Lycos (Guardian Security Shadow World Book 3)

by Kris Michaels

  “Dog?”

  Her son turned and pointed. Bethanie followed his finger, grabbed Ethan and dragged him further up onto the mattress with her. “That is not a dog!”

  “I know, he's a canis lupus lycaon. He's a wolf, but he's cool, and he's really warm. He slept with me last night. His name is Dog.”

  The animal stared at her before it turned its head and fluidly poured itself out of the chair. The animal padded out of the room without a backward glance. The lights overhead turned on as the animal walked away, just like the lights in the cases of the frozen food department of their local grocery. She pushed herself up and slowly swung her feet off the bed. God, her body hurt. She patted her sock-clad foot against the flooring. Her forehead scrunched. It was warm, like toasty warm.

  “The man said you'd be thirsty. He brought this for you last night.” Ethan handed her the thermos styled mug.

  She reached for the cup and screwed off the top. A thin vapor of steam rose from the surface of the water. Bethanie smelled it and cautiously took a sip. The warmth soothed her dry throat. The water hit her stomach and spread, absorbing much as rain soaks into sun-baked soil. She drank the entire cup. Ethan took it from her when she was finished and put it on the bedside table.

  Bethanie looked around what she could see of the darkened room. “What time is it?”

  “I dunno. The man is asleep down the incline in the big cave. I didn't wake him up.”

  “The big what? Cave?”

  “Mom, are you sure you’re okay? I mean, rock walls and ceiling.” Ethan waved his hand toward the wall and then pointed up.

  Bethanie dropped her head back slowly and blinked up at the ceiling… which wasn't a ceiling, but rather a... She closed one eye as she turned to face her son. “We're in a cave.”

  “Kinda, but it's a really cool house, too.” Ethan pushed into the side of the bed.

  Her body ached like she had the flu, but she didn't have a fever. She could so use a couple of over the counter pain relievers. Her eyes traveled the expanse of the room.

  “Where's the bathroom?”

  “Through that door.” He pointed behind her.

  “Okay, I'm going to go use the bathroom. Please don’t leave.”

  “Okay.” Ethan flopped onto the bed and burrowed under the mountain of blankets she'd been rolled up in.

  Bethanie stopped for a couple seconds as the lights turned on when she walked forward. She looked up and narrowed her eyes at the lights. Freaky. She moved and waited for the next light to turn on.

  “Motion sensors! Cool, huh?” Ethan called from the bed.

  “It's something, that's for sure.” Her feet ached. Each footstep sent a jarring pain through the arches of her feet and up her legs. She made it to the bathroom and pulled off her socks. There was nothing wrong with her feet. She pressed the toe of each foot and watched the blood fill the white space as she let go. Her feet had gone numb last night. The pain she was suffering today was probably due to stumbling around in the cold.

  Bethanie took care of business and used her finger and the man's toothpaste to scrape and rinse the Sahara Desert out of her mouth. She found his medicine cabinet and helped herself to two maximum strength pain relievers, using her hands to scoop water into her mouth and chase the tablets down. The haggard reflection in the mirror made her wince. She could fall back into that big bed and sleep for another week or so, but she needed to get Ethan and leave. The warm tile under her feet held her attention until she stalled in front of a massive stone wall. Something was missing? There was the wall, and there, that was a drain... toilet over there, two sinks. Her eyes flew back to the stone wall. That was the shower? Where was the showerhead? Oh, what she wouldn't give for a hot shower, but her feet ached enough that stepping closer to examine the curiosity was off the menu. Instead, she shuffled out of the bathroom. She could shower at the cabin.

  “Mom, I'm hungry.” Ethan's lament was proof positive that her son had survived the ordeal in the woods without lasting physical injury, but she still needed words with the guy who left her son with a wolf and taught him how to say motherfucker. Seriously, what kind of jerk did that?

  “Okay. If you walk really slow with me, we can go find the man and then maybe the kitchen.” Most people wouldn't mind her feeding her child. Most people didn't leave said child in the middle of the forest with a wolf or say vulgar cuss words in front of them either.

  “I know where it is.” Ethan held her hand as she trundled alongside him.

  “Do you?”

  “Yeah. I had soup last night.” He chuckled. “It was pretty good. I even ate the carrots.” He smirked at her look of disbelief.

  Okay, well maybe the man wasn't a complete loser as an adult.

  Bethanie took her time moving down the arched hallway comprised entirely of carved stone. The floors stayed warm under her feet as she passed a closed door about halfway down the hallway. Almost at the end of the hall, she peeked into the last door. Illumination bloomed to reveal a massive office with a bank of computers and a desk phone on the far wall, but that wasn't what stopped her. The walls, from ceiling to floor, were covered in shelves that held thousands of volumes of books.

  “Wow.” The word fell from her lips in a small whisper.

  “He's sure has a lot of books.”

  “He sure does.” That was the understatement of the day.

  “The kitchen is this way.” The hallway they followed was wide enough to allow six people to walk side by side. As it curved to the right, the floor started a gentle, but noticeable, slope. Turning the corner, she released a soft gasp. A vast cave stretched in front of her. A massive fireplace roared against the far wall where a conversation pit formed a living area. To the right, rows of natural pine cabinets filled the walls over what seemed like acres of speckled white and black granite counters. The largest farmhouse sink she’d ever seen broke up the long run of granite. A stainless steel hood descended from the ceiling over an eight burner cooktop, complete with pot filler. Underneath the cooktop, double ovens and what looked like a built in microwave broke up more wood cabinets. A kitchen island with eight upholstered chairs obscured the lower cabinets past that until the stacked washer and dryer ended the march of cabinetry. No walls separated the rooms, just... space.

  “Wow.” That seemed to be her go-to word today.

  “Yeah, it's cool, huh?”

  “Cool, yeah. Really cool. Where's the man?”

  Ethan swung his head toward the fireplace. His eyes darted from place to place. “I don’t know. When I came out before you woke up, he was asleep on the couch.”

  Right, well then. Food. The lights in the living area slowly went dark. Okay, so something had been moving in that area recently. The lights in the hall behind her were still on. Apparently, they must stay on for a period of time unless they detected movement. Maybe?

  “The bread is in that wooden box on the counter. Do you think he has peanut butter?” Ethan headed to a small wooden box on one of the long countertops. He lifted the little tambour door and pulled out a bag of baguettes.

  She glanced at the array of cabinets. “Maybe. If you were peanut butter, where do you think you'd hide in this kitchen?”

  “Uhhh...” Ethan spun from right to left.

  “I'd probably hide right by the almond butter and hazelnut spread in that cabinet.”

  At the low male voice, Bethanie gasped and spun so fast she lost her balance. A hand caught her elbow, steadying her. “Oh, you scared me.”

  “I wasn't expecting you to be awake yet.” The man released his grip on her arm and walked across the expansive kitchen to open the cabinet. He pulled down a large plastic container and handed it to Ethan. Her son smiled and toted the container to the table where he'd placed the bread.

  When the guy returned, he stood in front of her and crossed his arms over his chest. His eyes traveled over her. Exposed and vulnerable under his hard stare, she extended her hand. “Bethanie Clark.”

  The man glan
ced at her hand and leaned back. Her hand dropped like a lead weight. All right, so much for introductions. Her tongue wet her hot, chapped lips. “Ahh... thank you for... ah, last night.”

  “What in the hell did you think you were doing?” Anger laced the man's question. Ethan's head whipped toward them from where he was digging peanut butter out of the container.

  “We got lost when we followed some rabbits. We couldn't find the markers we'd left.” The feelings of helplessness, despair, and fear lanced through her again, as sharp, unrelenting and vicious as they were last night. They'd been so close to... No, she couldn't think about it. The helplessness was too fresh, too raw. Her arms wrapped around her waist, and she glanced at her son. He'd put the knife down and sat, watching the exchange with narrowed eyes.

  The man's eyes bored across the distance. She could feel it as she turned her eyes back to him.

  He shook his head, his stare holding her in place. “Stupid, that's what you are.”

  “We didn't mean to get lost.” Stupid. Worthless. A waste. The memories of taunts flowed like blood from a lanced vein through her mind.

  “Screw the getting lost scenario. Giving him your coat? Pure, unadulterated idiocy. How in the flying fuck were you going to take care of that kid if you froze to death? Did you think that would keep him alive after you froze to death? Why didn't you start a fire? Find a place out of the wind? Shelter of some sort? Here's a crazy idea, get some kindling going and snuggle together to use your joint body heat to stay alive?”

  Her mouth dropped open. “What? How was I supposed to start a fire? I didn't have any matches! And he was freezing! I had to get him back to the cabin. I'd give him every stitch of clothes on my body to keep him warm! And what about you? You left him with a wolf!”

  “The kid was fine. You, however, Miss I'm going to be the stupidest thing God put on the planet while pretending to be selfless, were going to die if I didn't get your ass into shelter and warmed up.”

  Ethan flew from the table and inserted himself between Bethanie and whoever this asshole was. He straightened and glared at the man. “Don’t call my mom stupid, you jerk. She’s smarter than you’ll ever be. Just because you found us doesn’t give you the right to call her that. You don’t know us, you—”

  The man pointed to Ethan without dislodging that cold stare. “Shut it, kid, this is an adult conversation.”

  “Oh, no, this is not happening! Do not talk to my son that way!” Bethanie limped forward and pushed in front of Ethan. This condescending piece of shit could berate her and treat her any way he chose, but he would not, ever treat Ethan like that. The man towered over her, but she'd be damned if she was going to back down. She loved her son, and she was a damn good mom. He was all she had in this life. Nobody would take that from her. Nobody.

  “Lady, let me set some things straight for you right now. One, you have no fucking clue how to exist in this country. I would love for you and your kid to leave even knowing you'd probably get lost all over again. Believe me, I do not want you here. Just my fucking luck, leaving isn't an option. There's a blizzard of Biblical proportions going on, and nobody is getting out of this cave any time soon. You go out there now and it’s tantamount to suicide. They wouldn’t even find your body until spring. Two, that protective momma bear shit you got going on is doing that boy zero good. Life is full of hard fucking knocks, lady. He made it last night. He's stronger for it. He was never in danger, but you were. Three, as soon as I can get your ass out of my life, you're gone.”

  Her eyes filled with tears. Tears that were born from anger. She held out her hand and Ethan grabbed it. She spat the type of words she'd prayed she'd never be forced to say again past her gritted teeth and clenched jaw. “His name is Ethan. I'm sorry we inconvenienced you. I'll do my best to make sure you won't know we're here.”

  Hard, dark eyes stared back at her. His face contorted in a snarl before he spun on his heel and left.

  “Mom, don’t let him talk to you like that. He doesn’t have the right. Nobody has the right.”

  She met her son's troubled stare. She cleared her throat and sniffed back the tears that threatened to fall. “It's okay, baby. Finish making your sandwich.”

  “I'm not hungry anymore.”

  “Okay. How about we make a couple sandwiches anyway and we'll eat them later.” She didn't want to be anywhere near that man. That vicious, horrid man. They could make sandwiches and fill cups with water and find a place to... hide.

  She shuffled to her son and helped him make four sandwiches before she cleaned the knife and put away the peanut butter. She looked through the cupboards as quietly as she could until she found a drawer with plastic bags. She took one out and placed all four sandwiches in it. Her search also yielded two large plastic cups. She filled both with water and then gazed around the cavern. There was an empty space by what looked like the storage area. She nodded in that direction, and they made their way across the vast expanse.

  “Look, that's our stuff, isn't it?” Ethan pointed to their suitcases.

  She nodded and set the cups on a cabinet. She opened hers and then Ethan's suitcase. They were full of the winter clothes the man had brought them. Why had he gone to their cabin? Her eyes tracked to the furthest bag and beyond. She hobbled forward and blinked when the lights turned on. The dry food that he'd brought to their cabin was sitting on a long countertop that led to a door and what appeared to be a silver panel about three-foot-high and two-foot-wide set into the stone wall.

  A sink, food and their clothes. Plus, a washer and dryer. Two freezers punctuated the cabinetry. Closer to them was an open shelf that held a sleeping bag and several backpacks. Okay. They'd stay back here, out of the way. They could be very quiet. She'd learned early in her life how to make herself scarce and unseen. It was something she prayed Ethan would never have to know. Maybe she could make an adventure out of it. She coughed and grimaced at the phlegm in her throat. Wonderful.

  “Here's my backpack.” Ethan lifted it up.

  “Good. Okay. That's good.” Bethanie nodded her head up and down, giving a mental confirmation to her plan.

  “What’s good?”

  “We'll stay here. Look, see that shelf where the sleeping bag is?”

  “Yeah, what about it?” Ethan looked up at her. “James has one like that.”

  “Right, well see how far the bottom of the shelf is from the ground?”

  “Yeah?”

  “We are going to become invisible. Let's put the sleeping bag on the floor, and we can drape something down and… I don’t know, hide from the world.”

  Ethan slid his eyes up to her. “So, he won't see us and get pissed again?”

  She shrugged. “Something like that. Let's make it now, and we can have a sandwich when we're done. Okay?”

  “Okay. Dude cusses a lot. I mean, a lot.”

  “Boy, don't I know it. But just because he said them doesn't mean we can, right?” Bethanie pushed her curls back from her face, tucking the longer strands behind her ears before she untied the knots in the strings that bound the sleeping bag.

  “Oh, look!”

  Bethanie heard the whir of something motorized and glanced toward the sound. The wolf stepped through the silver panel. He was covered in snow; well, he was for about five seconds. He shook, dislodging the ice from his coat. The animal walked up to Ethan and stood beside him.

  Ethan laughed, “He's really wet.”

  “He really is, and he smells like a dog.”

  Ethan took a deep breath, “Wet wolves stink.”

  “They do.” Bethanie opened the zipper of the sleeping bag and pushed it under the shelf. She glanced around. Three towels that had obviously seen better days were folded and waiting close to the back door.

  “Will you get those towels for me, please?” She handed a towel to Ethan. “See if you can get some of the water off him. Umm… will he bite?” “

  Ethan shrugged. “He won't bite me.” He draped the towel over the animal's ba
ck and rubbed his coat in a completely ineffective way.

  Bethanie slowly walked on her knees toward the animal. She grabbed half of the terry cloth and carefully dried the dog's fur. He tilted his head back, and his tongue lolled out.

  “See, he likes it.” Ethan dropped his portion of the towel and scratched the wolf between the ears.

  Bethanie kept a wary eye on both of them as she wiped his paws and then the floor where the animal had entered the house, err… cave. She draped the wet dog towel over the sink and leaned against the stainless, exhausted.

  Her throat was raw. Probably from breathing all the cold air last night. “Ethan, will you grab the water? We can have our sandwiches and then, maybe, we'll watch a movie.”

  “Sounds like a plan, Mom.”

  Maybe she could nap while he watched. The wolf-dog curled up next to Ethan when he sat down. He watched them eat the food but didn't beg. He'd been well trained.

  Her mind flitted back to the man. He was so angry and... big. A dark scruff covered his face. Not a beard yet, but it looked like he hadn't shaved in a couple days. He was tall and powerfully built. His legs were long and just as thick as the rest of him. What she remembered best about the man was his utter rage at their presence and the worthlessness she’d felt at his accusations. Those emotions she knew. The question was why was he so angry, and why did he turn his rage on her? She'd done the best she could.

  “Okay?”

  Bethanie blinked and cranked her head to see her son. “What?”

  “I'm going to watch Avengers, okay?” He held up his portable DVD player and the movie.

  “Sure, but let's use the earphones, too.”

  “Time to make like a ghost?” Ethan smiled at her and dropped to his knees beside the draped off area.

  “No time like the present.” She watched him slide in and followed him under the towels, careful not to move the sleeping bag into bunches as she pushed into the confined area. She was able to lie on her side and watch him get his movie started. The dog's head popped in their space before he crawled half of his body onto the sleeping bag. The smell of damp dog permeated the small area.