***
A strong hand shook Casey from sleep. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been out or how far they’d driven, but when she pried her eyelids open and pushed off Theron’s chest, she didn’t recognize her surroundings.
Nick was already out of the SUV and opening her door. She eased out of the vehicle and stumbled on the battered road. Theron caught her from behind before she went down.
“Easy.”
She may have been weak and tired from everything that had happened, but she didn’t want to look it in front of him. While she’d accepted Theron’s comfort in the car, her brain was starting to function again, and until she got some answers, she didn’t want or need his help.
She tugged her arm from Theron’s grasp and glanced around. The road, if it could be called that, was nothing more than a section of dirt that came to an abrupt end. Towering trees and dense underbrush surrounded them from nearly every side. In a brusque tone, Nick said, “Wait here,” then climbed into the car and backed it into the shrubs until it disappeared from sight. A few moments later he reappeared, gesturing with his shoulder. “From here we walk.”
Nick took the lead, blazing a trail through the forest, and Casey followed close behind, watching where he stepped, careful not to look anywhere but where she was walking. She was still shaky, a little unsure on her feet, and the last thing she needed was to fall on her ass in front of these two.
Theron was a commanding presence at her back, close enough to touch and smell. Why wouldn’t he back off? And why did he unnerve her so much? Especially now?
In her mind, she was still working through everything that had happened, but one thing was glaringly clear: Theron had come back for her. He’d said those daemons were looking for her. Which meant he knew what they wanted. It also meant he hadn’t come looking for her because he wanted to pick up where they’d left off. Namely, the hot, wicked sex she’d been fantasizing about since he’d ditched her ass for greener pastures.
Bastard.
The path rose in elevation until Casey’s breath came fast and shallow. Sweat trickled down her chest between her breasts. She wiped a hand across her brow and wished desperately they could stop. Just for a minute, long enough so she could catch her breath. But she wasn’t about to ask. She had a strange sense Nick was intent on getting them to their destination fast. And that thought made her brain work itself right back around to what they were running from in the first place.
She lifted her head once to glance around, and in the process stumbled on a stone that was in the way. Her hand darted out to grasp the base of a tree to her right, but she never made contact. In one fell swoop she was lifted off her feet and cradled against Theron’s massive chest.
“Let me down,” she snapped. “I can walk just fine.”
“Not like that, you can’t. You are pale as snow.” When she wriggled against him, his grip only tightened under her arms and beneath the backs of her knees. “Stop fighting me or we’ll both go down.”
“If you think I’m going to let you touch me after what you did—”
The rest of her protest rushed out of her mouth on a screech when he tossed her over his shoulder so her hands were shooting down his muscular back for balance and her ass was sticking straight up in the air. “This works better for me as well, meli.” Both of his arms held her legs locked together against his chest in a vise. “And the view is more appealing.”
Heat rushed to Casey’s cheeks, followed by disbelief at his gall. “Why you—”
“What’s the problem back there?” Nick asked from ahead of them.
“No problem,” Theron called. “Acacia’s just a little wobbly. We’ve got it covered.”
Traumatic experience or not, this guy didn’t speak for her. Casey opened her mouth to lay into him, only to be cut off by a warning rumble from the man holding her captive. “It would be wise to do as I say right now, meli. I don’t know where we’re headed, and wrestling with you, while stimulating in its own right, is too much of a distraction.”
“The blood is rushing to my head, you jerk.”
“Good. It’ll bring your color back.”
“Of all the—”
He chuckled and picked up his pace.
With a huff, Casey blew the hair out of her eyes. Tossing insults with him wasn’t getting her anywhere, and part of her was happy to be off her aching feet. Though she’d never have admitted that to him in a million years.
Frowning, she relaxed against him, only to tense once more when his hand drifted up the back of her hamstring. She braced her hands on his lower back and pushed herself up. “Watch it, buddy.”
“Just getting a better grip.”
Oh, she just bet.
Before she could tell him just what he could do with his hands, darkness overtook her, and she realized they’d stepped into some kind of cave or tunnel.
Theron eased her down to the ground. Behind her Nick said, “Not far now. Stay close and keep me in sight. Tunnels branch off in various directions. You’ll be lost forever if you choose the wrong one.”
That didn’t sound so appealing to Casey right now, who wanted nothing more than a warm bed, a stiff drink and a chance to sleep this nightmarish day right out of her mind. She followed closely behind Nick and knew after the first turn that if he weren’t leading her, she’d be lost in an instant.
What little light shone in from the opening quickly went out, and darkness pressed in as they made turn after turn. Casey reached out a hand to steady herself on the rock walls, the scents of earth tingling heavy in her nose. From ahead she saw a pinpoint beam of light and realized Nick had pulled a flashlight from his pocket. Though the tunnel was tall enough for all three of them to stand in, the walls were close, and both men had to turn sideways to fit their broad shoulders through the space.
After what seemed like an eternity of hairpin turns and rapid elevation changes that stole Casey’s breath all over again, the tunnel finally opened into a massive cavern illuminated by hundreds of torches. Casey gasped as she blinked rapidly at the increase in light. Three-story wooden structures were built into the rock lining both sides of the cavern. Doors and windows and balconies looked out to a central pool of water, fed by a massive waterfall that fell from the ceiling of the cave, nearly a hundred feet above.
“Oh, my,” she whispered. People milling around the central pool stopped to look their way as wary eyes peered down from the structures on both sides.
She took a cautious step backward and ran smack into Theron’s chest, but he didn’t move. Those eyes staring down at her weren’t the least bit friendly, and she had a wild impression that she’d just been thrown into the lion’s den.
A small child, no more than five, broke free from a woman standing off to the side and raced toward them, yelling, “Nick! Nick!”
Nick dropped to his knees to catch the child as she threw herself into his arms. Their hug was brief, but it was clear even to Casey that the two shared a special bond.
“I knew you’d come back okay,” the girl said to him. In her hands she held a doll cradled to her chest. “Minnie told me.”
“Minnie’s a smart girl,” Nick said, chucking her under the chin and rising to his feet.
The girl glanced briefly up at Theron, standing at Casey’s back, then turned her attention to Casey. And it was then Casey noticed the marks.
The entire right side of the girl’s face was covered in puckered scars, as though she’d been in some terrible car accident and then burned. Her right eye was covered by a patch, and hair that should have been long and thick was sparse on that side of her head.
But it wasn’t the girl’s appearance that made Casey catch her breath as she looked down at the small child. It was the look in the girl’s good eye. Like she’d seen the world and beyond. Like she’d already lived a lifetime and aged eons beyond her years. Like she was looking straight through Casey and into a future no one knew but her.
“I knew you’d come,” the girl said.
“Minnie told me.”
“Who’s Minnie?” Casey found herself asking.
The girl held up her doll. “Minnie knows everything. She knew that Nick would battle the monsters today and win, and that he’d come home safe. And she knew he’d bring you here to save us.”
Casey glanced at Nick, who was staring at the girl with a perplexed expression.
A chill of foreboding slid down Casey’s spine. She returned her attention to the girl. “What do you mean, ‘save us’?”
“All of us.” The girl held up her free hand and gestured behind her. “The whole colony. Minnie said that’s why you’ve come.”
Though it was completely insane and made no sense whatsoever, considering everything else, two words pinged around in Casey’s brain. My people.
She dropped to her knees in front of the girl without hesitation. “What’s your name?”
“Marissa.”
“Marissa,” Casey repeated, eyes running over the small child. “What else did Minnie tell you about me, Marissa?”
“That you would come with him.” She nodded toward Theron, standing close at Casey’s back. “And not to be afraid of him.” She leaned in close to Casey’s ear. “The others don’t understand that. Not even Nick. But he’s here to protect you, and you need him as much as we need you.”
“Why?” Casey whispered.
Marissa pushed the doll into Casey’s hands. “Let Minnie show you.”
The moment Casey’s fingers touched the girl’s hand, a jolt shot through her, and suddenly she was soaring through time and space, then standing on the edge of a great cliff, looking down at a horrific scene.
Flames shot to the heavens. Screams echoed above and beyond, and a great roar rose from a scuffle just beyond the fire. The youngster—Marissa—was hurt and bleeding, flames engulfing her dress and searing her flesh. A woman was working to smother them but couldn’t get them out fast enough to save the child’s delicate skin. Beyond them, the same monsters that had converged on Casey’s store earlier in the day were devouring a man.
Then Nick appeared on the scene and began battling the creatures, just as he had in her store.
He was swift and efficient, and his strength and skill were mind-boggling. He saved the young girl and her mother, but the man was devoured before the child’s eyes, and in horror Casey watched as the monster reached into the screaming man’s chest and ripped out his heart.
The girl’s hand on Casey’s arm pulled her from the vision and back to the present. But the pain was still fresh and real in the youngster’s good eye, and Casey felt it too. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “What they’ll do to you will be worse.”
“Marissa!”
At the sound of the sharp female voice, Casey eased to her feet, more shaken than she wanted to admit. The woman who came running at breakneck speed was also burned and scarred, and she scooped Marissa up into her arms just before shooting Theron a scorching look and hurrying off into the village, speaking in a language Casey didn’t understand.
Casey’s heart was beating a mile a minute as she looked up at Nick, but if she’d expected answers on his hard face, it was clear she was on her own. His amber eyes were narrowed, and focused directly on her as if he were seeing her for the first time.
“Marissa is a soothsayer,” Nick mumbled. “A seer. She uses Minnie, her doll, as her medium, but she senses happenings in the future without her.”
Ooookay. That didn’t help any. Because somehow Casey knew that what she’d seen hadn’t been the future, but the past.
Casey let out a nervous laugh that held absolutely no humor. “Well, this time she’s wrong. She’s obviously mistaken about me. I can barely save myself, let alone anyone else.”
Theron and Nick exchanged confused glances, and weird clairvoyant child or not, Casey decided it was time for some answers.
She squared her shoulders. “Just what’s going on here, Nick? What were those things back there, and where the hell are we?” She looked Theron’s way. “And where on earth did you really come from?” She glanced between the two mammoth men again as panic edged its way back into her voice. “It’s about time someone started talking, or I’m walking.”
Nick’s eyes settled on Theron. “I think it’s about time we all got some answers. But not here in front of the others. We’ll do this in the lodge.”
Chapter Thirteen
Marked (Eternal Guardians #1) Page 24