by I. T. Lucas
"Fifteen hundred TC organic Egyptian cotton bed sheets? What the hell does it even mean? Or that Japanese sounding moisturizer thing, Shiseido?"
"It's nothing complicated. Any decent department store will have all of those things. Look, I organized the list by departments; all you need to do is find a Nordstrom or a Bloomingdales or even a Macy's and ask a salesperson in each department to help you."
Was it a trick? A guy like him shopping for stuff like that and asking for help would be hard to forget. Was she planning to leave a trail for those searching for her? But his nose was telling him she was excited but not fearful, which she would have been if she was planning some subterfuge.
"Okay. I'll see what I can do. Let's move to the food list. What does good bread that doesn't taste like cardboard mean? How am I supposed to know which one tastes good to you without a brand name? And other than the bread, all I see is an assortment of cheeses, frozen pizzas, and fruits. Where is the rest of the stuff, like meat and eggs, fresh vegetables?"
"First of all, I'm a vegetarian. I don't eat meat. Second, my expertise at buying food is limited to picking stuff from a restaurant menu. And that goes for cooking as well…" Amanda leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. "If you wanted someone to cook and clean for you, you certainly picked the wrong girl,” she added with a snort.
"No, I wasn't looking for a maid. I was looking for a mate, a partner. I couldn't care less that you're challenged in these areas…" He flashed her a sideways grin.
Her eyes narrowed into slits and she pursed her lips, looking absolutely stunning despite her peeved expression.
Oh, man, did she have any idea what she was doing to him with those lush lips of hers, puffed and begging to be kissed? If she didn't, she was soon going to find out…
Quick as a snake, he struck, taking those lips in a hungry kiss. When she didn't resist, he pushed her down on the couch and deepened the kiss, his tongue licking into the sweetness of her mouth.
Amanda moaned, grabbing his shoulders to bring him closer to her chest… Then, with a growl, she gave a strong shove and pushed him off.
Damn, she was strong for a woman. Which shouldn't have surprised him. It made perfect sense that if immortal males were stronger than their human counterparts, so were the females.
Amanda jumped off the couch. Holding the torn piece of paper with her list, she pointed at the door. "You need to get going. I don't know how far you need to drive to get me what I need, so you'd better hurry." She panted, her other hand resting over her racing heart.
"I will, in a moment. First, a little safety talk. I'm not going to lock you in because I don't want to risk you being trapped inside in case of a fire or an earthquake. But I don't want you wandering outside. And I'm not saying this to keep you from trying to escape. We are hours away from civilization and there are wild animals out there. So please, be smart about it and don't leave the cabin, not even to sit on the porch. And don't open the door to get fresh air in either—or any other such bright ideas. I'm serious." He pinned her with a hard stare.
"I got it. No going outside, and no opening the door. Now go…"
"Promise. I want you to swear on it."
Amanda rolled her eyes. "Shish! I promise! Swear to Bob and all that… I'm not stupid, you know."
When he still didn't move, she threw her hands in the air. "Men," she muttered under her breath before stomping away and climbing the stairs to the loft.
"I'll be back as soon as I can," he called after her.
Without looking back, she shrugged and then disappeared into the bathroom.
Dalhu almost made it out the door when he remembered he was shirtless.
Going up the stairs, he glanced toward the bathroom door, hoping to get a peek of what she was doing in there, but Amanda had propped something against it to hold it close.
Damn.
He grabbed another one of the fancy shirts and shrugged it on, buttoning it on his way out.
Out on the porch, he lifted the loose plank and pulled out the car keys and his duffle bag. Not that he needed weapons and ammunition for his acquisition trip, or his laptop, but with Amanda left unsupervised and with plenty of time on her hands, she might get the urge to do some reconnaissance.
CHAPTER 13: AMANDA
As the sun began its slow descent, Amanda got hungry again. But the thought of eating another peanut butter-covered cardboard was motivation enough to endure the hunger pangs for a little longer.
She could wait until Dalhu showed up with something edible.
What the hell was taking him so long? It had been more than six hours since he had left. For his sake, she hoped he'd come back with everything on her list, otherwise… what?
Well, she could ignore him. There wasn't much else she could do. It wasn't as if she could stomp her foot and walk out on him. With a humph. Except, being ignored would probably hurt Dalhu enough. The way he was desperate for every little crumb of affection she threw his way…
Poor guy.
Damn, she was hungry. What if he wouldn't be back for hours?
But she really couldn't stomach another sandwich. She'd rather starve.
Then again, maybe she could open a can of corn and another one of beans and mix them together.
Shouldn't be too bad…
Oh, how low the mighty have fallen…
Pulling the two cans down from the upper cupboard, she read the instructions.
Good, it said on the labels that the stuff didn't need cooking.
She scooped a little from each can and mixed the ingredients, then took the plate with her culinary creation to the table and set it down next to the book she'd been reading for the past couple of hours.
It wasn't that she found the history of jet fighter planes all that fascinating, but she was going out of her mind with boredom. And unfortunately, airplanes were the subject of each and every one of the small collection of books gathering dust over the fireplace mantel.
She'd already finished the one about the invention of modern flying machines, which had been kind of interesting, but the rest of the modest selection was mostly about famous jet fighter battles that were just too sad to read about, so she was stuck with the one in front of her.
Shoving a forkful of the mix into her mouth, she distracted herself from the bland stuff by trying to picture the cabin's owner. It was a guy, that was for certain, a bachelor or a widower, or someone that treated the cabin as his private man-cave, because the place was completely devoid of a woman's touch.
On the other hand, a man wouldn't have installed a claw-foot tub in the bathroom for himself. So he either had bought the cabin from a couple, or had a woman and lost her… long time ago. A widower then. Probably a veteran, maybe a survivalist…
As far as utilities, the cabin was self-sufficient, and if the guy were a hunter, he could choose to live up here indefinitely…
Oh, fates… She hoped that wasn't what Dalhu had in mind when he'd brought her here.
Talk about cabin fever…
She'd rather take her chances with the bears and the coyotes and whatever else was lurking outside than stay cooped up in here and grow slowly insane…
Forget slowly… it would take no more than one more day with nothing to do…
She had to find a way out.
If her assumptions about the guy who owned the cabin were true, then there was a good chance he had a rifle stashed somewhere around. Not that she planned to shoot Dalhu with it, though using it to clobber him over the head was an option…
She needed the rifle to make it to civilization without getting eaten on the way.
Why hadn't she thought about it sooner? With Dalhu gone for hours, she could've searched the place thoroughly at an easy pace.
Now, she might be already out of time.
It took her less than half an hour to conduct a frantic though thorough search to produce nothing more lethal than a broom.
She even knocked on the walls in the hopes of finding
a hidden storage compartment. It wasn't completely out of left field. After all, the washer-dryer combo was hidden behind a panel in the bathroom. She would've never found it if not for the noise the machine was making. Which reminded her that the drying cycle was probably done a long time ago.
Whatever. First she had to finish the search before the sun set and before her kidnaper got back.
Opening the front door just a little more than a crack, she scanned the porch and the area around the cabin, even giving her sense of smell a go. Not that she'd ever sniffed for wild animals before, but she figured the smell of one predator ready to pounce shouldn't be all that different from another, and she was well acquainted with the smell of the most dangerous one—a male immortal. But if there was anything out there, it was too far away for her to smell.
Or at least she hoped so…
With a quick sprint, she dashed for the shed, then closed the door behind her and bolted it for good measure.
It was dark inside, but with the little light filtering through the cracks, she was able to see the single naked lightbulb hanging from the ceiling rafters. It took her a moment of searching for the light switch to realize that the string hanging down from the thing was the way to go about turning it on, and she pulled.
The good news, if one could call it that, was that there was enough wood stored in the shed to keep the cabin warm all winter long, and there were a couple of shovels in case they got snowed in. A few simple tools hung from pegs on the wall, and there was even an electric table saw. But the bad news was that there was no rifle.
Not ready to give up yet, she searched behind and under anyplace she could reach. When she didn't find anything useful, Amanda gave the shovels another glance. In a pinch, a shovel might prove handy… well, maybe against one predator, but certainly not a pack.
For clobbering Dalhu, though…
If she managed to knock him out for long enough, she could take the car. No need to fight off wild animals then.
But did she have the guts?
If she attacked him and failed, he might kill her despite all of his promises to the contrary. Though in truth? She was an immortal and not that easy to kill. Dalhu might get angry and go as far as inflicting some serious pain, but she'd never truly believed he would deliberately take the steps necessary to end her immortal life. One didn't sever a head or cut out a heart in a fit of anger.
At least she hoped not.
So why had she kept saying it? Because it sounded more dramatic than one hell of a beating, and besides, she'd gotten carried away, believing her own exaggerations.
Question was, where could she hide a shovel within easy reach?
Duh, under the couch, where else…
With the shovel in hand, she did the whole scan and sniff routine again before sprinting back to the cabin, then stashed the contraband under the couch…
Wait… that wouldn't work.
If Dalhu spent another night on the sofa, he might accidentally find it. And besides, it was stupid to hide the shovel where she would need to get close to Dalhu just to pull it out—and probably wake him before having a chance to do anything.
It would be better to hide it under the bed. Where she slept…
But wait… that wouldn't work either.
Damn.
With the new bedsheets she’d had him buy, he might offer to help her make the bed and discover the shovel hidden under it.
Oh, well, there was no other place that made sense. She had to chance it.
CHAPTER 14: KRI
"Come on, Michael, stop torturing yourself and take the meds." Why were guys so stupid? There was no reason for him to suffer through the pain of growing fangs and venom glands. Not when Dr. Bridget offered to prescribe him perfectly safe painkillers and knock him out. At least until the worst part was over.
Thank the merciful fates, though, that this was the extent of Michael's ordeal. Syssi had almost died going through hers.
Kian must've been to hell and back watching the woman he loved fighting for her life. Poor guy. And instead of celebrating Syssi's successful transition, he was heading out on a rescue mission to bring Amanda back.
Damn, I would've liked to be on that team… Not that Kian would've ever agreed to take a female Guardian on a mission like that. He was progressive, but not that progressive. And anyway, someone had to take care of Michael.
"No," Michael mumbled through the ice chips he'd stuffed in his mouth to numb the pain. "Ice is hepin…"
Poor baby, he couldn't even move his tongue to make the L sound. Or the G. But whose fault was that? Maybe his mentor could talk some sense into that mulish head of his. She turned to Yamanu, who'd been grinning since this whole argument had started. "Talk to him. Maybe the stubborn ass will listen to you."
"He is a big boy." Yamanu shrugged. "There were no meds when I was a boy, and I lived through it. He can toughen it out if he wants to."
Kri threw her hands in the air. "Agh, you men are all idiots."
Yamanu patted her shoulder. "Let the boy be a man, Kri, and witness his own transition. Would you have liked to be knocked out during the most transformative event of your life? Like maybe when you'll become a mother?"
"You can bet your ass, I would. I'm not as dumb as some of those women who want a natural birthing experience. If I ever deliver a baby, I want to have all the painkillers I can get. There is no glory in unnecessary suffering." Glaring at Yamanu, she crossed her arms over her chest.
Yamanu pushed away from the wall he'd been leaning against and gave Michael a pitying glance. "Well, boy, I did my best. You're on your own. See'a later." He waved and left Bridget's recovery room.
Kri sighed and set down on the bed next to Michael. "I just can't stand seeing you in so much pain."
Michael reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze.
"How about you at least take the codeine, it's not going to knock you out cold, just take the edge off."
Michael closed his eyes for a moment, then nodded.
"Hallelujah! I'm going to get Bridget. Don't go anywhere!" She kissed his forehead, careful to stay away from his cheeks, then hurried out to search for the doctor.
Kri found Bridget in her office, busy typing furiously on her keyboard. "Dr. Bridget, I finally managed to persuade Michael to take the codeine. Could you give it to him? Like right now? I can't stand another minute of seeing him like that."
"Sure, give me a moment. I'll be right there."
"Thank you."
My poor, proud baby, Kri thought on her way back to Michael's room—the small recovery room in Bridget's clinic he'd been staying in since he'd begun his transition.
Which brought to mind the question of Michael's future accommodations. Now that he'd become an immortal, there was no reason to keep holding him in the Guest Suite—as they called the fancy prison cell where Michael had been spending his time until now. Their secret was now his secret as well.
He should move in with me. I need to take care of him.
Not that she had any plans of letting him go once he got better. After his transition, Michael had become a most valuable asset—the first, and for now only, male immortal not from the same matrilineal descent as the rest of her clan, and she had no intention of allowing some other clan female to steal him away from her.
Andrew, Syssi's brother, was another potential candidate, but he was older. And as they had discovered with Syssi, the older the Dormant, the harder the transition went. He might decide not to risk it. And anyway, she liked Michael. The only problem? He was so damn young. But she was in no rush. She could wait for him to mature.
Best thing to do was to stake her claim, and the sooner, the better. She needed to talk to the chief Guardian and ask his permission to move Michael to her apartment. On second thoughts, she should also ask Onegus for some leave of absence to take care of her guy.
First, though, she needed to make some quick redecorations before she brought Michael to her place. It was just too girly. Living
alone, and not in the habit of inviting anyone over, she didn't care if her place looked like the inside of a candy store. There was pink everywhere—pink walls, a pink coverlet on her queen-sized bed, and even pink cushions on the periwinkle sofa.
But the pink, though, wasn't as embarrassing as the posters.
Hunky actors and male models were her preferred wall ornaments. And she had quite a few.
She would die of embarrassment if anyone ever saw the inside of her apartment. She was supposed to be this tough cookie, and she was, on the outside. On the inside, she liked to be a girl, and not any girl, a girly-girl.
Michael was in for one heck of a surprise.
CHAPTER 15: DALHU
While Dalhu chilled in the coffee shop across from the department store, the forty-something nothing-special he'd charmed the pants off was doing all the legwork of finding and buying the female-specific items on Amanda's list with the money he'd given her.
So, if Amanda hoped that a man like him shopping for bras and thongs and lotions would be too conspicuous to forget, Dalhu had managed to outsmart her.
Uneducated doesn't mean stupid, Professor…
The woman he'd chosen for the task had been more than happy to help poor, helpless him with the list of items his little sister, who was moving back home after graduating college, had asked him to buy for her.
When the woman came back, shopping bags galore, he thanked her, kissed her cheek, and promised to call.
Feeling a little guilty, he offered to pay her for her efforts, but she refused to accept the money…
Just as he'd known she would.
Her loss. He wouldn't be delivering the kind of payment he'd hinted on…
Next stop was the supermarket, where he did nothing more clandestine than slouching and drooping his shoulders to look smaller.
So all in all, he did good.
But it had taken him three hours to reach the nearest mall that had one of the department stores Amanda had listed, and about an hour and a half to complete all of the purchases. He had three more hours of driving to do.