The Hollowing (COYWOLF Series Book 2)
Page 11
"Sexy," said Marley, coming up beside her as she drained the jug dry.
"Don't touch me," she said. "It is way too hot for the touching." She poured some water in a bowl for Glenn. Panting, he nodded a thank you, and lapped it up.
Marley smiled and opened his mouth to say something, when they heard Nissa shout, "No!" They both peered around the van to see a man emerging from the center and locking the doors.
Dressed in the ranger's uniform of green khaki shorts and button-down short-sleeve shirt, the man spun around.
"Y'alright out here?" he asked.
"You must let me in," said Nissa, running up beside him.
"Center's closed, it closes at four, but there are bathrooms at the far side of the building, by the trail, if that's what you need." Probably in his late thirties or early forties, the man's southern accent was almost too thick to understand. His words were further muffled by a beard that was so thick and wiry it all but hid his mouth.
"I need to see Tumo Smith," demanded Nissa. "It's imperative that she accompany me to Nyuri's Crown."
The man started a bit, and cast a questioning glance at the rest of them, though he didn't meet anyone's eye except Nissa's. "That's what they used to call the big boulder out near Milltail Creek?"
"Where is Tumo?"
Savi recognized the pinch in Nissa's voice as the prelude to one of her tantrums, and wondered if there was something she could do to diffuse the situation. Before she could think of anything, he began closing a metal grate curtain in front of the glass doors.
"Sorry to tell you," he said, "but Tumo ain't here. She retired last year."
"Are you the new director?" asked Nissa.
"Yup." With his broad barrel chest, unkempt auburn hair, and air of apologetic anxiety, the man didn't fit the part of administrator.
"Then you must take me there without delay."
He locked the grate and put his keys in his pocket. Then he wiped his hands on his shorts, put his hands in his back pockets, and took out his keys again. He slid one key back and forth on the ring as he said, "Guided tours are over for the season. There are plenty of nature trails that y'all could check out that don't need a guide, but the Refuge closes at sunset."
Nissa yanked on his shirt. "You must take me to Nyuri's Crown immediately!"
The man stared down at her, but rather than the annoyance or judgment that Savi would have felt if she were him, he gave Nissa a long, sad look.
"I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do for you," he said, and began walking towards a pickup with the refuge logo on the side.
"You have to!" Nissa screamed, running across the lot after him. "I must see Tumo!"
They spoke a few more hushed words by his truck, and this time when the director peered back at the rest of them, Savi could have sworn he was looking at her.
"Can you guys hear what they're saying?" Savi asked the brothers.
Marley shook his head. "They're too far and quiet."
The man drove away, leaving Nissa standing in the middle of the empty parking lot. She let out a piercing scream, causing Marley and Ren to cover their ears, and several birds to flutter from their roosts in the nearby trees.
"That went well," said Savi. "Now what?"
They all watched Nissa walk back. Her face tight with rage, she climbed into the van.
"We need a canoe. Now!" she added when no one moved.
Marley found the nearest canoe rental store, but it turned out that neither he nor Ren owned a credit card, and the owner wouldn't rent without one. So Savi reluctantly used hers, trying not to think of how she was going to pay for all of these charges now that she didn't have a job.
Following the owner's directions, they easily found the Milltail Creek boat launch. Nissa watched Marley and Ren untie the canoe, while Glenn and Savi walked around enjoying the scenery and the cool breeze.
Milltail Creek was no creek, but a full-fledged river. Wide as an eight-lane highway, the water was trickling calmly past, a rippling mirror for the soaring, verdant trees that surrounded it. A great blue heron picked in the muddy shallows beside the thick marsh grass and tall reeds that edged the river, and a long tree that had fallen into the water served as a sunning post for a collection of turtles.
Savi paused in front of a sign that read, "No Swimming -- Alligator Habitat." Below the warning was an illustration of a stick figure swimming, and an alligator coming up from below with its mouth wide open.
"I'm so glad I live in Massachusetts," Savi said. Glenn gave a soft bark of agreement.
She turned back and saw Marley lifting the canoe off the van by himself. He carried it over his head a few steps, then tossed it to his brother, who caught it effortlessly.
"You're lucky there's no one around to see you guys flaunting your muscles," she said.
Marley grinned and struck a few bodybuilder poses as he walked over.
"Do you want to feel my muscles?" he asked in a dreadful Arnold Schwarzenegger accent that made her smile.
Nissa appeared at Marley's side. "Either you or Ren need to take me."
"Why?" asked Savi.
Nissa kept her gaze on the water. When she spoke, it was quiet, and without any of the bitterness that usually inhabited her words.
"I'm not strong enough to get there on my own. I used to be." Tilting her chin back, Nissa tried to run her hands through her sweaty hair, but they got caught in some tangles. She never put her hair up, and it was often snarly. As she started picking at the knots, Savi saw that her hands were shaking.
Nissa was nervous.
A pang of sympathy tugged at Savi for this 85-year-old child who had lost everything she cared about. Nissa certainly didn't make liking her easy, but looking at her now, her bony legs sticking out of bright pink cotton shorts, a touch of baby fat in her cheeks, Savi felt a sudden urge to ease her burden. She went to her suitcase and dug out her hair brush and a ponytail.
"Want me to tie your hair back, Nissa?" she asked, joining them all by the water. Everyone turned as if she had interrupted their conversation. Nissa narrowed her eyes at her.
"You were tugging on the snarls," Savi added, her compassion withering under Nissa's glare.
Nissa turned her back and got into the canoe.
"Will you be back before sunset?" Marley asked, nodding at the sun that was starting to touch the tops of the trees.
"No," Nissa answered for him.
Stepping away from the water, Marley took Savi's hand. "So we'll meet you back here at sunrise," he said.
"No," said Nissa sharply. "You can't be anywhere near here. Stay in your room."
"Who are you, my mom?" Savi snapped, still smarting from Nissa's rejection. "You know you're the reason I'm here in the first place, right?"
"Where are we supposed to meet tomorrow then?" Marley asked.
"I don't care!" Nissa said. "We have to go."
"You stay at the motel," Ren said, addressing Savi. "Marley will meet us here and bring us back to you in the morning." Ren nodded at the back of the boat. "Brother?"
Marley gave the canoe a shove that sent them almost halfway into the river before Ren started paddling upstream. Turning to Savi with a mischievous smile, he said, "At last, we're alone." He leaned in to kiss her, but paused halfway at Glenn's bark.
"Not quite," Savi laughed.
Scowling at Glenn, Marley took the brush that was still in her hand and tossed it in the back of the van. Then he lifted Savi off her feet and, cradling her in his arms, marched into the woods.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Finding some privacy. Can you call off your attack dog? I promise I'll be a perfect gentleman."
Over Marley's shoulder Savi saw Glenn, trotting along behind them. "We should probably go find the motel," she said. "You're paying tonight, Mr. Perfect Gentleman."
"We won't be long," said Marley, "and then I'll pay for whatever you want -- maybe even a perfect dinner."
"Do you mind giving us a few minutes?" she asked
Glenn. "We'll be right back." The wolf whined, but started back toward the van.
"Good riddance," Marley muttered. "He acts like I'm a serial killer or something."
"He's just overprotective, like someone else I know." Savi tapped Marley lightly on the nose. He arched his eyebrow at her but didn't say anything as he continued his trek, his shoes squishing noisily in the mud with every step.
"As much as I appreciate not getting my feet wet," she said, "I feel a little silly being carried around like this. Remember the whole 'moving under my own volition' thing we talked about?"
"Just a little farther."
"How do you know? Where are we going?"
"Far enough away so I can't smell that wolf."
Peeking over Marley's shoulder again, Glenn and the van were already out of sight, hidden behind a thick screen of swampy vegetation. "He's a good guy," she said, remembering all the fun times they'd had at the Beanie Beanie. "Did I ever tell you that I tried forever to hook him and my mom up? He's pretty good looking for his age, and I always thought --"
"Enough about him," said Marley, with enough of an edge in his voice to catch Savi's attention.
"Are you jealous?" she teased. "He's the same age as my dad! Not to mention the fact that he's currently a wolf."
"I'm not jealous." A tinge of pink appeared at the base of his throat. "I just don't want to talk about anyone else." He put her down on a large rock and sat beside her. Taking her chin in his hand, he started nibbling on her ear. "I don't want to talk at all," he whispered, resting his other hand below her shorts on her bare thigh.
Savi listened to the white noise of the river rolling past as she tried to give in to the pleasure of Marley's touch. But besides the usual anxiety that accompanied being intimate, the talk with Nissa and Marley earlier about soulmates had made her uncomfortable. She could tell Marley wanted more from her. The way he looked at her, the things he said to her -- it was the stuff girls dreamed of, the stuff of romance novels. But that was exactly the problem: that kind of thing wasn't real. Soulmates weren't real. Even the soulmate relationship Nissa was talking about wasn't romantic love at all. Guys didn't just fall in love with girls at first sight for no reason.
Sure, Savi liked Marley. A lot. Who wouldn't? He was so freaking hot, and kind, and he loved poetry almost as much as she did. Being the perfect guy's soulmate, however, meant that she had to be perfect, and while Marley didn't know how flawed Savi really was, she did.
And on top of all that pressure, she'd been haunted by the fear of Pearl and Amber appearing out of nowhere all day. Even though they couldn't possibly find her, every sound in the marsh around them made Savi's heart skip a beat, and her stomach lurch.
Marley pulled away in frustration. "What's going on?" he demanded.
Pressing the back of her hand to his stubbly cheek, Savi tried to shut out her traitorous nerves. "What do you mean?" She brushed her lips against his ear, hoping it had the same effect on him as it did on her. "And please don't quote my heart rate and aroma."
He stood up so quickly that she almost toppled over. "Okay," he said, starting to pace, "we'll ignore the mild scent of fear that's been hovering around you all day. What about anxiously watching every car that drives behind us? Or now, when we're alone for the first time in forever, you're practically jumping out of your skin every time the wind blows."
Through the bushes behind him, the water glittered in the afternoon sunlight. There was no breeze here among the trees, and Savi, wiping a sheen of sweat from her forehead, was suddenly exhausted. Tired of not sleeping, tired of driving, tired of keeping up appearances around people she didn't really know -- Savi longed for home, for Hettie, for her mom.
"It's strange being in a new place," she said.
Marley sat back on the rock and leaned in close, inhaling deeply. She started to stand, but he seized her arm and held her in place.
"I thought we agreed we weren't going to lie to each other," he said.
"I'm not lying," said Savi. "Let me go." He did, and she started walking back toward the launch.
"There's something you're not telling me," he said, following her.
"And I don't have to tell you."
"What's going on, Savi?"
She didn't answer, and he grabbed her shoulders and made her face him.
"Here we go again," she said. "If you can't convince me to do what you want, you manhandle me."
Gripping her shoulders, he asked, "You're always so guarded, trying to hide things from me. Why can't you look at me like I look at you? Why won't you talk to me?"
"Because," Savi shouted back, "you're already too overbearing as it is!"
He let out a sharp laugh of disbelief, then ran his hands through his hair. "You're impossible. You are..." He didn't finish his thought, instead turning away from her and continuing in the direction of the van.
Savi followed, but her sandals were no match for the wet, spongy ground, and soon she was wistfully remembering when Marley had carried her.
Am I being unreasonable? Should I tell him? What's the worst that could happen?
The more she thought about it, the more she realized she was being unfair. Marley might be overprotective, but that was only because there were real people out there who were actively seeking to do her harm -- Pearl and Amber, for example. Although Savi didn't want to admit it, she would be pretty helpless if she ever encountered them alone. Savi didn't know anything about fighting that she hadn't seen in movies, and her physical strength was what you'd expect for someone who never exercised. She'd only gotten away last night because of Glenn. Giving Marley a heads up might make the difference between getting caught by them again and staying safe. But would it simply make him unnecessarily stressed? After all, he was even more helpless at night than she was.
He had stopped at the edge of the woods, and Savi could see the van ahead of him.
"Marley," called Savi, wrenching her feet out of the mud, "I need to tell you something."
He lifted his hand to stop her from talking, and she noticed how stiff and still he was. Fear, sharp and cold, spiked through her. She longed to be closer to him, but her body refused to move.
As if hearing her silent wish, Marley turned to walk back to her. "I heard someone," he said, "but I don't --"
A soft, wet noise sounded behind him, not unlike the squelching of Savi's feet in the ground. With a shudder, Marley went stiff, his eyes bulging.
"Marley?" Savi asked, her body still not responding.
He went pale and he fell to his knees, making a grunting sound that could have been a word, but Savi didn't understand it.
Forcing herself forward, Savi called to him again. "Marley? What's going on? Are you okay?"
He made a terrifying gurgling sound, and fell forward onto his hands. Only then could Savi see the knife sticking out of his back.
Chapter Thirteen
"Marley!" Savi screamed.
He tried to hold himself up, but by the time Savi reached him, he had collapsed to the ground.
She dropped to her knees beside him, but someone grabbed her around the waist and dragged her away.
"No!" she screamed, clawing at the arms that held her.
Thrown onto the dusty ground near the van, Savi was pinned to the dirt by her captor lying heavily on her back. Savi stopped struggling when she saw Amber rip the knife out from Marley's back.
"What have you done!" Savi shrieked, her vision blurry. "No! Marley!"
Amber gave the bloody knife to Pearl, who held it to Savi's throat. "Where's the torra?" she asked, her voice light and bubbly.
"Please," Savi sobbed. "Please, let me up! Let me help him!"
The bottom of Amber's boot pressed Savi's face into the dirt. "Focus, Savi," she sang. "Tell me where the torra is and I might let you keep all your parts."
"They went on the water," Savi said, still crying, hardly believing this was real. "To a big boulder. I don't know where it is. Please, let me go. I need to call an ambulance."
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Their car was parked behind the van. Amber retrieved some twine from the trunk and tossed it to Pearl. "Wrap her up," she commanded, then sat on the back ledge of the van and took out a lighter. She struck it against her denim shorts to spark it, then closed it by slapping it against her leg. She repeated the process over and over, all the while watching with her rich amber eyes as Pearl bound Savi's wrists behind her back.
Although Savi knew begging for mercy was useless, she had to try. "Please, let me call an ambulance," she said. "I'll go anywhere you want, tell you anything, just please let me get him some help."
With a sneer, Amber popped some chewing gum in her mouth. "Your boyfriend killed my boyfriend," she said, lighting the gum wrapper on fire and dropping it on the ground. The paper blackened and silently curled in on itself, fizzling out. Amber smiled as she watched the smoldering shreds catch the breeze and flutter away. "Now we're even."
"Pink?" asked Savi as Pearl pulled her up. "He's dead?" Pearl bent down and picked up her large sunhat that had fallen off in the scuffle. As usual, she was wearing a loose long sleeve and billowing pants. Sweat dripped down her face, white as the clouds above.
"And so is he," said Amber, pointing at Marley's body.
He's not dead, he's not dead. Savi repeated her mantra as Pearl began leading her to an empty canoe in the water.
"Wait," Amber said, hopping out of the van. "Which way did they go?"
Savi's eyes were locked on Marley. "Who?" Someone touching her hair made her spin around. "What are you doing?"
"Playing with your hair," said Amber, humming and pulling out Savi's ponytail. "When I was a kid, I dreamed of being a hair dresser. They were always so sexy, so cool."
The lighter still in her hand, she ran her fingers over Savi's hair, lifting it into a bun, letting it fall. "Which way did they go?"
This time Savi understood the question. "That way," she said, nodding upstream.
Still humming, Amber stopped fiddling with Savi's hair, leaving it in front of her shoulders. She struck her lighter against her shorts and brought the flame to the bottom of Savi's curls.