Destiny

That was not a werewolf, A

One of the men came close to her. A

She rose, uncoiling as the viper had done earlier, and swung the skull with all her strength. The aged bone shattered against the man's face, driving him backward.

"There!" one of the men yelled. "Over by Croteau!"

Foulard swung the flashlight in A

Scuttling quickly, flinging away the remnants of the skull, she slid low along the unconscious man. Her partially numbed fingers found the 9 mm pistol lying on the cave floor. She fumbled it into her grip as the flashlight splashed over her and blinded her.

"She has Croteau's gun!"

"Kill her!" Foulard yelled. His pistol barked and spit flame that lit up the angry terror on his face. She recognized the bruises on his face and knew he was the man from the alley.

The wind from the bullet cut the air by A

"Lesauvage wants her alive!" someone yelled. "Stop shooting!"

Firing on the fly, A

A

Instead, still suffering from partial blindness caused by the bright flashlight beam, she ran into one of the other men in the gloom, unaware that he'd been there. He caught her gun wrist and shoved his own pistol into her cheek below her left eye.

"Move and I'll kill you!" the man shouted.

Immediately, A

The detonation temporarily robbed her of her hearing, rendering her partially deaf in addition to the blindness. The man also stripped her borrowed pistol from her fist.

Before her would-be captor recovered, she butted her forehead into his face, breaking his nose and splitting his lips, causing him to stagger back.

Foulard fired again. His bullets ripped into the man who'd held A

A

She skidded to a halt and reached for the necklace. Before she could close her hand on it, Foulard fired three more shots.

Two of the rounds thudded into the dead man and the third struck the metal charm, sending it skidding across the cave floor.

As A

Savagely, the old man with the walking stick rammed the bottom of his thick staff into the back of Foulard's skull. Crying out in pain, Foulard sagged to the cave floor.

Moving quickly, the old man surprised the remaining men and came out of the darkness. He swung the staff, taking each man's feet from beneath him, then driving the end of his weapon into each man's chest hard enough to take away his breath.

The old man looked at A

Despite the fact that an earthquake had occurred and the men had pistols and didn't seem afraid to use them, the old man acted perfectly calm. As if this was something he did every day.

Fisting the charm, A

"What is that?" the old man demanded. "What did you find?"

Foulard roared a foul curse and pointed the pistol at them.

"Which way?" A

"Here." The old man turned and ran as bullets struck the cave walls.

Almost immediately, the earth quaked again.

Thrusting her arms out in front of her, not understanding how the old man appeared able to see so well in the darkness, A

For a moment, until they left the glow of the flashlight behind them, the old man was a dimly visible patch of gray ahead of her. Then they twisted around a bend in the tu

"Watch your head," he advised.

A

"Who are those men?" A

"I don't know. They were after you."

"What are you doing here?"

"At present, saving you. Unless you want to go back there and get acquainted with those highwaymen."

Highwaymenwas an odd description. A

"Left," the old man called.

A

"Aren't you listening?" the old man snapped.

"Yes." A

The old man stood around the bend. He didn't protect his eyes from the sudden light that sent painful splinters through A

Satisfied that she was intact, the old man turned and ran with improbable speed. He carried his staff close to his body as if it were an appendage.

A

"I have a truck," the old man said. "Farther down the mountain. Try to keep up."

Try to keep up?A

Then he was outside the cave, sprinting down the steep, trembling mountainside as surefootedly as a mountain goat. A

They ran, crashing through brush and avoiding trees and boulders that were in their way. An elegant light blue Mercedes SUV sat parked beneath the heavy boughs of a towering Scotch pine only a short distance ahead.

"There," the old man said.

"I see it," A

The Mercedes's alarm system squawked as he pressed the keyless entry on the fob he'd fished from a pocket.

"Belt yourself in." The old man started the engine and pulled the SUV into gear. He didn't bother backing up, just pushed through the brush and came around in a tight circle to get back onto a narrow road that wound through the thick forest. Splashes of sunlight whipped across the dusty windshield.

A