Rising, page 18
part #3 of Girl With Broken Wings Series
Tarren’s Story
I noticed a crowded pizza restaurant right next door to the pet shop…Pizza? No. I had some Power Bars on me... Patrons were walking over to the restaurant from some of the office buildings and then back on foot. Perfect targets for an angel.
It was a long shot, but I waited and watched. I got lucky. Two angels attacked a woman as she took a shortcut through an alley away from the restaurant. I put one down with a headshot, and the other one… He became willing to tell me where the angels were headquartered…The woman? She was fine. I tranquilized her… No. Not outside in this temperature. I broke into a closed office building and put her on a couch in the lobby… She had a coat on. She was fine.
Gabe’s Story
Would’ve been nice to have Tarren at my back, but that fucker was nowhere to be found.
I’d brought a couple extra weapons we had laying around at home, and got my team outfitted and armed. Imagine a montage if you will. Guns being slung. Faces serious. Muscles glimmering in the overhead light. Rocky theme song pounding in the background…Oh, okay, you got all the visuals. Good. So then I told my new posse the plan, and they were right behind me, ready to lay their lives on the line at my word.
Rain’s Story
It was a terrible plan. I was pretty sure we were all going to die.
Tarren’s Story
I arrived at the location at 7:13 AM and scoped out the property…My course of action wasn’t clear at that point. I hadn’t even confirmed that you were on site. And then I heard…You were screaming, somewhere away from the main house.
Gabe’s Story
When we got to that huge-ass mansion I found a nice tree on a hill about 20 yards away from the front door. It was big enough that I could mostly hide behind it without being seen, and the hill gave me a great angle. I set up shop there with the sniper rifle. The Gabettes went around back…They actually voted on the new name themselves, if you must know. I tried to talk them out of it. It was all rather embarrassing.
Tarren’s Story
I saw the flames, and I…Of course I considered a trap….But you were…The angels left. The last one out, he looked…Never mind, it’s not important. I made my choice.
Gabe’s Story
The Gabettes took up position behind the mansion and started shooting that fucker up… Not exactly brilliant, but it worked. The angels streamed out the front. I checked every set of hands through the scope. All angels, and I picked them off one by one with the sniper rifle…Okay not all of them, but a lot of them….At least seven. Those poor bastards didn’t know what the fuck was going on.
Rain’s Story
Loud. The gunshots were so loud. My ears are still ringing. It was all madness and adrenaline, and I just remember how loud the gunshots were.
Gabe’s Story
I kept waiting for you to come out that front door, but you didn’t.
Rain’s Story
We kept shooting at the back of the house, and no one was coming our way, which was fine by me. We could hear them screaming though on the other side of the house. They sounded so afraid.
Then a group of them came up behind us from the left. They were just there, and Chain was shouting, so I pointed my gun at them and started shooting. This bald guy, he went down, and two others ran away. A man and a woman. At some point I must have run out of bullets, but I never even noticed, because one of them, a woman, she…She flew.
Gabe’s Story
I saw one of them rise up into the sky from behind the house. A woman with blonde hair. All this lightening surrounded her, just like Storm from the X-Men. I always liked Storm, but this lady, she wasn’t one of the good guys. She raised up her arms and all hell broke loose.
Rain’s Story
Hail. Thunder. Lightening. It was chaos. The wind was so heavy, it knocked me over. She was looking at us, right at us, and lightening crawled all over her body…No, I’m fine. I was like, well, I just closed my eyes and waited.
Gabe’s Story
With all the wind and lightening and shit going, it was an impossible shot. For anyone else.
Rain’s Story
Then it was over. I caught just a glimpse of her falling like a piece of lead. I think I was kind of in shock or something, because then everyone was standing around, and Gabe was giving us orders. I couldn’t believe we were all still alive. Gabe was shivering and seriously looked like he was going to drop. He told Bear and Chain to search the mansion for you. He waved me to follow him. I didn’t know where we were going until I saw big clouds of smoke billowing to the left.
Tarren’s Story
I went in. You were alive but barely conscious….I know what you said…I tried to pick the lock, but visibility was severely limited. You lost consciousness, and the whole structure was collapsing. The central beam was caving, so I emptied my clip into it. Then I grabbed the chain linked through your cuffs and pulled. The beam buckled, and I got you out...The beam broke apart…Nothing. It was nothing.
Gabe’s Story
I saw all that smoke, and I think a part of me knew you were there. I turned the corner, and the guest house was a bonfire. Then I saw Tarren lying in the snow a couple feet from the door…It wasn’t the most enjoyable moment of my life.
Rain’s Story
The fire was so bright that I didn’t see the guy at first. Not until Gabe went all spastic, floundering through the snow. The guy’s shirt was smoldering, and he was curled up on his side, not moving. Gabe got to him and pulled him over. That’s when I saw there was someone underneath him.
Gabe’s Story
Tarren woke up as soon as I touched him. You were a different story. Maya, I, there was a moment. God, I thought my heart was going to crawl out of my throat and vomit.
Rain’s Story
You had something, I guess the guy’s jacket, wrapped around your hands, and you weren’t breathing. I’m CPR-certified, so I thought I’d…Yeah, you know the rest.
Chapter 25
“Ugh. What’s that stench? You burn your shoes or something?” Gabe looks over to Tarren.
“My shirt got singed,” he replies.
The windows of the jeep are up, and it smells like someone threw something unappetizing onto a grill and left it there for a couple of days. Outside, snowflakes dance lightly in the wind, and cars fill the streets, kicking up brown slush.
I lie down across the backseat, reach into the seat pocket in front of me, and grab the extra pair of fingerless gloves I always keep there for emergencies. They prove difficult to don, or maybe it’s that my fingers are still numb and tingly and my thoughts all logged with smoke. Every pull of the gloves wakens little snakes of pain in my chaffed wrists.
“Maya, how much did you tell them?” Tarren asks. He sits ramrod straight in the passenger seat and stares ahead.
I reflect on his question. Gem rifled through my mind like it was an unlocked filing cabinet. He knows everything and could hurt us in so many different ways that it strains my imagination. But he won’t hurt us. I know this, or at least I think I know this. He allowed me to be rescued by Tarren, but there’s something more; the connection he forged between our minds wasn’t one-way. Even as he was picking over my thoughts, I felt the touch of his own.
I struggle to push beyond my exhaustion to understand the feelings I caught from him. He’s not evil. Well, not in the cruel, insane, scalpel-loving way of Grand. There was…conflict. Lots of conflict and uncertainty….and remorse.
And he’s my brother, as much as Tarren and Gabe are.
“Nothing. I didn’t tell them anything,” I say.
“We need to know exactly—” Tarren begins.
“How did you get your hat back?” I ask Gabe, overriding Tarren’s question. Tarren sets his jaw, but doesn’t follow up.
A wide smile spreads on Gabe’s face. “You know that squirrel?”
“Uh, you’re going to have to be a little more specific.”
“The cool one with the bent tail.”
“Oh yeah, the one that lives in the woods next to the house. You put him on the no-snack list.” I know this particular squirrel. He’s a mean motherfucker, big and bold with black devil eyes.
“Yeah, well, he and I are really tight. I trained him to understand human speech and to monitor the woods for angels. He also tells me what color panties Francesca wears every day.”
Another stupid story. I should have known. Outwardly I groan, but really, this is a good thing. Gabe being playful is a good, good thing.
“He owed me a favor, so he got the hat down.”
“First of all, you’re totally full of bullshit,” I inform him. “Secondly, you’re a perv. Thirdly, the hat was taped to the tree branch, and fourthly, you cheated!”
Gabe laughs. His hands rest lax on the wheel as we pause at a stoplight, so different from the precise ten and two grip that Tarren never deviates from.
“Firstly, you’re insanely jealous that I can commune with the animals of the forest,” Gabe responds, mimicking my tone. “Secondly, Francesca is my future wife, so I have a relevant interest in her panties. Thirdly, squirrels have crazy strong teeth, duh. Don’t you watch the Discovery Channel?”
“Hey, that’s not…”
“Fourthly,” Gabe hollers over my objection. “Fourthly….what was the fourth one?”
“You cheated.”
“Turn up here,” Tarren cuts in.
I do everything to keep a smile off of my lips. It doesn’t matter that every inch of my body is battered and bruised, that I can feel hardened ash around my nostrils and in the corners of my eyes. My brothers found me. My brothers are here; we’re all together. And Gabe is cracking jokes. I would stop time if I could, hold this moment still forever.
Tarren gives Gabe additional directions, and I’m surprised when I recognize where we’re heading. A minute later we pull into the parking lot of the Bluebell Estates. I sit up and look out at the weathered building.
“You kept the room?” I ask Tarren.
“I figured that if your captors were successful in getting information from you…”
“I would send them here,” I say flatly.
“My options at the time were limited,” Tarren says. His eyes stay glued to the windshield.
“No they weren’t. You could have followed protocol,” I say, not because I’m angry or upset, but because I’m still confused.
“Yeah, if you were breaking all the rules anyway, you could have at least kept your phone,” Gabe jumps in.
“I didn’t want my movements tracked,” Tarren says.
Gabe pulls into a parking space in the far back corner, and we all stare at the squat building.
“Do you think it’s safe?” Gabe asks.
Oh shit, Raven. “No, this isn’t a good idea,” I say. “There was a girl in the room below us. The angels nabbed her, changed her, but she got away. She’s lost and alone out there. Confused. She might try to come back.”
“Infected her?” Tarren turns his head toward me.
“Yeah, it’s a long story. I’ll tell you, I swear, but can we just find someplace else and get a shower first?”
“Did you clean out the room?” Gabe asks.
Tarren shakes his head. “Didn’t have time. Everything’s still in there.”
“I didn’t give them a checkout date,” I add. “Credit card should hold out for a few more days.”
Gabe sits back in the seat, one hand tapping against the wheel. “We could just keep the room. Rotate watch for the girl.” He looks to Tarren for confirmation.
In the passenger seat, Tarren seems lost in thought. I wonder what dizzying array of plans swirl through his mind.
“Too risky,” he says at last. “If she’s been reported as a missing person, the police will want to question everyone who’s checked into the motel. We can’t afford that scrutiny. We’ll clear out the room, find somewhere close to rest, and set up a rotating watch here for her. When we get eyes on her, we’ll take her down.”
Take her down. Tarren’s words echo hollow inside of me. Take her down. That’s what my brothers do. They see an angel, line up their shot, and pull the trigger. I can’t get rid of the image of Raven shivering and terrified in the backseat of the SUV. Maybe we can help her. I just don’t know how yet. I’ll think it through, come up with a plan. Tarren…yeah, I think hell would have to freeze over before I could get him to budge. I’ll work on Gabe first.
Gabe hefts open his door and slides out.
“We’ll get two rooms as usual,” Tarren says, unbuckling his seatbelt. I’m not sure why he feels this thought requires voice. Does he mean like the way things used to be, where Gabe and I would take a two-bed room and Tarren would take a single? No. Everything Tarren says has a reason. He means that he and Gabe will share a room. He doesn’t want me near Gabe, not after…
“Okay,” I mutter and push my door open.
Tarren exits with such care, that I wonder if he’s still feeling the effects of the smoke. He looks at me. His pale eyes seem bright. I catch more reds leaking into his aura beyond his grip of control. He’s still angry that I ran off, that I was stupid enough to get captured…twice. He has every right to be furious. I could have gotten him and Gabe killed.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him.
“I know,” he says and follows Gabe up the stairs to the room.
I stand there, hand resting on the open door, and realize that I haven’t thanked Tarren for saving my life. For not abandoning me.
***
When I make it into the room, I double check that the Do Not Disturb sign is in place before locking the door behind us. Gabe is already shedding his duster, guns, hat, and shoes. He collapses onto the king bed and immediately burrows under the blankets.
The sight and smells of the room are oddly comforting. I breathe in the cloying odor of old cigarettes and let my eyes trails the sagging green and white stripped wall border. Even the obnoxious rumbling heater sounds like an old friend. My bag still sits next to the cot, and there, in the corner is the cage where the last three rats huddle. Fear ripples through their auras as I move in close.
I take them into the bathroom. It’s a quiet slaughter as I slake my hunger.
“Alright, you two get to work. I’ll supervise with my eyes closed,” Gabe says as I return and slide the cage discreetly behind my duffle bag.
“Not yet,” Tarren says. “We’ll go somewhere else. Get two rooms.”
“How did you get your hat?” I call out, forcing my voice to sound normal even as the last shudders of addiction leave my body.
“Made a jet pack using Tarren’s Junior Detective Chemistry Set and all his LEGOS.” Gabe’s voice is muffled beneath the blankets.
“LEGO jet pack? That really the best you got?”
“Tarren loves LEGOS, almost as much as tea parties with his stuffed animals.”
I glance over at Tarren, expecting his usual curt denial, but he isn’t paying any attention to us. He stands by the table, eyes far away. The hints of anger haven’t left his aura.
It hits me like a punch, how utterly filthy I am. My clothing and skin are caked in ash, scabs, and blood. I need a shower. Now.
“We should get cleaned up first,” I say to Tarren. “Why don’t we take an hour to regroup and then pack up? It’d do us all a world of good.”
He looks up at my words. “It’d be better if—”
“Gabe’s already asleep,” I tell him, and nod toward the bed, where Gabe is nothing more than a slight impression under the blankets issuing slow, deep breaths.
Tarren glances at his brother. His lips set tight. “One hour.”
“One hour,” I confirm.
Tarren eases himself into the chair at the table as I rifle through my duffle bag for an outfit. I’m careful to not to stain the fabric with smears of ash. Nearby, Sir Hospalot’s carrying case shakes as the rabbit repositions himself within.
“Long time no see,” I say to him, because it’s better than the silence.
“Maya,” Tarren says, softening his voice, “When they…did they…”
I stand up, clothes gathered in my arms. “I didn’t give anything away,” I tell him. “Everyone’s safe.” I justify the lie by thinking, If Gem wanted us dead, we would have never left that mansion.
“No, not that. The way you were chained…”
I glance over at Tarren. He stares down at his ash smudged hands and clinches his jaw like he’s trying to bite through a steel ball bearing. Then I understand.
He’s asking if they cut me. “No, they didn’t,” I say.
Tarren doesn’t say anything, just keeps looking at his dirty hands.
“I’m going to take a shower now.” I do everything but run into the bathroom. I can’t handle this conversation, not right now. I just need to get clean.
I peel away my sodden clothes and study my reflection in the mirror. I can’t take my eyes from the stark contrast between the dark ash crusted on my face and neck and the white skin of my shoulders and chest where my shirt protected me.
For a moment I smell the burning insulation and melting glass, hear the crackle of flames, and watch the Monet landscape blacken beneath the fire’s touch. I shake the images out of my head and turn the water cold, very cold. Standing still under the spray, I watch the gray runoff from my body paint a ring around the drain.
I made it out, I think, forcing myself to believe the words. Technically, Tarren dragged me out and Rain Bailey kissed me back to life. Sort of. I touch my lips, and they don’t feel any different to me. It’s pointless anyway, me thinking that Rain is handsome and feeling a little tingle in my chest when I imagine his lips on mine. I almost killed the guy. Not exactly the run up to a solid flirtation. Course, he did tranq and kidnap me, so maybe we’re even. Big red F on both sides.
Not that he could or ever would think of me like that.
***
When I finally return to the main room with a towel draped over my shoulders, that burnt barbeque smell is a heavy presence. Tarren needs to get rid of his smelly shirt, the sooner the better. Gabe is still a lump under the covers, and Tarren sits at the table taking cryptic notes in his journal. He apparently hasn’t made any attempt to clean the ash off his face. Strange, since he’s definitely the most finicky about hygiene of the three of us. I’ve never met another guy who flosses like clockwork twice a day.
I noticed a crowded pizza restaurant right next door to the pet shop…Pizza? No. I had some Power Bars on me... Patrons were walking over to the restaurant from some of the office buildings and then back on foot. Perfect targets for an angel.
It was a long shot, but I waited and watched. I got lucky. Two angels attacked a woman as she took a shortcut through an alley away from the restaurant. I put one down with a headshot, and the other one… He became willing to tell me where the angels were headquartered…The woman? She was fine. I tranquilized her… No. Not outside in this temperature. I broke into a closed office building and put her on a couch in the lobby… She had a coat on. She was fine.
Gabe’s Story
Would’ve been nice to have Tarren at my back, but that fucker was nowhere to be found.
I’d brought a couple extra weapons we had laying around at home, and got my team outfitted and armed. Imagine a montage if you will. Guns being slung. Faces serious. Muscles glimmering in the overhead light. Rocky theme song pounding in the background…Oh, okay, you got all the visuals. Good. So then I told my new posse the plan, and they were right behind me, ready to lay their lives on the line at my word.
Rain’s Story
It was a terrible plan. I was pretty sure we were all going to die.
Tarren’s Story
I arrived at the location at 7:13 AM and scoped out the property…My course of action wasn’t clear at that point. I hadn’t even confirmed that you were on site. And then I heard…You were screaming, somewhere away from the main house.
Gabe’s Story
When we got to that huge-ass mansion I found a nice tree on a hill about 20 yards away from the front door. It was big enough that I could mostly hide behind it without being seen, and the hill gave me a great angle. I set up shop there with the sniper rifle. The Gabettes went around back…They actually voted on the new name themselves, if you must know. I tried to talk them out of it. It was all rather embarrassing.
Tarren’s Story
I saw the flames, and I…Of course I considered a trap….But you were…The angels left. The last one out, he looked…Never mind, it’s not important. I made my choice.
Gabe’s Story
The Gabettes took up position behind the mansion and started shooting that fucker up… Not exactly brilliant, but it worked. The angels streamed out the front. I checked every set of hands through the scope. All angels, and I picked them off one by one with the sniper rifle…Okay not all of them, but a lot of them….At least seven. Those poor bastards didn’t know what the fuck was going on.
Rain’s Story
Loud. The gunshots were so loud. My ears are still ringing. It was all madness and adrenaline, and I just remember how loud the gunshots were.
Gabe’s Story
I kept waiting for you to come out that front door, but you didn’t.
Rain’s Story
We kept shooting at the back of the house, and no one was coming our way, which was fine by me. We could hear them screaming though on the other side of the house. They sounded so afraid.
Then a group of them came up behind us from the left. They were just there, and Chain was shouting, so I pointed my gun at them and started shooting. This bald guy, he went down, and two others ran away. A man and a woman. At some point I must have run out of bullets, but I never even noticed, because one of them, a woman, she…She flew.
Gabe’s Story
I saw one of them rise up into the sky from behind the house. A woman with blonde hair. All this lightening surrounded her, just like Storm from the X-Men. I always liked Storm, but this lady, she wasn’t one of the good guys. She raised up her arms and all hell broke loose.
Rain’s Story
Hail. Thunder. Lightening. It was chaos. The wind was so heavy, it knocked me over. She was looking at us, right at us, and lightening crawled all over her body…No, I’m fine. I was like, well, I just closed my eyes and waited.
Gabe’s Story
With all the wind and lightening and shit going, it was an impossible shot. For anyone else.
Rain’s Story
Then it was over. I caught just a glimpse of her falling like a piece of lead. I think I was kind of in shock or something, because then everyone was standing around, and Gabe was giving us orders. I couldn’t believe we were all still alive. Gabe was shivering and seriously looked like he was going to drop. He told Bear and Chain to search the mansion for you. He waved me to follow him. I didn’t know where we were going until I saw big clouds of smoke billowing to the left.
Tarren’s Story
I went in. You were alive but barely conscious….I know what you said…I tried to pick the lock, but visibility was severely limited. You lost consciousness, and the whole structure was collapsing. The central beam was caving, so I emptied my clip into it. Then I grabbed the chain linked through your cuffs and pulled. The beam buckled, and I got you out...The beam broke apart…Nothing. It was nothing.
Gabe’s Story
I saw all that smoke, and I think a part of me knew you were there. I turned the corner, and the guest house was a bonfire. Then I saw Tarren lying in the snow a couple feet from the door…It wasn’t the most enjoyable moment of my life.
Rain’s Story
The fire was so bright that I didn’t see the guy at first. Not until Gabe went all spastic, floundering through the snow. The guy’s shirt was smoldering, and he was curled up on his side, not moving. Gabe got to him and pulled him over. That’s when I saw there was someone underneath him.
Gabe’s Story
Tarren woke up as soon as I touched him. You were a different story. Maya, I, there was a moment. God, I thought my heart was going to crawl out of my throat and vomit.
Rain’s Story
You had something, I guess the guy’s jacket, wrapped around your hands, and you weren’t breathing. I’m CPR-certified, so I thought I’d…Yeah, you know the rest.
Chapter 25
“Ugh. What’s that stench? You burn your shoes or something?” Gabe looks over to Tarren.
“My shirt got singed,” he replies.
The windows of the jeep are up, and it smells like someone threw something unappetizing onto a grill and left it there for a couple of days. Outside, snowflakes dance lightly in the wind, and cars fill the streets, kicking up brown slush.
I lie down across the backseat, reach into the seat pocket in front of me, and grab the extra pair of fingerless gloves I always keep there for emergencies. They prove difficult to don, or maybe it’s that my fingers are still numb and tingly and my thoughts all logged with smoke. Every pull of the gloves wakens little snakes of pain in my chaffed wrists.
“Maya, how much did you tell them?” Tarren asks. He sits ramrod straight in the passenger seat and stares ahead.
I reflect on his question. Gem rifled through my mind like it was an unlocked filing cabinet. He knows everything and could hurt us in so many different ways that it strains my imagination. But he won’t hurt us. I know this, or at least I think I know this. He allowed me to be rescued by Tarren, but there’s something more; the connection he forged between our minds wasn’t one-way. Even as he was picking over my thoughts, I felt the touch of his own.
I struggle to push beyond my exhaustion to understand the feelings I caught from him. He’s not evil. Well, not in the cruel, insane, scalpel-loving way of Grand. There was…conflict. Lots of conflict and uncertainty….and remorse.
And he’s my brother, as much as Tarren and Gabe are.
“Nothing. I didn’t tell them anything,” I say.
“We need to know exactly—” Tarren begins.
“How did you get your hat back?” I ask Gabe, overriding Tarren’s question. Tarren sets his jaw, but doesn’t follow up.
A wide smile spreads on Gabe’s face. “You know that squirrel?”
“Uh, you’re going to have to be a little more specific.”
“The cool one with the bent tail.”
“Oh yeah, the one that lives in the woods next to the house. You put him on the no-snack list.” I know this particular squirrel. He’s a mean motherfucker, big and bold with black devil eyes.
“Yeah, well, he and I are really tight. I trained him to understand human speech and to monitor the woods for angels. He also tells me what color panties Francesca wears every day.”
Another stupid story. I should have known. Outwardly I groan, but really, this is a good thing. Gabe being playful is a good, good thing.
“He owed me a favor, so he got the hat down.”
“First of all, you’re totally full of bullshit,” I inform him. “Secondly, you’re a perv. Thirdly, the hat was taped to the tree branch, and fourthly, you cheated!”
Gabe laughs. His hands rest lax on the wheel as we pause at a stoplight, so different from the precise ten and two grip that Tarren never deviates from.
“Firstly, you’re insanely jealous that I can commune with the animals of the forest,” Gabe responds, mimicking my tone. “Secondly, Francesca is my future wife, so I have a relevant interest in her panties. Thirdly, squirrels have crazy strong teeth, duh. Don’t you watch the Discovery Channel?”
“Hey, that’s not…”
“Fourthly,” Gabe hollers over my objection. “Fourthly….what was the fourth one?”
“You cheated.”
“Turn up here,” Tarren cuts in.
I do everything to keep a smile off of my lips. It doesn’t matter that every inch of my body is battered and bruised, that I can feel hardened ash around my nostrils and in the corners of my eyes. My brothers found me. My brothers are here; we’re all together. And Gabe is cracking jokes. I would stop time if I could, hold this moment still forever.
Tarren gives Gabe additional directions, and I’m surprised when I recognize where we’re heading. A minute later we pull into the parking lot of the Bluebell Estates. I sit up and look out at the weathered building.
“You kept the room?” I ask Tarren.
“I figured that if your captors were successful in getting information from you…”
“I would send them here,” I say flatly.
“My options at the time were limited,” Tarren says. His eyes stay glued to the windshield.
“No they weren’t. You could have followed protocol,” I say, not because I’m angry or upset, but because I’m still confused.
“Yeah, if you were breaking all the rules anyway, you could have at least kept your phone,” Gabe jumps in.
“I didn’t want my movements tracked,” Tarren says.
Gabe pulls into a parking space in the far back corner, and we all stare at the squat building.
“Do you think it’s safe?” Gabe asks.
Oh shit, Raven. “No, this isn’t a good idea,” I say. “There was a girl in the room below us. The angels nabbed her, changed her, but she got away. She’s lost and alone out there. Confused. She might try to come back.”
“Infected her?” Tarren turns his head toward me.
“Yeah, it’s a long story. I’ll tell you, I swear, but can we just find someplace else and get a shower first?”
“Did you clean out the room?” Gabe asks.
Tarren shakes his head. “Didn’t have time. Everything’s still in there.”
“I didn’t give them a checkout date,” I add. “Credit card should hold out for a few more days.”
Gabe sits back in the seat, one hand tapping against the wheel. “We could just keep the room. Rotate watch for the girl.” He looks to Tarren for confirmation.
In the passenger seat, Tarren seems lost in thought. I wonder what dizzying array of plans swirl through his mind.
“Too risky,” he says at last. “If she’s been reported as a missing person, the police will want to question everyone who’s checked into the motel. We can’t afford that scrutiny. We’ll clear out the room, find somewhere close to rest, and set up a rotating watch here for her. When we get eyes on her, we’ll take her down.”
Take her down. Tarren’s words echo hollow inside of me. Take her down. That’s what my brothers do. They see an angel, line up their shot, and pull the trigger. I can’t get rid of the image of Raven shivering and terrified in the backseat of the SUV. Maybe we can help her. I just don’t know how yet. I’ll think it through, come up with a plan. Tarren…yeah, I think hell would have to freeze over before I could get him to budge. I’ll work on Gabe first.
Gabe hefts open his door and slides out.
“We’ll get two rooms as usual,” Tarren says, unbuckling his seatbelt. I’m not sure why he feels this thought requires voice. Does he mean like the way things used to be, where Gabe and I would take a two-bed room and Tarren would take a single? No. Everything Tarren says has a reason. He means that he and Gabe will share a room. He doesn’t want me near Gabe, not after…
“Okay,” I mutter and push my door open.
Tarren exits with such care, that I wonder if he’s still feeling the effects of the smoke. He looks at me. His pale eyes seem bright. I catch more reds leaking into his aura beyond his grip of control. He’s still angry that I ran off, that I was stupid enough to get captured…twice. He has every right to be furious. I could have gotten him and Gabe killed.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him.
“I know,” he says and follows Gabe up the stairs to the room.
I stand there, hand resting on the open door, and realize that I haven’t thanked Tarren for saving my life. For not abandoning me.
***
When I make it into the room, I double check that the Do Not Disturb sign is in place before locking the door behind us. Gabe is already shedding his duster, guns, hat, and shoes. He collapses onto the king bed and immediately burrows under the blankets.
The sight and smells of the room are oddly comforting. I breathe in the cloying odor of old cigarettes and let my eyes trails the sagging green and white stripped wall border. Even the obnoxious rumbling heater sounds like an old friend. My bag still sits next to the cot, and there, in the corner is the cage where the last three rats huddle. Fear ripples through their auras as I move in close.
I take them into the bathroom. It’s a quiet slaughter as I slake my hunger.
“Alright, you two get to work. I’ll supervise with my eyes closed,” Gabe says as I return and slide the cage discreetly behind my duffle bag.
“Not yet,” Tarren says. “We’ll go somewhere else. Get two rooms.”
“How did you get your hat?” I call out, forcing my voice to sound normal even as the last shudders of addiction leave my body.
“Made a jet pack using Tarren’s Junior Detective Chemistry Set and all his LEGOS.” Gabe’s voice is muffled beneath the blankets.
“LEGO jet pack? That really the best you got?”
“Tarren loves LEGOS, almost as much as tea parties with his stuffed animals.”
I glance over at Tarren, expecting his usual curt denial, but he isn’t paying any attention to us. He stands by the table, eyes far away. The hints of anger haven’t left his aura.
It hits me like a punch, how utterly filthy I am. My clothing and skin are caked in ash, scabs, and blood. I need a shower. Now.
“We should get cleaned up first,” I say to Tarren. “Why don’t we take an hour to regroup and then pack up? It’d do us all a world of good.”
He looks up at my words. “It’d be better if—”
“Gabe’s already asleep,” I tell him, and nod toward the bed, where Gabe is nothing more than a slight impression under the blankets issuing slow, deep breaths.
Tarren glances at his brother. His lips set tight. “One hour.”
“One hour,” I confirm.
Tarren eases himself into the chair at the table as I rifle through my duffle bag for an outfit. I’m careful to not to stain the fabric with smears of ash. Nearby, Sir Hospalot’s carrying case shakes as the rabbit repositions himself within.
“Long time no see,” I say to him, because it’s better than the silence.
“Maya,” Tarren says, softening his voice, “When they…did they…”
I stand up, clothes gathered in my arms. “I didn’t give anything away,” I tell him. “Everyone’s safe.” I justify the lie by thinking, If Gem wanted us dead, we would have never left that mansion.
“No, not that. The way you were chained…”
I glance over at Tarren. He stares down at his ash smudged hands and clinches his jaw like he’s trying to bite through a steel ball bearing. Then I understand.
He’s asking if they cut me. “No, they didn’t,” I say.
Tarren doesn’t say anything, just keeps looking at his dirty hands.
“I’m going to take a shower now.” I do everything but run into the bathroom. I can’t handle this conversation, not right now. I just need to get clean.
I peel away my sodden clothes and study my reflection in the mirror. I can’t take my eyes from the stark contrast between the dark ash crusted on my face and neck and the white skin of my shoulders and chest where my shirt protected me.
For a moment I smell the burning insulation and melting glass, hear the crackle of flames, and watch the Monet landscape blacken beneath the fire’s touch. I shake the images out of my head and turn the water cold, very cold. Standing still under the spray, I watch the gray runoff from my body paint a ring around the drain.
I made it out, I think, forcing myself to believe the words. Technically, Tarren dragged me out and Rain Bailey kissed me back to life. Sort of. I touch my lips, and they don’t feel any different to me. It’s pointless anyway, me thinking that Rain is handsome and feeling a little tingle in my chest when I imagine his lips on mine. I almost killed the guy. Not exactly the run up to a solid flirtation. Course, he did tranq and kidnap me, so maybe we’re even. Big red F on both sides.
Not that he could or ever would think of me like that.
***
When I finally return to the main room with a towel draped over my shoulders, that burnt barbeque smell is a heavy presence. Tarren needs to get rid of his smelly shirt, the sooner the better. Gabe is still a lump under the covers, and Tarren sits at the table taking cryptic notes in his journal. He apparently hasn’t made any attempt to clean the ash off his face. Strange, since he’s definitely the most finicky about hygiene of the three of us. I’ve never met another guy who flosses like clockwork twice a day.
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