Dream Under the Hill (Oberon Book 8)

by P. G. Forte

  “Sorry,” he murmured, feeling anything but. Feeling only relief as the pressure inside him subsided.

  “Let’s go,” Steve snapped. And, now the others all turned startled eyes toward him. “We did what we came for.”

  The others nodded. Turning wordlessly they began to file out of the hollow, with Liam once again following behind.

  * * *

  Chay followed after the five men curiously; moving swiftly and silently through the shadows. After a hiatus of several months, he’d lately taken to patrolling the woods around Oberon again, in hopes of catching whoever had been slaughtering animals there. He couldn’t be everywhere at once, however, and this was the first time he’d stumbled across anyone on his rounds. It was disappointing that they seemed to be leaving already.

  His heart burned within him. Anger at the senseless slaying of innocent creatures had him wanting to draw blood himself. He suspected that only when he had the blood of the killers on his own hands, would his rage subside.

  It was possible that these men here were nothing more than harmless kooks, out to experience the vortex. Possible, but not likely. He could sense something dark about their motives, something... ugly.

  His fists clenched as he recognized Liam among them. I knew I didn’t like you, brah, he thought, Now I really don’t.

  Soundlessly, he moved closer to the young man, dogging his every step while he debated with himself about whether or not to cull him from the herd, separate him from his fellow travelers and learn more about what had brought them into his woods tonight.

  But, somehow, he didn’t think he’d learn too much from him. And maybe he was overreacting, anyway.

  After all, the energy in the area had drawn many people, over the years, most of whom had not had bad intentions. Hell, he’d brought people here, himself, hadn’t he? Although it was a form of entertainment in which he could no longer indulge.

  He shook his head as he thought about all his past foolishness, and about the great harm that had been done here. The place had become damaged, and Chay was afraid it would take a skill far greater than his to repair it.

  And in the continued absence of such skill? How long would it take for the vortex to heal itself then? If only he knew the answer to that...

  The five men had reached their car now. Liam paused for a moment. He turned and looked around, and Chay wondered if he could sense that he was being watched.

  It was unlikely, but, just to be sure, Chay melted back into the trees; still keeping a close eye on Liam. There’s something wrong with this guy, Chay decided, as he watched Liam enter the car. Chenoa’s friend might not have had anything to do with the killings, but, on the other hand, this was no innocent jaunt he’d been on tonight, either. There’s something definitely wrong here.

  A series of dull thuds disturbed the night as the car doors closed. Then the engine roared to life, and the car pulled slowly back onto the road.

  “I don’t know what you’re up to, yet, brah,” Chay muttered, watching as the car lights dissolved into the fog. “But, I’m gonna find out. You can count on it.”

  * * *

  It’s no use, Liam decided, after glancing at the illuminated face of his watch. It was after two a.m., which meant he’d been lying awake for close to three hours; and he still couldn’t get to sleep. Maybe a snack would help? Or, better yet, a walk in the moonlight – fresh air, cool grass beneath his bare feet, the soft kiss of mist on his face.

  It was hard to know for sure if anything would help, but even if it didn’t, even if he was breaking the rules by leaving the house late at night, anything was better than lying here, worrying, plotting, thinking, wanting.

  The house was dark and quiet as he made his way downstairs. There was a light showing under the kitchen door, and he very nearly backed away at the sight of it, but curiosity, coupled with a reluctance to return to his room, drove him onward.

  He edged the door open and peered inside. Cara was seated at the table, still poring over her books. Damn. She ought to be in bed. These are no kind of hours for a kid to keep.

  She hadn’t seen him, and once again, he considered withdrawing. He really didn’t need to spend any more time with her tonight, did he? Now that he knew she really was underage, he was having a hard time with the fact that he hadn’t yet blown the whistle on Gregg for sleeping with her.

  Someone needed to get her away from him. But... he couldn’t do it. Not yet. He couldn’t risk losing his only link to Amy and Jack.

  He must have made some noise, because she looked up then, and saw him. “Liam? What are you doing down here?”

  Uh-oh. He was busted now, wasn’t he? And he supposed he had no other choice than to bluff his way out of it.

  He pushed the door all the way open, and swaggered into the room. “Well, hey, looky here. If it’s not Suzy Sunshine. What’s up, Caramel, can’t you sleep, either?” He gave her a nod, but otherwise ignored her as he headed for the refrigerator. He’d pulled out a carton of carrot juice, and was glancing around in search of a glass when it occurred to him that she hadn’t answered.

  He looked at her then, and felt immediately contrite, when he saw that she was wiping her eyes on her sleeve, and trying hard to hide the fact that she was crying. Ah, shit. He shouldn’t be taking his moods out on her; she was just a kid, after all.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked, leaving the juice on the counter and crossing the room to crouch beside her. “C’mon, I was just joking around, you know that, right? I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, or anything.”

  “Huh?” She gazed at him, mystified. She looked twice as young and twice as pretty with tears beading on her lashes.

  He used his thumb to wipe away their moisture. “I’m sorry I called you names.”

  Cara shook her head. “Don’t be stupid. It’s not that.” Still sniffling, she gestured at the books in front of her. “It’s all this... stuff. I suck at school work. I always have. And now, my tutor’s too busy to help me and... and... ”

  She gazed at him, her expression hopeless, and it looked like she was getting ready to really cut loose with the tears. That was not gonna happen, Liam decided quickly, since he was pretty clear on that fact that he was not going to be able to avoid taking her in his arms, if she did.

  He grabbed a chair and planted himself next to her. “Okay, well, why don’t you tell me what you’re having trouble with, and maybe I can help?”

  “You?” She gazed at him doubtfully.

  Liam frowned. “Well, yeah, me. Why not? I’m pretty good with this stuff, you know.” He shook his head. “That is, if I can still remember any of it. You know, come to think of it, it has been a while.”

  Cara chuckled, an odd little gurgle laced through with tears. “Yeah, a real long while, huh?”

  “Well, it was.” Liam sobered a little as he thought of it. “It was another lifetime.” Or, anyway, that’s how it felt. And it had been even longer than that since he’d tutored anyone. A dozen years, at least. Back when the stakes were high, when failure to learn meant a vicious beating.

  He stilled as he thought about it. He’d always been pretty good at school, so that had never been a problem for him. But some of the other Dagoba kids hadn’t been so lucky. Hard as they tried, and hard as Liam tried to help them, there were some lessons they just couldn’t master.

  Not that having the fear of Jim’s belt hanging over their heads made learning any easier.

  “Well?” Cara whined, nudging his arm. “Are you gonna just sit there?”

  He shook the cobwebs from his head, and tried to smile. “Sorry, Caramel, I guess my mind musta wandered.”

  Her brow furrowed. “What did you just call me?”

  He feigned surprise. “What? Caramel? Isn’t that what you said they all call you around here?”

  Cara tried to look stern. “It’s Cara-ma,” she corrected, with a good show of asperity.

  This time, Liam couldn’t keep from smiling. “That’s what I said. Caram
el.”

  She pursed her lips. “That’s not–”

  “Cause you’re so sweet, right? Just like candy?”

  Cara’s face flamed red. She crossed her arms and looked away. “Now, you’re making fun of me.”

  “No, I’m just trying to make you laugh,” Liam said, bumping her shoulder with his own. “C’mon, you’re too young to be so serious all the time.”

  “I’m not too young.” She looked at him for a moment and then added, “You’re just not that funny, that’s all.”

  “Sure I am,” he said…waiting…gauging the moment…finally murmuring once again, “Caramel.”

  “Stop it,” she growled, lips quirking as she picked up her highlighter and nodded toward the book. “Now, help me.”

  Still he waited.

  She looked at him and shook her head. “I told you. I’m not gonna laugh. You’re not funny.”

  “Oh, yeah?” He grinned at her stubbornness. “So, why are you smiling, then?”

  “I’m not.” She clamped her mouth shut and forced her face into a scowl, but the humor dancing in her eyes gave her away.

  Liam grinned wider. “Yeah, you are. I can see it in your eyes.”

  She tried to hold out, but her lips quivered; Liam saw it, and knew he had her. Just one more push ought to do it. He leaned in close and whispered mockingly, “Help us, Caramel, you’re our only hope. We’re out of coff-ee. We need the keys to the ga-ate. Pleeeaase, Caramel. Please think for us; we’re too stoopid to think for ourselves.”

  “Stop!” she squawked, as she tried to cover her ears, but it was too late. One single snort of laughter escaped her, and it was all over. She dissolved into helpless giggles, while Liam sat back, satisfied, to watch and wonder at the transformation.

  She looked even younger when she laughed, happy and carefree, lovelier than ever. Totally enchanting.

  Finally, she pulled herself together. She looked at him solemnly for a moment and then asked, “Would you please stop fooling around and help me now?”

  Liam nodded. “Yeah. I’ll help. Of course I will. Just show me where you’re stuck, and I’ll see what I can do, all right?”

  He sighed just a little as she picked up her pen. He was happy to help her, that wasn’t a problem. The real question was still unanswered.

  Even without Gregg’s interference, he’d been drawn to her. More than he wanted to be. Certainly more than he ought to be, under the circumstances. Now that he’d seen her laugh? The urge to make her laugh again was damn near overwhelming.

  So, the real question had never been would he help her, but rather, who was going to help him to resist her?

  Chapter Fourteen

  Give me not up, O Lord, to the wishes of my foes;

  for false witnesses have risen up against me,

  and such as breathe out violence.

  Communion Prayer

  For the Saturday after the First Sunday in Passiontide

  “So, you just get to leave anytime you want, huh?” Liam asked Cara as she drove him into town Saturday morning. “No hassles? No bullshit? None of this request crap the rest of us have to deal with?”

  “You got it,” she said, lips curving in a smug little smile that had him smiling, too, in spite of himself, and in spite of the exhaustion he was feeling.

  Liam glanced out the window. The sky overhead was dappled with clouds, the rich, loamy smell of fresh earth and mown grass wafted in from the surrounding fields, and he was free! For at least a few short hours, he’d escaped from the gloomy mausoleum that was TLV. He sighed with relief.

  It was a beautiful day, there was a beautiful girl in the seat beside him. How could he not smile, he wondered; until the beautiful girl glanced his way and asked, “So, if you think it’s all bullshit, why are you there?”

  Uh-oh. There was a question he didn’t want to have to answer too many times. Obviously, the lack of sleep was starting to get to him. If he didn’t learn to keep his mouth shut around her, he’d blow his cover for sure. “Probably for pretty much the same reasons everyone else is, don’t you think? I didn’t say it was all bullshit. But that doesn’t mean I have to like all the rules, does it?”

  “I guess not.” Cara took her eyes from the road again, long enough to give him a commiserating smile. “I don’t blame you, you know. I don’t like rules that much either.”

  “Why is that not a surprise?” Liam murmured. From what he’d already observed of her, he didn’t suppose she’d ever known what to do with rules, other than break them. She was probably still trying to find a way to beat gravity. Still, he really couldn’t find too much fault with that, could he? Not when it was working so well to his advantage. He regarded her curiously. “So, let me ask you something. How long have you been living out there, anyway?”

  Cara shrugged. “I dunno. Five months?”

  “That’s a long time,” Liam said, turning to stare out the side window. It was a real long time, come to think of it. Long enough that maybe he should stop giving himself hell for not having called Family Services the minute he found out about her. After all, if this had already been going on for five months... well, it was a little late to start worrying about it now, wasn’t it? Or was that just a convenient rationalization?

  “Yeah, and, d’you know that, at first, Gregg kept claiming that it was only temporary? That I wouldn’t be around very long?” Cara chattered on, happily; unaware of his mood. “But, you can bet he’s not saying that anymore.”

  Liam turned back to look at her. “Oh? Why’s that?”

  Cara looked surprised. “Well, because he’s gotten used to having me there, right? What else could it mean? See, he didn’t used to think he wanted a steady girlfriend, but now... now he knows better.”

  Steady girlfriend? He shook his head at her stupidity. Is that what she thought she was? “Oh, yeah? So, is that why he’s with Lauren?”

  “That doesn’t mean anything,” Cara muttered, the happy look dissolving from her face.

  Liam snorted. “I’m sure it doesn’t. To him.”

  Cara frowned. “Well, that’s what I meant. That’s how guys are, isn’t it? Don’t you want to have sex with, like, every girl you meet?”

  “Not every girl, no,” he said, dryly. “Hard to believe, but, female and breathing isn’t always enough.”

  “Okay, so, just every hot girl you meet, then,” she suggested. “Is that it?”

  He gave her a look meant to shut her up, not sure why she was suddenly busting his balls like this, but she appeared to actually mean it. He sighed. “Look, there’s nothing wrong with hot, but a girl’s gotta have a little more than that going on for me to be interested in her.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know.” He sighed, staring at the passing scenery while he searched for the right words to use. “Depth, maybe?”

  “Depth?”

  “Yeah. You know, not shallow? She has to be…interesting. Intriguing. Someone I can connect with. On a lot of levels, not just one.”

  Cara rolled her eyes. “Oh, yeah, like you’re really gonna be able to tell all of that about a person just by looking at her.”

  “Right,” he snapped. “You’re not. Which is why I don’t generally jump someone within five minutes of saying hello.”

  “Oh.” For a moment, she looked taken aback. And then she rallied. “Well, that’s good and all, but, you know, most guys don’t think like that.”

  “Yeah, ‘cause you’d know, right?”

  She sniffed. “Well, I would. I know about a lot of stuff, for your information.”

  “You don’t know jack.” Liam shook his head. “You’re like a crystal Twinkie—blonde all the way through.”

  “Oh, that made sense,” Cara jeered. “Because, like, most Twinkies, aren’t already, right?”

  He sighed again. “I don’t know. I don’t like them. They lack depth.”

  Cara’s expression turned thoughtful. She nodded, but said nothing more. Liam looked at her curiously. “So
, how’d you ever get hooked up with Gregg in the first place? I mean, you’re not really part of his church, are you?”

  Suddenly, the silence in the car was deafening. Liam felt his senses go on the alert. He watched as Cara’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. There was a longish pause before she answered, very carefully. “No. Not exactly. I uh... I met him at my old grammar school, if you really want to know.”

  “At your school?”

  She shrugged. “Well, yeah. I mean, he was there and I was there and... you know.”

  “I know, what? You looked at him and thought, ‘wow, look at that gnarly, old guy over there. I just gotta get with him’ ?”

  “Not exactly,” she said, giggling a little. And then, without warning, her laughter died. Her hands tightened once more on the wheel, until her knuckles were white. “You know, Gregg really doesn’t like me talking about the two of us, so let’s just drop it, ‘kay?”

  She doesn’t look like she likes talking about it all that much, either, Liam thought. He nodded. “All right. Fair enough.”

  “Anyway, he is not gnarly. I mean, you’ve seen the way women look at him. He’s a mack.”

  “He’s a what?” Liam stared at her, mystified.

  “A mack,” she repeated. “You know, a mac-daddy? Someone who can get with anyone he wants?”

  Liam’s face turned grim. He felt like shaking the silly girl. “Oh, I get it. You mean like a baller? A player? A pimp? Jeez. D’you have any idea how stupid you sound when you talk like that?”

  Her eyes widened in hurt surprise. “You think I’m stupid? That’s not what you said the other night, when you were helping me study.”

  He shook his head and continued, “You sound like you’re about twelve years old, some times.”

  “You got this real hang up about age, don’t you?” she asked, frowning at him again.

  “Hey, it’s not age I’ve got a problem with,” Liam snapped. It’s that Gregg’s an asshole and a pedophile and you’re too stupid to see him for what he is. “It’s– Ah, shit.” He broke off, suddenly, shaking his head in disgust. Right. He couldn’t say that, could he? Maybe someone ought to shake him. “Never mind.”