by Melissa Haag
Luke sat on a made bed waiting for me when I opened the door.
“Feed me,” I begged.
He couldn’t hide the worry that passed over his face. Standing, he threaded his fingers through mine and led me out of the room. My bag was slung over his shoulder.
We met everyone in the breakfast area. Michelle and Emmitt couldn’t stop looking at or touching each other. Long looks followed by a quick kiss, a hug, or just a shoulder brush. I shook my head. I wasn’t the only one. I caught Gabby’s look, too. She grinned at me as Luke led me to the counter laid out with food.
He insisted I eat a bagel, eggs, sausage, and a waffle. Then he looked at me and added a bowl of cereal.
“Seriously? I’ll be sick if I eat all that,” I whispered as he carried the plate to the table Grey and Carlos shared.
“He’ll eat what you don’t,” Grey said with a laugh.
I sat and started eating, asking questions between bites.
“Any news?”
“One of their sentinels must have discovered the Compound empty because they stopped grouping and have fanned out. Gabby said they are creating a net across the states, but there are holes big enough to wind our way through. It just might take a little longer,” Grey answered.
Nana came up and asked about the stitches. She insisted on checking them before we leave. I reluctantly agreed.
Luke used his fork to stab a piece of sausage from my plate and fed it to me with a soft command to eat.
In no time I was down to just the waffle. I had to push the plate away. “Too much,” I groaned. Luke had the same I did, but twice the serving size. Still, his plate sat empty. He grabbed my waffle and finished that, too.
We shuffled the seating arrangements so Nana, Gabby, and Clay rode with us. Clay sighed when Gabby moved to sit in the backseat with Luke and me. He caught the back of her shirt before she could completely escape him and planted a kiss on her mouth before getting into the front seat.
“How you feeling?” she asked when Nana pulled out of the lot. Since we rode with Gabby, we were the lead car.
“Fine,” I acknowledged. Luke’s leg pressed against mine, warming me. I would probably be napping before long.
“If it’s okay, I have some questions for you...” She glanced at Luke and Nana.
“It’s fine with me.” I’d relayed everything I thought I knew. If there was some memory lurking, some piece of information I’d failed to mention...well, it wasn’t on purpose.
“You’ve said a lot about our abilities. I thought...I thought I was meant to find pairs.”
“What do you mean?”
“When I touch people, if I’m feeling the right things, like empathy, I can transfer my power to them. Then, I get this kind of echo back from it, like ripples. When they hit the right one, their spark glows brighter. Does that make sense?”
Though I understood what she was saying, I’d never experienced it. “I haven’t lived anything like that yet. I didn’t know you could transfer your power. I wonder if the rest of us can,” I said looking out the window for a moment. Who would I want to give these dreams to? It would just be cruel. Well, maybe Luke. Maybe he would finally understand.
“When I transferred my power to Clay, my spark lit brightly. When I transferred it to Luke, your spark lit brightly. That’s why I sent him. Well, part of the reason.”
“You knew?” he said in a shocked tone.
“I wasn’t sure. But I wasn’t wrong, was I?” Gabby watched Luke closely.
Luke scowled at her.
“I could pass my power to you,” she said.
She’d barely spoken the words when Clay and Luke simultaneously shouted, “No.” Clay turned in his seat to give Gabby a look. It wasn’t angry, but I could still see a stubborn warning there.
She and I shared a look. “It drains me,” Gabby admitted. “At least, it did before I Claimed Clay.” She reached forward and ran her fingers in Clay’s hair. “Clay, it probably won’t affect me anymore.”
He shook his head. “Hands to yourself.”
I could see he wouldn’t be facing forward again anytime soon. She sighed and sat back.
“What’s your reason for not wanting me to try?” she asked Luke.
“She’s perfect the way she is,” he answered vaguely and looked out the window.
Clay laughed. Gabby looked as confused as I felt, but then understanding lit her eyes.
“Have you felt the other part of my ability? The attraction I have on men?” I nodded recalling the dreams from this life. “I transfer that, too. When I transferred it to Clay,” she smiled and her eyes drifted to him. He gave a tiny shake of his head as his teeth made a brilliant appearance. “Well, I Claimed him on the spot,” she said.
Ah. So Luke wouldn’t be able to resist me? Sign me up!
Gabby and I shared a look, but Clay kept too close of an eye on Gabby.
“I’d guessed about there being another race,” Gabby said quietly. She looked at Clay sadly. “We came up here a day early because they tried challenging Clay. The men had a different color spark. While one had Clay distracted, another came in from the back. Clay heard and got there in time. But not before I saw the man.” She turned and looked at me, clearly upset. “I felt it. The pull. But it felt so wrong,” she whispered.
“Because for you, it was,” I said. Then I looked at Clay. “To the death?”
He gave the barest shake of his head. That was a problem. But I didn’t say anything more.
Chapter Eighteen
A week later we reached Georgia. We’d driven through a wicked storm and ended up a little further south than where we wanted to be. With Gabby’s watchful eye, we’d avoided detection, though we’d experienced a few close calls. We’d woken one morning to a knock on our door and a quick “pack up.” We’d left that hotel minutes before the Urbat reached town. They were only scouting Gabby assured us, but no one wanted to take the chance. She said their net was still spread wide. They were still trying to find us.
They had managed to catch a lone werewolf the fourth day after our departure from the Compound. The Elders immediately reached out to the man and remained mute for several hours. I shivered watching their faces and imagined the poor werewolf begging for information to give his captors as they tortured him.
Luke wrapped his arm around my shoulders and whispered words I couldn’t remember afterward. He understood that I relived my own tortured pasts while the man remained in the Urbat’s hands. When the Elders started speaking again, I knew his torture was over. I struggled to pull myself out of my dark memories. Luke was my anchor. He held my hand through it all, worry etched on his face.
He continued to fuss over what I ate, too. Under his care, I put on a few needed pounds and finally got more than two consecutive nights of good sleep. He started sleeping with a bag of chips next to the bed until I woke with crumbs in my hair and put a stop to his snacking.
We trudged into the lobby of yet another hotel, dripping and tired of being on the road. I was beginning to wonder if anywhere would ever feel like home again. Nana came up to me and pulled me away from Luke.
“I’d like to take out the stitches today. It was a shallow enough cut that it should be fine, but you’ll need to take it easy.”
I eagerly agreed. They were itching like crazy and uncomfortable. Once we had our rooms, she knocked on our door. Luke held my hand as she cut the first loop. It didn’t hurt. Then she tugged. I suffered a sharp sting on the surface as the stitch broke free from the healing skin. My stomach turned over at the queer feeling of something sliding under my skin.
“That was the easy one,” Nana said. “A small one I did as a test to make sure you’d sleep through it. The next few are longer running stitches.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. More tugging, a little bleeding, and a lot of that under the skin crawling occurred over the next few minutes, but then she was done. I looked down at my stomach unimpressed with the new decoration on my skin. I sighed
and moved to tug my shirt down.
“Not yet,” she said reaching down for a bottle. “It needs to be cleaned again.” She passed the small bottle of rubbing alcohol to Luke. “I think you can take it from here.”
I did not want the alcohol on all the new holes in my skin. Most of them bled like little pinpricks. Luke watched me with a smile when I slowly tugged my shirt down.
“You heard her,” he said. “Let’s do this quick and then we can grab dinner.”
“I’m too sick for dinner. Let’s skip it,” I said referring to the cleaning.
“Bethi, you’re tougher than this,” Luke said.
His gentle words made me feel like a coward. So, I made a face at him and exposed the cut. “Go on, you sadist. Inflict some more pain on your poor little human.” I closed my eyes waiting for the pain, but felt nothing. Then, something brushed my forehead. A soft kiss. I smiled. He did that when he wanted to comfort me. It always worked.
A light touch of something cold on my almost healed cut elicited a gasp from me. Immediately, the antiseptic sting followed. He methodically touched each spot. I knew he had finished when he placed another kiss on my forehead.
Opening my eyes, I caught his tender look as he apologized. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”
I gave a little laugh. “You didn’t hurt me. I did. I’m good at that.”
He helped me sit up. “But not anymore. Never again.” He placed gentle fingers under my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze until I nodded.
Satisfied, he moved away from the bed and cleaned up the tissues he’d used. I stood slowly, testing my capabilities. It felt weird. It was probably in my head, but I worried the wound would pop right back open. So, though I stood straight, my movements were slow and easy like Nana recommended.
“Since we’re eating at the hotel’s restaurant, it might be better if you leave that here,” he commented nodding toward the knife strapped to my thigh.
After leaving the compound, I’d taken to wearing my knife strapped to my leg. Nana had loaned me a cute peacoat to replace Luke’s shredded jacket. The new coat covered the knife whenever we stopped.
Sighing, I bent and released the clasp. I handed the bundle to Luke and watched him tuck it into our bag. When he joined me at the door, he placed another gentle kiss on my forehead. “We’ll all be there,” he murmured. “You won’t need it.”
I gave the bag a long wistful glance and left with Luke.
Down in the lobby, the others waited. The boys were being entertained by Grey and Jim doing “up-downs”. The term wasn’t something I associated with what they did. Each boy held the thumbs of one of the men. The men closed their hands over the boy’s wrist and then started lifting and lowering them. It caused fits of giggles, but I didn’t see how it could be much fun. To me, it looked like their arms would get sore. The boys, not the werewolves. I knew the werewolves could lift like that forever.
“All set?” Nana asked.
I wrinkled my nose. “Yes. He got each one.”
She smiled. “We’ll get you a dessert for putting up with that.”
Aden immediately begged to be let down and scampered over to my side. “Can I sit by you?” he asked sweetly. I’d watched how Jim often stole food from Aden’s plate, and Aden in turn robbed whoever else sat closest to him. No doubt, he wanted my dessert. Still, I agreed.
The wait staff had already prepared a table for our large party and sat us as soon as we entered the hotel’s dining room. Luke sat on one side of me with Aden on the other. Michelle sat on Aden’s other side, close to Emmitt. Jim was quick to sit across from Aden. Liam was on his other side.
Gabby claimed the spot directly across from me. Since driving together, she often took every opportunity to talk to me about her gift, trying to figure out all of its possibilities. We even found a moment free of our men where she’d offered to pass her gift to me. I’d been so tempted but knew we couldn’t risk her losing her ability to see the sparks and guide our route. So, I’d regretfully declined the offer.
Talk around the table rose as everyone tried to decide what to order. It was nice not having to worry about money. Michelle’s lawyer contact helped her get the funds we needed throughout our journey. No one made a fuss about using it, so I didn’t either. I had enough to worry about. Besides, that’s what she was meant to do.
While eyeing the baked lasagna on the menu, Gabby nudged me under the table. I looked up to see her unfocused gaze. “One of them just changed direction,” she mouthed. Both Luke and Clay caught it, but no one else paid it any attention. “Maybe the rain?” she whispered hopefully, her eyes focusing again on the menu. She didn’t look up again, but I could tell she monitored the progress of whoever had caught her attention. We ordered, and most of the adults conversed or entertained the children. I kept a close eye on Gabby.
She reached for Clay’s hand. He wrapped both of his around hers and tilted his head. That finally caught the attention of Grey.
“What is it?” he asked softly, looking between Clay and Gabby. The table grew quiet, even the boys. Michelle hugged Aden to her side. Jim placed a gentle hand on top Liam’s head.
“Someone’s changed their direction,” I said.
“A complete turn,” Gabby added.
“With all this rain, we should be fine,” Sam assured the suddenly tense group. But we knew all it took was one of them to catch the scent and send word.
“Have any others changed?” Nana asked.
“I thought the rest looked like the same inconsistencies they’ve been doing since the beginning. Remember how I said it looked like a net? Several have changed directions moving toward a central point,” she frowned. “They are doing that in six areas. We seem to be in the middle of one. The areas are huge though, several states. Big nets to catch little fish.”
“Do we need to move?” Grey’s eyes lacked their usual humor.
Gabby shook her head slowly. “I’m not as worried about their nets as much as I am the one closest to us. About a mile now.”
The Elders shared a look. The waitress came to ask if we needed any refills. Jim asked for a double of whiskey and two kiddie cocktails. Aden gave Jim a cautious smile.
“That’s close, but with the rain, we don’t think they could track us even if they were right outside the door,” Nana said. Thunder boomed to punctuate her point. “Gabby, keep us updated. Sam, grab everyone’s room keys and gather our things in my room. If they reach the parking lot, we’ll all go there.”
Sam stood and left. The waitress delivered the whiskey and kids’ sodas. Jim pushed the sodas to the boys and the whiskey to Michelle. It was then I saw her pale face and worried looks at the boys.
“Nana,” she said. “Call Mary and Gregory. You’re right. It’s safer.”
Nana nodded sadly. I’d wondered when she would send them away and thought her foolish for keeping them with us this long. But I did understand. How could you let go of someone you loved so much?
Michelle took a small sip, and Emmitt commented, “I guess I’m losing another shirt.” It did the trick. Some color came back into her cheeks.
She leaned over and kissed the top of Aden’s head and asked if they could play tic-tac-toe together. He eagerly turned over his placemat.
I could see the exact moment we were out of danger. Gabby took a deep calming breath and removed her hand from Clay’s. “He’s close, but stopped moving,” Gabby said.
“Probably holing up out of the rain,” Clay said. That man’s voice did serious things to a girl’s insides. Gabby caught my stare and grinned at me knowingly.
“If he clears out before check out tomorrow morning, we’ll see if we can book the rooms for another night. It will give Mary and Gregory enough time to reach us,” Nana spoke directly to Emmitt. Michelle continued to play with Aden but took another sip of whiskey at the news.
A few minutes later Sam rejoined us just in time for our food. I dug into my meal and looked forward to staying there another day.
* * * *
Stuffed from dinner even with Aden’s help with dessert, I willingly followed everyone back to Nana’s room where we all grabbed our things. The Elders agreed it would be best if they spread themselves throughout the rooms in case we needed a quick warning to leave. Grey and Carlos roomed with us, Sam stayed with Gabby, and Nana with Charlene and Thomas since their room adjoined to Michelle and Emmitt’s.
Feeling awkward, I closed myself in the bathroom to get ready for bed. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, then stared at my bag. If we needed to leave in the middle of the night, I wasn’t about to run out into the storm wearing sleep pants. I grabbed some clean clothes and changed. When I emerged, I saw the rest had the same idea—except for Luke. When he saw me, he smiled, pulled off his shirt, and lay back with an arm across my pillow. An open invitation to my favorite spot to sleep.
I crawled into bed and gave into a dreamless night.
* * * *
The morning brought better news. Grey greeted me with a smile saying, “We’re here for another day.” Then he made the news sweeter saying, “Carlos and I are going back into our own room. It’s a good thing you’re a solid sleeper because he snores.” He looked at Luke who grinned and seemed undisturbed by the news.
We went to breakfast and listened to everyone else’s plans for the day. Michelle wanted to take the kids to a movie —early showing of course—and Nana wanted to shop for some snacks to pack in the cars for everyone. Grey claimed Carlos just wanted to watch cable all day. Carlos’ only reaction to that was a long look at Grey. I had a feeling it was Grey who wanted to watch cable all day. Gabby said she had schoolwork she wanted to focus on for a few hours. I envied her belief that life would continue as normal once we found Peace. I wasn’t about to tell her otherwise.
Sam looked at Luke and me. “What about you two?”
