by Kacey Mark
Was Shauna caught somewhere in a fifties sitcom? Did she really have to clutch her hand bag, dance back and forth on a stool, and cry for Adrian to do something before he took action? For the love! Drop the gentleman bullshit and kick the mangy goat out of the kitchen!
But Adrian’s stony expression and belligerent arm folding wouldn’t be moved. Probably not short of a raging cat fight to break up.
Fine. If he wanted a catfight, he’d get one. “Kimmy? Out!” She gestured to the door. “And leave my phone.”
Kimmy looked up. Her expression turned serious. “I saw your face when you walked into the house this morning. I know that look. You were getting busy last night. Hell, you almost got busy right here amongst the cooking utensils. You love bunnies can’t keep your hands off each other.”
Shauna’s defenses hardened. “So. As if that’s any of your business…” Not like anything on heaven or earth would ruin her appetite.
“So, if you get pregnant—or what if you are pregnant…”
“Not possible,” Adrian stated, his tone a little too calm for Shauna’s liking.
She adjusted to face Kimmy. “No. It isn’t possible,” she snapped.
“You’re sure,” Kimmy challenged. “How are you sure?”
“Well,” she gestured both hands toward Adrian, “the float-a-condom for starters.”
“Doesn’t count. Look what it did to your face. Obviously it’s defective.” Kimmy set the phone on the counter and angled her nose to a regal height. “Too much risk. I’m still not convinced.”
Shauna tightened her grip on the fluttering ribbon of hope. Pregnant? The thought of white picket fences and backyard family barbeques had been farther from her mind than ever over the last twenty-four hours. But Kimmy’s statement brought it bounding to the forefront of her mind, rattling and jumping around in its neatly wrapped package. “I don’t need you to be convinced.”
“It’s. Not. Possible,” Adrian insisted.
Kimmy snorted. “You’d be surprised—”
A warning rumbled low in Adrian’s chest. “That’s enough.”
“You better tell her,” Kimmy warned.
“Tell me what?” She fired back at Kimmy, Adrian, both of them.
Were they talking about the same thing? She hadn’t completely gone barren. Not unless Adrian knew something she didn’t. With his knack for detecting all things biological and beyond…her stomach squeezed in on itself. God, don’t let him be the one to deliver that bad news. Anyone but him.
Adrian’s rumble grew to a shout. “I know what you’re doing. I said that’s enough!”
“Tell me.” Somebody damn well better say something useful, or that frying pan would go off like a church bell over the blob-she’s head.
Chapter Twenty
“I had a vasectomy…okay?” Heated breaths of anger pushed out in quick succession from his flared nostrils. “Are we good now?”
The quick heave and flow of air became the only sound in the room.
“A what?”
“Vasectomy,” Kimmy intruded. “You know.” She opened and closed two fingers in a menacing motion toward the poor impaled chicken bits on her fork. “Snip, snip.”
Oh, Shauna knew what it was. But why? How? If he could easily deploy the float-a-condom, wouldn’t that have taken care of it? Why go to such extremes? A paralyzing grip of dismay latched onto her heart. He hadn’t lied to her. Or betrayed her on any level. It wasn’t her choice to make. It was his body. So why did it hurt so much?
Kimmy’s sly tone continued to coax. To needle. “Doesn’t have to be Adrian’s blood heir, you know. He could adopt. Emotionally or legally. That means a child can be spawned by any means possible. Love, marriage, insemination, even the attack last night.”
Shauna’s gaze narrowed to menacing slits. “About that. How could you send me in there knowing—”
Kimmy issued a commanding look. “We’ll address that in a minute. The attack, Shauna. This is important.”
“No, now.”
“Was it Richard?” Kimmy offered.
Adrian turned. “Who the fuck is Richard?”
Kimmy’s tone lightened with smarmy mischief. “Her fiancé.”
“Ex-fiancé.” Shauna’s nails bit into her palms. She rose to her feet. “I’m going to kill you.” Her teeth gnashed together with crushing force. Her marching steps toward Kimmy were thwarted by a thick arm bound around her waist.
“You can’t,” Adrian said.
Shauna pushed against his arm. She grunted. “Watch me.”
“He met her at the dungeon last night,” Kimmy tattled. “He’s the one who helped assault her.”
Adrian banded his other arm around her. “This isn’t the Kimmy you know.”
“I’ll say.” She lunged forward, swiping with claws. Air whooshed between her fingers.
Kimmy leaned back. A millisecond of surprise crossed her features.
Missed by mere inches.
Kimmy held her fork with both hands like a mighty sword to defend herself. She yelled into the phone. “Help. 911, 911.”
The inferno of anger inside Shauna raged up. She lunged again.
Adrian’s voice spiked with irritation. “It’s a trance!”
“Right.” Shauna scoffed. And where does he keep the flying pigs? Maybe we can feed those to her next.
“No. It is.” He confirmed. “She couldn’t have come out of that sedative. No matter how desensitized.”
Kimmy lifted her tiny makeshift pike with yet another chicken slice impaled upon it. “God has given me one face, and I make myself another…” She glanced to the chicken. “With some barbeque sauce!”
“See. There. She’s not making sense,” Adrian declared.
“You sedated her?” She gave him a long look.
“Maybe some sweet-n-sour!”
“Can’t you give her something stronger?” Shauna asked.
Adrian’s shoulder lifted with indifference.
Kimmy’s actions seem to slow; she returned to the pan, poking and prodding the remaining meat, as if it were a primetime reality show. “Oh, you really did Shauna a service by giving her that shielding potion. It’s the only thing that’s kept her safe. That curse has been working hard to close its circle.” She tipped her head in consideration. “I’m not saying she’s a slut or anything, but the unlucky few who cross her path, they had a hard time keeping their hands to themselves.”
The weight of Adrian’s gaze settled over her, but Shauna dared not meet it head on.
“It’s worse when she’s squeaky clean.” Kimmy continued. “Don’t you think? No powder or lotion or makeup to dull the effect.”
Kimmy lifted her tone. “Tell him, Shauna. This is the best part. Her body’s constantly ready for it too.”
“He knows,” she muttered.
“About the ovulation part?”
Shauna’s mouth unhinged with horror. “Kimmy!”
“Not only is she ready for it, she’s running out of time.”
“That’s it.” The words were scarcely audible under Adrian’s breath. He jerked open a nearby cabinet, retrieved a glass. Slammed it shut.
“Tick-tock goes the clock,” Kimmy chanted. She followed his movements, confusion wrinkling her brow. “You’re running out of time too, powder boy. She’s going to run, the way you pushed her. Then she will die. She has to. It’s the way of these things.”
In no time, Adrian had a full glass of water and a look of determination that would have scared the most hardened of criminals back into the shadows. He unscrewed the cap from small vial he had retrieved from the spice rack.
“Aww, thanks I’m parched!” Kimmy held out her hands for the offering.
He tapped the vial until a tiny drop fell into the water. Before the vial’s cap hit the ground, Adrian tossed the glass’ contents into Kimmy’s face.
She gasped and sputtered. Her hands reached to either side as if blindly looking for a towel. Shauna glanced left and right for something dry t
o toss her way, but before she could act, Kimmy slumped over.
Adrian crouched low and caught her around the waist before she somersaulted to the floor. He sidestepped, dragging Kimmy toward the living room. “Be right back.”
“Okay.” The word fell numb and distant as it rolled from her mouth. He might not be long, but the bile swirling a violent tide in her stomach said it wouldn’t be soon enough.
She had to get out. Get some air. Before the full knowledge of everything she’d heard finally set in.
Then she’d lose her lunch and her mind.
****
Shauna plodded over sloppy, uneven ground on her way to the pond. The soggy conditions from earlier that morning had turned invasive and bitter with cold. The sun smoldered low behind the mountain ridge, tugging deep-blue shadows across the rolling landscape. Frost needled through the tiny holes of her sweater and numbed her toes.
She had slipped away to get dressed, but she hadn’t chanced putting on an extra layer. The coat hung in the closet, and that meant crossing paths with Adrian again. She wasn’t ready for that. It wouldn’t take long, but she needed every second she could get. The gears around her seemed to be turning faster, as if trying desperately to make up for lost time, but Shauna’s brain seemed more content to splat right where she stood and suction-cup itself in for the long haul.
Footprints of her youth had stamped this very bank in her childhood. Not so deeply set and weary as her current tracks. The prancing steps from nearly a decade ago held too much adventure and mayhem to sink so heavily.
How could she never share this place with her own children? The thought of a family seemed so far away, beyond possibility when it came to Richard. Even after all the carefully laid plans, it only felt like a distant dream.
Now, even the dream had been stolen.
Tears bent and wavered her view of the silent, ice-filmed pond like a carnival mirror. If she crossed to the other side, would she still find a footprint or two? She scanned the silent landscape of reeds, still water, and the encroaching dusk.
Of course not. The world had moved on without her, even the silent pond held no trace of her past.
She trudged up the arched bridge that belt-buckled the pond. Her steps stopped short when the bridge’s downside fell into view.
Two shadows emerged from a pale SUV parked several yards from the dirt road. One held back with his hand on his hip, while the other marched forward with hurried steps.
This was private property now. They didn’t belong here.
She opened her mouth to speak, but her eyes and heart processed faster. A panicked gasp snared the words mid-throat.
“Miss Tamson,” called the man holding back.
Squidlinski. Shauna’s vision squinted. “Hate that tone.” That meant the man coming toward her must be—
“We need to talk,” Richard said.
“Why?” she demanded. “How’d you find me?” He knew nothing of her childhood.
“Your phone. We have a trace.”
Knew it. Shauna clenched her teeth hard enough to send shock waves up her jaw.
“Listen, you’re in some trouble.” Richard hurried up the bridge toward her.
“We just want to talk,” Squid persisted.
“No.” Shauna back stepped the way she’d come, not daring to take her attention off Richard.
She expected the familiar, smug upturn of his mouth. She couldn’t outrun him. But the more panic she let fuel her steps, the more dread seemed to weigh on his posture.
“Rich!” Squidlinski barked. Urgent warning trailed in his voice.
Richard flashed a staying hand to the agent several yards behind, but he kept moving toward Shauna. “You might not trust me…”
“No shit!”
His hesitation flipped to an angry frown. “Better me than him. Come with me now, or I’ll let agent Squidlinski have you.”
The squid? Shauna snorted. She’d escaped him twice already. She’d fought past both of them before, she could do it again, right?
The squid stalked forward too, moving quickly to catch up.
Shauna’s vision flicked in Adrian’s direction.
It was only a microsecond.
One she never should have stolen.
Because when her attention returned, Richard struck. He wrapped both arms around her in a crushing grip. Shauna jerked and twisted; she rammed her elbow into his side. Richard dropped her fast, and he crumpled like a paper bag. She expected a yowl of pain, but it came out more of wheeze.
Free. Shauna raced back the way she’d come.
“Get her,” Squid shouted. His thunderous steps boomed behind her on the old wooden boards. Closing in fast.
Squid snagged her sweater and yanked her back with brutal force. The neckline burned against her skin. Several strands of hair, caught in his fist, ripped from her scalp, as he whipped her in a tight circle. Her hip slammed into the bridge’s handrail; the paint-flaked, wooden banister creaked and wobbled unsteadily, but Shauna clung to it.
“Let go!” Squid wrapped his arms around her and slammed his forearms down onto hers.
Spears of pain unclamped her hands and her wooden anchor slipped away.
Squid caught her arm. “Hands behind your back,” he sneered. “You’re under arrest.”
Shauna spun and jerked her arm free, leaving him with the sleeve of her sweater.
She saw the gap and went for it. Ducking between the boards of the railing, Shauna flung herself over the bridge.
The sweater yanked over her head, and Shauna was free a mere second before she crashed sideways into the water.
Her muscles locked in protest the moment the cold slammed her. The weight of her waterlogged jeans pulled down with what seemed twice her bodyweight.
Up. Get up.
Shauna forced her kicks from a series of floppy gestures into some sort of useful locomotion. She broke to the surface with a gasp of sharp, mucky pond air. She fought the primal urge to fold her arms and legs in fetal position. She had to stay afloat in the tangle of duckweed and moss that tugged at her legs.
Panic…don’t panic. With numb fingers, Shauna raked away the hair that plastered her forehead and hindered her line of sight. She twisted to take in her surroundings with flapping strokes. How could this not be ice? It’s so cold!
“What are you waiting for? Go. She’ll freeze in there,” Richard said.
“Pond’s not that big. She’ll probably touch bottom.”
Could she?
Shauna let the weight of her clothes pull her down, but a snare of alarm charged her back into fighting strokes the moment the water climbed up her neck. No, she couldn’t reach it.
Squid’s voice leered from the bridge directly above. “We know you’re under there.”
Her teeth rattled, and spades of pain and numbness shot up her arms and legs. Her back muscles spasmed in a feeble attempt to clutch the heat that fled her body.
“Come out,” Richard called as he rounded the bridge to the bank. He neared the edge of the water, but wouldn’t step in. “You can’t stay in there forever.”
“What do you want?” Her words shook. “Can’t you leave me alone? Haven’t you done enough?”
“I’m not trying to hurt you…” His words became hollow and distant. “Swim back before you freeze to death.”
He’d let her too.
Chapter Twenty-One
“We just want to talk,” Richard prompted again.
As he continued to reason with her, the words floated around in Shauna’s brain, refusing to connect. All she could think of was the cold.
“I’m calling backup.” Squidlinski turned and raced up the embankment with his head tipped to one side. The orders he panted quickly lost their meaning.
Shauna’s flailing limbs inched her closer to the other side, her movements like stroking though quicksand. Richard’s hammering footsteps over the bridge followed her across the pond again. Useless, she’d never make it out in time and manage to es
cape with these sluggish muscles. Not from one of them, let alone two.
She lunged for a nearby bridge post and wrapped both arms and legs around the massive wooden pole monkey style.
Shauna pulled in a lung full of air, stretching her tense ribs. She pushed out an ear-piercing scream. “Adrian!”
“Shut up,” Richard hissed. “Come out now or freeze to death. Those are your only options.” Richard’s agitated steps paced tight, back and forth steps across the wooden planks above. He stuttered something urgent under his breath. His voice seemed to teeter on the edge of a breakdown, as though an ominous shadow had grown to life behind him, leaving him scurrying and desperate. “Shauna, come out. Honey, please come out.”
Honey? Who was he playing up for now? Not her. He never called her that. “Leave,” she countered.
His voice turned sinister. Quick and low. “I’m not. Not until I deal with you—”
Steady footfalls on the boards above cut his comment short.
Shauna set her gaze on planks, praying it would be Adrian. That he would step into view somewhere between the cracks. What else could make Richard so fearful?
Richard offered a helpless plea. “It’s a suicide. We saw her go over. She hasn’t come out.”
The steps picked up urgency. A dark shadow snaked between gaps in the wooden planks above. It stopped at the bridge’s highest point.
Please, Adrian. Please.
“Help,” she breathed. But the cloud of warm air that escaped her chattering teeth carried away into nothing. The gasp for another breath overtook everything.
The numbness paralyzed her arms and hands. It seemed to turn them to slacked, strange appendages that were no longer her own. Her grip fell away, and her mind waded through a sluggish fog as she fought to react. She reached out again, for what should have felt like a massive post, slicked with frozen algae, but she felt…
Nothing.
Had she grabbed it? The question floated away in dreamy afterthought.
Did it matter?
Her vision darkened around the edges as the icy water climbed higher and her gasps for breath fought to stay on top of it. Shauna’s own body weight tugged her down. The world above constricted to a pinhole point of wavering light, before it extinguished completely.