Forsaken by Dean Murray Page B

having an off day. What did you want to talk about?"
    She
shook herself slightly, as though trying to distance herself from a
world where I didn't know where I was headed.
    "When
Ash and I were on the run from Anton I had a dream about us being
attacked. The next day he attacked us and it went down almost exactly
like my dream. The only differences seemed to be tied back directly
to me having told Ash about my dream. I can't control it and it's
only happened once since then, but I'm pretty sure my dreams are a
form of precognition. Ash can back me up if you don't believe me."
    "What
did you dream? You're not the type to overshare, Kristin, so you
wouldn't be telling me all of this if you hadn't just had a dream
that you figured you needed my help to deal with."
    "There's
going to be another challenge soon, a huge black hybrid. In my dream
I saw the challenger standing over Ash. James was streaking towards
the fight, but before he could get there the hybrid ripped Ash's
heart out of his chest."
    Her
voice broke a little as she related the details of Ash's death.
    "You
told Ash what you saw?"
    "Yes,
but he just asked me if I'd seen any of the actual fight and then
shrugged. I think he thinks that his knowing about the dream will be
enough to save him, that he'll do something different this time."
    They
were still feeling their way forward in their relationship, but I
knew they really cared about each other. Kristin would do whatever
she thought she had to do when it came to saving Ash. I stared at her
for several seconds but she met my gaze without blinking.
    "He
could be right. Knowing that the challenger will kill him might give
Ash the edge he needs to come out on top this time."
    Kristin
balled both of her hands into fists and took a step towards me. "The
dream didn't have any of that kind of information in it. Ash would
have already gone into that fight knowing that it was for keeps. How
is he going to avoid it without more information than he has right
now? You need to keep him out of the fight with the black hybrid."
    "Who
do I send in first instead? Jess is still pretty much worthless in a
fight, Dom practically has to rest when she gets to the top of a set
of stairs, and Jasmin isn't in much better shape than Dom right now."
    "I
don't know, Alec. You're the boss; you need to figure it out. Send
James in, or get Isaac back here and throw his butt into the ring. If
you don't come up with an alternative then Ash is going to die and
I'm going to hold you responsible!"
    A
threat like that wasn't a good idea at the best of times, but in my
current state I didn't have even a prayer of stopping the
transformation that ripped through me as my beast took exception to
what she'd just said.
    Ash
had done his work well. Kristin was scared out of her mind—I
could smell her fear and most people would have been paralyzed by the
intensity of her feeling. Despite that, she threw herself backward,
drawing the handgun holstered under her left arm while she was still
in the air. Her training was already superb, but she didn't have a
prayer; I outmatched her physically by too great a degree for her to
compensate for my inborn abilities.
    My
right hand closed over the top of her pistol before she could finish
bringing it around. Her backward lunge had bought her a fraction of a
second, but it still wasn't enough to compensate for my greater
speed. I'd covered the distance between us in a single step and my
left hand was already shooting forward towards her when I heard the
safety click on Ash's gun.
    "You
both need to stand down. Kristin, you need to apologize to Alec.
Alec, if you hurt her, I swear I'll kill you. You're fast, but I've
got you dead to rights and this isn't my normal nine mil. These
rounds will go all the way through you and laugh as they blow big
exit wounds out the other side."
    I
effortlessly ripped the handgun out of Kristin's grasp and then
turned towards Ash with a flare of power that left no question as to
who was