Page 27

Before Lokan could protest, the Guardians peeled off, heading down a side trail that led back toward the lower elevations. The pursuing bikes split up, one following the Guardians, one continuing after Lokan and Carol.

"We can handle one," Carol said.

Lokan reached out with his mind, trying to connect with the pursuer's, a move he'd done countless times before, but this time, he hit a wall of chaotic energy that nearly made him lose control of the bike.

"I can't get into his head," Lokan said through gritted teeth. "It's like trying to grasp smoke filled with broken glass."

The pursuer was gaining on them, close enough now that Lokan could see some details of who the biker was, and what he saw wasn't good. The guy was big, dressed all in black, and when their eyes met in the mirror, the Doomer smiled, and it was not a sane expression.

"I bet it's one of the enhanced ones." Lokan revved the engine, going maximum speed.

Carol's hold on him tightened. The distance between them and the pursuer grew longer.

The trail ahead forked, with one path continuing up toward the pass and the other disappearing between two massive rock formations.

Lokan made a split-second decision, yanking the bike toward the rocks.

It was a risk since the path might dead-end, but they needed to break the line of sight and give themselves options.

The passage between the rocks was barely wide enough for the bike. Stone scraped against their thighs as they squeezed through, the engine's roar echoing off the walls.

They burst out into a small canyon, perhaps fifty meters across, with walls too steep to climb, but there were boulders scattered throughout, and the remains of what might have been an old shepherd's shelter.

Lokan killed the engine behind the largest boulder, and they dismounted quickly.

"Options?" Carol already had her weapon out.

"In an enclosed space, he has all the advantages. Enhanced strength, enhanced speed, and apparently enhanced resistance to mental manipulation."

"Then we don't fight fair," she said. "We fight smart."

The sound of the pursuing motorcycle echoed into the canyon, then cut off abruptly. Silence fell, broken only by the whisper of the wind through the rocks.

"I know you're here," a voice called out. "Lord Navuh wants you alive, but he didn't specify in what condition. Your female, however, is expendable."

Carol's expression hardened. "Expendable?" she whispered. "I'll show him expendable."

"Wait," Lokan cautioned, but she was already moving, using the boulders as cover to circle toward the canyon entrance.

The enhanced Doomer appeared between the rocks. Up close, Lokan could see the signs of what the chemicals were doing to him—the micro-tremors in his hands, the dilated pupils, the way his head cocked at odd angles as if listening to voices only he could hear.

This thing was eventually going to fry his brain, but regrettably, not soon enough.

"Come out, brother," the Doomer sing-songed. "I promise to make it quick for your worthless human. A mercy, really. Better than what awaits her in the island's whorehouse."

Rage, cold and precise, flooded through Lokan.

He stepped out from behind the boulder, hands in the air, his rifle left behind. "Let's discuss terms."

The Doomer wasn't going to kill him because Navuh wanted his wayward son alive, but he might shoot him to disable him.

The Doomer's grin widened. "Terms? You have no leverage for terms."

"You can't kill me," Lokan said calmly. "My father will execute you on the spot if you do. And you can't capture me either. I have a lot of money that could be yours if you just let us go."

He knew the guy wasn't going to do that. He was just buying time for Carol to creep into position.

"You think I care about money?" The Doomer laughed. "I'm the future of the Brotherhood. Enhanced. Evolved. I haven't slept in six days, and I feel invincible."

"You feel insane," Lokan corrected. "The drugs are destroying your mind. I can sense it from here—the chaos, the fractures. How long before you snap and lose your mind completely?"

The Doomer's expression darkened. "Long enough to complete my mission."

He moved faster than any immortal should. But Lokan had been expecting it, diving to the side as the Doomer's fist shattered the rock where he'd been standing. Stone shrapnel peppered his back, tearing through his jacket.

Carol's shots rang out from across the canyon, precise three-round bursts aimed at the Doomer's center mass.

He staggered but didn't go down, the bullets barely seeming to register through whatever chemical cocktail was flooding his system.

"Pathetic," he snarled, turning toward her.

That was his mistake. Focused on Carol, he didn't see Lokan retrieve the blade from his boot.

Lokan moved with all the speed his three-quarter-god heritage granted him, driving the blade between the Doomer's ribs and up into his heart, but even that wasn't enough to drop him.

Hopefully, Carol would know what to do.

The enhanced immortal spun, backhanding Lokan with enough force to send him flying into the canyon wall.

Stars exploded across Lokan's vision, and he tasted blood. But he'd done enough. The Doomer stood swaying, looking down at the blade protruding from his chest with something like surprise.

It wasn't enough to kill him, but the three rounds Carol emptied into his back, right where the blade was, should do the trick.

"I'm... invincible..."

"You're dead." Carol stepped out from behind cover. "You just haven't figured it out yet."

The Doomer took one step toward her, then another. But his legs gave out on the third, and he collapsed to his knees. He tried to speak, but only blood came out of his mouth, and he pitched forward.

Lokan wasn't taking any chances. He confirmed the kill with a close-range burst into the Doomer's head. There was no regenerating from that.

"I don't think he has any plans of waking up," Carol noted dryly as she rushed to Lokan's side, her hands gentle, checking his injuries. "What's broken?"

"A couple of ribs, but I'll heal." He clasped her fingers. "We need to move, my love. His partner might have dealt with our friends."

As if summoned by his words, motorcycle engines roared in the distance, growing closer. Lokan tensed, ready for another fight.

"It's them," Carol said. "It's our guys."

The two motorcycles carrying Grant, Camden, and Dougal roared toward them, coming to a stop a few feet away.

Camden whistled low at the sight of the dead Doomer.

"Enhanced?" Grant asked.

"Very," Lokan confirmed. "Resistant to mental manipulation and with enhanced strength and speed."

"Ours wasn't," Camden said. "Standard Doomer, went down with conventional tactics. Seems they're mixing teams."

"We need to move," Grant said. "That gunfire will have attracted attention, and where there are two, there might be more."

Lokan retrieved his blade, wiping it clean on the Doomer's clothes before returning it to his boot.

As they prepared to leave, Lokan took one last look at the corpse. The face, even in death, showed signs of madness—the price of Navuh's enhancement program.

"What is he thinking, creating these abominations?" he murmured.

Dougal snorted. "As if the unenhanced ones are not freaks. They are all monsters."

Not all of them, but Lokan was in no state to argue with the Guardian. He was about to ride for hours with broken ribs.

As they mounted up and continued toward the pass, leaving the canyon and its grim contents behind, Lokan couldn't shake the image of those mad eyes.