“You’re safe with us. I promise.”
“Who are you?” she whispered.
“My name is Josiah Carter.” He gave her a small smile. “Most folks just call me Carter.”
“He…” she started, her gaze flicking to the body and then darting away. “How did he…”
She couldn’t finish the sentence, but at her words, Carter paused.
“That’s not important right now,” he said carefully. “What matters is, you’re safe. And we need go.” His eyebrow raised, and he nodded toward his hand.
Wide-eyed, she stared between them all. The younger man was snapping orders into his phone, and clearly talking over the protests on the other end. Ignoring them, the dog was snuffling through the blankets industriously.
And Carter just waited.
Trembling, she reached out, taking his hand. Stepping back, he pulled her to her feet and then glanced to his companion. Returning his cell to his pocket, the younger man snagged a rucksack from beneath the garbage on the floor and then shoved the cans of food inside. With a nod to Carter, he took the lead out of the room, with the older man a step behind.
The dog fell in beside her as she followed.
At the alleyway, Carter helped her over the windowsill while the other man watched the street as though waiting for it to attack.
“Paint,” Carter said.
A can of spray paint materialized from within the younger man’s jacket, and without taking his gaze from the street, he tossed it to Carter, who quickly scrawled a swirling mess of rough graffiti across the plywood on the window.
“Carter…”
The older man glanced back and then turned away swiftly, cursing under his breath. Ashley followed his gaze.
A few dozen yards down the street, amid the evening crowd waiting for a bus, a man stood, his cell phone raised. He paused, clicking something on the cell, and then stuffed the phone into his pocket and started across the intersection toward them.
Carter swore. In a fluid motion, he tossed the paint can into an empty stretch of road and pulled out his gun.
The bullet exploded into and through the can, and in the street, people screamed.
“Let’s go,” he said to Ashley, grabbing her hand.
The men took off down the alley, and she looked back in shock as Carter pulled her after him. Fury creased the other man’s face as panicked bystanders clogged his path.
Moving quickly, the two men wove through alleys and roads with a determination that belied their random path. The last shreds of daylight faded as they traveled, leaving dense shadows that could have been hiding anything. Headlights glared in her eyes as cars swept past, and from street corners, drunks and addicts called out, cursing, begging, asking her to come close. Ducking her face away, she strode faster while at her side the dog kept pace, unwavering.
Brick buildings gave way to dilapidated houses with posters warning of guard dogs. No Trespassing signs hung from splintering doors, and chain-link fences circumscribed every yard. Streetlamps flickered intermittently if they glowed at all and, as the neighborhood passed around her, fewer and fewer houses were lit behind their iron window bars.
Empty lots gradually took the place of homes, though occasional concrete foundations showed where buildings once stood. The darkened street curved, and at the end of the next road, she caught sight of the murky river rippling beneath the city lights. A bridge rose to her right beyond the remnants of the neighborhood and the distant noise of traffic mingled with the rushing waters ahead.
The weathered asphalt ended in two pockmarked posts with a No Trespassing sign dangling on a chain between them. The men stepped over it, leaving the rusted metal admonishment swinging and creaking behind them.
Warily, Ashley followed. A gravel expanse separated them from the river and the massive bridge supports plowed deep into its banks. Beneath the concrete structure, a fire burned in a garbage can, with a dark green van parked close by. The dog loped ahead of her as she walked after the two men, their footsteps loud in the silence.
A gun pushed into her back. In the shadows behind the hood of the van, a man rose and aimed a shotgun at her, while another German Shepherd rounded the vehicle and growled.
Ashley froze, her feet skidding to a stop a dozen yards from the garbage bin. Quivering with her fear, the flames began to surge, and desperately, she fought them down while trying to keep from crying.
“Who the hell are you?” someone demanded behind her.
Carter turned around. “It’s alright. She’s with us.”
By the van, the man with the shotgun eased his grip, but the gun behind her didn’t budge. Up ahead, Ashley could see dry amusement cross the younger man’s face.
Carter just lifted a brow.
The gun disappeared. Footsteps crunched on the gravel behind her.
A girl circled around, her cold gaze not leaving Ashley. Firelight played over the blonde dreadlocks draping past her shoulders, and caught on the gun in her pale hands. A dark jacket hung to her waist and as she tucked her weapon away, Ashley glimpsed another gun stowed in a holster to one side of her chest.
“Got your message,” the girl said to Carter. “Trouble?”
“Feral and Blood.”
“Dead?”
“Yes and no, respectively.”
The girl grimaced, and then jerked her chin toward Ashley. “Who’s this?”
Carter glanced over, and Ashley swallowed nervously. A small grin pulled at his mouth.
“Introductions first, eh?” he said kindly. He nodded to the younger man. “Samson you know. The young lady with the weapons is Spider, and the gentleman by the van is Bus.” Humor flitted through his eyes. “Most of us aren’t fond of common names. So what do we call you?”
She stared. Crossing to Samson’s side, Spider raised an eyebrow at him before returning to watching Ashley. Pushing away from the van, Bus circled the vehicle and left the shadows.
The light caught on white hair and bright blue eyes. She gasped softly, crumbling inside.
And then the illusion ended.
It wasn’t Jonathan. Besides the hair and eyes, the two men didn’t look remotely alike.
Raggedly, she drew a breath. For a moment, she’d thought…
The old man’s brow furrowed at her expression, and he glanced to Carter. Swallowing hard, she turned away, her gaze finding the flames in the garbage can.
For a moment, she’d thought the impossible could be real. She wasn’t alone, everything wasn’t destroyed and, in some small way, she really could go back home.
And then that hope was gone, and stupid, cold reality crashed into the void. She felt like she was falling, though she wasn’t moving at all, and everything in her body was far away. Of their own volition, her eyes tracked the embers floating into the night, while in their own dance, the fires twisted somewhere inside.
Carter made a questioning noise. Dully, she looked away from the blaze, recalling what he’d asked.
Only one answer came to mind.
“Ashe,” she whispered.
Carter studied her briefly and then nodded. “Is there anywhere we can take you? Someone you can stay with?”
Numbly, she shook her head. Everyone she’d had left had been at the farm, shot and burned and blamed on her, while the rest lay in ashes at a home she couldn’t even recall.
The catalog of the dead scrolled through her mind and, trembling, she closed her eyes. It was too big. Dad being gone. And Rose. Jonathan. The farmhands. Lily. The whole world, barely a day before. It couldn’t be allowed to sink in. If she let it, she might not survive.
“We’ll find you somewhere.”
She looked back at Carter.
“We help people hide,” he explained. “It’s part of what we do. If you like, we can find a place for you with our friends. Somewhere guys like the one who attacked you today won’t find you.”
She stared at him, questions trying to rise. Guys like the one who attacked her. With nothing. Or w
ho’d killed her dad. With nothing. And these people could hide her. She could be someplace the monsters wouldn’t find her.
Her gaze moved to the others. Their faces painted chiaroscuro by the firelight, they regarded her expressionlessly.
“Who are you people?” she asked.
Carter paused. “We’re people who’ll help get you away from this mess,” he said carefully. “If you want us to.”
She hesitated. More questions struggled to surface, but faded into insensibility at the look in the others’ eyes. They wouldn’t answer. Except for Carter, they didn’t seem like they trusted her at all.
But they’d get her away from this. They’d put her someplace safe.
Elation hit guilt, and dissolved into a mush she couldn’t sort through. She’d have safety. And Dad and Lily, Jonathan and Rose would still be gone. She could be safe.
But not them. Never them.
She struggled to breathe as the pressure of Carter’s gaze made her look up. He was waiting for an answer.
“O-okay,” she agreed, sounding hoarse to her own ears. “But how…”
“Give us a bit,” he said when she trailed off. “I’ll make some calls. Most of us like to help each other, so don’t worry. We’ll find you a place to go.”
She blinked, still uncertain she could deserve safety when so many lay dead behind her.
Carter glanced to the others. “You rested up, Bus?”
The old man shrugged. “Much as ever.”
“Then let’s get out of here.”
Shouldering the shotgun, Bus headed to the van and then yanked open the side door, letting the dogs jump inside. Spider glanced to Carter as she and Samson walked past.
“Where’re we going?” she asked tersely.
“Gary and Annie aren’t too far from here,” Samson commented.
“Oh, yeah,” Bus called dryly from the driver’s seat. “They’d be thrilled to see us again.”
A wry grin tugged on Spider’s cold expression as she climbed into the van.
“Head south,” Carter said. “Wood moved out this way a few weeks back. We can stay with him while I make arrangements.”
He paused and glanced back. “You coming, Ashe?”
She flinched at the name and then stared at them. And just like that, someone was helping her. Taking her away from this. Just like that, it could be over.
While Lily, Dad and the others were dead in Montana somewhere. A few dumb little hours’ difference, and suddenly she was offered safety like a gift, while they were all dead.
On legs that felt like water, she walked toward the van.
As she neared the door, Carter put a hand on her arm, stopping her. “Hey,” he said quietly. “We’ll take care of you. Don’t worry.”
She nodded shakily and then followed the others inside.
Chapter Eight
The van drove through the night, rumbling along the interstate past homes and businesses that had gone to sleep hours before. Empty parking lots drowning beneath streetlamps burned her eyes, while in the abyss between signs of civilization, there was only a sea of stars.
She drifted for a time, her head resting on the side of the captain’s chair in the second row of the van. Up ahead, Carter quietly gave directions between crackles from a police scanner below the dash, and in the seat beside her, Spider kept watch on the road without ever looking her way. The dog from the hotel snored softly in the space between their chairs, while the other rested below Samson’s sleeping form on the bench behind her. Tala and Mischa, Carter had called them, respectively. Both massive German Shepherds, they nevertheless snuggled like puppies around the bases of the van seats.
Events of the day played back through her exhausted mind, blurring and shifting and losing all meaning as sleep and consciousness vied for control. Lily looked up from the cliff ledge with a smile, while Malden stepped back and avoided the flames. The boy drove them through the night, and for a moment she thought maybe they’d be able to get away.
Moisture soaked her palm where it cushioned her cheek and she jerked back, realizing she was crying. Furtively, she swiped the tears away and then cast a glance over her shoulder, but the others gave no sign of noticing. Swallowing, she rubbed her stinging eyes and returned to watching the world beyond the smoked windows of the van.
The clock on the dash glowed three by the time she heard Carter tell Bus to stop. Leaving the highway, they drove through a darkened town till at last, Bus parked the van in front of an apartment building with a radioactively bright security lamp outside. Blankets hung over many windows in place of curtains, and the electric blue glow of late night television flickered behind several of them. Overflowing garbage bins crowded the side of the building, and weeds clustered the chain-link fence circling the complex.
Turning in his seat, Carter glanced to Spider. “Be right back.”
He nodded to Bus, and then the two of them left the van.
“Hey,” Spider said, twisting around to nudge Samson. “Wake up.”
Scrubbing his face with a hand, he pushed away from the seat. “Where are we?”
“Wood’s place.”
He regarded the building with a clear tinge of skepticism, but said nothing.
Minutes passed, and then Carter returned. He pulled open the passenger side door, and then reached into the van to disconnect the police scanner beneath the dash. “Come on,” he told them.
Drawing a tired breath, Samson dragged a bag from under the seat, while in front of him, Spider did the same. Glancing to Ashley, the girl jerked her chin at the door. “Let’s go.”
Fumbling at the latch, Ashley pulled the door open and then stepped out into the cold night. Dogs barked in the distance and as they landed on the pavement, Tala and Mischa looked into the darkness, attentive to the noise.
Carter pushed the gate open and, with Spider and Samson behind her, Ashley trailed him along the cracked sidewalk through the sandy yard. The grating of the steps creaked as she climbed the metal stairs, and when they reached the second floor, she shied from the cobwebs filling the gaps in the iron fencing lining the open side of the walkway.
At the last door of the hall, Carter knocked briefly. Cursing rose, followed by the sound of multiple locks being thrown. The metal door pulled back a few inches, revealing a man with scraggly calico-colored hair.
“You know, you could have given me some warning,” he sniped.
“Nice to see you too, Wood,” Samson said.
The man’s eyes narrowed, making them nearly disappear in his thin face, and then he opened the door wider. “Well, get in, already,” he said crossly.
Beyond the tight entryway, stained carpet and the smell of stale food greeted them. Trash was piled in the open garbage bin by the door, and dirty plates covered the breakfast bar separating the kitchen from the living room. Seated on a threadbare sofa, Bus grinned at them when they came into the room.
“Love the new place,” the old man said.
“Shut up,” Wood snapped in reply. Rounding on Carter, he continued. “So how long’s this going to be, huh? A day? More? I mean, fine. I owe you for getting me out of Chicago but…”
“We just need a place to crash till we can find her somewhere to stay,” Carter said peaceably, nodding toward Ashley.
Wood’s gaze slid over her, and the suspicious look he reserved for all the others dimmed. A faintly lascivious smile pulled at his lips. “Oh yeah?”
Eyeing Wood darkly, Spider walked between them, snagging Ashley’s arm as she passed. Drawing her along, the girl crossed to the couch, shoved Ashley down next to Bus, and then dropped into the seat beside her. Crossing her arms calmly, she pinned Wood with a catlike stare.
The man’s expression melted. Swallowing, he glanced to Carter. “I don’t think there’s enough space for all of you here,” he hemmed, stepping to one side as the dogs pushed past him and then lay down by the patio doors.
“We’ll be fine,” Carter said. “You still have blankets?”
“Not long, right?”
“Few days tops,” Carter replied.
“I guess, then…”
“We’ll see you in the morning,” Carter told him.
Jerking his head in a quick nod, Wood hurried down the darkened hallway and disappeared into the bedroom at the far end, shutting the door behind him.
Running her fingers between her dreadlocks, Spider sighed and then rose to help Bus take the blankets from Carter. Crossing to the patio window behind the couch, Samson pulled back the edge of the curtain and studied the street while the others spread the bedding on the floor.
Ashley watched them, uncertain what to do.
“You want the couch?” Carter asked her.
She hesitated, and then shook her head. “No, it’s alright.”
He paused. “Suit yourself,” he replied, and then motioned toward a place on the ground.
Nervously, she lowered herself onto the blankets.
With a sigh, Carter sat down in the space she’d vacated.
Spider grinned up at him. “Sure took that fast.”
He shrugged. “Old bones.”
She scoffed, while Bus regarded him with a raised eyebrow. “Oh, really?” the old man said.
“You had sleep.”
“Please,” Bus retorted as he headed for the window in the kitchen. Pulling up a chair, he sank down with an exaggerated groan that made Carter smile.
Swiping a pillow from the foot of the couch, Spider tossed it to Ashley, who caught it awkwardly. “Here,” the girl said.
“Thanks,” Ashley replied uncomfortably.
The girl shrugged, and then pulled off her jacket. Beneath the straps of her white tank top and the black bands of her gun holsters, a broad tattoo showed in dark relief against her pale skin. Wings arched across her back and shoulders, their shape formed entirely of interconnected spider webs.
Realizing she was staring, Ashley jerked her gaze away, but the girl hadn’t noticed. Sinking onto the blankets, Spider bundled the jacket into a ball below her head as she lay down.
The Children and the Blood Page 14
