by Marla Monroe
Jeff leaned his head in his hands then keyed the mike again. “Well don’t go borrowing trouble. It sounds like she’s doing well and since they think the stuff in our blood helps fight illness, she should be healthier than we are. That’s a plus, right?”
“Right. You’re right. It’s just hard to watch the changes happen so fast. I can’t even enjoy how she is before she’s changing again.” Danny sighed over the mike. “Anyway. I’m real glad to hear that Beverly is doing so much better. Go take care of her and we’ll talk again later.”
“Danny. We’re here. If you need anything or just to talk, we’re here.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate that. Night. Out.”
Jeff cut off the mike and reset the radio to the emergency channel before sitting back in the chair and closing his eyes. He’d tell Caleb about it when they weren’t around Beverly, but she didn’t need to hear this right now. It would scare her to death. Hell, it was scaring him to death. What did it mean for them? Their children when they eventually had them.
“Fuck!” What if Beverly was already pregnant? It was possible.
What would her illness do to a baby if there was one? He rubbed the heel of his hands over his eyes then stood up. There was nothing he could do about any of it. Letting himself get anxious wasn’t helping him, and it wouldn’t help Beverly when she picked up on it. The best thing he could do right now was put it out of his mind. Somehow.
Chapter Sixteen
Beverly readjusted her pillow as she settled on the couch. She’d finally succeeded in convincing the two party poopers to let her sit up on the couch. She was tired of the bed and wanted to be doing something. They refused to believe her when she told them that she was as good as new now. Jeff had argued that she’d been unconscious for nearly three days and unable to talk for another twenty-four hours.
“Well, I can talk now, and I don’t like being treated like an invalid.”
“I can hear you!” Caleb yelled from the office where he was working.
Jeff was out tending to the horses and the garden. She wanted to see her garden. She’d been the one to plant it, and now it was growing without her. That fact alone was enough to rouse her temper, which was something she hadn’t really remembered having much trouble with before.
“I’m bored, Caleb. Let me cook something for dinner.”
“No. Sit still or I’ll move you back upstairs.”
She stuck her tongue out at him, glaring toward the office. She knew she was pouting, could feel her lips protruding like a child, but she couldn’t help it. They were babying her to the point of nausea. The first couple of days after she had woken up, it was nice to have so much attention and feel special to them, but now, she was ready to strangle them.
With a sigh, she pulled her leg up closer so she could see her ankle and the strange green and mostly yellow skin there. The area was raised, but not like the guys said it had been at first. Still, the discoloration was weird and a little scary since she’d never heard of anything like it before.
It didn’t hurt or burn anymore, and the stinging sensation she’d had when she first woke had mostly disappeared. She’d felt it more so when she was walking on it than at any other time. If she stayed off her feet, it didn’t bother her. The thing was, she was tired of staying off her feet. She wanted to do something other than flip through books and stare at the fireplace. Surely there was something she could do to pass the time.
When they had first asked her about the bumps, she hadn’t known what they were talking about. Then she realized they were talking about where she’d hit her ankle when she was exercising that morning. Once they’d gotten past the fact that she was working out when they thought she was already in great shape, Caleb had pointed out that if she had been exercising the way she’d told them, then the injury would have been on her left ankle and not her right.
She’d blown up at their insinuation that she’d lied to them. They covered their tracks pretty damn fast and assured her they hadn’t. They were just pointing out that there was a problem with what she’d told them. Yeah, she had to admit, they were right. There was no way she could have hit her outer ankle on the coffee table lying in the direction she had been. That meant something had bitten or scratched her at some point while she’d been waiting on them to return that day. She wished she could remember that day clearer.
“You’re awfully quiet out there.” Caleb’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts. She frowned.
“I’m thinking,” she called back.
“Now that scares me,” he shouted back.
She rolled her eyes and stretched out on the couch after moving her pillow from behind her back. She actually enjoyed the added attention she was getting from her guys. They spent more time with her both individually and together. Now if she could just get them to make love to her she would feel like everything was back to normal.
Beverly made a face. They didn’t think it was a good idea for her to get overexerted so soon after she’d been sick. She was fine. In fact, she’d never felt better. They were being overprotective. Plus, there was something that they were keeping from her. She narrowed her eyes. She was sure of it. They denied it, but sometimes she caught them looking at each other with that look.
“Whatever it is, I’m going to find out.”
“Did you say something, honey?” Caleb called out.
“No.” She grimaced.
The longer she lay on the couch, the sleepier she became. When her hand fell off the edge of the couch, she frowned but didn’t move it back to the cushion. Her mind drifted as she thought about the garden and wishing she could have watched it grow. Then she thought about how different Caleb seemed lately, or was it her? She wasn’t as uncomfortable around him as she had been at first. What was up with that?
It felt good to feel more relaxed with Caleb. Why had she been so uptight around him in the first place?
Because I doubted he could care about me. I’m not what he’s used to.
She snorted at that. No one could look as worried as he had that first time she’d woken up with him next to her and not care about her. He felt something. It might not be an all-consuming love, but it was special. She’d take that.
Her fingers brushed the floor, and she remembered that her arm had fallen. She needed to move it before something got it.
You never know what sort of monster is hiding under the bed at night, or the couch for that matter.
Now why had she thought about that? She hadn’t worried about something being under her bed at night since she’d been a young child.
Then it all came rushing back to her. She jerked her hand up and pushed to a sitting position all at the same time. For a moment, she couldn’t breathe as she remembered the noises and thinking there might be something under the couch. Was it still under there? Panic poured over her like a glass of ice water. Had it been in the house all this time and no one had seen it?
“Caleb?” It came out as a whisper.
She tried again. “Caleb!”
“Did you call me, honey?”
“Please come here.” Her voice sounded a little stronger that time.
God, what was she going to tell him? Would he think she was crazy? Why hadn’t she remembered this sooner? What if one of them had gotten hurt because she hadn’t said anything?
“Hey. You’re white as a sheet. I knew you were overdoing it. Let’s get you back upstairs.”
“No!” she shouted.
She swallowed at the startled look on Caleb’s face. If they were going to believe her, she had to sound rational and not insane. She bit her lower lip and tried again.
“I think I remember what happened.”
Caleb sat on the couch and held her hands in his. Her hands were so cold. She was thankful he seemed to be listening to her after she’d yelled at him.
“Go on. What happened, Bev?”
“I was doing my exercises on the floor in here while I waited on you and Jeff to get back from picking u
p the horses. I remember thinking I heard something moving around, but when I looked, there was nothing there. I just ignored it and kept doing my exercises.” She paused trying to remember what happened first, hitting her ankle or hearing the noises.
“Go on.” Caleb didn’t take his eyes off her face.
“I don’t remember if I hit my ankle before or after I heard the noises, but at some point I bumped my left ankle on the edge of the coffee table. I remember thinking ouch, but I just kept doing the leg lifts. Then when I had finished, I was so worn out, I just lay there on the floor between the coffee table and the couch trying to catch my breath.”
Beverly could remember thinking she’d just close her eyes for a few seconds then get up and take a shower. She had time before they got back.
“I must have dozed off because something startled me and my ankle was burning. It didn’t even dawn on me that it was the opposite ankle to the one I’d hit. I jumped up and took a shower.”
“We haven’t seen or heard anything since we’ve been here. Are you sure it didn’t happen outside?” Caleb asked.
“I promise. It didn’t happen out there, and I never went anywhere except the fenced-in backyard area.”
He shook his head and sighed. “Okay. Let’s get you upstairs. I want to check under everything down here but not with you exposed in case I scare it out.” He picked her up and carried her toward the stairs.
“Put me down here. I can climb the stairs. I wasn’t too excited about walking down on the floor, but I can see the stairs.” She glared at his smirk.
“Let me carry you up, Bev. It will be faster. You’re already tired.”
She sighed and leaned her head against his chest in resignation. He wasn’t going to be talked out of it. She knew that look. His muscles bunched beneath her hands as he climbed the stairs and carried her to their bedroom. When he settled her on the bed, she didn’t let go the hold she had around his neck.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I want a kiss, Caleb.” She held her head back so she could see into his eyes.
He smiled and leaned down to brush his lips across hers. As kisses went, it wasn’t what she was used to with them. Growling, Beverly pulled him down and nipped his lower lip before plunging her tongue into his mouth when he yelped. He tasted of warm summer days that went on forever. She felt him relax into the kiss and take over. This was what she expected in his kiss.
When he finally pulled back, she opened her eyes to see him watching her with a puzzled expression on his face. When she would have asked him what was wrong, he straightened up.
“Stay up here. I’ll be back after I look around some. If you need something, just call out. I should be able to hear you.” He headed toward the door.
“Wait! I remember something else.”
He turned back around. “What?”
“I remember thinking I heard something down in the cellar when I was getting the seeds and tools together to bring upstairs. I even thought I saw something brownish out of the corner of my eye, but there was nothing there when I looked around.”
Caleb frowned. “You should have told us, Beverly. From now on, you talk to us about anything you think you hear or see no matter what. Got it?”
“I will. I was just afraid you’d think I was crazy or ditzy.”
He shook his head and turned back toward the door. Once he’d left and she could no longer hear his steps on the stairs, Beverly let out a heartfelt sigh. He was angry with her again. Not that she’d only just now remembered everything, but that she hadn’t told them about any of it to begin with. Truth was, in the world they were now on, she should have. Nothing was silly when there were creatures out there that they knew nothing about.
* * * *
“What’s going on?” Jeff walked into the kitchen to find Caleb poking around in the laundry room with the rifle in his hands.
Looking up, he stood up again and sighed. “Beverly remembers some of what happened. She thought she saw something brownish in color down in the cellar when she was getting her seeds and things out, but she isn’t sure. And when she was doing her exercises that day we went to get the horses, she was on the floor between the couch and the coffee table when she heard something. Then she remembered feeling something burning on her ankle while she was down there.”
“You think something got her inside?” Jeff looked around the kitchen. “Why haven’t we seen or heard anything?”
“I don’t know, but I’m not going to take a chance it’s still here. I’m going down in the cellar next. Why don’t you check the living room? She’s upstairs now. I took her up there so I could concentrate on searching without worrying about her getting bit again.” He grinned. “Once she remembered, she didn’t want to put her feet back on the floor.”
Jeff ground his teeth. If she’d told them when she’d thought she’d seen something or heard something, it might never have happened. There was nothing they could do about it now except find whatever it was and kill it.
“Be careful down there. You know if you have to shoot anything down there it’s going to kill your ears.”
“I know. I’d rather have ringing ears for a while than for that thing to attack her or one of us.”
Jeff nodded and headed to the living room. He had brought his gun into the room with him. The first place he searched was up in the fireplace, just in case the thing had crawled up the chimney. Since there hadn’t been any fires in it yet, he didn’t have to worry about soot. That was all he needed, a face covered in black stuff.
After turning the coffee table upside down, he approached the couch with a little more caution. He listened, but he couldn’t hear anything moving anywhere unless you counted Caleb walking around in the cellar. Grabbing the back of the couch, he quickly turned it to its back. When nothing ran out from under it, he walked around and stared at the mess on the floor.
“Fuck.”
There had been something there all right. The bottom of the couch had a hole in it and some of the inside littered the floor. There were also a few partially gnawed pieces of carrots and potatoes. This wasn’t good. He poked at the bottom of the couch to see if there was still something hiding inside, but nothing moved or made a noise. Still, he didn’t trust that it wasn’t smart and playing possum.
“Caleb?” Beverly’s voice drifted down the stairs.
“It’s Jeff, baby? What do you need?”
“I was just wondering if he’d found anything? I could hear noise down there.”
“We’re looking. He’s down in the basement. Don’t come down here ’til we’ve cleared it.”
“I won’t. Be careful, Jeff.” He could hear a slight tremble in her voice.
Looking at the floor in front of him, he didn’t blame her. These things were dangerous, and one had been living in the fucking couch while they’d been going about their business unawares.
Without taking his eyes off the couch, he sat on the hearth by the fireplace and waited for Caleb to get finished down there. He wanted him in the same room with a gun while he cut the rest of the bottom of the couch open to make sure the damn thing wasn’t still in there. They would need to check the other chairs as well, but he wasn’t going to risk the thing getting away while he wasn’t looking.
He heard the creak of the steps in the pantry. Caleb was on his way back up. Must not have been anything down there since he hadn’t heard any cussing or a gunshot. When his friend appeared in the doorway, he watched the man’s eyes widen then narrow when he saw the mess on the floor where the couch had been.
“Well, fuck.”
“I already said that,” Jeff said.
“Worth saying again. I take it there’s nothing in there.”
“Don’t know for sure. I wanted you ready with the rifle while I cut the rest of the bottom to make sure. I poked around, but nothing moved or made a noise. I don’t trust that it isn’t smart and staying quiet.” Jeff pulled out the knife he carried in his boot and approached the couch.
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He watched Caleb lift the rifle and aim toward the couch in a shooter’s stance. They looked each other in the eye then Caleb nodded and Jeff quickly ran the knife from one end of the bottom to the other without hitting anything in between. He ripped back the fabric covering, but other than a little more debris falling out, there was no other sign of the animal.
Chapter Seventeen
“Crap. I guess it would have been too easy for it to have still been in there,” Caleb said.
Jeff huffed out a breath and straightened up from his crouched position. It was obvious by the way he moved that he was on edge. Caleb swallowed. That made two of them. He didn’t like not knowing things. He liked to have control over his environment, always had. Here on Alpha, he’d lost that control, though it had taken Beverly’s near death to realize it.
“Let’s check the other chairs before we clean that up. I don’t want to risk it moving while we’re distracted.” Jeff walked over to the lounge chair he used, waiting on Caleb to get into position.
“On three I’ll turn it over on its side with the bottom toward you,” he said.
Caleb nodded. He readied the rifle, aiming in the general area of the floor next to the chair.
“One, two, three.” Jeff pulled the chair over on its side and jumped back out of the way.
Nothing ran out, and there was no sign the thing had been under it. No pile of mess and the bottom didn’t have a hole chewed or torn out of it like the couch had. They both blew out a breath. Caleb moved over to stand on the other side of his chair. Once again he took aim and waited for Jeff to count and turn it on its side.
On three, Jeff jerked the chair over and something screeched and flew from under it. It happened so fast that Caleb didn’t have time to aim and shoot.
“Fuck! It ran in the kitchen.” Jeff grabbed up his gun and both of them ran into the other room.
“Be careful, Jeff. Let’s not shoot each other with it running around like this.”
