Reyna laughs aloud then claps her hand over her mouth immediately to stifle the sound.
My cheeks heat. “What?” I hope she’s not laughing at me because I said something stupid. I was trying to be funny, trying to make her laugh. With me. Not at me. Palms suddenly damp, I replay what I’ve said, scrutinizing it and trying to gauge just how dopey I sounded. I come up empty, but that doesn’t mean I’m off the hook. She doesn’t answer. She keeps laughing behind her hand. Suddenly self-conscious, I mumble, “I’m an idiot. I turn my head from her in hopes that both the lighting and my position will hide my face, which is beet-red by now judging from how hot it feels.
Unexpectedly, Reyna leans in. Her voice is little more than a whisper. “I’m laughing because what you said is funny.” Her warm breath at my ear distracts me from what she’s actually saying. “You’re funny.” Try as I may, I can’t push aside the odd flare of emotion eddying about through my body at her nearness. I can’t overlook blood pounding through my veins from excitement that her hand rests on my forearm as she leans in. She is close. So close her scent swirls around me, warming my insides and thawing the freeze of glacial fear. The fear born of knowing we’re in hostile territory, Uganna territory. After seeing what I saw, their relentless pursuit of us, I didn’t think it possible for the frigid fear to thaw. But it is. And it’s all Reyna.
“Y-you think I’m funny?” I stumble over my words.
“Umm-hmm.” She nods. “I do.” I smile. If the expression looks half as goofy as it feels, I’m sure she’ll laugh again. But she doesn’t. Instead, she adds, “And smart. And kind. And cute.”
I swear I imagined the last two words she spoke, for they cause my heart to set off at a gallop, stealing the air from my lungs so that I can’t speak. The entire world seems to slow as Reyna lowers her lashes. I don’t dare close my eyes, though. I can’t seem to move. She leans in, her lips brushing gently over mine. As they do, a shiver, hot and cold simultaneously, races down my spine. Warm and gentle, the feel of her lips pulls me, surrounds me. I cup the sides of her face with both hands, pressing my lips to hers just a little harder, experimenting with the sensation. Her mouth molds to mine. I’m lightheaded, dizzy with elation. When I pull away, our foreheads meet, remaining together as our lips part. She lifts her chin. I mirror her movement. She searches my face for several moments and I study hers. Her pale skin, high cheekbones, cobalt eyes and rosebud lips. “You’re beautiful.” The words vault from me as if of their own volition, blurted from me in a rush of emotion I couldn’t contain.
Reyna’s eyes widen slightly then narrow. She studies my face. “You think I’m beautiful?” she asks softly.
“I sure do,” I answer without hesitation.
The fingers on her hand that rests on my arm curl. Her grip is light when she says, “Thank you.”
I stare at her. I’m surprised by her reaction. As striking as she is, I’d think she knows it. But she seems genuinely touched by my words, as if it’s the first time she’s heard a compliment. “You’re welcome.” I place my hand atop hers. An impulse urges me to be bold. I decide to pry just a bit. “I’m sure you’re used to hearing it, though,” I say so low I wonder whether she heard me.
“Kind words are few and far between in this world. I’ve been trying to live one day to the next. Live, as in go to bed and wake up in one piece.”
“I didn’t mean to offend you. If I did I’m sorry. It’s just that I think you’re so pretty…It’s hard for me to imagine you haven’t heard it a lot.” My cheeks blaze and my gaze drops to my lap. “I’d want to tell you every day.”
“You didn’t offend me.” She shakes her head. “I’m sorry if my tone was gruff. I didn’t want to sound that way. I was getting to a point but you interrupted me.”
The skin on my face feels so scalding hot from embarrassment my eyeballs feel like coals in a fire. “Sorry I interrupted you.” I mumble the words under my breath as I stare at my lap.
“No, no.” She releases her grip on my arm and moves her hand, leaving cold its wake. “You don’t need to apologize to me.” She rubs her forehead. “Everything I want to say is coming out all wrong,” she says more to herself than me.
“I know that feeling.” I chuckle. “When we talk I feel like every word out of my mouth makes me sound like an idiot.” I swallow hard, steeling my nerves. “You make me happy and that scares me.” My eyes dart from the floor to her then back again. “I like you. You’re one of the best people I know. My favorite apart from my brother and sister. I want to protect you, even though I know you probably don’t need me to.” Anxious laughter escapes from me. I shake my head, wondering what it is about Reyna that makes me fumble all over my words, jumbles my thoughts and makes my head spin. Then I look up at her. Eyes so pale in color they’re translucent cause a jolt to pass through me like tiny volts of energy. And in the moment, awareness races through me. Everything about Reyna makes me feel nervous and elated and lost for words. Her kindness, her courage, her strength, her honesty, her features, her touch, her scent and the feel of her lips and so many other characteristics unique to her are what generate a reaction in me.
“You don’t sound like an idiot, Lucas. Ever.” She smiles warmly. “Trust me.” She rakes a hand through her hair. “In fact, you say the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. Nicer than anything I ever dreamed possible.” She leans in and kisses my cheek. “You make me happy, too. And nervous!” She laughs. “But in a good way. In a way I’ve never felt before.”
“Me, neither,” I agree. “Trust me.”
“So we’re pretty much learning together here.” She shrugs.
“Seems like we are.” I slide her a glance. She smiles at me then stifles a yawn. “I guess we should try to get some sleep. It’ll be daylight before you know it.”
“I guess you’re right,” she says reluctantly. I stand and offer her a hand. She places hers in mine and allows me to help her to her feet. “Thanks.” She wraps one arm around my waist and sinks into me, her head against my chest. I envelop her, holding her tightly, and peace unlike any I ever imagined encircles me. I kiss the top of her head then slowly walk her back to her seat. Once she’s seated and I see that Ara is asleep, I make my way to the front of the truck. Wordlessly, I drop my backside into the passenger seat. What feels like a permanent smile brands my face.
“I’m guessing from that smile you’re wearing that you were just with Reyna,” Garan says in a voice so cloying it borders on sing-songy. Regardless, I couldn’t be annoyed at him if I tried right now.
“Yeah, I was.” I don’t try to mask my grin.
“Ohhhh, I see how it is. Reyna’s your girlfriend.” Now Garan grins, too.
“Yes, she is. She’s a girl and she’s my friend.”
“And you care about her in a different way than Xan and Micah, right?” He asks.
“Yeah.” Of course I do. No one else in this truck makes me feel the way she does. No one I’ve ever known.
“Uh-huh.” Garan makes an odd clucking sound. “You’re a couple.”
“Okay, Garan, we are,” I say to him because I don’t have the energy to argue or play his little game any longer. “As much as I’d like to stay awake and talk about this, I need to sleep for a little bit.” Garan looks disappointed so I add, “But when I wake up, you can tease me some more, I promise.”
Garan rolls his eyes. “Oh good! That’ll be fun.”
“Yeah, provided we’re not under attack or out of gas or, you know, dead. Not as important as what’s going on between me and Reyna,” I roll my eyes and say sarcastically.
“Jeez, Lucas. Point taken.” Garan raises a hand as if he’s warding me off. “Someone is so sensitive about his girlfriend,” he mutters.
I’ve closed my eyes and feel myself dose immediately. “I heard that, Garan.” I open one eye and glare at him.
Garan laughs but doesn’t say anything further. Within seconds, I’m fast asleep.
A few hours pass before I wake. My bleary e
yes squint as I look out the windshield. A blazing disk of fire peeks between branches and brush, warring with the navy night with a majestic golden halo. Crowned in buttery rays, the sun bursts forth, making her stand against the staunch night, and before long, inky darkness is blanched, replaced by a wash of forget-me-not blue. A new day is dawning. I stretch, arching my back and attempting to work out the kinks there. “How long was I asleep?” I ask Garan.
“Not too long. A few hours. Four or five I think,” he replies.
“Oh wow.” I rub my eyes. “I didn’t think I’d be out that long.” I twist in my seat, the movement makes my lower back complain. “Anyone up yet?”
“No.” Garan’s reply is as tight as is features. I half expected another joking comment about Reyna, but all kidding has drained from his features and his tone.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
He casts a worried glance at the control panel. “We’re going to need to stop and refuel very soon.” He points to the fuel gauge.
Any and all fogginess that remained from sleeping lifts. “Are we in a safe spot?” I look around. The scenery hasn’t changed dramatically.
Garan scratches his chin. “I’d like to make it a little farther. That last pack was only fifteen miles back and they’ll still be chasing.”
“They wouldn’t have given up by now?” As soon as the words leave me, Garan levels me with a serious look. I realize the Uganna do not give up when hunting.
“No,” is all Garan says.
I scrub my face with both hands. “Then we go as far as we can.” But as soon as I open my eyes, looking straight ahead. My heart stop mid-beat.
“No!” Garan shouts. He stomps down on the brake pedal.
Cries echo from behind us.
“What’s going on?” Lark’s voice is pitched higher than usual and laced with fear.
“Did we hit something?” Xan asks, his voice still thick with sleep.
Neither Garan nor I can answer right away. We’re equal parts stunned and horrified by what we see. The road ahead of us is completely blocked from the partially paved path to the treetops. Branches, brush and debris are piled high so that only pinpricks of light pass through it. On either side of us, a half-dozen vehicles sit with windows smashed and dried blood marring them. Human or Urthman skeletons litter the ground by the cars. I count at least twenty.
Heartbeat thundering deafeningly in my ears, my mouth is dry. Words, a scream—anything to express the fear-filled desperation I feel—are trapped behind the lump of dread that’s firmly lodged in my throat. What do we do now? My eyes dart in all directions. The walls created by twigs, branches, mud and logs feel as if they’re closing in on the truck. The landscape wavers. Sweat beads my forehead and upper lip. My breathing becomes short and shallow. At any given second, I expect the first of the Uganna to vault over the debris. “It’s a trap!” The words finally eek out, my focus sharpening finally, clearing my mind. “I thought they were mindless creatures.”
“I can’t believe this! We need to go back!” Garan screams. For the first time since meeting him, I hear genuine panic lacing his words.
“No way! We don’t even have enough fuel!” I stab my finger toward the fuel gauge to remind him.
“We have enough to get us out of Uganna territory if we fill the tank now.” Garan turns to face me. His eyes, as black as polished onyx, plead with me. I can tell by his expression that he’s never encountered anything like this from them. His hope for getting through their land has fallen flat. I refuse to allow that.
Shoving every ounce of panic into the remotest recesses of my being, I reply, “Then what? We’re stranded in the middle of nowhere?” I pause and squeeze my eyes shut for a beat. “No, that’s not happening.” I stand and slide my sword into the scabbard at my back. I call out to everyone in the back of the truck. “We need to clear the road as quickly as possible.” Xan, Micha and Kai rush to the front of the truck. Words of shock are mumbled along with a few curse words from Xan. “Xan, Micah, I need the two of you to fill the gas tank while the rest of us clear.”
They both nod gravely before they rush to the storage compartment. I follow them, trading meaningful glances with Reyna, Ara and Pike before I jump out of the back door. My brother and sister, Reyna, Kai, Aaron, Aiden, Lark and Garan file out. We race to the blockage that stands in the way of us and the road ahead, the road that leads us out of Uganna territory. A flurry of hands reach for limbs and branches, pulling them away and tossing them aside. What turns out to be an entire tree—a few roots preserved and protruding like beastly appendages—requires all of us to work together to move it. Dozens of large pieces need more than one of us and the task takes more time than we have. The air is warm, warmer than it’s been in recent days. Mugginess clings to the air, to my skin. Pants of exertion meld with the snap and crackle of brush as it is hurled. Xan and Micah, finished filling the tank with gas, join us. They work hard and fast. Their contribution is tremendous. We’re all coated in dirt, mud and leaves. But no one stops. Before long, only a few tree limbs remain. Infused with confidence that we’ll clear it before encountering the Uganna, I grip the base of a big branch. As I start to drag it, I realize an eerie quiet has settled over the surrounding woodland. The chirp of birds has fallen silent. I can’t explain why, but I know I’m being watched. That all of us are being watched. It’s a sensation. The tightening of my gut and a shiver that washes over my body and raises the fine hairs on the back of my neck. I can’t dismiss it. I open my mouth to ask Kai, who works beside me, whether he notices, when a figure bursts from the woods. It charges full speed. Before I have a chance to move or speak, the air is knocked from my lungs. Head colliding with the hard ground below with a thud, I’m flattened, the hilt of my sword digging into my back. A ferocious face is an arm’s length from mine. Forehead overhanging small, dark eyes, black and infused with crimson, it opens its mouth wide. Saliva drips from its pointed teeth and it releases a sound, a hungry, murderous howl, before it jerks toward my throat. I cry out and shove with all my might, my efforts ineffective. Pure fear pounds through my veins, hammering against my skin. I can’t reach my blade. I can’t stop pushing against the beast long enough to grab it. I don’t want to die. Not here. Not now. In the space of a breath, an arm grips its head and a blade drags across its neck before its teeth touch me. The Uganna’s blood spirts all over me. When it slumps to the side, dead, I see Garan. Bloody sword in hand, he doesn’t have time to ask if I’m alright. Another explodes from the woods. I jump to my feet in time to watch it slam into Aiden. Aiden tumbles to the ground. Garan dashes to the fray but is too late. The beast tears at Aiden’s throat, exposing his esophagus as it rips away at the flesh.
“Noooo!” I scream, my voice hoarse and foreign to my own ears
Terror ripples through our group. Cries of horror ring out.
“Keep clearing the road!” Kai shouts to keep our focus on the task, but as many keep at it, another four assail, storming out of the woods. I grip the hilt of my sword firmly, narrowly sidestepping the first as I carve the air. The blade slices the Uganna’s gut. It bays in agony, a sickening screech. Garan slays another, the sound of the two dying an unearthly din.
In my periphery, I see Ara zip past us, away from the chaos. She climbs atop the hood of the truck and fires an arrow into the Uganna attacking Aiden. The beast yelps and falls to its side, an arrow jutting from its temple. She immediately loads another into her bow and shoots. Another falls.
Kai drags the last of the brush out of the road with a labored grunt. “Let’s go!” he screams.
At his words, Garan bolts for the back door, racing to the driver’s seat. The engine rumbles to life as the rest of us scurry to the rear of the truck.
“Go! Come on!” I frantically urge everyone to hurry as I see dozens of Uganna pour from concealment and flood the roadway. They hurtle toward us, toward the open back of our vehicle. I shove Ara inside and climb in behind her. Garan, Xan, Micah, Aaron, Kai, Pike, Reyna, Ara an
d I are already inside. Lark is reaching for the handle of the door when an Uganna lunges from the back, yanking her with suck force a bloodied fingernail remains on the metal handle.
“Lark!” Her name vaults from me as I watch her fawn colored hair whip backward. She’s flung to the road.
The second Lark’s body hits the ground, the beasts descend on her, shredding her to pieces. Pops and snaps sound as bones are broken. Eager yelps mingle with them. Limbs are tossed among the frenzied Uganna as they’re torn from Lark’s body, so bloody and gory I can’t identify arms or legs. Lying face down, I can’t even see her features. Only blood. Copious amounts of blood are splattered across her back, matting her light-brown hair. I stare at the scene before me. The carnage is too much for my brain to handle. The wet slopping noises, the chuffs and snorts of the fiends as they feast on Lark are too much for my brain to process. I’m paralyzed, staring at it in disbelief, in the kind of horrified shock that renders me still. Tears elude me. Cries are frozen in my lungs. Numbness threatens as it creeps up my body. A small part of me wishes to succumb to it, to feel nothing at all rather than accept what I’ve seen and am seeing. Sinking into blackness, into the blissful oblivion of numbness seems a tempting reprieve. After all, death steals us of hope. It leaves us with…nothing.
“Lucas!” Ara is at my side with Pike and Reyna. The truck, moving slowly at first, heaves forward. The motion snaps me from my trance-like state. An arrow shrieks from Ara’s bow, then Pike’s and lastly Reyna’s. The three of them fire arrows at the Uganna who give chase. They fall instantly. The truck has gained speed and is moving quickly now. The butchery surrounding Lark’s body grows distant.
Trembling, I turn to my brother and sister, to Reyna. “I should’ve gone last.”
“What’re you talking about?” Reyna’s brow lowers and her eyes narrow.
“Lark. It’s my fault.” I point a shaking finger to the road behind us.
“No, it’s not, Lucas.” Reyna wraps both arms around my waist and squeezes, holding me so tightly I swear that, for a minute, all of my broken pieces fit back together. “It’s not your fault,” she whispers into my chest. “Let’s shut the door and get you in a seat.”
Sin City Page 9
