by Melissa Haag
“The last tip did marginally well. Blake would like to thank you and asked me to find out what you would like as a reward.”
This was Blake’s game. Every time one of my premonitions did well—they all did well—Blake offered a reward. In the beginning, I had used these opportunities to ask for new toys for my brothers or new clothes for us or even to be allowed a few minutes outside. But I’d caught on to what I was doing. Each time I asked for something, I let them know what mattered to me. Last night, Blake had proven my theory correct by threatening to take all outside time away from the boys if I didn’t sit down and eat with him and his associates.
“Please tell him I am happy with whatever reward he chooses,” I murmured without looking up from our puzzle.
“Michelle, he will insist that you choose,” Richard said with worry in his voice. It was the first time in a long time he acted human. I glanced up in time to see his fear-filled eyes rest on Liam.
He feared for their safety. So did I. I needed to find a way to escape. Until then, I would pretend to play Blake’s game. “A ribbon. For my hair, please.”
The dream shifted.
A gag covered my mouth as tears streamed down my cheeks. The gag didn’t hurt. The cord tying my hands didn’t even hurt. My head though, it throbbed and ached, the pain dull and sharp at the same time, snaking its way through every cell in my brain as the premonition repeated itself.
Blake stood over me smirking.
“I told you, you would be punished if you tried to run.” He bent down to where I’d fallen to my side on the floor. The premonition had been running through my mind for almost two days. They’d let me eat and drink in the beginning, unbinding my hands and removing the gag, while they wore earplugs and earmuffs with music. They’d tried getting me to eat and drink a while ago, but I refused. The pain was too much.
I sniffled as my nose started to run. My eyes had been watering for hours now. Blake reached forward and touched the wetness just under my nose. He pulled back and showed me his fingers. It wasn’t just a runny nose. Blood smeared his fingertips.
“Do you understand, yet? You need me, Michelle. Who else can you tell this information to?”
I closed my eyes with a sob wishing the pain would end, moving my lips weakly behind the gag, mumbling the information because I couldn’t help myself.
The cord holding my wrists together loosened. Without thought, my shaking hand flew to my mouth to tear away the gag. I sobbed out the information, and the pain immediately stopped. I didn’t stop sobbing for a long time.
Luke called my name, and I struggled to wake as I felt the dream try to shift. I didn’t want to remember any more. I wanted my own reality back. As crappy as it was. Someone pounded on a door, helping to pull me out of sleep’s hold.
I blinked my eyes open, cringing at the cold water hitting my face as I looked up into the spray of the showerhead. It took a moment to remember what had happened. Tired after a few more hours of riding, we’d found yet another hotel. He said he’d run and get food. I said I would take a shower. I’d kept it cold thinking I’d stay awake. Instead, I’d set myself up for hyperthermia.
I shivered uncontrollably and wiped water from my face. My numb legs didn’t want to move and my tailbone throbbed painfully.
“She’s trying to kill me,” I muttered as I struggled to lift myself from the bottom of the tub.
The door flew open with a crack, disturbing the air and making the shower curtain flutter. It stuck to my skin, and I curled my lip. Gross. Hotel shower curtain. Touching me. I frantically batted it away thinking of all the nasty things on it—and once my mind was on the subject, all the nasty things at the bottom of the hotel tub—when the curtain was suddenly torn aside.
Luke stared down at me. Rage and panic filled his eyes.
“What the hell?” I sputtered trying to grab the curtain and cover myself, no longer so picky about it touching me. Red crept up his neck as I watched.
Flustered, he let the curtain go, but he still had the sense to reach around to turn off the water. His eyes raked my face. “You fell asleep again, didn’t you,” he said with soft reproach.
“Of course I did! I always fall asleep. Now, get out!” Embarrassment and anger warred for dominance. It was one thing to joke about ‘us’, to try to Claim him, to kid about my boobs, but to have him actually see me, all of me. I wanted to curl up in a ball of shame. I didn’t eat right and looked like hell. The scars on my arms still stood out vividly which was why I wore clothes to cover them. And he’d seen everything. I’d noted the shock in his eyes before he surrendered the curtain.
“Be out in two minutes, or I’m coming back in,” he warned closing the door behind him.
“If you come back in, you better be naked too,” I shouted at the closed door, anger finally winning.
I pulled myself from the tub with shaking limbs and wrapped myself in a towel, using the one meant for him to dry my hair. Those dreams shook me. The first three had been the same girl. Gabby. No doubt the same Gabby Luke kept talking about. The second set of dreams also involved a single star. Michelle. Their lives sucked just like mine. It didn’t make me feel any better.
Taking my time, I brushed my teeth and gradually warmed enough that the blue tint faded from my lips. More than two minutes had passed, and I gave myself a weak smirk in the mirror.
Pulling the bag close, I dug for clean clothes. Not finding any, I settled for the cleanest. I took my time getting dressed.
Finally, I stepped out of the bathroom. I ran my fingers through my damp tangled hair and gave him the barest glance before I moved to the hotel’s TV guide, pretending to read it.
“Either we get where we’re going tomorrow, or we need to find a laundromat. Everything’s dirty,” I commented.
Silence greeted me. Stifling the urge to scrunch up my face in annoyance, I took a calming breath and turned to face him.
Luke reclined on the bed, his hands behind his head, as he watched me move around the room. His shirt stretched tight over his chest. I struggled to pull my gaze away. His exposed arms flexed as he moved one out from behind his head. On the inside, I sighed.
“Come on,” he said, waving me over. “Get some sleep.”
He knew sleeping in a cold shower didn’t qualify as rest, but I hadn’t expected him to be on the bed waiting for me after my smart remark. I shuffled to the bed in my stocking feet and lay beside him, not too eager to sleep just yet.
He pulled me to his side, slid an arm under my head, and tucked me under his chin. His heat melted away the lingering chill of the shower. His willingness to get so close while I was still awake puzzled me—he usually waited until I was already slipping into a dream. He lightly ran a hand down my covered arm. Right over the cuts I’d once made in desperation. I closed my eyes in shame.
“Don’t,” he whispered. “Not with me. I’m not here to judge you. I’m here to keep you safe. Always. Even from yourself.”
His arm tightened around me. This time I dove for the dream tugging at my consciousness. Anything to escape the little tug at my heart his words caused.
* * * *
We left the room several hours later. I didn’t think he’d slept at all, but I had five hours of sweet nothing—well, not nothing. I’d woken to my face plastered to his bare chest. Best five hours of sleep ever.
“We should reach the Compound by nightfall.”
When we stepped into the parking lot, Luke’s stride paused. He tilted his head back, scented the light breeze, grabbed my hand, and pulled me toward the bike. I didn’t stop to wonder why. He’d smelled something. I quickly slipped the bag across my body and climbed on behind him as my eyes searched for the cause. Luke started the bike with a roar.
Just then two men stepped from the office. My heart leapt, and my arms involuntarily tightened around Luke. He took off with a squeal of the back tire. The bike slipped under us a bit, but I risked a look back. Where the men stood, two large dogs stared after us. They didn�
�t give chase. Instead, they turned and ran into the woods.
“They’re not following,” I called to Luke.
He nodded and opened the throttle. My stomach rolled at the surge in speed. Thankfully, I hadn’t eaten anything.
We merged with an interstate that took us south, not north. I wanted to moan in frustration, but understood his decision. Since we were so close to our goal, they would know our intended direction. Hopping on the interstate would throw them off. Heck, it threw me off. I had no idea which way we intended to come in from.
How had they found us though? We’d been careful, zigzagging all over the place in a non-pattern. I’d been watching the map. Maybe Luke was right. They had sentinels waiting for us. But we were still so many miles away. Could they have so many in their pack as that? I doubted it. Maybe it’d just been luck. Or maybe, he’d told someone again. I rested my head against his back, emotionally drained. I’d fluctuated between “just let me die” and “I don’t want to die” too many times to count. I didn’t know what I wanted anymore except to be left alone. I had never asked to be in the middle of a werewolf tug of war.
We drove for hours the wrong way and then got off at an exit heading east so we could circle back around. Despite his efforts, I knew it would be pointless. Like he said, they would be waiting—because somehow, they always seemed to know where to expect us. I knew what I needed to do.
When he offered to stop, I pointed to a laundromat. He nodded and pulled in. He loosened the bag, and I slid off, taking the bag with me. His troubled gaze never wavered from me as he followed me into the light airy building.
He used the change machine as I shoved everything in a washer. After adding quarters and dumping in the powder detergent from the packet I’d bought at the vending machine, I finally faced him. He eyed me warily. Apparently his wolfie senses knew something was up. I let out a long, slow breath, calmed myself, and let the beginning of a dream wrap its arms around me—not enough to sleep, just enough to slow my pulse. I had to mask a lie.
“I saw a fast food place a few blocks away. I’ll get us something.”
He frowned at me. “I’ll go with.”
“No way. We’ll lose our stuff. It’s two blocks away and we’re in the middle of town,” I arched a brow at him and patted the bag I still had slung over my shoulder. “I have protection and can carry everything with this. Two burgers?”
“Three,” he grumped reaching into his wallet and giving me a twenty. We’d used all the money he’d given me for rooms along the way.
I plucked it from his fingers with a smile. “Probably a good idea,” I agreed. “You may not have fries by the time I walk back.”
He smiled at me as he sat down to watch the machine.
I strode out the door, turned right, and didn’t look back. Not far away, I flagged down a ride and asked them if they could take me north. Staring out the window, trying to ignore the ache growing in my chest, I watched the mile markers go by.
* * * *
My jaw popped on my third yawn. The couple had taken me over an hour north. They dropped me off and wished me luck. I smiled and waved as they pulled away. My stomach grumbled, and I thought of the twenty in my pocket. I still had a long way to go; and with no Luke, I needed to save the cash for when I really needed it.
Going into the gas station, I used the restroom and drank from the water fountain. The clerk watched me in the convenience mirror. Apparently my days of looking like a runaway weren’t over. I ignored him and headed out the door to begin my long trek—the gas station hadn’t had anyone who’d looked willing enough to give me a ride. Plus, the clerk would have probably called it in.
I trudged north for an hour, lost in my thoughts of this life and past lives. Why had the Taupe Lady directed my dreams to Gabby and Michelle’s pasts? Why in order? And why couldn’t I recall all the details like I could with other past lives? Because they weren’t dead yet? It made sense. How could I remember everything when everything hadn’t yet occurred? Why direct my dreams at all, though? She claimed she couldn’t interfere, but then did just that, hadn’t she?
Something had me lifting my head instead of watching my feet. The trees around me had lost their leaves, and I could once again see my breath in the air. I huddled in Luke’s jacket and wondered if he’d figured it out yet.
A twig snapped, and a group of three men stepped from the woods onto the shoulder in front of me. Steam rose from their skin. Shorts provided their only covering. Their smiles froze my insides. My feet stopped moving, but my mind whirred with possibilities. Distract and run!
“He went that way,” I called pointing to my left. They all turned, and I sprinted to the right, crashing into the trees ignoring the bite of the branches as they whipped my face.
Chapter Eleven
I ran. They toyed with me. With their speed, I knew they could catch me at any moment. But what fun would that be, I thought bitterly. The echoes of past lives hit me. Same game, same chase. My anger grew, fueling my legs. I pushed past the pain and kept moving. Just like my dreams, I sought something. A place to jump. A way to die cleanly. They couldn’t have me. The price for the world was too high.
A coughing laugh from behind me signaled their full transformation. I dodged around trees gasping for air, not slowing. Was it too much to ask for a random cliff in the woods every now and again?
Fear pooled in my stomach as my leg failed with a cramp. I fell hard but didn’t lay in a pathetic heap for more than a heartbeat. Getting my knees under me, my hand darted into my bag still slung across my body as I sprang up and leaned against a sapling. My quick moves didn’t matter. They were already upon me, their panting louder than my own as they laughed.
Pulling my hand from the bag, I surprised them with my knife. My gift from Luke. I felt a pang thinking of him. Leaving hadn’t kept me any safer.
One of the men shifted back enough to speak, but his mouth was still too long for the words to come out clearly. “What do you think to do with that?”
Around us the trees remained quiet. Only the distant chirping of birds reminded me I wasn’t alone.
“What did you hope to accomplish by chasing me?” I countered.
“Blake told us you would know. You’re the dreamer,” he said further shifting into a man.
“Your new leader?” I asked willing myself to breathe deeply, shoring my determination and trying to quell my fear.
They didn’t answer but it didn’t matter. Their leader changed each cycle, but their goals did not.
“If I’m the dreamer, then we all know the outcome,” I said. “Walk away and maybe I’ll live for another day.”
“I don’t think so, little girl,” he said as he eyed my knife.
“I’d hoped history wouldn’t repeat itself this time. I’m tired of dying.” The fear left me. Only sorrow remained as I spun the knife deftly and plunged it toward my soft middle.
The man roared and moved before the tip did more than pierce the surface. I’d underestimated their speed. But, when he batted it out of my hands, he didn’t realize he furthered my cause. A thin trail of fire blazed across my middle, superficial at best, but his nostrils flared as he scented my blood. I shifted my stance, bracing myself.
He growled but didn’t touch me further. We stood facing each other with me slightly bent holding an arm against the sting on my stomach. The other two stood several paces behind their spokesperson.
“Come with us on your own and spare yourself some pain.”
Spare myself pain? He had just acknowledged I remembered my—our—past lives. “Stupid dog,” I laughed.
He cuffed me upside the head, knocking me to my side. I staggered but did not fall. It hurt my cut but brought me closer to my knife. I didn’t look at the shining blade resting on the decaying leaves. Instead, I straightened and faced him again.
“Your brain mustn’t have expanded again with that last shift.”
This time he slapped me. It was hard enough to justify a stumble a
few more steps to my right.
“See?” I managed on a pain-filled exhale. “Pain is all you know how to give. There won’t be any sparing of anything but kindness and mercy.”
He snorted. “Mercy is for the weak.”
“No. Mercy is for anyone with a big enough vocabulary to —”
I didn’t get to finish the insult. He knocked me hard. The side of my face exploded in agony as I went down. This time, right on the knife. I laughed like a madwoman as I lay there. No one moved to touch me again. Were they trying to figure out what was so funny? It didn’t matter. I’d reached my goal. They wouldn’t have me this time.
Putting my arms under myself, I palmed the handle and stood, hiding my weapon behind my back, trying to angle the blade for my next fall.
“Stupid,” I taunted.
Before he could move, something big and dark flew toward one of the beasts, knocking it into a tree. I didn’t take my eyes from the man in front of me, but it looked like another one of them, half transformed.
The attention of the one in front of me didn’t waver either. As soon as one of his own hit the tree, he immediately grabbed for me. I slashed out with the knife, taking him by surprise. The wild swing relieved him of a not quite human digit. He screamed as behind him another member of his pack flew at the new attacker.
The wolf before me ignored the blood dripping from his hand and crouched slightly, watching me closely. His injury had wiped his patronizingly amused expression from his face. Tense, he hesitated, unsure how to come at me.
I grinned at him. “Stupid and slow. A bad combination in a fight.”
His lip curled back in a silent snarl a moment before he lunged toward me. I swung the knife up and over in a diagonal slash that caught his chest and part of his face when he pulled back. My arm ached from the force I’d used. I knew I wouldn’t take him by surprise again. Or could I?
He lunged once more, but this time I did not swing for him. I brought the knife up to my own neck. Seeing the edge poised at my throat, he suddenly flew backwards, away from me. The move gave me a clear view of who’d joined the fight.
