“I’ll be right back,” I said to Amber. She was already staring at Jasper and Flint. I walked as quickly as I could to the guys.
When I was a yard from Flint, he said, “What’s wrong?”
“Relax, she wants to come.”
“Are you serious?” Jasper pushed away from the wall.
“Completely serious.”
Flint smiled, shaking his head. “Di and Jacinda were right.”
I shrugged, not too sure how much I had to do with it. I glanced over my shoulder and motioned Amber over. She hurried to my side.
“Amber, this is Jasper and Flint.”
“Hi,” Amber eyed Jasper first and then Flint. “These are the cowboys?” Her gaze lingered a bit longer on Flint than I thought was necessary.
“Are you ready?” Flint reached down and took my empty suitcase.
“Here.” Jasper reached for Amber’s bag. “I’ll carry yours.” She smiled prettily, and he grinned at her a little too broadly. I wanted to kick him, but then realized Amber seemed to enjoy the attention. I frowned again and followed Flint.
The sun shone brightly when we stepped out of the terminal. Five minutes later, we were climbing in the Suburban. Amber buckled herself beside Jasper, who in no time, turned on the charm. A small giggle escaped the latest newcomer when we exited the parking lot. The happy sound for some reason grated on my nerves.
“Hey.” Flint nudged my leg. “Are you okay?”
I forced a smile. “Yeah, just tired.”
The journey back to the ranch was quite different from the journey in. Amber’s coy smiles and batting eyelashes had Jasper practically drooling. The few times she’d engaged Flint in conversation a white hot, searing jealousy flashed through me.
I clenched my hands into fists when we turned onto the ranch’s gravel driveway. Just what exactly had we gotten ourselves into?
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Jacinda shook out her kitchen rug on the porch. “So what do you think of Amber?”
Amber had been with us for two full days, yet each day had felt like a year.
“Oh, I dunno, she’s okay I guess.” I slapped my braided rug harder.
Jacinda raised an eyebrow. “You guess? Are you saying you don’t mind how she flirts with Flint?”
“Oh, that. Well . . .”
We’d told Amber yesterday morning who we were. She’d taken it pretty well. To say she now thought she belonged in our group put it mildly. The timid, meek girl Di saw in her visions had entirely disappeared. A flirty, bodacious young woman had taken her place.
She still loved animals and spent most of the last forty-eight hours with the cowboys and cattle, although half of that reason seemed to be because of the cowboys. I’d warned Amber on day one about Aaron, but I wondered if she realized how dangerous he may be. She flirted with him too.
I clenched my teeth and slapped my rug harder.
“I knew you didn’t like her,” Jacinda teased.
I eyed Jacinda. She just laughed. It was me, Jacinda and Amber in the kitchen today. Val had requested Amber work with us which didn’t go over well with the newcomer. She pouted and said I promised she could work with the livestock. But after Di reminded her that Pete and Val were our bosses, she relented, however the pouting continued.
“We better go in.” Jacinda rolled up her rug.
I reluctantly followed her inside.
Di was enjoying her day off, but I wished it was me having a free day. My morning hadn’t exactly gone well. I spilled orange juice all over myself during breakfast after Amber declared she was joining Flint in the afternoon for a ride. Burning anger and disbelief had taken control, and since I only saw red, I didn’t see the buffet table on my way back to the kitchen. I walked right into it, and the pitcher of juice I’d been carrying ended up all over my jeans.
I told myself repeatedly that what Amber said couldn’t possibly be true. While Flint and I had never declared ourselves together—we were. Right?
Amber was still in the kitchen when we entered, although Val seemed to be doing most of the work. Amber sat propped on the counter with her legs crossed daintily beneath her.
“So, Dean’s single too?” she asked Val.
Val continued mixing something in a bowl. “I suppose so, m’dear, but I’m not sure. I guess you’d have to ask him.”
Familiar country music floated through the air. Some woman sang of losing her man and nursing a broken heart. Prophetic? I hoped not.
When Amber saw us, she smiled. “Hey girls, those rugs done?”
“Yes.” Jacinda set them back on the floor.
“Is there anything else we need to do?” Amber jumped off the counter gracefully.
“Just the tables to wipe off, but you go on. I’ll do it,” Val replied.
“Really?” Amber asked.
I scowled at Amber. “I’ll do it, Val.”
Grabbing the bucket, I filled it with soapy water. Amber’s large, pretty brown eyes followed me when I passed her. I avoided her questioning gaze. I also ignored her twitching nose. Amber’s ability was her incredibly heightened sense of smell. She could also smell emotions. It was why she was so good with animals, since she could smell how they felt.
I could only guess what scent she got off me right now.
Her tattoo, on the other hand, was exactly as Flint predicted. It was similar to Di’s but different—a half circle attached to a full circle with a cross on the other side. Like Flint had guessed, it was the symbol for Mercury.
Eight tattoos. Eight planets. Eight individuals. We were all together now.
Di and Flint had also been right about her last name. On Amber’s fake identification, her name read Amber Williams. Another top last name in the U.S. And, like the others, she’d also woken up in a luxury condominium with tons of money, although she’d awoken in Lubbock, Texas. Another random location.
I plunged into work and scrubbed the first table I reached with more force than necessary. I didn’t want to think about our strange situation anymore, or more upsetting, what Amber said about Flint. I returned to the bucket to rinse out the washcloth as another pair of hands dipped in beside mine. A strained smile covered Jacinda’s face when I glanced up.
“With two of us doing this, we’ll be done in no time.”
I frowned. “Where’s Amber? Isn’t she going to help?”
Jacinda shrugged. “Ah, no, she left.”
“Where’d she go?”
Jacinda hastily wiped down a table, not meeting my eyes. “Not sure.”
“She’s going on a ride with Flint, isn’t she?”
Jacinda muttered something under her breath and turned to face me. “Who knows, Lena. Really, don’t worry. I see how Flint looks at you. You have nothing to worry about.”
“But she said she was joining Flint for a ride?”
Jacinda made a face. “Yeah, but—”
“But nothing. Let’s just finish up here.”
I walked away before Jacinda could say anything else. I didn’t stop until I sailed clear across the dining room so she wouldn’t see the tears brimming in my eyes. The rational part of my brain knew Amber could be lying. It could all be made up. But the emotional part of my brain? Inside, I was crumbling to pieces.
Even if Amber had lied, the question was why? Why would she do that? Wasn’t it obvious Flint and I were together? Why would she want to break that up?
Suddenly, I hated Amber. Hated her with such ferocity it stunned me. I tried not to picture her cute face and wide luminous eyes, or how she walked so confidently among the cowboys. I’d never seen Flint look at her the way Tyler and Aaron had, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t.
No! He wouldn’t do that! The Flint I knew would never do that.
My hand slammed down on the table as I viciously scrubbed every inch of it. I kept telling myself over and over that Flint would never date Amber and me at the same time, but still, a seed of doubt had planted. All it needed was a stray thought or two that doubted his
sincerity and it bloomed to life.
Jacinda, bless her soul, remained quiet. She didn’t say one word after we finished and returned to the cabin. Di sat in the living room when we entered, but I was in no mood to talk to her either. Instead, I stalked straight to my room and slammed the door.
I paced back and forth a few times, too restless and angry to stop moving. Before I knew what I was doing, I changed into my riding jeans and walked back to the living room to look under all the tables and chairs.
“What do you need?” Jacinda asked. She and Di sat on the couch. Both watched me with puckered brows.
“Have you seen my cowboy boots?” I picked up my sweatshirt lying on the floor and tossed it back in my room.
“By the door,” Jacinda said. “You left them on the porch last night. I pulled them inside so bugs wouldn’t crawl in them.”
“Thanks.” I turned before she could say anything else. I hauled my boots out to the porch and sat on the swing. The stiff leather didn’t slip over my heel right away which flared my annoyance.
“Lena, where are you going?” Di asked.
She and Jacinda stood in the cabin’s doorway. Their puckered brows had deepened.
“I don’t know.” And I didn’t. All I knew was that I needed to get out of this place. I needed to go somewhere. Anywhere. If I stopped moving, my mind would fill with pictures of Amber riding with Flint, talking with him, kissing him. My breath choked in my chest. It didn’t matter that it could all be a lie. The pain radiating through me bordered on unbearable. I stood and bolted down the porch steps.
“Lena, wait!” Di yelled.
I ignored her and ran blindly across the ranch. It wasn’t until my breathing became so labored that I realized I was huffing up the hill to the barn. Unconsciously, I’d escaped to the one place I felt best. When I finally crested the hill, I stopped for a minute. Nobody lingered around, not even Dean.
I strode into the barn and walked past the stalls. I didn’t find anyone inside the barn either which suited me perfectly. After grabbing a grooming bucket and saddle, I walked unsteadily out to the back pastures, trying to carry everything all at once.
That didn’t go well.
I dropped the saddle at one point, and the bridle’s reins slipped all the way down and almost tripped me. I cursed each time I was slowed. With a sharp whistle, I called Coal. I didn’t see any movement or hear any thundering hooves. I whistled again.
Nothing.
Dean must have taken him. I kicked the fence post. Surveying the pasture, I looked for a different horse and spotted a stout bay gelding. In record time, I had him saddled.
We trotted down the pastures before breaking into a canter. Just as I reached the last corral, I heard something behind me. I turned my head to see two figures by the barn.
I knew who they were, even from the distance. Di and Jacinda. For whatever reason, they’d followed me.
Instead of circling back to them, I nudged the gelding into a gallop. His thundering hooves drowned out their yells.
I glanced one last time over my shoulder. Di was waving both of her arms overhead, but the gelding and I crested the hill, and they disappeared from view.
I kept up the gallop until the ground became too uneven and then slowed us to a trot. When we reached the trees, I easily navigated the stout horse through the dips and turns. I wasn’t following any particular path. I just wanted to get away and was in a hurry to do it.
Eventually, I slowed us to a walk, the thick trees and cool air surrounding us. We were truly miles from the ranch now and had nothing but the birds, marmots and chipmunks for company.
We kept moving, almost aimlessly. I concentrated on listening to the sounds of the gelding’s hooves clopping on the forest floor and smelling fresh pine in the air. When we reached a steep ravine, I stopped. Hills climbed sharply on both sides. The only way through was straight ahead. I had no idea where it led.
For a moment, we just sat there, and tears welled in my eyes.
Since taking off on the horse, I’d managed to think about nothing at all, but now that we stood still, I wondered if Flint and Amber were together at this exact moment. Maybe one hill over from here. Or maybe, I’d passed them in my rushed gallop from the barn. For all I knew, they’d been curled up on a blanket having a picnic right in the pasture.
No! I took a deep breath. You’re just being ridiculous. Flint would never do that.
I slid off the horse and tied his reins to a branch. He lowered his head to eat grass, and I sank to the ground beside him. The soft sound of his chews and the smell of the fresh mountain air helped. I actually started to feel better. Well, a little. It wasn’t until a sharp crack from a twig sounded that my head snapped up.
What I saw made me choke.
Aaron.
He stood ten yards away, his horse behind him. He must have come from within the ravine.
“Hey, Lena,” he said, walking toward me.
I bolted to standing and shifted my gaze. A scream rose in my throat when his ugly, black cloud came into focus, the pitch-black aura swirling around his shoulders.
His cloud looked even blacker than normal as it swelled and pulsed with every step he took. He’d already advanced a yard. Each step had caused his cloud to grow in diameter. I’d never seen that before, but my gut told me what it meant.
He planned to hurt me.
“What are you doing way out here?” he asked, smiling.
Instead of responding, I grabbed my horse’s reins. I was never one to ignore my instincts, and I wasn’t about to start now. As I leaped onto the horse’s back, I knew without a doubt that Aaron had been the one to chase me that night on the gravel driveway.
Adrenaline infused speed into me. My feet still hung by the stirrups when I kicked the horse into a gallop.
Something brushed my leg.
Aaron reached for my calf, his cloud pulsing into me, but he was too late. I’d already wheeled the horse around, and we were off.
I held onto the saddle horn as if my life depended on it, which it very well may have. The gelding ran blindly down the canyon. My terror panicked the horse which I only realized when we almost skidded off an embankment around a sharp turn.
Get a grip, Lena!
I lay low against the horse, my breath labored from exertion and fear. Air whipped across my cheeks. I had to steer us several times to avoid getting hit by a tree branch.
I dared a look behind us but didn’t see Aaron. I had no idea where he was or if he was after me or not. The air whooshed past me at frightening speed.
I turned around, and my eyes widened when I realized we were headed straight for a log.
I sat up at the last second, but I wasn’t fast enough.
The gelding jumped. The movement set me off balance and then air sailed around me.
Only air.
I saw the tree before I hit it. Then everything went black.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“Lena! Lena! Can you hear me?”
The words came through a fog. My body floated as darkness surrounded me. Peaceful, beautiful darkness.
“Lena!”
I wanted to swat the annoying voice away. I didn’t want to move.
“Lena! Open your eyes!”
“Here, let me try something. Move out of the way,” another voice said.
Something rough rubbed on me, like a grating saw against my sternum.
“You’re hurting her,” the first voice growled.
“I’m testing her consciousness and she just responded to pain. Did you see it? She winced.”
“Of course I saw it. Do you really think that’s necessary? Don’t you think she’s hurt enough?” The first voice became hard, edgy almost.
I didn’t know who the voices belonged to or why they were arguing. I wished they’d leave. This vacant floating place felt soothing and tranquil, yet slowly it became filled with pain.
Sharp, searing pain. Dull, throbbing pain. “Ah!” someone moaned.
/> “Lena? Lena! Please open your eyes, babe. Please look at me!”
Not only had pain filled my world but coldness and fear did too.
“No,” someone moaned. “No!” The voice sounded pitiful. But as the pain and coldness continued, I realized that the pain was my pain and that the coldness was my coldness.
My eyelids fluttered open. Bright light instantly shone into my eyes. I flinched, drawing back.
“Dammit, Di!”
I recognized that voice. Flint.
“Her pupils react to light. That’s a good sign.” Something clicked and the bright light disappeared.
A heavy warm weight settled against me. A scent fluttered to my senses, one I’d recognize anywhere, and a feeling of being safe cloaked my skin.
“Flint . . .” I breathed. My eyes fluttered open again. Whatever I lay on felt cold, moist, and bumpy. The moon shone through leaves above. “Flint, where am I?”
“Lena, thank God!” Flint choked.
I’d never heard him like that. He sounded panicked, out of control, so unlike the Flint I knew. Big, warm fingers gently pushed tangled hair and leaves from my face. His gentle movements still made me wince when he touched my temple. My head pounded.
“My head hurts!” I moaned.
“I know, babe, I know.”
Aaron!
A horrible fear engulfed me. Why had I thought of Aaron?
“I’m so cold,” I whispered. My teeth chattered. The next thing I knew, something fuzzy and warm pressed against my skin. A blanket. Flint lifted me from the ground. I cried out in pain.
“I’m sorry, babe. We’ll get you back to the ranch and then everything will be okay,” Flint whispered in my ear.
I barely heard him. I was slowly falling into nothingness again, but an image appeared in my mind. Aaron in the ravine. Aaron coming after me.
“Aaron,” I whispered. “Aaron . . .”
“Shh,” Flint said. “Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be okay.”
The Complete Lost Children Series Page 19