CHAPTER 10
As the sun started to set and we approached the point in the evening in which we would usually stop to make camp, I started to lose hope. Then, miraculously, we made it.
I crouched beside Nathan and peered down the scarily steep slope we were perched atop. It took me a while to spot it nestled amongst the trees, but far—really far—below us was a barely visible tiny cabin. There were no other signs of civilization for as far as I could see. From up that high, that was far. We had a bit of a hike ahead of us to get to it. I was eager to get started, but Nathan was cautious as always as he scanned the cabin and the ridge that surrounded it.
“What’s the problem?” I asked.
“This cabin has been used as a safe house for years, but it’s been a while since I’ve been here. I don’t know if it’s still safe or not.”
“How will you know?” I looked longingly at the cabin, with its four walls and hard roof. I would bet there was a bed, or a cot, or something to sleep on, and if I were lucky, maybe even running water. Whatever it took for me to get those luxuries, I was willing to do it.
Nathan looked at me, his expression thoughtful. After a moment, he stood and, without another word, started down the slope. I hated it when he did that. He hadn’t indicated one way or the other, but in this case, I assumed I was supposed to follow.
About thirty seconds into the descent, I determined he probably had not intended for me to follow. There had to be an easier way to get off this thing, but no, he chose the neck-breaking route. We slid down the steep slope on an unstable mixture of loose rock and frozen earth. I lost count of how many times Nathan had to grab my arm to keep me from plummeting face first to the bottom. It took an eternity for the ground to level out to something a little less lethal and, when it did, I allowed myself a moment of gratification when I looked back at what I had accomplished.
As proud as I was, I was more excited to see the small oval field that welcomed us at the base. Nathan stopped just outside the perimeter so that we remained hidden in the trees. The cabin was nestled along the tree line on the opposite side of the clearing, fifty impossibly long yards away.
“You stay here,” he said to me. “I want to check it out first.”
He stayed in the cover of the trees as he wrapped around the edge of the clearing, flanking the cabin from the left. I watched until he disappeared from sight. The sun had set while descended the mountain, and the darkness came in fast, limiting my vision.
Again, my eyes and ears played tricks on me as I waited. In an attempt to block out the ominous shadows that had crept in, and now surrounded me, I studied the cabin.
It looked cute, and cozy, and smaller than I had initially thought. As far as I could tell, it was vacant. Broken limbs littered the front porch. One window was visible on the front wall. A curtain blocked any view of the inside, but there didn’t appear to be any lights on.
As the darkness deepened, the cabin blended into the night.
Where was Nathan? I hated being out there, alone in the dark. At least, when he was around, I felt safe. I nibbled on my lip as I looked around nervously, contemplating my next move. There really didn’t appear to be anyone else there. The dark and scary woods felt more threatening than the enticing cabin, even with its questionable safety status.
I made up my mind, and started in the direction Nathan had gone, making sure to stay in the cover of the trees as he had. I made an effort to keep close to the edge of the clearing so that I didn’t venture too deep into the woods. Even so, after a few moments, it got harder to make out where the trees ended and the clearing began. I looked up, wishing for the help of the moon. No such luck tonight. Overcast skies blinded me. I edged closer—or so I thought—to the clearing and tried to spot the cabin. My stomach dropped when I realized I had completely lost sight of it.
“Oh, great.” I had wandered a good distance from where Nathan had left me. I hoped he could find me—and he wouldn’t be too mad when he did.
Fast and heavy footsteps crashed through the woods toward me. I fought the urge to run as I tried in vain to see who it was. A small part of me dreaded it being Nathan.
“Do you ever listen?” I heard him bark before I saw him.
“What took you so long?” I snapped, but cowered inwardly under the scowl I could now see on his face.
He sighed and turned away from me. “Come on,” he called over his shoulder.
I followed him across the clearing, in the direction of the cabin that I could now see again. I hadn’t wandered that far.
“It’s safe then?” I asked as if my little side adventure was no big deal.
“Yeah, lucky for you.” He stopped outside what looked to be a shed, retrieved a shiny gold key from under a small boulder against the wall, and proceeded up the front steps to let us into the cabin.
Aside from the fact that there was only one twin-sized bed, it was perfect.
It was one open room: the bed against the wall to the right; a fireplace, a couch, and a chair in the far right corner; a kitchen to the left, complete with a sink, microwave, and mini-fridge. There was a closed door to a small rectangular-shaped room in the center that I hoped was a bathroom. There was an open porch on the front and an enclosed porch on the back, accessed through a sliding glass door that took up nearly the entire back wall.
Nathan found a stack of firewood out back, and set to starting a fire right away. The only light came from a small bulb over the sink in the kitchen, and it did little despite the small space. The fire would help light as well as heat the room.
While he was busy with that, I checked the mystery door, and was happy to find a full bathroom. My prayers were answered when the toilet flushed with an emphatic whoosh. I didn’t hesitate when, after I told him the good news, Nathan suggested that I take advantage of the running water.
I was long overdue for a shower and was horrified when I saw the color of the water pooled at my feet. I only had one hard and wrinkly bar of soap that was probably as old as the cabin itself to work with, but I didn’t care, so long as it got me clean. I even used it to wash my hair, since I hadn’t packed shampoo. So much for the complimentary mini-shampoos I had been counting on. Despite the lack of adequate supplies, I had never been more grateful for a hot shower. I could have stayed in there all night, but cut it short for Nathan’s sake. I doubted he would appreciate having to take a cold shower.
At least I was clean again. It didn’t dawn on me that I had not bothered to bring along a change of clean clothes until after I stepped out of the shower, wet and cold. I wasn’t about to put on the filthy clothes I had worn all day. Not even for a minute. I was pretty sure I didn’t have anything clean left in my bag either.
I found the towels under the sink, and wrapped up in one as I debated what to do. I really didn’t want to wear any of my smelly grimy stuff after I was clean for the first time in three days, and waltzing out there in nothing but a towel wasn’t an option I was willing to consider.
Hating what I had to do, I cracked the bathroom door open. “Hey, Nathan?”
He looked up from where he was stooped, next to the fire. “Yeah?”
“Um, you wouldn’t happen to have any clean clothes I could borrow, would you?”
He stood and observed the towel I was wearing through the gap in the door. His brief gaze made my cheeks burn even more than they already were, and I was relieved when he looked away. “All my clothes are dirty,” he said, “but I think I can find something wearable around here for you.” He shifted, looking every bit as uncomfortable as I felt, and started to rummage through a small chest beside the bed. He pulled out a few pieces of clothing and held them up as he turned to me.
“Those will work,” I said, and he passed them to me through the gap. I managed a smile as I thanked him, and then retreated into the bathroom to change.
The white shirt was Nathan-sized. The short sleeves hung past my elbows and the hem fell to mid-thigh. The soft grey track pants covered my fee
t, and I had to roll them up to keep from tripping over them. I pulled the string in the waist as tight as I could so that they wouldn’t fall down. Remembering the streak of embarrassing moments I was racking up, I secured them with a double knot. Even after I made the alterations, I looked ridiculous in the big clothes. Not that it mattered. It wasn’t like Nathan would care what I looked like.
I found him going through the chest, pulling out clothes for himself. He looked up when I came out of the bathroom, and grimaced apologetically. “They’re a little big on you, huh?”
“Yeah, but they’re clean.” I shrugged as I made my way to the couch. It felt good to sit on something soft again. I sunk in, getting comfy, as I enjoyed the warmth of the fire.
Nathan headed to the bathroom with his change of clothes. He stopped in the doorway, and turned to me. “If you’re interested, I found a few packets of hot chocolate that weren’t too old, and boiled some water.”
Hot chocolate? After three days of climbing a mountain in the bitter cold and rain? That sounded…great, actually. I smiled. “Thanks.”
He closed the door with a nod. A minute later, the shower started up.
I found the packets and hot water in the kitchen. I didn’t see any signs that he had already made one for himself. After I spent way too much time deliberating, I made two cups. He had been tolerable lately. It wouldn’t kill me to be nice.
I returned to the sitting area with both cups, set his on the end table, and curled up on the couch with mine. If only for a moment, it was almost possible to imagine myself on a weekend getaway in a relaxing cabin. If I tried really hard, I might have forgotten that I was literally running for my life, and stuck in the middle of nowhere with a companion that had to have been a drill sergeant in another life.
Okay, okay, it wasn’t that bad. True, I was on the run and didn’t know why, but I supposed Nathan hadn’t been that terrible lately. Sure, he was bossy and yelled at me, but I had also started to pick up on traces of humor in his eyes when he did. The barking out orders and talking down to me like I was a hapless kid, that had been his only method of communication for a while, had diminished. A lot. We were far from friends, but I didn’t hate him anymore.
Honestly, I preferred if he was an unbearable ass. Then it would have been easier to ignore how insanely gorgeous he was and that, especially after last night, was becoming increasingly impossible to overlook. My skin came to life with goose-bumps at the memory of last night—the feel of our bodies pressed together, his breath in my ear, and his hand on my back as I fell asleep.
I took a sip of hot chocolate to get rid of the silly smile on my lips. When I realized what I was doing, body-wide tingling gave way to fire hot cheeks. What was wrong with me? I’d had an innocent crush on him when I was a kid, but had gotten over that a long time ago. I couldn’t start crushing on him again because of something that had been completely functional, not sweet or romantic at all. He most certainly was not daydreaming about it.
The bathroom door jerked open and I jumped, nearly spilling my hot chocolate. I glanced up as Nathan walked by, his towel draped over his shoulder as he brushed it through his hair. The end result was the sexiest head of messy damp hair I had ever seen. I tried to peel my gaze away before he caught me staring again, but I couldn’t do it.
In the soft glow of the fire, his tousled hair looked more a shade of dark blond, his eyes sparkled bluer than ever, and even with the five o’clock shadow darkening his face, he looked rejuvenated. He wore simple black track pants and a white t-shirt with Greek lettering on the front, but he wore them well. The way the shirt was fitted to his chest and shoulders did crazy things to my imagination. I envisioned nothing less than the sculpted muscles of a Greek god hidden under that shirt.
He redefined the meaning of hot. He was spill my hot chocolate all over myself and barely notice that I had third degree burns hot.
I finally remembered how to breathe, but it took me a moment to realize he was looking at me. It took me even longer to realize he had asked me a question and was waiting for a response.
I cleared my throat. “What?”
He waved around the pack of crackers he held extended to me. “I asked if you wanted some. This is the last of them.”
“Sure.” I took a peanut butter cracker, and gestured casually to the hot chocolate on the table. “That one is for you, by the way.”
“Thanks.” He claimed his cup and sat on the chair adjacent to the couch.
At least he seemed oblivious to the thoughts that had been in my head a minute ago. I watched him out the corner of my eye for a moment longer, just to be sure he wasn’t holding back a knowing laugh, before I sat back to enjoy my cracker and hot chocolate. A comfortable silence settled around us, interrupted only by the crackling of the fire that did a good job of lulling me to sleep.
“I’m tired,” I said at last.
He yawned in agreement. Recalling the limited sleeping arrangements, I shifted anxiously in my seat.
“You can have the bed,” he said before I got too worked up over it.
“You sure?” I asked.
Instead of answering, he retrieved a quilt from the chest, and booted me from my seat when he returned. I slipped between the cozy bed sheets as he set his weapons on the table beside him and stretched out on the couch. I felt a little bad about taking the only bed, but then again, Nathan was the guy who could sleep propped against a tree. Something told me the couch was more than enough to make him happy.
And me? Well, I was in heaven. The bed, while small, was soft and warm, and exactly what I needed. As I snuggled in for the night, I vowed to never take a proper bed for granted again. When I realized I was enjoying the added benefit of two pillows, I grabbed one in both hands.
“Hey, Nathan?”
“Yeah?”
I tossed the spare across the room, and he caught it just before it smacked him in the face. “Thanks.” I heard, rather than saw, his smile as he propped the pillow behind his head.
“No problem.” I stared at the ceiling, tired but restless. “Nathan?”
“Hmm?”
“What’s the plan for tomorrow?”
“There’s a little town nearby,” he explained. “We’ll get some food and supplies to hang out here for a little while.”
“How long do you think we will have to stay here?”
“I don’t know. I’ll get in touch with my base, see if anyone knows anything, and hopefully come up with a plan.”
“You guys have a base?”
There was a beat of silence, as if he hadn’t realized his slip up. “Yes, we do,” he finally admitted. “There’s some organization to keep track of the others, and to fight the war between us.”
War? He had never mentioned anything about a war before. He had also never given this much detail. I wanted to keep him going to see how much I could get out of him. “How long have you been at war with them?” Whatever them were.
He took a while to respond and, when he did, I knew he was purposefully avoiding details. “A very long time.”
That was a dead end.
“You ready to tell me what that five percent is?” I wasn’t hopeful, but I had to keep asking. Eventually, he would answer.
“Nope.”
Shit. Another dead end.
“What do you fight over, other than me apparently?” I asked.
“I don’t know how you fit in,” he muttered, and I heard his frustration at not knowing the answer to the one question we both had. “They relish in inflicting pain and suffering upon others, and spreading their corrupted evil ways throughout the world. My side does what they can to stand in their way.”
In my head, flashed the image of a bunch of burly machine gun-toting men with black suits, black shades, and brass knuckles. Of course, Nathan looked nothing like that, but it was fun to think about. While he was sharing more about his alternate world with me now, it was only a small glimpse. I let it up to my imagination to f
ill in the rest, and parts of it were...rather interesting.
Other than my involvement in this whole mess, the only other thing I didn’t understand was how Nathan had come to be a part of my life in the first place. That was the biggest mystery of my life. It was a huge deal. To me.
“Is that what happened when I was three?” I asked softly.
There was a long silence before he spoke again. “What do you mean?”
I knew he knew what I was asking. This was his way of making sure I knew what I was asking. “I don’t remember much from that night, but I remember my family being killed, and…” I trailed off, unable to come up with the right words. What little I did know of that night was a perfect example of evil in the world. But I didn’t know the right questions to ask.
Thankfully, Nathan threw me a bone. “Remember how I told you some of us have psychic abilities?”
“Yeah.”
“They monitor the bad guys’ movements so that we can intervene when possible,” he explained slowly. “During slow periods, they also monitor random acts of violence not related to them, bad stuff that happens every day to ordinary people. We can’t stop all of it, but we’ll step in when we can. Especially the particularly gruesome things.” He paused, and I knew he was remembering the night he had found me.
My family’s murders had been particularly gruesome. Or so I had heard in the aftermath. My three year old brain had blocked out the memories of what I had seen, sheltered me then, and still continued to do so. That hadn’t stopped me from hearing people talk about it.
“So a prophet saw what happened that night, and you guys intervened?” I guessed, finally putting a few pieces together.
“Yes, but she didn’t gather enough details,” he said. “That’s why we were too late.”
That was why I had been the only one to survive.
“But it was random? The people that killed my family weren’t the same that we’re running from now?”
“No. Those guys were human scum.” He hesitated briefly. “They’re called Skotadi by the way. The guys that are after us. It’s Greek, means evil ones.”
“Really?” I sat up excitedly. I caught a flash of his eyes as they lifted to mine. “What’s your side called?”
“Kala. Greek for good ones.”
“Huh.” I flopped back onto the bed. It was nice to have a name, even if I still didn’t know exactly what they were. Kala and Skotadi. Good and evil. Good and evil what?
I knew better than to ask again. He wouldn’t tell me, and I didn’t want to slow the river of information he was giving me now by asking the one forbidden question before he was ready to answer it.
I had learned some of the truth about that horrible night, some things I had questioned my entire life. So Nathan had been thrust into my life by chance, and had not been acting alone. It was by chance that he had been the one to find me, and the one I remembered from that night. But what about the other times he rescued me? Was it a coincidence it had always been him? Was any of it a coincidence?
“What happened when I was eleven?” I probed, and he remained silent. “One of the prophets happened upon a bad crime, so they sent you to intervene?”
And the car accident? It had been an accident, not a crime. How did that fit in?
“Sort of,” Nathan said quietly.
I waited for him to elaborate. He didn’t. “Nathan?”
“Go to sleep, Kris,” he said.
I sighed heavily and buried my head in the pillow. So much for the river of information.
He was keeping things from me. I knew that, but I didn’t understand why. Was he protecting me from the what-ifs, from the near death and life altering events in my life, or from something else, something bigger? The uncertainty of what he thought he needed to protect me from scared me, but I wouldn’t give up asking. I wanted to know everything, no matter how traumatizing he thought it might be. Eventually he would tell me. I hoped.
And I hoped I would handle it.
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