“You want to take a break?” Hunter broke into my thoughts, “You keep looking at me. I mean I know I'm sexy, but...”
I stopped abruptly and looked at him, “Really?”
He coughed out a laugh at my fierce look and then did something I didn't expect. He reached up and gently touched the bruise on my forehead, “How is this feeling?”
His touch sent my mind reeling, and then when he brought his hand down and there was fresh blood, I felt like vomiting. The memory of Trevor and the cold metal digging into my flesh had opened up more than one wound. It must have shown on my face that my mind was going places that it shouldn't.
“What are you thinking about? Hunter asked as he wiped my blood on his jeans, “You look upset.”
“Huh?” I mumbled, stopping and putting my hands on my hips, “Nothing…I was thinking about nothing.”
“Tell me?” he pried, his brow creased in disbelief.
I averted my eyes and took a deep breath to steady myself before I said the word that had been playing as a broken record in my mind, “Revenge.”
“You’re tougher than you look,” Hunter remarked, reaching into the backpack and handing me a bottle of water.
I took a sip, “I think anyone would think about revenge given the situation.”
“Kate, you’re too good a person for revenge. That you’re even thinking about it worries me. I don’t want my dark heart to alter you,” he responded with his hands stuck in his hair.
“You’re heart isn’t dark, it’s got a gooey core,” I teased with a smirk.
“Me gooey?” he replied, shaking his head, “I think you’re living in a fantasy.”
“Well, maybe not gooey, but your heart is perfectly fine.”
“Thank you,” he said with a crooked smile, “but you’re changing the subject…revenge—Kate, is a strong word with a lot of implications.”
“I’m not asking you to kill someone,” I retorted, my stomach feeling empty. I really wanted to though.
“Good because I wasn’t going to, although I’d like to,” he said, “but sometimes the greatest revenge is guilt because that will destroy a person…believe me, I know.”
“You think you’re going to hell don’t you?” I commented, watching his expression as he stared blankly into the forest behind me.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because of me,” I replied, stepping forward.
“Why?” Hunter asked.
“Where do you think I’d go?”
“That’s not a real question,” Hunter replied.
“I’m dragging you where ever I go, and I’ll raise Hell to get what I want and that, that’s what I want.”
“So you’re going to save my soul?”
“That’s not a real question,” I responded as our eyes locked.
“Because you already have,” Hunter’s lips curled up on one side, “Now let me save yours. Stop thinking about revenge. It will only hurt you more than they already have and then they’ll win, won’t they? It’s better to forget it about revenge.”
“I don’t think I can forget that much.”
“Just concentrate on saving my soul and figuring out how you’re going to convince God that I’m not destined for hell,” he suggested with a wink that vanished all thoughts of revenge from my mind.
Chapter 13
The past seemed to be a toxic dream that I was struggling to claw my way out of. I kept seeing Trevor’s face and the reality that my world was very much the same as Hunter’s. It burned into me, and made me angry at the world. I knew there was no way I would ever truly understand what had happened. How could I when the only ones who knew the real truth were obviously set on killing me?
“Stop staring at me while I sleep. It’s weird,” Hunter commented, opening one eye with a crooked smirk.
“I hated them. I never knew why. I just felt something was wrong, so I hated them for not telling me; for lying to me,” I shot out, sitting up and picking at my sneaker laces.
Hunter sat up across from me and looked at his hands before locking eyes with me, “Hate is a strong word, Kate. I doubt that it was hate back then.”
“But it is now,” I assured him.
“It will eat you alive,” he sighed.
“It already is.”
“Revenge and hate are the same beast. It’s easier to forget them both,” he suggested, but his eyes were stern and demanding. He wasn’t asking me to forget, he was telling me to.
“I know you know how I feel, but how did you forget?” I asked, knowing that I had watched his hate slowly dissipate from the moment he had grabbed my arm.
His eyes looked through the fire to me, and the flames danced in his eyes, “You find someone who makes you forget.”
“Help me forget then?” I answered, trying to remember to breath.
“I’ll try, but you’re stubborn as hell,” Hunter replied with a smirk.
“And you’re not?”
“Hey, I’ve talked. I’ve told you things that I’ll never tell another soul; that I would never have told,” He commented, poking the fire with a stick, his eyes averted.
“I always thought I was the favorite, but I guess that’s what they wanted me to think. They always tried to make me feel special, but somehow I always felt like I was an exile,” I began to spill, standing and kicking the tree behind me, “I wonder if I was the only one who had no clue.”
“For what it’s worth I think they knew you were special just not their kind of special,” he said, and when I turned with narrowed eyes he continued, “Their kind of special is talented at one thing; lies and you don’t seem to go for that.”
I let my hair out of my pony tail and shook it free, “My whole life was a lie. I was just as much of a liar as them, but they saw it. That’s why they sent Trevor after me, but they gave me more credit than they should have. They thought I knew what they were doing. I had no clue. I wasn’t happy—“
“Why was that?”
“I guess my special talent is seeing through lies even if I don’t understand them,” I explained as I closed my eyes and pressed my hand to my forehead.
“Second instinct, it comes natural. You’re going to hate my home than,” Hunter added.
“You seem to understand things without them even being said.”
“That’s what made me a good general,” he responded, staring at the flames again.
“You act like you aren’t anymore?” I asked as I stopped my pacing and looked down into his eyes.
He held my gaze for a moment before looking at his hands.
“Hunter?” I asked.
He looked back up at me, “I don’t want to act anymore. I can’t go back to the way things were. I don’t want to be that person anymore now that I know I have a choice.”
“Then why are we going back?”
“If I don’t come back they‘ll look for me,” he explained.
“Do they look for the other generals that go missing?” I asked as I blew a piece of hair that was in front of my face away.
“I’m just like you the chief’s only child—his only son,” he replied as he flicked a leaf into the fire and watched it explode into flames. The revelation didn’t shock me because the way he talked about his father was much the way I would now talk about mine.
“So how exactly are we going to escape this?
“I haven’t exactly that figure out. Would you believe me if I said trust me I’ll find a way?” he asked, still watching the fire.
“Look me in the eye and say it.”
“I’ll find a way for us to be free Kate. I swear it,” Hunter assured me.
“I believe you.”
“Would you sit and stop pacing—you’re making me dizzy.”
“For some reason I doubt that,” I responded as I rolled my eyes, “Especially seeing you can spin around kicking the shit out of people without stumbling.”
He raised an eyebrow and pulled me to sit next to him. I put my head on his shoulder
and he wrapped his arm around me, “I can teach you how to do that.”
“Now you’re lying,” I teased, and we both laughed.
“There’s something I don’t really understand—why did your dad send Trevor?” Hunter asked as his face waited for a bad reaction.
“He always talked about how he wanted to leave and make something of himself. He was so unlikely to do that though—at least in my mind he didn’t have the gall or the skill for it. I remember him trying to impress me with a swinging kick and he fell right on his ass. I guess I saw a lot of things wrong, or maybe just the way they wanted me to.”
“I wouldn't say he really had the gall for it. He ran off while I was fighting the other two. The look on his face showed he was afraid. One thing you never want to show is fear, even if you feel it.”
“Have you ever felt fear?” I asked as my eyes searched his face. He seemed invincible when he fought others, but at moments like this I realized he felt everything just as much as I did.
“I wasn't always like this—I was molded to be who I am.”
“I mean recently,” I pushed. I was looking for a specific answer.
His eyes locked on mine, and the look in his eyes showed that very recently he had.
“So what was your relationship with Trevor?” Hunter asked, unwilling to answer my question.
“I suppose he thought I felt he was my boyfriend,” I retorted, unable to control my eye roll.
“But you didn't?”
“He was pretty much the only guy there. He seemed to like me so I went with it. If you’re wondering if I had feelings for him than no, he pretty much irritated the crap out of me,” I answered.
Hunter laughed, “It seems like everyone did.”
I felt sick to my stomach and it must have shown on my face. I didn’t want him to see me as a cynical person. I didn’t want him to see me as they had.
“I didn't mean it like that Kate—I can't think of anyone that doesn’t irritate me from my home. It's like they're constantly pushing me to be what they need—what they want, but they still hate me for it. I don't care that they hate me, but I always feel—“
“Trapped?” I finished.
“Exactly.”
“Everyone translated my temper into something it wasn't. I could always read it on their faces,” I said, sighing. It felt good to finally tell someone how I felt, but I was filled with the anguish of the realization of my past with no real way of dealing with it.
“Ice queen,” Hunter suggested, raising an eyebrow at me.
“Sounds like you’re just the same as me.”
“They think I have no emotions. Sometimes it kills me—what I have to do,” Hunter revealed, his face becoming serious.
“I could see it in your eyes when you shot Trevor. It's wearing on you,” I noted as I put my hand over his.
“I'd do anything to protect you Kate,” he squeezed my hand, “I knew Trevor wouldn’t stop if I didn't kill him. It will slow your dad down in finding us. He’ll be waiting for someone to come back long enough for us to figure something out, and it might throw him off that one person took on three of his.”
“You’re special though—not everyone could do that right? Or are your hunters as deadly as you?” I asked, trying not to think of a person like Hunter actually wanting to kill me.
“No, they aren't like me. They like their mold, so they haven't fought against it. I guess that's what makes me better,” Hunter said.
“Are my dad’s men as good as yours?”
Hunter nodded his head, “Some are—some aren't. I don't know that your dad drives them like I do. I'm sure it will be a mess when I get back though.”
“I don't get how I missed all of this right in front of my face. I mean what was I thinking, that the clothes and everything just popped out of thin air?”
“If you’re told not to question things, you won't. Besides it seems you questioned more important things.”
“I didn't question them enough,” I responded as I silently reprimanded myself, but what would it of helped if I had seen it before?
“Don't say that—if you had this could be so different.”
“Meaning I would be dead,” I filled in the blank, kicking at the dirt on the ground.
“No, meaning you could be like them,” Hunter corrected me as he grabbed my ankles.
I took a deep breath, “No, I don't think I could be like them.”
“Then you would be dead, but not because of me,” he said.
I swallowed at the thought, “I'm lucky they didn't kill me before this then.”
Hunter let go of my ankles, “We don't know that.”
Our eyes met, “Yes, we do,” I said.
“I'm sorry,” he responded as his jaw tightened in anger.
“Don't be, it's not your fault. You might be the only reason I'm alive—they would have gotten sick of me eventually and even if they told me their truth I could never have accepted it.”
“You could have found a way to live with it,” Hunter assured me, looking at the dying fire.
“Luckily, I don’t have to.”
“And this reality is so much better?” he probed, the green of his eyes seeming to darken with the words.
“Yes,” I answered standing, “Now I think it’s time for us to get going.”
“What’s the rush?”
“I don’t know how much more bunny I can stand,” I joked.
Chapter 14
I had managed to clear the thoughts about my family from my mind. It was easier to just not think about it. I had disowned them, and they were merely a part of a blurred past. I found myself wondering if there were reasons for the events that I had happened, or if it was all just orders that we were following—or in Hunter’s case not following. I didn’t fully understand why Hunter had chosen not to kill me, but at this point I wasn’t going to ask why. It didn’t matter, and with the future as infinitely gray as it was, it was some comfort to know that somehow I had helped him too. He didn’t have to say it. I could see it in his face and eyes. There was less of the darkness there, and his muscles seemed less tense. I couldn’t be sure though because they still rippled when he ran. I had to shake my head with the thought, and Hunter noticed.
“What’s wrong?” he asked with a small smirk.
“Oh, umm…nothing. So, are we getting closer to your home?” I asked, watching as Hunter’s sprint slowed to a jog and then a walk.
“Home isn’t the appropriate word for it,” he sneered.
“We could just pretend we were both dead,” I suggested, stopping and making him face me, “and go somewhere else where no one knows us. They wouldn’t be able to find us.”
He put his hand on my face and sighed, “We’re the children of the two most hated men in our world. Everyone knows who we are.”
The sadness in his face, and the heat of his palm against my cheek made it hard for me to think, but the truth in his words stung.
“Too bad the world doesn’t know we hate them too,” I sighed, turning away from his hand.
His hand tightened in mine and he turned me to face him again, “Kate, we’ll figure something out. Please trust me as your friend.”
Friend? That was not what I was feeling. I thought I might choke to death on the word. Friend? Then why was my heart hammering like this, and why was he looking at me like that? No one had ever looked at me like that, but then again I had never had a friend. Maybe that’s what this was, knowing that you could truly count on someone. Maybe…
“I trust you,” I replied with a slight smile.
“I’ll be right back, stay here and don’t move—”
“Hide in a tree if I have to?”
“No, that didn’t work last time,” he squeezed my hand, “Nothing is going to happen now that we’re here.”
The look in his eyes told me that he didn’t trust the words himself, but he still dropped my hand and headed into the distance. Soon I could hear a commotion, but I couldn’t tell what
was going on. I couldn’t help myself and scaled the tree in front of me as I strained to hear. I could see Hunter standing in front of a group of young men no older than him. They stood in the front of an impressive fencing system that looked like no one could ever get in or get out if they weren’t supposed to. At first they stood rigid, but soon their shoulders slouched as they listened to him.
“Where have you been so long?” one of the young men asked, and I shook my head at his boldness. This kid was looking for a beating from the look of Hunter’s back muscles. They twitched at the question.
“That isn’t your concern. What you should be concerned with is following my orders strictly. I will not tolerate any deviations from them,” Hunter instructed, and I watched as he placed his hands behind his back. The veins in his forearms looked as though they might pop.
“Yes, Sir,” the group responded, going rigid again.
“I have a prisoner…a young woman,” Hunter began, and I could see the white of his knuckles as his hands went into fists. Someone whistled, he stepped forward once, and they all cringed before he continued, “You will not lay one hand on her; you will not so much as give her a sideways glance. I will castrate you if I so much as see an unclean thought in your eyes.”
“Yes, Sir,” the group echoed as they stood even straighter than before. I couldn’t see their eyes clearly from the distance, but I imagined from their body language that Hunter could see the whites of their eyes. I wondered how it felt to control that much power. Hunter turned on his heel and sprinted towards me. I saw the answer in his face. He was tired from it already. I tried to get out of the tree before he could reach me, but instead I ended up tumbling out of the tree. It was a miracle that I somehow ended up landing on my feet.
“A tree again?” he taunted me with his hands in his back pockets, “Why?”
“You’re going to castrate them if they give me a sideways glance?”
He looked at the ground. “I’m not bringing you to the safest place and you’re beautiful, so I needed to warn them.”
In Between Seasons (The Fall) Page 5