Flying Blind Ch. 06

"We should not protect them!" he screamed at her. "They are the arrogant elite, and they use whatever power that they possess to hurt us! They take everything away until only the bones are left, and Alvin Hannity is just as deserving of death as Reichert.

'Is that what you want? You want me to empathize with whatever problems you have with the Reptile King?' she thought, even as her teeth chattered and her skin burned. The chain slipped a bit, and she tried grabbing it with fingers that were likely to break off.

"You said I had a choice?!" she shouted as tears froze on her face. "I choose me! Kill me instead, because I'm not fucking like you and won't be."

"You ARE like me --"

"No, I'm not! You hate us because we're part animals? I'm more human than you, you son of a bitch, because I wouldn't be able to live with myself doing what you've done. Alvin's an ass, but that doesn't mean he deserves to die. I won't let you pin this on me, and I won't let you make me be like --" She screamed as cold air was again blasted down on her. "I choose me!" she shouted again, allowing the frigid air to permeate her throat and creep down towards her lungs.

A loud noise started buzzing, and the air was cut off. She tried reaching out with her echolocation, but whatever concoction of chemicals Detrius had given her was suppressing her Gift as well as her ability to shift. She heard scuffling somewhere, then the faint echo of "no no no," as if the microphone was still on but Detrius was not near it.

"Alvin," she shouted, thankful for the distraction, "are you alright?" The chain yanked a bit against her arms and she heard a thump nearby. 'If he's hanging from the chain, he's probably swinging on it right now.' Her feet slipped on the other side of the tube, and she scooted up. If she just let him drop, it would probably pull her right out of the --

'What are you thinking?' she asked herself. 'Could you really just let him die to save your own ass?' Not that the choice might not be taken away from her, as the chain slipped again. The pain in her arms was almost unbearable. She heard a crashing noise, then a lot of shouting. 'Someone's here," she thought. Then, the explosions started.

She felt a wave of heat erupt somewhere nearby, and something slammed into her tube. 'Oh no,' she thought, 'if this thing breaks, then I can't brace --' Another crash, and she could hear the tube cracking. "No! Please, someone help me! If I drop this --" Suddenly the cold air came back on, full blast. The tube continued to crack, its structural integrity further weakened by the conflicting temperatures. The chain slipped a little more.

"Oh God I'm sorry," she said. She couldn't feel her limbs anymore, and the pain caused by the silver chain was just too much. Whatever strength she had left simply abandoned her, and the chain started to slide.

She heard another crash, and bits of glass came raining down on her. As she felt back to the ground, she began to feel . . . nothing. The burns, the cold . . . all of it began fading, as did her grip on the waking world. She heard someone shouting at her, but the words were just mindless noise, like the teacher from the Charlie Brown specials. Finally, there was nothing but blissful oblivion.

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Some time later . . .

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Madison noticed the numbness before everything else. Next she felt the pressure on top of her, by way of some kind of heavy blanket. Then she felt a pain lacing her arms, and she started to groan.

"Doctor --" someone started in a familiar voice, albeit panicked. Her mind was murky, so it took her a moment to place it.

"Huh . . . huh --" she gasped, trying to say "Heda" but unable to make her throat work properly.

"Shh, baby," Heda whispered from close by, "Don't say anything. I'm here. I'm here. It's okay," the eagle-shifter continued, then touched her lips softly to Madison's. "You're going to be okay." She turned towards the door of the hospital room, "Mr. Hannity! She's awake!"

Madison heard someone else come in. She tried to scan, but found that her Gift still failed her. Her throat felt numb as she tried to form words.

"Don't try to talk," Mr. Hannity said gently from the other side from where Heda was standing. "You're safe now. You're in the hospital. You had hypothermia, frostbite, and burns on your arms, so they sedated you so that you could rest while they got your temperature back up." He wanted badly to hold his daughter's hand, but they were badly burned due to the silver, and that would be a long time healing.

Madison started to cry. She could not move, she could not "see," and she could not speak. She did not understand any of what had just happened.

"It's okay baby," Heda as soothingly as she could. "Whatever drugs that asshole gave you are still in your system, so it's probably fucking with your abilities. You WILL get them back, I promise. Right doctor?"

"I expect so, but I say so with caution," spoke a new voice. "Ms. Sloan's toxicology report is showing things I've never even heard of before, though the levels of the novel substances do seem to be dropping."

"You've got the best doctor around," Mr. Hannity assured her, "and this is a shifter friendly hospital. I'm flying a healer in from Dallas who will help get you back on your feet."

Madison tried mouthing one word, over and over again. Finally --

"Alvin?" Mr. Hannity asked. "Alvin is fine. His mother is in with him now. He has burns around his ankles, but he'll be all right. He told us what you did," Mr. Hannity said, his voice choking up.

"You're amazing," Heda said.

"Wuh . . . hap . . . un?"

"That's 'lazy bat-shifter' for 'What happened?" That voice was Billy's, and the humor was only a thinly veiled guise for the relief he felt.

"She should really get some rest," the doctor started to say, then saw Madison start to get agitated. "All right, just please try to relax."

Heda and Billy tripped over their own tongues informing Madison what they had learned about the killer and of how they had found Detrius's, or Daryl Mosley's, hideout before crashing in, literally in the nick of time. Daryl had apparently rigged his entire lair with traps and defensive spells, so stuff had started blowing up almost immediately. Heda, in Billy's words, had gone "ape shit crazy" and went barreling through walls of sparks and fire to try to get her hands on Daryl Mosley's throat.

Billy had realized that Madison would not be holding on to that chain without a reason, so he had punched into the already cracking glass cell and grabbed the chain just as his friend was letting go of it. He had burns on his hands, but he had not held the line as long as Madison did. Mr. Hannity had gotten Alvin down, then he and Billy had taken the hostages outside.

Daryl had too many defenses and he knew the terrain of his lab, which was a set of rooms designed in typical cold-war chaos. He had escaped down a back tunnel after setting everything off, and it had taken most of her friends to keep Heda from chasing the psychopathic sorcerer into a collapsing corridor.

Madison open her mouth and gasped a little. Then, "Ih . . . ih . . . idiot."

Heda grinned, and she cried just a little bit. "I need you to keep me in line. You being the rational, even-tempered half of the couple."

"Billy?" Madison said.

"Yes?"

"Fuh . . . Flip huh . . . flip her off."

Billy looked at Heda. "Can't deny an injured woman a request like that," he said, giving Heda the bird.

Madison gasped, and this time it was from pain rather than an attempt to speak. The doctor fed something into one of the tubes connected to Madison's body, and she started to quiet down. "I think she needs to sleep. Let me know when your healer arrives," he told Mr. Hannity. "I'll make sure you have privacy, though I will need to be in attendance. If you could step outside for a moment, we can discuss her treatment and transfer to Dallas and your daughter can rest."

"Of course," Mr. Hannity said, then looked at the girl in the bed. "Madison, Heda will stay with you for now, but you heard the doctor about resting. One of us will always be here, so don't you worry." He started to turn away.

"Dad," Madison whispered.

William Hannity stopped in his tracks, slowly turning back to Madison. "Madison --" He had no more words. The first time she called him "Dad" had come many, many years too late, but he cherished the sound anyway.

"Juh . . . just wanted to say that," Madison finished drowsily. And as she let the pain-killers do their work, she felt him kiss her forehead, just like a father was supposed to do.

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Three weeks later . . .

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Heda had just flopped down on her bed when the call came in, having just gotten out of a well-deserved and wholly necessary shower. One look at the caller ID brought a smile to her face.

"Hey good looking," she said warmly. "How are you feeling?"

I'm BORED," came the instant complaint. Madison had been transferred to the Hannity estate a week after being hospitalized, and Mr. Hannity was sparing no expense in Madison's treatment. But due to the ongoing potential threat of Daryl Mosely being on the loose, as well as her nagging injuries, she was kept consigned to the house, though that was admittedly less of a problem because the house was huge and had at least one of everything. Normally, shifting helped the healing process but burns, especially those caused by silver, actually prevented healing, so Madison was spending time with a healer every day so that she could regain some freedom.

"Bored is good for you right now," Heda said. "Bored means not being captured, tortured, or otherwise put in a situation of distress."

"Boredom is distressing," Madison replied. "I mean, Dad keeps working from home, but he DOES have to work. Carla left to visit her family, Timothy and Morgan are in school all day, so the only person I have to hang it with is the healer, the nurse, the cook, and the gardener and, to be frank, none of them are great conversationalists. And none of them know the first thing about good music."

"Neither did I, if you'll recall."

True. You're lucky you're hot."

Heda laughed. "I'm sure that having an expert cook is a horrible injustice."

"Well, this peanut butter fudge isn't exactly prison food. And Dad hired a personal trainer, which was really just a sneaky way of getting me a masseuse without me making an objection. I've never had a massage before."

"And?"

"Those don't suck. We totally need to keep with the massage thing when I get back."

"You know, you're getting pretty good at calling Mr. Hannity 'Dad.' So he's met the Madison seal of approval?"

"He's stuck beside me through a lot, and . . . and he wouldn't have done it. He wouldn't have done what his wife did, and it took me a long time to accept that. And he's trying so hard --"

"It's okay babe," Heda said, hearing her girlfriend tear up a little. Having actual family was such an overwhelming experience for her. "I'm damn proud of you. And I'm sure that once Morgan gets home, your boredom will be a thing of the past."

Madison and Morgan had basically been thick as thieves since Madison arrived to recuperate. Morgan was attempting to give Madison a crash-course in what being the teenage daughter of an affluent banker was supposed to be like. It apparently involved a lot of eye rolling and asking for more than you really want on your father's expense account. It also involved shoes, clothes, and talking endlessly about boys. Or in Madison's case, girls. Specifically, one girl.

"So," Heda asked, "have you heard from . . . you know?"

"Alvin?" Madison asked. "Yeah. He called last night and . . . and that was the most uncomfortable conversation of my life. I think he wants some kind of excuse or forgiveness or something, but he didn't actually ask for it." She sighed. "I wound up telling him that any reckoning he comes to, he's gonna have to do it on his own. That bridge is just too burned. I hate that I have to do this --"

"He made his bed, so it's time to lie in it. I get where you're coming from. Did I mention how amazing you are? Saving his ass after all he did?"

You may have mentioned it a time or two," Madison chuckled. "I really miss you. I miss Billy and Sasha and the gang and my room."

"And I miss you. But hopefully we'll catch this asshole soon and you can come back."

"So still no sign of him?"

"Not a thing. Fucker just vanished. They've got pictures of him all over the place now, since we couldn't keep the human authorities in the dark on this." Heda stood up and starting pacing angrily. "I should've had him. If Peter hadn't grabbed me --"

"You would have been crushed to death by falling debris or you would have been trapped in a small space with a bug-nuts sorcerer who hates shifters, had the home court advantage, and doesn't play by any fair rules of combat. I know you're a bad ass, Heda, but I might have lost you, and that would've been more than I could handle."

"I know, I know. I just keep wondering what my mom would have done --"

"You're not your mother. You can't get out of her shadow if you cast it for her."

Heda stopped pacing and grinned. "I knew there was a reason I liked you."

"Besides my rockin' bod and mad kickboxing skills?"

"Those didn't exactly hurt." Heda heard something happening on the other end, mainly the introduction of a chattering voice into the background mix. "Let me guess, Morgan just got back?"

"Yes, and she brought like a billion new bits of clothing. No, I am not exaggerating!" Madison said, her attention obviously drawn to her sister. "You haven't even worn the stuff you bought Saturday. No you haven't! No, I don't need new clothes. How did you get my size? Oh, oh yeah. No, I don't want to try it . . . ooh, that's soft. Silk? I'll take your word for it --"

"Babe, I'm gonna hang up and let you spend time with the sis, okay?" Heda said loudly into the phone.

"I'm sorry, I'm being a bad girlfriend."

"No, you're being a good sister. Go, and I'll talk at you tomorrow." Heda hung up, turned around and found Edgar standing there.

"How's she doing?"

"Good. Bored, but good. Hopefully the healer will be able to finish up on her hands so she can shift. Hey, speaking of shifting, let's go fly."

"Now?"


"We haven't flown together in forever. Not since you and me and Mom went rabbit hunting for Thanksgiving that one year."

Edgar smiled and ran his hand through his dark black hair. "I remember it more as me refereeing between the two of you when you started fighting over that carcass." Ravens did not hunt like eagles did, so he had just been along for the ride. Heda and their mother had gotten awfully competitive, as they were both wont to do, and he had felt a little like a mouse trying to break up a squabble between two big cats. Edgar's raven form was big for his breed, having a 50 inch wingspan and weighing 3.5 pounds, but Heda, being the smaller of the two eagles, outweighed him by almost ten pounds and had a wingspan of 85 inches. And eagles had talons. Big, nasty talons.

"I still say I could've taken her," Heda said, beginning to undress. Family nudity was pretty commonplace in the shifter community.

"The day you want to call the old woman out, just make sure to call me first because I would PAY to see that."

The two of them finished getting undressed, then shifted and took off through the open windows. Heda realized again how hard things must have been for Madison, not having her own kind around for so long to do the things that her animalistic side demanded . . . to fly with others like her. Heda loved the feel of the wind streaming under and over her feathers, her eyes taking in the world like a child at the cinema, amazed at the wonder of everything. And what made it better was that her brother was there, looking down at the same, heart-breakingly beautiful landscape. They flew out to the woods, with Edgar flying underneath his sister's watchful eye.

They landed in a clearing that Heda had flown to without even thinking about it.

"Nice place," Edgar said, plopping his body down on a soft patch of grass.

"This is the first place Madison and I went flying to. She likes the bug selection."

"That never ceases to be gross."

Heda grinned. "Just remember, we eat rodents. And don't you sometimes eat bugs when you're flying too?"

"I'm not criticizing our basic natures. I'm just saying that it's kind of gross when you stop and think about it." He cocked his head and looked at his sister as she sat down beside him. "Gotta question for you."

"Shoot."

"How serious is this thing between you and Madison?"

That was not a question Heda had been expecting. "I dunno. Serious, I guess."

"Not a trap question. I was just curious. For what it's worth, I like her."

"It's a little early for me to be thinking of settling down. I'm nineteen for Christ's sake." She sighed. "But thanks. I like her too." She started to grin.

"And now you're thinking about her. You always get that grin when you're thinking about her."

"I was just thinking about when I tried rescuing her from Alvin and his goons, and my reward was for her to try to kick me in the head for the first time."

"First time?"

"Yeah. She has anger management issues."

"She's a violent little vixen, isn't she?"

Heda shrugged. "I think she has this need to overcompensate sometimes. But honestly? It's so cute when she does it that I can't bring myself to complain."

"Well, if there is anyone out there who can change your wild ways and settle you down, it had better be someone who's challenging."

"Hey, don't get all nest-building on me. YOU could stand to plow a few less fields too," Heda replied with an arched, knowing eyebrow.

"We both know that it isn't in the cards for me," Edgar said wistfully.

Heda's skin tightened up, and she sighed as she put an arm around her brother's shoulders. "It could be. There's no guarantee that the visions will come. You could live a long, happy life."

"I think the visions are coming," he replied.

Instantly, Heda's humor died. "Why? What happened?"

"It's . . . it's just that I had a feeling. Back right before this case started, I just had this feeling that there was going to be trouble down here. Something about you."

"Did you see something?"

"No, but --"

"Ed, I'm ALWAYS in trouble. That's not a vision, that's just historical fact." Heda tried to keep her heart from beating quite so fast by taking a deep breaths. "Don't scare me like that."

"I'm serious --"

"So am I," Heda said. "Millions of people around the world have feelings like that every now and again, and a small percentage turn out to be true. Pure chance. You know the literature on the visions of the ravens better than anyone. They're very distinctive. You're not going to wonder if you're having one."

"Yeah, but --"

"But nothing. Don't let the fear of it make you crazy. There's no point to losing your mind without at least getting the benefits." She paused. "This really has you freaked, doesn't it?"

Edgar nodded. "This is normally the kind of high-stress situation where the dreams start to manifest." 
"So stop stressing. Hell, Joanna has been helping you de-stress since she first laid eyes on you."

"You think sex with her isn't stressful? The woman gives me performance anxiety."

"I'll ask her to take it easy on you," Heda said with a smirk.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far." Edgar hugged his sister. "Thanks."

"Hey, just glad I could actually help someone," Heda replied despondently. "If I hadn't been so slow, I would have had Detrius and --