the prodigal son. The last piece of the legacy."
"What?" Vaughn's ability pounded against his mind, urging him to get away from this thing. Against the will of every cell in his being, he stayed put.
What passed for a chuckle came out as concrete grinding glass. "Soon, my son. All of my love's legacy will be together. Then you will all join with me in the holiest of communion."
"Whatever, Friar Fuck. Get the hell off my property," he gritted out.
The darkness didn't so much come closer as it absorbed more space in his field of vision. Stinging sulfur-scented heat, like standing way too close to a fumarole, sent a blistering wave across Vaughn's face. Bonus: it flash-dried his workout shorts.
"I will leave when it is time. You will listen," it said, pausing like it prepared to deliver a dissertation.
Fuck. That.
