MARKED (Hunter Awakened)

by Rascal Hearts

  “Bathroom?” I suddenly realized that I could use one, but the lack of electric lights was worrying me.

  Almost as if he could read my mind, Elias smiled. “There is a generator in the basement. It is not enough to power the entire place, so I reserved it for the more, shall we say, necessary work? There is a sink in the bathroom, a sink in the kitchen, the toilet, the shower, a hot water heater and a very small refrigerator. They are the only things powered by electricity.” He picked up a lantern from where he'd set it on the fireplace mantle and held it towards me. “You will need the light.”

  I took the lantern and started for the door. I paused next to the table and set the car keys down on it. I was going to trust that he wasn't going to hurt me. The hallway was much darker than the other room, probably because there weren't any windows. I'd see how thick the tree cover outside was and I felt it was a pretty safe bet that even the windows in the main room didn't get much sun except on the brightest of days. This time of year, I doubted we'd get more than a couple of hours without candles or lanterns.

  I pushed open the bathroom door first. I needed a break before picking a bedroom. A few minutes later, I crossed the hall to the first room. It was plain, with a double bed in a wooden frame and dresser, both of the same carved wood as the rest of the furniture. The bedspread was a dark red that matched the curtains. The next room was virtually identical except the bedspread and curtains were a sunny, cheery yellow. The room across the hall was more of the same, that one in dark green.

  I went back to the yellow room and set my bag on the bed. Part of me wanted to just leave everything in the bag, proving to myself that we were only going to be gone for a day, two at the most. If I unpacked the week's worth of clothes, it would be like admitting that we were going to be here a while. I sighed and emptied the bag onto the bed. Maybe I could pretend that this was just a vacation, a trip to clear my head like I'd said to Bryson.

  I was still trying to convince myself of that when I went back out to find Elias in the kitchen. I'd been sure that after these last couple of weeks, nothing could surprise me. I was wrong. The sight of Elias standing at an old kitchen wood stove, stirring a pot of something that smelled absolutely delicious, that definitely won for one of the biggest surprises. And, at least this one was a good surprise.

  My stomach growled and I suddenly realized that I was hungry. I hadn't been hungry in a while. In fact, I hadn't really eaten much at all since the whole attacked in the parking lot incident.

  Elias looked up at me and smiled. It was a different sort of smile than he'd given me before. It was almost... shy. I got another look at that little boy inside him.

  “I always keep some frozen stew in the ice box as I never know for certain when I will be visiting.”

  “This is your cabin?” I wasn't sure why I hadn't gotten that right away. How else had I figured he'd found this place so fast? And it didn't look anything like a…a police safe house, at least not what I imagined that one looked like.

  “I built it years ago.” His smile faltered, then returned with full force. “When I was young. With my father.”

  The last two statements rang a little false, but I didn't feel the need to push it. Maybe he'd gotten the cabin for some girl, and now he was embarrassed. I doubted he'd actually built it. The papers he'd given me had said he was twenty-four. This cabin had to be older than that. Now that I thought about it, it almost looked like the more modern equipment, like the bathroom, had been put in after the rest of the cabin had been built. Maybe that's what he'd meant. That part could've been done when Elias had been a kid.

  Elias held out a bowl of stew, then filled one for himself. “Shall we eat in front of the fire?”

  He followed me to the couch and handed me a bottle of sparkling water. It was the kind in the green bottle, my favorite. He really had been paying attention. I took a bite of the stew. Wow.

  “This is delicious.”

  “Thank you.” Elias sounded pleased. “It's an old family recipe, passed down since the fifteen hundreds. My mother made it for special occasions, though it was usually venison, not beef.”

  I decided to bypass the natural inquiry about deer meat and take a different tact. “You know, even after all the time we've spent together these past few weeks, I don't know much about you. I'd like to change that.”

  Elias looked down at his stew and, for a moment, I didn't think he was going to answer. “She was an amazing woman, my mother. Stronger than any man. It was she who ensured that my sisters and I had all we needed. We were not a wealthy family, but we were happy.”

  “Sisters?” I asked.

  He nodded. “Three. One older and two younger. Elsa, Erin and Elyssa.”

  I would've recognized that tone anywhere. That was the sound of someone whose family wasn't what he wanted it to be. For him, I believed it was the loss of something wonderful that he had once had. For me, it was a little different. Mine was a family I'd never known. For reasons I preferred not to analyze, I decided to fill the lengthening silence with my own story.

  “My parents, both sets of them were... disappointing, to say it politely.” I started slowly because I'd never told this story, not to anyone, and I wasn't sure how I was supposed to do it. “My birth parents abandoned me when I was just a couple of months old. Although, I guess it could've just been my mother. For I know, she never told my father about me. She could've been a hooker who got knocked up by one of her johns, or she could've been some teenager whose boyfriend didn't have a condom.” I paused for another bite and another drink. “However it happened, nine months later, there I was, and then something else happened a bit after that and I ended up being left outside a church as a baby.”

  Outside the cabin, the sun continued to rise as I went on with my story. Commuters went to work. People continued preparing for Christmas. Inside, however, it was like Elias and I were the only two people in the world. I told him about my adoptive parents, how when I was six and I'd told them I wanted a break from acting to go to camp for a week, they'd told me that if I wanted a break that badly, they'd send me back to foster care.

  Or how they'd essentially made me the breadwinner in the family since before I could remember. The stories just poured out of me, as if once I'd started, I couldn't stop. Maybe I was just overly tired, or it might have been because Elias was a great listener. Either way, I talked until I reached my emancipation, and then I fell silent. I didn't know how much time had passed, but my bowl was empty, my water nearly so, and the fire had died down a bit.

  When I finished and neither one of us were speaking, a thick silence was between us. I hadn't realized until that moment how close Elias and I were sitting. We'd angled ourselves towards each other at some point during the conversation and our knees were touching. Heat radiated from his body to mine, all focused on that very small point where our jeans met. I could only imagine the conflagration that would happen when our skin touched. I blushed at the thought of his bare skin against mine, and hoped that he couldn't see it in the dim light.

  I looked down, my gaze coming to rest on his hands. His fingers were long and slender, almost delicate-looking, which was at odds with the rest of his body's build. What would it feel like, I wondered, to have him link his fingers through mine? To have those fingertips caress my skin, my most intimate parts? The idea made me shiver.

  Elias's voice was soft. “You should probably try to rest. You have had a long and tiring day.”

  I looked up and found him staring at me. The moment my eyes met his, I was lost. They called to me, drew me in. I was helpless to escape, and I didn't want to.

  Everything I'd been feeling over the past few weeks was building inside me. The stress of the whole thing with Todd and then being attacked and the intruder slash stalker. Emotional scenes at work. Trying to get caught up and the guilt of being the reason we had to push. The physical injuries and, of course, the immediate attraction to Elias. Now, I was exhausted, alone with Elias in this beautiful, middle-
of-nowhere cabin, sharing with him and our knees were touching...

  It may have been stupid, but I had to do it. It felt like I'd been waiting forever.

  I leaned forward, my hand covering his. I had a moment to see his eyes widen in surprise and then I was kissing him. His lips were soft as they moved under mine. Electricity coursed through me, a sharp, sweet pain that was like nothing I'd ever experienced. This wasn't the gentle warmth of something innocent. This was something like lightning, fierce and wild.

  And it was over all too soon.

  Elias was pulled back when I opened my eyes. His expression was unreadable. He gently put my hand back on my lap and moved back on the couch, putting some distance between us.

  “You're tired, Teal—Miss Rhines,” he said quietly. “I think it would be best if you went to your room and got some sleep.”

  I stood, my eyes burning with sudden tears. I needed to get out of there. “You're right.” I hurried away before he could say anything else and kill me with embarrassment.

  What had I been thinking? I'd really screwed things up. I never crossed that line before, from professional to personal, and I'd always looked down on the people who did.

  I dropped onto the bed, completely mortified by what I'd done. I could only hope that Elias would chalk it up to the craziness that had been going on. If he didn't, it was going to be a very long couple of days and it would be all my fault.

  I was still berating myself when sleep finally claimed me.

  Chapter Nineteen

  When I woke up, the light coming in through the window told me that it was late, but not evening just quite yet. I probably had an hour or so until it was completely dark. Maybe I should use this time away to get back on a regular schedule for hiatus. I got up and took my time getting cleaned up and changed. The shower worked beautifully, but I was mindful of both the fuel being used by the generator and the amount of hot water I was using. I didn't know if Elias had already showered or if he'd need to once I was done. I tried not to think about Elias in the shower, standing under the hot spray, soap sliding across his chest... I shook my head and re-focused.

  I walked into the main room, bracing myself for seeing Elias for the first time after the kiss. Heat suffused my face, but I wasn't sure if it was because I was embarrassed or because I was remembering what it had felt like to have Elias's lips against mine. To my surprise, Elias wasn't there. The fire in the fireplace had burned down a bit, but not by much. The candles had been extinguished, but the lanterns were still going strong, supplementing the weak rays of winter sun that managed to work their way through the trees. Maybe Elias gone to bed to get some sleep. That might be a good thing. Sleep would definitely help him put things in perspective.

  I headed into the kitchen. Even though I knew it had only been a few hours since I'd eaten, I was ravenous. My lack of eating over the past week was catching up with me. I rummaged through the half-stocked cabinets and finally found some oatmeal. One of the benefits of having been on my own since I was a teenager and refusing to hire a cook was that I knew how to make my own meals.

  I couldn't find any sugar or milk, but I was hungry enough that even the plain oatmeal tasted good. The fact that I hadn't found any perishables was a good thing, I thought. It meant that he hadn't stocked the cabin with the intention of bringing me up here. Any supplies that were here were just for sudden visits.

  Once I finished eating, I washed and dried my dishes, expecting Elias to come out at any moment. When he didn't, I decided to take a closer look around the main area. It wasn't until I was halfway through that I realized that there weren't any personal items anywhere. No pictures, no decorations that really seemed like they belonged to Elias. Then I saw the books. They were old, worn and dog-eared. These were well-loved volumes.

  I ran my finger along the spines, skimming the titles. When I saw an old favorite, I pulled it out. I opened it and confirmed what I'd been thinking. It was a first edition. Then something else caught my eye. It was a signature.

  “'To Elias, may you one day find a land of wonder. Kind regards, L.C.'” I read aloud. “'L.C.'? That can't be who I'm thinking it is.” I studied the message. “Then again, I guess it is possible that Elias's great-grandfather or uncle or someone else in his family knew Carroll. Didn't Harrison say that he'd been born in Wales?”

  I walked over to the couch. I'd read this particular book half a dozen times, but having the chance to look through a signed first edition was something I couldn't pass up. Even so, I couldn't fully immerse myself in the volume. I kept replaying the scenario from last night over and over in my head.

  Finally, I shut the book and sighed. This was pointless. I was never going to be able to concentrate in here. I stood up. I needed some air and some exercise, even if it was just a walk. I always exercised when I needed to clear my head, and I'd never needed to clear it more than I did now. I pulled on my coat and boots. There was no need for a hat or gloves since I didn't intend to be gone for very long.

  It was so quiet, I thought as I stepped outside. I'd never really spent much time outside of cities, and the few times I had, it had been for a movie or television show, which meant that I was usually surrounded by at least two dozen members of the cast and crew, sometimes as many as a hundred for a single shot. My house was somewhat secluded, being set away from the road in a fairly quiet neighborhood, but it was still in the Los Angeles vicinity. This was pure isolation and it wasn't as scary as I'd originally thought.

  I wandered through the trees, my walk slow, my eyes roaming around the forest. We were high enough that a thin dusting of snow covered the tree branches, though little reached the ground. In fact, the trees were so thick that I didn't realize it had started snowing again until I reached a small clearing and found the flakes drifting to join the rest of the snow on the ground. That was also when I realized that it wasn't just getting darker inside the forest, but that the sun had all but disappeared from the sky.

  “Damnit,” I muttered. I needed to get back before it got too dark for me to see the way.

  I hurried back the way I'd come, my icy hands in my pockets as the wind picked up, whipping aside the branches to allow showers of snow to fall on me. Less than a quarter of an hour passed before I was wet and shivering. I really needed to get inside. I was sure Elias would have a fire going and something wonderful cooking. I moved faster.

  After another fifteen minutes, I was starting to get worried. I hadn't been out for this long, had I? What time had I left the cabin? I checked my pockets and realized that I'd left my phone in the cabin. After all, there wasn't a signal up here, so what was the point in risking getting it wet or broken? Maybe time was just playing tricks on me.

  I squinted at the ground, but couldn't make out anything beyond the shadowy white that was the snow. It was beginning to stick down here now too. If I had been leaving footprints, they'd be all but invisible now. My jaw was aching from the strain of trying to keep my teeth from chattering and my face was numb, but still, I kept walking. I should just need to walk straight back the way I'd come and I'd run into the cabin eventually.

  That logic drove me even as the last of the light disappeared and I had to slow down so that I didn't run into or trip over anything. The last thing I needed was a broken leg or something equally as stupid. I'd gone for another half hour or more when I realized the flaw in my logic.

  I hadn't been walking in a straight line before. When I'd gone into the woods, I'd walked around things, never bothering to adjust my course back to a straight line. More than once, I'd also found myself drifting. It hadn't seemed like a big deal at the time, but now there was a good possibility that my absent-mindedness was going to cost me my life. I didn't know how cold it could get up here in December, but I was fairly certain that I wasn't dressed for it.

  I pressed on as the cold sapped the strength from my muscles and made my bones ache. Finally, I stumbled and nearly fell. I couldn't go on, not without a break. A voice in the back of my head told me
that what I was thinking was dangerous, but I didn't have a choice. If I tried to keep going, I would eventually fall and hurt myself. Better to rest my legs for just a moment.

  I found a relatively clear spot under a tall fir tree and sat down. It was far more comfortable than I'd have thought possible. I leaned my head back against the trunk of the tree. I was so tired. If I just closed my eyes for a minute, I'd feel so much better. Already I wasn't feeling the cold quite so much. My eyelids drifted shut even as I was reminding myself that I'd need to open them again soon. Just not right now. I was good for just a little while longer.

  Chapter Twenty

  This was getting ridiculous. One of the reasons I'd never been a big drinker, aside from the fact that I'd had ultra-strict parents, was that I was a bit of a control... enthusiast. The idea of my inhibitions being lowered scared me half to death. Even more so was the thought of doing something and not remembering it. I'd never wanted to be one of those girls who woke up in a strange bed with no memory of how I'd gotten there.

  In fact, until I'd been attacked, it had never happened. Now, however, I was experiencing a second occurrence in less than a month. Granted, neither one had been the result of alcohol, but it didn't make it any less disconcerting.

  As consciousness started to return to me, I began to take analysis based on my previous experience. Check one: was I hurt? The short answer seemed to be no. That was good. It meant that I probably wasn't in the hospital. Unless, of course, I'd passed out for some reason. I really hoped that wasn't the case. That would be so embarrassing, and the last thing I needed was something else to be embarrassed about around Elias. I'd taken care of that all on my own.

  Check two: assess the remainder of the physical surroundings. I was laying on something soft and vaguely familiar, as if I knew it from recent memory rather than repetition. I was under blankets, but none of them were unique, the same with the pillows. I seemed to be in my own pajamas, a pair of comfy striped ones that were soft to the touch. They were the only fuzzy ones I'd packed. That information as well as the lack of noise and the non-antiseptic smell led me to believe that I was back in the cabin.