After a moment, we break apart. My breath catches. He’s always been good-looking, but I’d forgotten the effect of that smile. The blinding flash of white teeth. The deep groves along his mouth. It’s one of the first genuine smiles I’ve seen from him since we escaped the stronghold and my heart squeezes. The variable color of his eyes shines like gemstones. As though he can read my mind, he utters, “It will be us soon. Like this. With all the time in the world. And you can teach me how to make straw music.”
We walk back, arms heavy with hot bags of food, grease leaking through the white paper. At Miram’s window, we pass her food for both her and Will. She smiles a grudging thanks. It’s something. Now that Cassian is back, maybe she appreciates everything I did to help rescue her. Maybe things will be different between us now. An unexpected lump rises in my throat as I realize that I would like that.
Before Will opens the back door he presses a kiss to my temple. “Tomorrow we’ll be free.”
I inhale again. Tomorrow. Eagerness trips through me as I think of all the moments I’ll have with Will just like the one we shared in the diner. But even better because the kissing and talking doesn’t have to stop.
He closes his fingers around the door handle to pull it open, then pauses.
I freeze, too, studying him as a predatory stillness comes over him.
“What?”
He holds up a hand as if he needs total silence to listen.
I angle my head and scan the parking lot. There’s nothing in the great stretch of dark gravel except a random assortment of cars and trucks. An occasional customer enters and exits the diner. Yet Will’s features look tight, his hazel eyes intense as he scours the area.
“Will? What is it?”
He shakes his head, sending his brown hair tossing against his forehead. “Nothing, I guess.”
He opens the van door and helps me inside. My last glimpse of him before he closes the door only cements in my mind that something still bothers him, but I don’t know what.
Turning around, I hand everyone food and settle down to eat. I nibble on the end of a fry and try to ignore the tight itchy sensation rippling over my scalp.
12
It’s imperceptible at first. Just a slight increase in the van’s speed. The faintest swelling growl of the engine. Then we take a turn and all of us slide to one side of the van, food flying everywhere. My head bumps the hard floor.
Tamra topples against Deghan and the solid, muscled bands of his arms wrap around her. I cringe at the sight, but there’s not much I can do from my position, sprawled against the cold metal floor.
Other sounds grow on the air over the roar of the van: the whoosh of wind and honking horns from other traffic as Will weaves in and out.
“What’s going on?” Tamra hollers. “Why’s he driving like a maniac?”
There’s only one reason. Fire erupts in my core, climbing up my throat. Char lines my mouth.
Cassian announces what I already know in my gut. “Someone’s after us.”
The little color present in Tamra’s face bleeds out at this revelation. Glints of pearl flash beneath her skin. “Enkros?”
Cassian’s pupils shudder to thin vertical slits. He shakes his head. “I don’t—”
“Enkros don’t do their own hunting,” I say between numb lips.
My gaze clashes with Cassian. I feel his tension, his readiness, but no fear. Not like what I felt when he was a prisoner of the enkros.
His lips move, uttering the word that races around my mind. “Hunters.”
Tamra releases a shuddery breath. Deghan touches her arm, a surprising show of … I’m not sure what. Support? Comfort? I don’t know. It’s still hard to reconcile him with the draki that tried to kill me. My natural inclination is not to like him. The back of my throat prickles with the urge to blast him with steam. And yet, he’s gentle with Tamra.
Will swerves and we’re tossed again. My shoulder hits the wall and I cry out. Then we still, jerking to an abrupt halt. I lift myself up, my arms quivering. The stink of burning tires fills my nose.
“Jacinda!” Cassian’s there, sliding an arm around me and helping me into a sitting position. “Are you all right?”
I nod, still shaking and a little dizzy. “S-should we get out?” I ask, wondering what’s happening outside the van.
I feel the slam of Will’s door more than I hear it. It rocks the entire van.
The doors suddenly open to a flood of light. Will looks anxiously in at us. Miram, her face pale with the panic that we all feel, quickly appears beside him.
“I’ve lost them,” Will announces. “But they’re not far behind.”
“Hunters?”
Will nods. “Yeah.” Dust floats on the air from the van’s wild ride. He looks over his shoulder, peering first down the small rural road we sit parked on and then scanning the tall trees sandwiching us on the narrow road.
“They’ll catch up soon. Go. Run.” With a shake of his head, he waves to the trees. “If they find you, just act like you’re hiking. They won’t suspect anything if they just bump into a bunch of kids. It’s your only chance. We can meet up at the truck stop where I left my car. It’s not too far. Remember the place?”
Cassian nods.
Will looks almost apologetically at Deghan. “You’re out of luck, buddy. Too bad you can’t change. You better fly away, hide, whatever you can do. Stay out of sight.”
Deghan jerks his head once in understanding. He’s clearly accustomed to fending on his own. And I almost feel a sense of relief. If we lose him that would take care of my worry for the pride.
Will squats and presses his fingers to the ground, his expression one of intense concentration as he feels for those approaching.
My heart thumps madly against my chest, instantly understanding what he’s doing and marveling that he should have this ability to connect to the earth to such a degree. As any earth draki might. Perhaps more. It’s almost as if he alone can hear the earth’s whisper.
“What about you?” I demand, dread clawing its way through me at the idea of separating from Will again. Not again.
He straightens, his eyes softening as they look at me, reminding me of moss growing on water-soaked river rocks. “They won’t hurt me—”
I surge toward him and seize both his hands in mine. “No! I’m not leaving you.”
“They’re not after me, Jacinda.” The determination in his gaze cuts me. He won’t be swayed.
“How did they track us?” Cassian mutters, looking at Will as if he might know.
Will’s gaze shifts from me to Cassian. “I don’t know. The enkros must have alerted them of the escape.” He waves a hand. “They probably have hunters covering a wide radius out from the stronghold right now. It wouldn’t be just my family but others, too.”
“What is this?” Deghan looks Will over suspiciously. “His family hunts us?”
“His family. Not him,” I explain.
Deghan fails to look entirely appeased.
“I know how you feel. It took me a while to accept that there is a distinction between him and them,” Cassian volunteers.
I take a relieved breath. It’s the first time I’ve heard Cassian admit Will is different.
Will fixes his stare on me, his hazel eyes unwavering and full of a purpose that almost convinces me that everything will be okay once I dive into those trees. “If they come across you, act like you have nothing to hide. If I can, I’ll meet you all at the truck stop.”
If I can …
The words echo in my head as I contemplate the various scenarios that would keep him from me. None good.
“Yeah, sure you will,” Miram growls, the sound of her voice unexpected. She’s said so little since we left the stronghold. “You and your family.”
“Miram,” Cassian says gently.
“Hasn’t he done enough to prove his loyalty?” I demand, my hands curling into fists. “What’s it going to take?”
“Oh, when are yo
u going to see he’ll always be one of them?” Miram explodes, her eyes flashing with more animation than I’ve ever seen from her. “If your little stay with the enkros didn’t teach you the difference between us and them—”
“Then nothing will,” I finish, my voice hard. “Precisely. Nothing ever will.”
She stares at me as if she can’t comprehend me. And I imagine she can’t.
“Jacinda …” She works her hands, waving them in the air. “You’ll never be compatible.”
“Enough. Both of you,” Cassian bites out. “We’ve got hunters bearing down on us, intent on skinning us alive … or turning us over to those bastards that wanted to open me up back there.” He motions behind us.
I look desperately at Will, my chest heaving with hot emotion.
I start to shake my head, determined to stay with him, when Cassian says my name sharply, the command swift. “Jacinda.” His gaze cuts straight into me. “You’re coming with us.”
I bristle at his tone. And then I feel his fury. It pours through me, thick as tar. Buried amid the rage, I feel something else as he glares down at me. Another emotion. Just as hot. Just as intense. Fear. For me. My temper cools. He’s been through a lot on account of me.
“Jacinda?” Will’s voice snatches my attention. “You need to get going.”
I fight my panic that I’m leaving Will. Again. Eyes burning, I nod, looking around for my sister even as my mind whirs, trying to come up with some way to remain with Will without upsetting everyone. I can’t get separated from him again.
With her jaw set at a stubborn angle, Tamra watches me, waiting for my next move. The sight punches me like a fist. She won’t go without me. Regret washes over me, prickling my flesh with needles of heat. I can’t endanger my sister. I’ve already lost Mom. I can’t risk losing her, too. I have to get her off this road, and then I’ll come back for Will.
I look back to Will. “I’ll find you,” I announce, my tone implying he better be somewhere I can find him. Either here or at his car.
“I’ll be waiting.” He nods, looking anxiously back down the road.
And that’s when we hear them. The rumble of engines coming. How is it they’re tracking us?
“Go!” His gaze sweeps over us before resting on me, urging me to move. “Go! Now!”
The others turn and flee, crashing through the trees like a herd of elephants in their haste. I wince.
Will snags my attention again, sliding his fingers through my hair and tugging me against him for a quick, hard kiss. I revel in the feel of his mouth on mine, the curve of his hands against my scalp. He comes up for air and whispers hotly against my lips, “Be safe. Take care of yourself out there.”
I open my mouth to give him the same advice, but the distant hum of engines makes me jerk and squint down the dirt road. I don’t see anything yet. Just a cloud of brown.
Without looking at me, Will stands back and pushes me toward the trees. “Go. They’re coming!”
I run for the trees, my heart ready to burst from my chest. My skin sparks with heat. Bursts of red-gold color my human skin in hot flashes.
I dive into the cover of trees. The foliage immediately swallows me. I stop just inside the dark, clawing press of thick bushes and grass so wild it reaches my waist. There, I pause, listening to rustling all around me. I don’t see any of the others, and this is okay as long as they’re safe. As long as Tamra is safe. She has to be.
Just as I start to think that I’m on my own, that I’ve been left behind, I hear Cassian’s whisper.
“Jacinda—what are you doing? Let’s go!”
I spot him amid the trees, his face tight and anxious, flashing between his swarthy human skin and his charcoal black draki flesh. Behind him stands Miram, her small face an unremarkable beige smudge of fear.
I shake my head at him and look back toward the road.
I can’t move. I have to see. Have to know. No matter what he told me to do. When it comes down to it, I’m not leaving Will. I swallow against the hot thickness of my throat. Not again.
13
Looking around, a plan begins to form. I spot a wide, heavily leafed tree with a slanting trunk for easy climbing. Tackling it, I make my way up with little effort, my fingers digging with ease into the bark.
“Jacinda.” Cassian’s whisper is less discreet this time. He’s moved and now stands below my tree. Miram follows, scowling up at me and worrying the edge of her shirt with her hands.
Cassian stabs a finger toward the ground like I should immediately come down to that spot.
“No. I’ll be fine.” I give him a meaningful glare. “Unless you give us away.” I wave at him. “Now get out of here.”
He blows out a frustrated breath and turns back to his sister. “Go. Hide. I’ll find you.”
Terror flashes across her face. “I don’t want to go without you.”
“You’ll be okay,” he says. “Go deep in the woods and find Tamra. Just stay human.”
I snort. Last time she couldn’t manage to do that.
He ignores me and continues with his instructions. “You’re safer out there. If they stumble upon you, they won’t suspect …”
She shakes her head side to side; clearly the notion of them finding her freaks her out.
“Cassian,” I hiss down at him, “you should go with her.”
He swipes a hand through the air to silence me. Looking at his sister, he commands, “Go.”
With one last pleading look at him, she flees into the trees, her shoulders slumped like a woman headed to her execution.
He quickly climbs up a tree that practically crosses trunks with the one I’m hiding in.
“You’re being stupid,” I whisper. Sending Miram away like that makes me feel uneasy. Like he’s choosing me over his sister. I don’t want him to do that. Ever. “You should be with your sister.”
“And you’re being so smart?” he counters, his purple dark gaze clashing with my own.
And then I feel it. Again. Confusing and bewildering, his desire sweeps over me in a warm wash, the sensation drugging. I shake my head, fighting to reclaim myself. My emotions, not his. Mine are enough to deal with—I don’t need the interference of his. I arch against the invasion. Fighting it—him.
He looks at me starkly through the tangle of branches, our faces inches away even in our separate trees.
Engines growl closer, unmistakable. I peer through the branches. The ball of dust is larger; the vehicles, dark shapes at its center.
By now, Will is occupying himself by looking beneath the hood. Is that his plan? Faking engine trouble? I inhale, hoping it will work.
In the thick nimbus of dirt, I pick out two vehicles. A black truck with windows so darkly tinted it’s impossible to see inside. A van follows behind it, windows equally dark. This van is nothing like ours. Fully pimped out, it shines even submerged in the cloud of dirt.
Will peers out from beneath the hood, and I feel a stab of worry. Would the hunters hurt him? One of their own?
The vehicles stop and the engines die.
For a moment no one steps out and I wonder what they’re doing in there. Their windows remind me of cold, dark eyes, silently watching and condemning. My chest rises and falls in fast pants. Steam releases from my nostrils in twin ribbons.
Will waves one hand in warm greeting, his wariness effectively masked. I hold still, suck in a breath, and trap it inside my too-tight chest, waiting for one of his family members to emerge.
Finally, the truck doors open, followed by the van doors. Several men step out. Five all together. I scan all of them … and recognize no one.
My pulse races at my neck, jumping against my flesh. My gaze flies to Will and I see he, too, finds them unfamiliar. Until this moment, I didn’t realize how much I’d hoped they would be Will’s family.
I shake my head and swat a strand of hair from my face. But if Will doesn’t recognize them, then these hunters are not from Will’s group. They’re strangers. A sta
rk sense of relief sweeps over me. They don’t know Will. He’ll have a better chance persuading them he’s just a stranded driver.
“Hey,” Will says, managing to look relieved and sheepish at the same time. Just a hapless teenager. “Glad you guys showed up. Having a bit of car trouble here.” He pats the van’s rusted side.
“Yeah?” One of the hunters steps to the front, his voice loud and jarring with unspoken challenge. Sunlight glints off the fine blond fuzz of his buzz cut. “That a fact?” He glances around, eyeing our surroundings. His gaze skims over the spot where Cassian and I hide. I stiffen, clinging harder to the rough, scraping bark, blinking with relief that his attention doesn’t linger in our direction.
Looking straight ahead again, he squints pale eyes at the back doors of our van as if he can somehow see within.
“Yeah.” Will gives a disarming laugh. “Guess she’s on her last breath.”
The lead hunter shares a look with his troop. A look that translates: This guy is full of crap. I fight to swallow against the thick surge of heat in my throat. They’re not buying his story.
“Why don’t you come clean with us, kid?” a hunter with a slicked-back ponytail and deeply pitted acne scars asks. “You’re not having car trouble.” He nods to the back of the van. “What you got in there?”
And then I notice another hunter holding a strange device. Like a metal box except it’s got some kind of antennae. From my vantage I can see a row of red blinking lights on the face of it. He turns with the box, rotating in a circle. Sometimes the red lights fade, depending on the way he faces—other times they begin flashing in earnest. My gut twists sickly, and I know that box means trouble for us. I catch Cassian’s gaze and see that he’s noted it, too. His face is grim, features pulled tight.
I look back to Will, avoiding glancing at the box again. The sight of it panics me, and I need to stay calm. Calm. Cool. Draki buried.
I have to hand it to Will. He does a good job faking his bewilderment.
Hidden: A Firelight Novel Page 9