by Jo Schneider
Wendy shook her head.
Arie’s eyes flickered beyond Wendy. “What happened to Kev?”
“His hand got cut off.” Wendy’s stomach fell with the words. She didn’t add that it had happened because he had saved her.
“What?” Arie darted around Wendy, leaving her standing alone, covered in blood and empty.
Pelton was still alive, but she didn’t have the energy to hate him right now.
Footsteps marked someone approaching. Wendy hoped it was Jeff, but turned to see Riggs. He too was filthy. A stain of blood ran from just above his knee to his boot.
“Did Doc take the meds?”
Wendy nodded.
He looked her over. “You look horrible. How much of that is yours?”
“I have no idea.”
“Quick thinking back there.”
“Thanks.”
“Dangerous, but quick.”
“I know.”
Riggs pat her on the shoulder. “Go get cleaned up. They may need your help putting the generator in if you’re up to it. There’s running water over there by Jeff.”
“He’s in pretty bad shape,” Wendy said.
“I know.” Riggs said.
“Okay.” Wendy followed his orders and shambled toward the wall where Jeff leaned over a stainless steel basin with a faucet. The running water reminded Wendy how thirsty she was. The red color of the water in the basin told Wendy just how badly they’d just lost a fight.
A loss, but hopefully a bigger win.
Jeff didn’t hear her coming. He had his head under the water. Wendy waited until he pulled it out. When he saw her, he jumped.
Somehow she managed a smile.
They looked at one another. Jeff with water slowly eroding the filth on his face and burns on his scalp, and her wondering what she should say.
“Did Doc get the meds?” Jeff asked after a moment.
“Yes.”
“Good.” He stepped aside. “Wash some of that off.”
“You’re not finished. You’ve missed a few spots.”
“Oh? Where?”
Wendy pointed at his cheek. “There.” She eyed his side. “How is that doing?”
“It’ll really hurt when the meds wear off.”
“I bet.”
Jeff put his hands under the water and tried to scrub his face again. The spot persisted.
“You missed it again,” Wendy said.
“Are you always this helpful?”
“Only sometimes.”
Jeff made a face. “Why don’t you get it for me?”
Wendy looked at her hands. “Uh...”
Jeff grabbed her hands and shoved them under the stream of water. “You see, you can be helpful like this. Let me help you clean that off.”
Wendy tensed as his hands engulfed hers. He slowly and gently began to rub. Once again, the color of the water in the basin changed. After a few seconds, Jeff rubbed a clean spot on her right hand. He kept going, getting between her fingers and up her palm to her wrist. His hands were so much bigger than hers. Wendy had never noticed. She didn’t realize he was getting closer until their shoulders were touching.
“See,” he said after a little while. “All stains come off.”
Wendy nodded. Stains. The monster. It would never really leave, she was sure of it. But now she knew she didn’t have to give in to it.
“What are you thinking about?” Jeff asked quietly.
“About how some things can never heal.”
Jeff released her now clean right hand and picked up her other hand. “Time will help.”
“I’m not so sure.”
Jeff squeezed her hand. “Trust me.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah.”
When her hands were clean, she wiggled them out of his grasp and reached for his face. “Let me get that spot for you.”
He held perfectly still as she wiped it away.
They were close. Again. Wendy wanted to pull away, but she was mesmerized by the way he was looking at her. Like she was the only thing in the room. Like the last two days hadn’t happened. Like she wasn’t a monster. Like she meant something.
“We make a pretty good team,” he said finally.
“We do.” Wendy nodded.
He reached up and took her hand, which had lingered on his cheek. “Thanks for coming back.”
“I’m not sure all of me came back.”
He squeezed her hand. “It never does.”
A Note from Jo
If you enjoyed reading about Wendy and the rest of the crew, and you want to stay in the loop about my latest releases, contests, giveaways and updates, stalk me here:
joannschneider.com
One of the best parts of being an author is knowing that my story captured your imagination. If you have a minute, please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. A few lines about your overall reading experience would be appreciated. Word-of-mouth is still the best way to spread the word about a book, and reviews are a way to do that on a large scale.
Other Works By Jo Schneider:
Jagged Scars Series:
Fractured Memories
New Sight
Babes in Spyland
Acknowledgements
First I acknowledge that I owe my beta readers dinner. Maybe dinner and a movie. By the time all five books are out in this series I might owe them a vacation.
A special thanks to Marilee, Kara and Mariah, who went the extra mile and forced me to change this story for the better.
My adorkable husband is always in the running for an acknowledgement. This time he gets a golf clap for keeping me sane.
Kudos again to the folks at DDD for the awesome cover.
This is book two of five. The journey is just beginning. Thanks to all of you who join me on this trip. It's going to be great!
About the Author
Jo Schneider grew up in Utah and Colorado, and finds mountains helpful in telling which direction she is going. One of Jo's goals is to travel to all seven continents—five down and two to go.
Another goal was to become a Jedi Knight, but when that didn't work out, Jo started studying Shaolin Kempo. She now has a black belt, and she keeps going back for more. An intervention may be in order.
Being a geek at heart, Jo has always been drawn to science fiction and fantasy. She writes both and hopes to introduce readers to worlds that wow them and characters they can cheer for.
Jo lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with her adorkable husband, Jon, who is very useful for science and computer information as well as getting items off of top shelves.