“Relax, Asher. She seems fine to me. In fact, she’s been in town for a couple days casing the joint. Maybe longer, since she’s been rather sly and I didn’t pick her out first thing. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s underneath that wig.” He grinned at Hannah. “Anyway, she seems very capable of taking care of herself.”
Asher sighed and shook his head, turning his back to Gabe.
“I’ll leave you love birds to it then, before the natives tear the place down. Apartment’s open.” Gabe threw Hannah a wink and headed back to the thumping bass of the bar. Hannah managed not to wink back, since Asher was staring at her disapprovingly.
The apartment turned out to be directly above the bar, the exposed brick walls and wood floor doing little to muffle the band’s final number below. Hannah was holding carefully still while Asher unwrapped the ace bandage from around her arm, pulling it gently, trying not to hurt her.
“How did you do it?” He stopped unwrapping where the bandage was firmly crusted to her arm.
“Do what?” If he meant bandage her arm, poorly was how, based on the way it was cemented to her skin.
“How did you get away?” Asher crossed to the kitchenette that made up one wall of the room, then ran warm water into a bowl and threw a dish towel into it.
She told him the story while he dabbed at her arm, loosening up the gauze.
“So I take it that means it wasn’t you?” she asked.
He shook his head without looking up, the bandage sopping, water dribbling down to her fingers.
“I wasn’t sure. I didn’t wait around to find out.”
“Good. Because I was still on the ground at that point. The last thing I remember . . .” He paused for a moment, turning away to rinse the rag in the bowl of pale pink water. “The last thing I remember is staring down the barrel of my sister’s gun, knowing I was going to wake up to find I had failed to protect you.”
If she hadn’t been so distracted by the swift and painful removal of the last layer of gauze, she would have sworn he was choked up. Or maybe it was because he caught a look at her arm, because when she looked at it, she felt a little uneven herself.
The wound might not have been life-threatening, but just because it didn’t look gangrenous right now didn’t mean it was going to stay that way. There was definitely what was shaping up to be a permanent depression in her upper arm, a gouge that was currently a raw, open mess. There was an angry looking red ring around it that didn’t look too promising, and the whole area felt numb and clumsy. She wondered what muscles and nerves might be permanently damaged, what feeling and movement she might never get back.
“Jesus, Hannah.” Asher sat back on his heels beside where she lay on the couch.
“Is he here too?”
He shook his head, unamused. “Do not change the subject. This is very bad.”
“Tell me what happened after that,” she said.
“After what?” He was still staring at her arm.
“After you died, what else? I found your clue and got out of town almost a week ago. Where have you been?”
Hannah pulled her shirt back on over her uncooperative arm without putting a new bandage on it, letting the wound get some air, and to get him to stop staring at it and start talking.
“I woke up in a field across from a big store,” he said. “I do not know why, but for some reason I ended up nearly forty miles from where we last were. Unfortunately, before I could manage to make it back to find out what had happened to you or track down my sister, I was hindered by law enforcement.”
“Hindered by law enforcement, what does that mean? Did you get arrested?” She leaned back against the arm of the couch and raised an eyebrow at him. “And why were you ‘hindered’?”
“Public indecency. Anyway, it took some time to sort out the situation and by then—”
Hannah laughed out loud, then slapped her hand across her mouth. “Public indecency? Wait, did you get picked up for streaking? Please tell me there weren’t any kids around.”
Asher didn’t look as entertained as she absolutely was. “As you know, the nudity is one of the perils of my lifestyle.”
“Where do your clothes go?”
He looked at her like she was crazy. “Of everything that is going on, this is your biggest concern?”
She snorted. “Maybe not my biggest, but I know you don’t leave them behind, and you keep coming back without them, so where do they go?”
He shrugged. “I have no idea. For all I know there is a patch of wallets, watches, and men’s briefs floating around in the vastness of space.”
“That’s sad. What if you had something important on?” She stretched her tired legs out on the couch, turning over to lie on her good side. It was nice to not be scrunched up in the car. Hannah yanked off her wig and hat and shook out her hair, itching her scalp with relief.
“One learns quickly never to carry anything of great value. In this day and age, I have certainly learned not to carry both sets of car keys on me.” He had pulled out a cell phone and started to type, then he hesitated. “I feel like you should see a doctor, but I would hate to risk revealing our location. I trust Gabriel, but I know no one around here. There is a person I can try to make contact with, but I cannot be sure if they are in a location or position to help.”
She waved him off, sleepy and relatively comfortable, her arm only throbbing dully thanks to the help of the vodka. “How do you know Gabe? He’s one of you, isn’t he?”
Asher nodded at her, leaning back tiredly against the loveseat that sat at an angle to the couch. It was good to see his face. The shadow of stubble on his jaw he was scratching at mindlessly had grown long enough to look soft, a reddish-gold beard darker than his hair. He looked as exhausted as she felt, though the shadow under his eyes lent gravitas to his face, rather than the haggardness it did hers.
“Gabriel is like me. I wondered if you would pick up on that. I have known him for a great many lifetimes, and he is one of very few people I believe I can trust. He is also the biggest Lothario in the history of womanizers.” He smiled. “He will tell you he was the inspiration for Don Juan, and I am not sure he is lying.”
Hannah yawned hugely, unable to catch herself, covering her gaping jaw with her hand.
“You should get some sleep while you have the opportunity. There is no way of knowing how long it will be advisable to stay here.”
She blinked herself awake and shook her head. “Not until I hear what happened. I believe you were naked and under arrest?”
Rolling his eyes, he grabbed a neatly folded blanket from the arm of the couch and threw it over her.
“Fine. As I was saying, I found myself in the parking lot of a large store. Sadly, I was noticed by some shoppers, as those horrendous places are open all hours, and apparently buying gatorade and corn chips in the middle of the night is sometimes a necessity. Given my state of undress it was assumed I must be under the influence and someone called the local authorities. It took some time to convince them I had been robbed. I had to invent some armed assailants, file a police report about a nonexistent stolen car, explain why the assailants had needed my clothing, and waste a perfectly good identity. After I was released I had to find a replacement for the prison jumpsuit I was given and get someone to take me all the way back to Milltown so I could find out what happened.”
“I was there,” she murmured sleepily, struggling to keep her eyes open.
“You were where?”
“At Walmart. I was at that Walmart.”
The voices were low, speaking in whispers not far from where Hannah lay barely awake on the couch, the patch of sun on her face pleasantly warm.
“Amara wiped out the entire fire department, the sheriff’s department, and a number of people who must have been passersby or neighbors who saw the smoke,” Asher said. “There are bodies spread throughout those woods the authorities have not even found yet. It is all over the news. At present I am the prime suspect. Hannah a
nd I were both persons of interest until they found a woman’s body in the house. I presume it is the woman from the grocery store. It will not be long until they discover their error and make Hannah a suspect again, though that is the least of our concerns.” He paused then quietly added, “I thought she was dead. Until you called, I could not imagine she would have escaped my sister.”
The other voice murmured something unintelligible.
“If there was any chance she still lived, I imagined it was as a captive of Amara’s,” Asher said. “The car was nowhere to be found, and I was so far behind I never could have caught up with them, even if I knew what route they were taking. For all I knew I was sending my sister right to you. By the grace of god Hannah evaded her, found the card, and chose to come here instead of setting out on her own.”
Gabe chuckled. “I called you as soon as I saw her and that she was alone. I’ll admit that was a bit of a disappointment. I was looking forward to a go-round with your sister. Wouldn’t be the first time she succumbed to my charms.”
“It would not be the first time she removed several of your extremities either. I still cannot discover why she is set on Hannah. After I got your message I thought about trying to short cut it down here so that I could get here more quickly, but you know how unpredictable that can be. That is how dire the situation has become.”
There was a pause. Hannah was fully awake now, listening intently.
“Too unreliable,” Gabe said, “and besides, that’s never been your style, taking the nonstop flight. I don’t know why not, though, it’s ideal for getting out of tough scrapes. I poisoned myself once just to get as far away as possible from a woman in Paris. You remember Deirdre?” Gabe laughed softly, then grew serious. “Anyway, why the fuss? No matter why Amara wants her, it’s going to be a dead end. You can never save them, and you know what a pit bull your sister is. It’s the same every time. Amara is relentless.”
Another pause. Hannah was about to feign waking up when Asher continued.
“How hard do you think it would be to track down Mena?”
A laugh rang out. Asher shushed it.
“Sorry,” Gabe whispered. “I had no idea you were that desperate, crawling back to the one who got away. I can try. No telling where she might be off to, saving the world. And even if she’s in the country, you can’t really think she could walk in here without drawing attention, though.”
“Why?” Asher asked.
Gabe chuckled. “You haven’t turned on a television in a couple of years, have you?”
“Best not then. It is just hard to imagine Hannah could survive another encounter with Amara.” Hannah heard Asher let out a sigh. “It would be enlightening to know who fired the shot that let Hannah get away this time, if it was an extant member of the local authorities or a more helpful ally, but I guess we will never know.”
“How long are you going to risk staying here?” Gabe said. “I mean, you can stay as long as you want, but how long do you really think you can hide from your sister?”
“Not long. A couple more days if we can avoid attracting attention. Amara will be trying to find us again by now, and I would like to delay the meeting as long as possible, though it pains me that Hannah will have to suffer from the lack of medical care. I cannot tell for sure, but I think the wound has become infected.”
“Maybe you should just take her to the hospital,” Gabe said. “Get her patched up. If you’re being realistic, your sister is going to find her one way or another, like she does every single time. Make sure Hannah is as comfortable as possible. No sense having her be in pain, since she is probably not going to be around that long anyw—”
Asher interrupted. “You are so flippant about the lives of those not like us. Besides, it is not like that. Not at all. There is something more going on.” His voice grew even quieter, more serious, so low Hannah could barely make it out. “That is not what I mean, Gabriel. My sister is not out to break my toys this time. She is not after me. She is after Hannah and at the behest of someone else. Amara does not play well with others, so she must have a good reason. I just cannot determine what it might be. Hannah is entirely human and there is nothing exceptional about her. She is more like an injured animal or lost child. By herself, what interest could she possibly be to one of our kind?”
24
“Hungry?” Asher walked in with two paper coffee cups balanced precariously on top of a stack of cardboard takeout containers.
“Starving.” Hannah had muddled through the morning, silently processing what she’d overheard. Physically the sleep had done her a world of good, and after a blissful shower she had patiently let Asher clean and bandage her arm, then choked down some horse pill–sized antibiotics for good measure. If Asher found her quiet, he didn’t comment.
Gabe brought up the rear with a big paper shopping bag in each hand.
“Not that my bathrobe isn’t absolutely fetching on you, but if you have to leave my little love nest, these are slightly more presentable.” He grinned, and she forced a smile in return. Hannah didn’t enjoy being pandered to, having overheard what she had, though she knew it was true. To them she was a temporarily interesting commodity for whatever reason, but ultimately she was far more concerned with preserving her relatively short life than they were. They were convinced she wouldn’t make it, and that was probably true. But she wasn’t quite ready to quit and cash it in yet.
She mulled over her options while she devoured grits drowning in red eye–gravy from the takeout container balanced on her lap. She had the car and the money—or at least they were nearby—and she wondered if there was any chance she could slip away and ditch Asher and Gabe, removing herself from the whole situation. They thought so little of her they would hardly suspect her of planning anything other than waiting under their protection until Amara and whoever else was out there showed up.
Washing the last bite of breakfast down with lukewarm coffee, she picked up the shopping bags and headed for the tiny bathroom, nodding to Gabe in thanks.
When he’d said the contents of the bag were more presentable than his bathrobe, he hadn’t mentioned by whose standards. She considered putting back on the dirty clothes she’d been wearing when she arrived but decided it would lower their suspicions if she was accommodating.
The jeans were more elastic than denim, with a crisscross pattern up the side that showed little diamond patches of skin from the ankles to the waistband. The top had long loose sleeves that hid the wad of bandages on her arm, but the front was cut indecently low and fit tight across her ribcage to where it stopped two inches short of her jeans. Being accommodating only went so far; there was no way she was wearing the shoes, even without considering her natural tendency to fall on her face. Hannah threw the high wedge heels back into the bag and zipped up her leather boots.
There was no one in the small apartment when she made her grand, slightly drafty entrance, so she headed downstairs into the bar. It too was empty, and pausing to listen, she didn’t hear any noise from the kitchen or the office. Spurred on mostly by self-preservation, and a little bit by anger, she made a split-second decision and quickly slipped out the door and down the street to the car. Inside she shot the locks and started the engine, throwing it in drive and cranking the wheel. It was now or never.
Two giant hands slammed down onto the hood and drove the front end of the car downward, the sudden halt throwing her forward. Apparently it was never. She briefly toed the pedal and considered hitting the gas and running Asher over . . . again, but the thunderous look on his face made her put it in park. With a sigh she slumped back against the seat.
“Where were you going to go? Have you lost your senses?”
Hannah felt like a child being scolded, sitting on a bar stool, keys surrendered and swallowed up by his massive hand.
Seething was the only word she could think of to describe the look on Asher’s face. Over her shoulder she could see Gabe behind the bar laughing silently. Hannah was too incense
d to want to deal with either of them, and didn’t even crack a smile at Gabe’s salacious look as he walked out the back to the kitchen.
She raised an eyebrow at red-faced Asher, crossing her arms over her chest in a display of attitude, and to cover the gap in the fabric, which she was pretty sure was the last thing Gabe had looked at.
“Do not do that again, Hannah. There is no way to know if someone is outside, just waiting for you to surface.” He glowered down at her.
“I’m not sure why you’re so bothered. ‘What interest could I possibly be to your kind?’”
He was silenced. She wasn’t. “I’m not an idiot, Ash. I know what you are and what I am without needing to be babied. You aren’t in any real danger here. Maybe I don’t want to put my life in the hands of someone who’s only interested in me for the sake of his conscience. At the end of the day, it’s all just temporary for you. It’s my life, and I only get one, so I’d like it to last a little bit longer if you don’t mind.”
Fists balled, she stood up, facing him nose to nose, or rather nose to ribcage. Staring up at him, she held her hand out for the keys. “Give them back. It’s no big deal for you, but it’s kind of a big deal for me.”
“You are wrong.” He put his hand around the wrist held out toward him, encircling it completely, holding her back when she tried to jerk away.
“About what?”
“Nearly everything,” Asher said. “There is a great deal more going on now than when you and I first met. I will tell you everything I know, or suspect I know, but you need to stay with me, at least for the time being. Besides, you are in no shape to be on the run.” He un-manacled her wrist, moving his grasp to her hand. “Please, do not leave without me again.”
“Yes, Hannah, please, please don’t go. Asher will pout and there’s nothing more disturbing than seeing a man his size cry.”
Asher dropped her hand and glared at Gabe.
Echoes (Book 1): Echoes Page 19
