Chapter 106

Ste. Genevieve

By dark, Duncan was pulling the Land Rover into the deserted grounds of the darkened convent. After his talk with Gautier… they'd piled swiftly into the vehicle and driven from Paris.

Amanda had driven first… Duncan in the passenger set. In the rear seat… Grace, Alisaunne and Ellie huddled… making room for Cory when he climbed in beside them. Derrick had climbed into the cargo area… his long legs rammed against his chest. He'd pulled the cargo door closed and leaned back as Amanda had hit the accelerator.

While Gautier had appeared to be alone… Duncan was not taking any chances. He also feared that their location at the grove might have been compromised, despite Ellie's assurance that no one could get in there.

"I'll meet with Gautier along with Cory and Derrick." Duncan had explained over Ellie's objection about involving the boy. "Then we head to Ste. Genevieve." He smiled at Alisaunne. "You're right… it's on the way. We have to head east anyway according to Ellie's sense of Methos and…" he smiled at Grace… "the general direction of John's signal. If we hear anything from Amy's people on his location… we'll head there…" He'd glanced back at Alisaunne, who was obviously ready to argue. "Ian is likely with John."

At that the girl's shoulders had sagged and she'd nodded. "We have to save Ian, and the others. Our people must be saved. They must not be lost... not now," she'd whispered. Ellie and Grace had hugged her… the three women united in their need to find the men they loved. Duncan had met Amanda's eyes and smiled warmly at her. When this was over… the two of them would have to sit down with Methos and Ellie for a long talk. He just hoped they had the chance.

"We will save them!" he'd reiterated as they'd peeled off. He'd fired off emails to Katya and everyone else as he read through the files that Gautier had given him. "Hold… no more killing unless absolutely necessary!" Then he'd sent out all the precise coordinates of locations of the Watcher facilities to them from the files. These were more precise than the ones Katya had. "Pass the word to everyone you know! Let's check these places out!"

There was, however, no set of coordinates along the line he'd drawn on the map. If Ellie's sense of Methos was correct… and Duncan had no reason to doubt it… then this Rawlins had another facility somewhere… one he'd kept hidden from all the Watcher records. They needed to change location anyway and find it with triangulation… or hope that John's transponder was not found… and that he was being taken to the same location.

Duncan looked about the deserted convent with a great deal of worry. While there was no sign of life here… he still felt uneasy about being on holy ground… where if something happened… he and the others might find themselves helpless.

He turned the ignition off. "Alisaunne… you're with me," he ordered as he climbed out. "Amanda… be ready to get out of here. The rest of you wait here." He rammed the bolt on his automatic as if to emphasize how deadly this might prove.

He clasped Alisaunne's hand as they headed toward the main building and the convent library. Once inside she flicked on the flashlight and led Duncan into the library. She ran the light over the shelves.

She dropped his hand as he stood looking about… worried that an attack would be forthcoming… that the light or the sound of the Land Rover had alerted someone to their presence. The light might draw forth anyone keeping an eye on the place. But he'd decided to chance it. Without light… he doubted they would find the book. If the Watchers revealed themselves here… maybe they could still get out of here without their enemies following them. He could only hope.

Alisaunne moved slowly toward the shelves. Her fingers caressed the bindings as she moved along them… Duncan could hear her reading names and titles. Finally she stopped. She smiled and pulled a leather-bound book from the shelf.

It was over-sized… and the cover was worn and scratched. She opened it and nodded. "This is it." She closed it and hugged it to her chest.

"Let's go," Duncan said as Alisaunne turned off the flashlight. He pushed her ahead of him into the hall and headed back to the entrance. Once there, he held onto her shoulder as they peered into the courtyard at the waiting vehicle. "Make for the Rover. Don't stop no matter what."

"What about…?" she began.

"No matter what!" Duncan repeated. Then he patted her back as a signal to go. She stepped through the door and he followed.

Within moments… shots rang out and bullets peppered the ground near their feet.

Duncan raised the automatic and began firing in the direction of the flash as Alisaunne raced toward the vehicle. Amanda had slid over into the driver's seat and turned on the ignition.

Cory fired from his window… laying down a withering stream of fire as Grace opened the rear door and pulled Alisaunne in. Amanda shifted into drive and circled about to get Duncan who leaped into the Rover… all the while firing away.

As the Rover raced from the grounds… Duncan grinned as he had a momentary flashback to the 1920's and Cory's and Amanda's days as Bonnie and Clyde type gangsters. Some habits never die. And this time, Duncan grinned… he got to ride shotgun.

Amanda weaved into the vineyards and floored the accelerator as she ran down a group of men attempting to fire on them. An explosion went off next to the vehicle and she swerved. Another went off to the right.

"Damn! There goes a tire!" she cried out as the flopping noise of the tire could be heard through the interspersed gunfire.

"Keep driving!" Duncan yelled and kept firing at the gunflashes.

"Mackie-boy… you shoulda relaxed and had more fun way back when!" Cory laughed as he ducked some bullets ricocheting off the car.

"Everybody's a critic!" Duncan groused and fired again. "I'm out!" he ejected the clip and reached for the extra from Ellie. He slammed it in and began firing once more.

By this time… Amanda had reached the road. "I can't go too fast… the tire!" she yelled.

"Just keep moving!" Duncan aimed at the vehicle pulling onto the road and shot at the tires. "Sauce for the gander!" he yelled as Cory gave him a thumb's up and did the same to the vehicle pulling out on his side of the road.

Amanda floored the accelerator and kept moving until the sounds of bullets faded into the night. "We need to change that tire," she yelled, "before we have real problems."

"Up ahead," said Duncan as he and Cory reloaded again.

Amanda pulled off the road. Derrick leaped out of the rear and pulled the spare tire off the cargo door… the tire jack already in his hand. Cory and Duncan stood guard over him while the boy focused on changing the tire as quickly as he could in the dark. "Done!" Derrick yelled and climbed back into the cargo hold pulling the door closed behind him.

Cory and Duncan backed into the vehicle and Amanda took off again… even as one chase vehicle appeared on the horizon.

Amanda floored the accelerator once more and crossed her fingers on the steering wheel. She glanced at Duncan and winked. "I always dreamed of being a Formula One race driver… guess this is my big chance!"

"Just drive, Amanda!" Duncan smirked. "And don't wreck!"

"I'll have you know," she retorted, "I have never wrecked!" She spun the wheel to the right and flicked off the headlights as she drove in amongst some trees, stopped suddenly and shut the motor off.

"Shh!" Duncan motioned to everyone… as he watched the chase vehicle pass by on the road. He counted to ten… then he counted to twenty and listened to the sounds of the night. He motioned to Amanda to start the engine.

She did so… but left the lights off as she eased through the trees. "I love four wheel drive," she whispered, and began to drive cross-country to the accompaniment of nervous laughter.

"Anyone hurt?" Duncan asked; he was especially worried about Derrick, the only non-immortal… at least not yet. All indicated they were fine.

"So…" whispered Ellie in a teasing tone, "this is how you three managed that crime spree?"

"They did…" Duncan said chuckling, "I just followed along behind them and dug them up whenever they went down in a hail of bullets."

"No digging us up this time Mackie boy," Cory grinned. "I told you you'da had more fun if you'da joined us."

"Let's just find someplace safe," said Grace, obviously not in the mood for light banter.

Duncan sobered, as he remembered this was not all fun and games… it was life and death.

-----

Shortly after… Amanda stopped in another grove of trees. Duncan motioned Ellie out. He spread the maps and compass on the hood of the Rover.

"But we don't know exactly where we are?" she insisted. "This won't work."

"We'll take a temporary reading… just to get an idea of general direction. When we get a chance… and a better location… we take another. Ready?"

Ellie closed her eyes and seemed to go deeply into herself. Her eyes fluttered and she smiled. As before she seemed to respond to Methos' touch. One hand rose to her neck and she laughed. Then the hand pointed into the darkness. "There! He's there!" Duncan quickly used the compass to get a reading… then once more oriented the maps with the compass reading and drew a line.

"Switzerland…" he muttered. "It's the only place that makes sense. But where exactly?"

He folded the maps and motioned Ellie into the car. "Let's go," he told Amanda. "We're headed to Geneva."

"Lovely," she said, and shifted into drive once more. This time when she came to a road… she climbed back onto the highway and drove along at a swift and easy pace… toward the border with Switzerland.

-----

Niebos

Phillip sat dejectedly in his trashed office. As yet, he had no idea how to restrain Valeraine… how to end the nightmare… He knew that to kill her outright would only make things worse. But he shivered at the thought of maiming her the way Nick had been maimed. That had been Nestor's way with the young immortal… it could not be Phillip's way of restraining him. The Swordmaster still hoped that somehow… Valeraine might be saved.

He'd been surprised at how quickly she'd begun to be consumed by Nestor… considering how young Nick had been, and how long he'd lasted. Evidently Nestor had prepared for this. Nikos had told him how quickly the monster healed from bullets at the final showdown.

"He was stronger, patron!" Nikos had said. "He would not be stopped. She saved the child… but was taken by his darkness! When she turned on me… I shot her as she had told me to do… and then I locked her body up in the cell… although I thought it foolishness. In less than an hour… she was back… and urging me to let her out… that she had won and that we were all safe. But I remembered my promise to wait for you. When I reminded her… I saw the monster within her." Nikos had shaken his head. "How can anyone defeat the monster?"

Phillip sat in the darkness and shook his head. "I don't know," he said to the darkness. He heard the sounds of music emanating from the music room. Curious, he followed it. He entered the music room and found Claudia at the keyboard of the old Steinway. No one had played that for years. Antonio was standing at her side… giving a rendition of an aria from Aida.

Keith and Vincent were standing by a bookcase… apparently stunned by the music… and willing to halt whatever conversation they had going on.

The children were on the two divans. Micah and Madrigal arm in arm… Madrigal had been crying. Chou and Denis on the other divan in much the same position as the older couple. All the children dearly felt the loss of their companion and fellow child immortal. They were staring at the musicians with sad faces.

Reagan slipped her arm into Phillip's. "Whatever you decide Phillip… I'll help you."

Phillip nodded soberly. "I can't take her head… nor do I have a way to restrain her here. It's only a matter of time before she manages to free herself or convinces one of us to let her go. Moreover, the Watchers may return here at any time. If they do, then everything is for naught. Nestor will find a way to be free."

"What if he's dead?"

Phillip shook his head. "Not even death will hold him."

"It only has to hold him for a while," Reagan said. "Just enough time so that we can manage to come up with something else."

"Have you heard nothing? Each time we kill her… he grows stronger… and comes back sooner."

"Then you need a way to keep her dead for a while… a long while."

Phillip nodded. "I know… but how?"

"You need to come up with something quickly, Phillip. We need to get these children and the others to safety."

Phillip nodded, then applauded as Antonio and Claudia finished their number. "Ursa kept saying we needed to take Nick to the cove. We did go. Ursa wanted to take him to the rocks… but I couldn't see the purpose in it. The oracle is long gone." He'd explained some of his past on Niebos to the rest of the immortals during the flight here.

"Maybe it wasn't the oracle he wanted Nick to see," Reagan said quietly.

Phillip paused. "He wanted to take Nick to the rocks." Phillip closed his eyes and tried to picture the rock shelf. What was there that he had not considered? The rock shelf was only barely above the water's level at low tide. Around it were the deeper depths of the cove.

For a moment he was a boy again and standing at Danae's side on the rocks one moonlit night as she shared the secrets of the cove with him. He knelt at the rock's edge and peered into the depths of the water. "What's that?" he'd asked her, making out something glistening in the clear water of the cove.

"That which can hold the darkness," she'd laughed… a deep, throaty laugh that felt to Phillip… even after all this time… that it was rich and filled with honey.

Phillip laughed aloud. "I have it!" he threw back his head and let his laughter ring. He turned to face Reagan. "I'll need your help."

Reagan nodded. "Whatever you need."

-----

Less than hour later he and Reagan arrived at the magistrate's office. He dismissed Nikos to go home. "We will deal with her now," he'd assured the young man.

Once Nikos had left, Phillip approached the cell.

Valeraine had ripped off her clothes and eyed him salaciously… her tongue wriggled before her and she cackled. "Have you come to kill me my love?" She eyed Reagan in the background… a crossbow in her hands. "Will she watch? Or do you wish me to love her… while you watch?" Nestor continued.

The girl leaped to her feet and rushed the bars… reaching through to wriggle her fingers at Phillip. "Come with me and be my love… and we will all the pleasures prove," she quoted.

Phillip shook his head. He raised a hand and gestured toward Reagan. Then he pointed. She fired the crossbolt into Valeraine's body. Phillip rushed the cell door, swiftly unlocking it, and throwing himself on the reviving child. Quickly he caught her arms and held them above her head.

Reagan followed him in and grabbed the girl's kicking feet. Holding them down with all the strength she possessed.

Phillip held both hands in one hand and pulled out the syringe. Nick had been developing a resistance to the drugs over the years… but Valeraine's body would likely be susceptible… at least for a few minutes… long enough to do what they needed.

Phillip rammed the syringe into one of her arms and pushed the plunger while she snarled and snapped at him. Gradually her struggles ceased and her eyes rolled upward. Once he was certain she was sedated, he nodded to Reagan who pulled out handcuffs and shackles.

Phillip handcuffed Valeraine's hands together while Reagan applied the shackles. Then she opened the body bag. Swiftly Phillip rolled the girl into the black vinyl bag… zipped it shut, secured it with a padlock and chain… and then cast her over his shoulder.

"Let's go!" he said. Already he could feel her start to shift and move as her system… with Nestor's help… fought the drugs.

Together the two of them raced from the office and through the deserted streets of the village. Phillip led the way to the cove path. He had no time to climb the mountain this time. He only hoped the gods understood. After all… he already had his answer from them… he already knew what he needed to do.

Once at the cove he splashed through the low tide out to the hidden rock ledge. Throwing Valeraine's body onto the shelf… he leaped down into the water. Here was a set of metal rings… bright in the glow of moonlight… still strong and unrusted even after millennia in seawater. Reagan rolled Valeraine's body off the shelf and into his arms and then jumped into the water with him.

Together they pushed her body down beneath the water's surface, and secured it by the modern chain to the ancient rings. "Titanium doesn't rust!" he'd told Reagan earlier. "It will hold… by all the gods… it will hold Nestor long enough for us to find another way."

Once the body was submerged… Phillip and Reagan piled surrounding rocks on the body to make certain it was securely held. By the time they were finished… the tide was rising. Phillip pulled himself back onto the ledge and then pulled Reagan up. He looked down on the small dark bundle that was the bodybag containing Valeraine.

"I'm sorry lass," he said. "I know no other way for the moment." He lifted his eyes to the moonlit waves and watched the pattern of the ocean spray. "Hold her my lady!" he cried out. "Hold the darkness for us. Not forever… just for a while. Keep her safe… that she may one day be free of it."

The waves in the face of the returning tide crashed about him. As always, Phillip heard no reply… no voice assuring him that he had acted correctly. But implicitly, he understood in the sound of the waves… that his prayers were answered.

He wiped the salt spray from his face. "Let's go Reagan. We can do nothing more for her now." The two immortals turned their back on the ocean… and splashed their way back to the shore.