“Is that why you came back? Because you saw him?”
I hesitated for a second then shook my head. “Yes and no. I found that I had no urge to leave my friends behind in danger. Odd for me, as I said.”
“So you did mean it,” he murmured softly. “Your last words.”
I was unsettled with the revelations he was coming out with. I think I very much preferred his flippancy to this. Finishing with his hand, I unrolled some non-stick gauze. “Perhaps. These are strange questions from a man who just watched me behead another. Is this all what’s really troubling you?”
I cocked my head. He was still acting odd. “You didn't hit your head during the fight, did you?”
As I brushed his unkempt hair out of the way so I could see his pupils better, he gasped and grabbed my hand to the point I jumped. The look in his eyes transfixed me. There was some depth there that I had not seen before, an intensity that burned as much as it froze. One that frightened me.
As I sat stunned, it took him a second to realize what he had done. He lowered my hand, but didn't it let go. He searched my face as if he were looking for something. And knowing me, I probably couldn't give it to him. I tensed as he touched my face with his other hand. It made me very uncomfortable, but I couldn’t move. I was trapped by the depth of his gaze. “Cain?”
“I do know you,” he said in hoarse whisper. “The gardens of Kimichi… You were the girl. I just didn't realize it until now.”
“Pardon?” I asked, thoroughly confused.
“The centennial political summit. I was running and hit my head. But when I woke up, you were there…”
With his words, I was transported back fourteen years. Still an apprentice, Master had brought me along with him because of the educational opportunity. Dantenn had come, too. It had been a great chance for us to see the way the world worked. I had found it dead boring. I already had a good idea about how the world worked through my bitter experience. Sitting through the summit had been torture. I knew the system was corrupt, so I knew it was all a facade.
Later I had escaped into the memorial gardens and meditated, trying to escape the suffocation of human company. The flowers had been beautiful. The symphony of colors had been lovely. Reds, blues, pinks… The white orchids had been spectacular. Yet I still could not be at peace. Meditation had never come easily to me. But after a few minutes, I didn’t have to worry about the silence any more. They had been shooting off shots in memoriam of some massacre that had happened here years ago. I had winced at the sound of the shots. I hated guns at that age even more than I do now. But it seemed I wasn’t the only one disturbed by them. I had heard the rapid smack of shoes on the pavement before I heard the cries.
A boy broke out of the bushes, slid in the mud, and then fell flat on his back in front of me. I had sat in shock for a minute before rushing to his side. He had been out cold, mud plastering his sandy blonde hair to his head. I wasn't sure where he had come from, but he certainly had been scared. I didn't dare move him for fear he had a spinal injury. But before I could go get help, he woke up.
He blinked a few times before opening his eyes wide. Brilliant blue eyes that I now realized were long familiar to memories searched my face. “What happened?”
“You fell,” I said bracingly. “I was going to get you help.”
“I’m fine,” he insisted, sitting up and continuing to stare at me, dazed. He cocked his head. “Are you an angel? You sure look like one.”
I wasn't sure what to say to that. I seized up with shyness and tried to check his pupils. “I think you hit your head.”
“I’m fine,” he said again, shielding his eyes from the sun. “What’s your name? I’m-”
I took his hand, cutting him off, noting a large gash across his palm. “I think I’d better get you to a medic. You shouldn't have been running out here. Why are you here anyway?”
He avoided my eyes for the first time. “I was looking for a friend… And trying to get away from-”
“The guns?” I asked indelicately. His pale skin turned pink. I decided to be partially truthful to cover his fear. “I hate them, too. Don't worry. I was hiding as well.”
He visibly brightened.
“Guns suck,” he declared. “I hate this place. My dad said the flowers were just more visually acceptable than the reality of the mass grave beneath it. The flowers have plenty of food, too. From dust we come to dust we return,” he said clicking his shoes together. “You never told me your name.”
“Sierr,” I muttered absentmindedly.
“Don’t you want to know my name?” he asked, trying to get my attention.
“Not necessarily,” I said, hearing more footsteps coming our way.
“You’re pretty,” he said, ignoring me. “Do you go to school around here? I go to Meliswood. My teacher is horrible. He tells me I’m stupid because I don’t read well.”
That was a nasty thing to tell a child when you wanted them to excel. It crushes their confidence. “No, I live a long way from here in MoiRai.”
“Oh.” He looked disappointed. Then he brightened again, seizing my hand. “Will you still be here tomorrow? There’s going to be another ceremony with more… firearms. I’ll be here if you are.”
“Sure,” I said, looking around to pinpoint the direction the footprints were coming from. “But I really think now you should-”
When I looked back, he was gone. He had even managed to slip his hand from mine without my notice. In his place was a vivid, red hibiscus. People came running around the corner a minute later calling out for him. I hid in the reeds and watched them go. But I kept the flower.
I had waited for him in the garden the next afternoon, keeping the flower in hand so he would remember me. But he never came. I stayed the whole day, not sure why I had bothered. I had even gone as far as to wonder if he had been detained. I never did find out.
I came back to the present with a start. Cain was still staring at me much like he had as a child, with something akin to wonder. I wasn’t sure how long I had been reminiscing, but I gathered it hadn't been long when he continued, “You were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.”
I ducked my head at his absurdity. “As opposed to hitting your head, this time I think you are in shock. You should lay back and try to rest while I find transport.”
“I’m fine,” he said in the exact same way he had all those years ago. “I’m shocked, not in shock. It comes to me now why Dantenn looked so familiar, too. I saw you with him and someone else later in that afternoon that we met. I went to talk to you, but you had disappeared already. I asked him where you had gone and told him that we were supposed to meet the next day. He was still the jealous type back then, too, apparently. He gave me a nice black eye, making sure I wouldn’t go to meet you.”
“Come again?” I asked, eyes widening. It couldn't have been him. It wasn’t in his character.
“Knew I didn't like him when he sashayed in here earlier,” he muttered. “Nasty son of a bitch. Tell me, why did he have an eye patch back then? He looked stupid, like he was trying to be a pirate.”
I felt even more disbelief, but this time at Dantenn, not Cain's words. “He had fallen off his bunk and poked his eye but good in an attempt to prod me with a stick. He hit you?”
“And told me never to see you again. Of all damn nerve!”
“And this would explain why you never came,” I murmured, thinking back.
His eyes gleamed. “So you did go.”
I nodded and then sighed. “I still think you should rest. Peculiarity doesn't suit you… any more than usual, I mean.”
“I’m fine!” he said loudly, swinging his feet off the bed, obviously riding some high while still staring at me. “Man, I still can't believe after all these years we met again. Argon is going to eat his words when he hears this. He wanted to know why I love those gardens so much and I think he never quite believed my story.”
“Cain-”
“I had always wonde
red what you had been doing, where you had gone,” he babbled aimlessly. Then he seemed to recoil from me a little. “Oh. The sweet angel in my mind has been running around slaughtering politicians. That’s not how I pictured us meeting again at all-”
I put my head in my hands. “Cain...”
“But it is somewhat forgivable considering what you’ve been through,” he continued, almost seeming not to hear me. “Hell, I hate the creeps I work for and I haven’t been beaten, hunted, and kept as a slave by ‘em.”
He was completely disregarding my advice, continuing to goggle at me while he chattered away. But that was okay. I had a fix for that. He finally stopped as I patted his knee. “Fine. If you're going to ignore my advice, at least allow me to add one more fail safe way to beat infection.”
He sat back and chuckled. “Whatever. Have it your way.”
“If only,” I said under my breath.
I added a few extra ingredients to some water and brought them to him. He swirled the water curiously. “What is this?”
“Passion flower, valerian root, and skullcap. Anti-inflammatories.”
“Interesting. Well, I don't think you’re out to poison me since you’ve vested so much effort into keeping me alive. Cheers.” He toasted it and downed all of it in a few gulps. “Satisfied?”
“Much,” I said, taking the glass from him. I wouldn't want it to shatter when he fell asleep. All three herbs were mild sedatives but, combined, were very potent. “You’ll feel it in a minute. It has a soothing effect.”
He chuckled, looking over at the bathroom door. “Wonder what’s taking Mike so long. He’s been in there forever.”
“I don't think he likes the sight of blood. Probably scrubbing his skin off trying to make himself clean. First kill I made, I was in the shower for hours scrubbing. I hated the feeling.”
“Understood. First time for me was friendly fire unfortunately. That was awful,” he said with a yawn. “Took me a while to get over it. But-”
He stopped dead and looked at me, looking much dopier. “There aren't any side effects from that stuff, are there? The room is spinning a bit...”
He stopped for a minute, trying to form a coherent sentence. It was really hitting him now. “Damn… That stuff is potent. What did you say was in it?”
“Passion flower-”
“Passion. Last thing I need more of,” he said drowsily with another chuckle. I stifled a chuckle of my own. He was really falling fast. Then he attempted to focus on me. He groaned. “Please tell me you didn’t drug me.”
“I told you to rest,” I said, pushing him back onto the pillows. “Don't worry. It will wear off soon. And it does have anti-inflammatory properties, so don't fight it. I’ll wake you when it is time to leave. Go to sleep.”
“Only if you sleep with me,” he mumbled, trying to keep his eyes open. “I guess we’re even now. I’m going to kill you when I wake up. This is not nice.”
I hid a triumphant smile. “Never said I was.”
He was snoring in moments. He must have had an empty stomach for it to absorb so fast. Rising from the bed, I saw that he still had his utility belt on. Feeling guilty over my actions, I tried to remove it, but it was stuck but good. I sat down to try and get a better view. “How do you get this thing off, Cain? It’s tighter than a girdle.”
I finally managed to get it off after a few minutes of fiddling that took all of my attention to get it undone. It had so many clasps. So much so, that I hadn't realized how close I had gotten to him. It had me so absorbed that I wasn't expecting it when he rolled over, knocked me over onto my side, and embraced me in his sleep.
He muttered something indiscriminate in my ear in his slumber. I froze, entirely at a loss for what to do. Being sandwiched between him and the wall next to the bed, if I tried to get up, he'd wind up on the floor. I gulped. Hang the utility belt. If anything was stuck, it was me. He had me in an ironclad grip that I couldn’t shake. I was going to swelter if he kept this up. I was used to the desert sun, but body heat?
Okay, I would survive, but our proximity was troublesome. He couldn't have known it was me since he was out cold, but he kept muttering my name, arm tightening around my waist. And when he buried his head into my neck, I had to gulp. This was bad. Really bad.
Unfortunately, Michael chose this moment to come out of the bathroom. He stopped toweling his hair off and looked startled at us. “My, my. Cozy, aren't we?”
“Help me,” I mouthed. “He pinned me like this in his sleep and I can’t get out. I was just trying to get his belt off before it cut his circulation-”
“Then shove him off,” he shrugged, now thoroughly irritated-looking. “If he falls on the floor, he’ll learn not to do it again. I'd bet he’s not really asleep anyway.”
“I gave him a sedative,” I said with a squeak as Cain tightened his grip and started grumbling again. “If I shove him off, he’ll fall and that would be counterproductive to his health. He’s got a nasty burn mark from trying to help me and another deep cut. It’ll split if I-”
“Guilt talking,” he said in a sing song voice. “Personally, I don't care. Shove him, don't shove him off. This makes my life easier. I hear you were going to take off without us. This is the best way to make sure you stay put for a few hours. Happy snuggling.”
I was still flabbergasted a few moments later after he sauntered off. Just what was I supposed to do? Stay like this? That would create a problem when Cain did wake up. He was likely in all of his smugness not going to believe that I hadn’t done this after our tender little reunion. I tried gently pushing him off. He wasn't budging. He had a grip of iron.
I jumped as Cain shifted again, wedging his chin in close to my ear. He was tickling the life out of me, still muttering in his dreams. I hated to acknowledge the shiver of satisfaction that ran through me as he said my name and sighed, his grip tightening on my skin. The feeling of his body pressing into mine was intoxicatingly good. I resisted the senseless urge to turn and snuggle into his embrace. I could feel every breath he took and the spot where his hands held me felt more alive than the rest of my body.
I turned my head, coming face to face with him. I gulped, never having been this up close and personal with anyone. I studied him, taking in his strong jaw and noticing small scars that I hadn’t seen before dotting across his skin. Even if I hadn’t admitted it to myself before, I had to admit he was handsome. As if he knew what was thinking, he smirked. I almost smiled, too, but then I stopped myself.
This boded ill. This wasn’t like me. I shouldn’t have been enjoying this quite so much. Cain and I were enemies, whether we called each other friends or not. This little situation definitely told me that I would need to take a step back and put some distance between us. I had somehow developed a little liking for him even though he irritated the hell out of me.
I sighed, cursing the situation my kindness had gotten me into, and settling into it reluctantly. At least Cain wasn't drooling. Yet.
Chapter Sixteen 03:06:39:24 to potential nuclear explosion
I was in the desert again, the sun beating down on my skin, causing me to sweat. But all was dark. While I couldn’t see, my ears worked very well. I could hear others talking. My feeling was back, too. Disconcertingly, I felt as if I was buried up to my neck in sand and it was moving. No, it wasn’t just moving. It was now caressing my skin.
And then I remembered everything as I surfaced from dream world. Cain still had me in his grip.
“And how did this happen?” he was asking, sounding amused.
“You got a little clingy in your sleep. She said she tried to remove your utility belt because it looked too tight and you grabbed her,” Michael grumbled petulantly from a little ways off, probably jealous. “She asked me to untangle her because she was afraid you’d fall on the floor and I said ‘no’ as a joke at first, but when I came back, she was asleep. It didn't take her long either. I was aghast. I tried to cuddle up to her the night before last and she elbowed me hard in
the stomach without waking up. What’s your secret?”
“Maybe it’s the age difference. Or you needed physical incentive to back off.”
“Like you don’t?” Michael snapped as I tried to decide what I ought to do. Either I pretend I was still asleep until Cain got up or face the music. Either option wasn’t desirable.
Cain chuckled. “Huh. I’m wondering what she’s going to do when she wakes up. Maybe she’ll actually carry out some of the threatening… lots of laughs. I’d be interested to see just what that entails.”
“You might want to wake her up before she draws her own conclusions.”
My hair was stroked. “Now where’s the fun in that? Besides, this is a welcome surprise. It’s always nice waking up with a good woman in your arms. It’s better still when sex has come before it, but I’ll take what I can get. But I suppose you wouldn't know that yet.”
“Don’t assume-”
“You’re so adorable when your cheeks go all red, Michael.”
“Shut up,” he snapped. “Just because you’re not a saint-”
“The virgin Michael. Wouldn't your daddy be proud?”
Next thing I knew there was a weird thump and I felt something hit the back of my head. I sat up with a start looking around for the source. Michael was standing with his arm extended clearly having been the one to have thrown the pillow I could now see on Cain’s lap. He looked thoroughly culpable and sheepishly waved at me.
“Hi, Rain. This should tell you I don’t have a very good throwing arm. Football was out for me. Haha. Sorry.” He scratched his head guiltily. “Did you sleep well?”
“Any dreams?” Cain asked smugly, reclining with his arm behind his head. He seemed thoroughly satisfied with himself.
“Yes,” I replied irritably, straightening my clothes. “Yes, I did. A boa constrictor was trying to strangle me. It’s surprisingly apt considering the company.”
“No sniveling. I used to smother all of my teddy bears with love as a kid,” he said humorously, eyeing my tunic mischievously as I pulled the front up. “You came out alive. Consider yourself lucky.”
War Machine: Book One in the Destiny In the Shadows Series Page 20
