They danced around each other as they took turns looking over Diego, asking him if he was okay, if he needed anything.
“If one of you asks one more time,” Diego grumbled out with all the energy he had left. “I’m going to just off myself right here. Even if I did need something, it’s not like you could get more than leaves and some fucking rocks.”
Alessia looked down, suddenly very interested in her shoes. She’d hoped Drake would be back by now. She wondered if that meant something bad had happened, but she pushed those thoughts aside. She could only deal with so much at once and she wasn’t about to throw paranoia that he was somehow dying in a ditch somewhere to that list of things worrying her.
“I guess we must be farther out in the wilderness than we thought,” Erik said, stepping away from where Diego struggled to make himself comfortable on the ground. “I thought professor pissy would have been back by now.”
Alessia ignored the nickname. “I had hoped so too. I hope it doesn’t mean something bad,” she voiced without meaning to but she desperately needed someone else to tell her she was being too paranoid.
“I’m sure he’s fine,” Erik sighed. “He’s a strong guy. I mean there might be some shifter-hunting degenerates out here, but I’m sure he’s okay.”
She didn’t know if he was actually trying to be helpful or not, but it wasn’t working all that well. He probably knew that too. He got up and walked away without giving her much more than that. He’d taken to pacing, pretending to do something or anything at all and she couldn’t help but be incredibly irritated by the whole idea of it.
She watched him kicking at stones, pretending to be interested in blades of grass. She really needed to just woman up and talk to him. Though she didn’t like Drake being gone for so long, this was probably the best chance they would get to try to talk things out without worrying if Drake was nearby. She thought about all those 90s shows she would watch with teenagers in love triangles and wondered how it was possible for a grown woman who was closer to thirty and her graduate degree to end up in the same problem.
She took a breath. Then she went over, resolved to talk to Erik and get something accomplished, one way or another.
Chapter 15
She took one last moment to look Diego over. He was pale and breathing a little heavier than she would like, but he seemed content in his napping. His breathing was deep and steady, if a little pained. His face seemed as content as could be. It was enough to settle Alessia’s nervousness as she walked over to where Erik stood with his hands shoved in his pockets, staring out in the valley beyond them. If nothing else, this place was gorgeous and Alessia could be grateful for that much. Nature and all that. It wasn’t worth the weeks of imprisonment and the threat of death. But it was something.
“Hey,” she said, coming up to stand next to him. He didn’t flinch a bit. He expected her.
“Hey,” he said.
“Nice views,” she said. “Who knew that outside Los Angeles, this place was actually gorgeous.”
“National Geographic, probably.”
She didn’t know if she was supposed to laugh or not at that, so she gave him a snort and then they went back to silence. She stole glances at him through the corner of her eye. His arms were crossed now and he stared out into the air with such seriousness. He seemed so much older than the smirking man from her seminars. He seemed like an actual scholar, a student of thought. She supposed spending days in a dungeon and being held captive would do that to you.
“Something on your mind?” he asked with much reluctance. Asking her what was wrong would open a can of worms for both of them.
Everything had been a whirlwind. She’d turned him down, he’d realized why. She’d slept with Drake, and then immediately went to beg Erik for help. He gave her help and was severely punished for it. He’d been helpful for her. He’d been a good friend. And now, his life was probably changed forever in a way that would never go away. He had a scar now, some that probably could even be seen since they seemed to like torturing him.
“I feel bad,” she said, honestly. “I got a lot of people hurt.”
Erik snorted. “You give yourself a lot of credit. I mean, yeah, you asked around and got some things in motion, but at least give us the power of choice here. I did what I wanted to do. I wanted to help you and I wanted to help Drake. That wasn’t your fault. Just like him getting kidnapped wasn’t your fault.”
She smiled to herself. She didn’t believe him, not really. But she liked hearing it. It wasn’t all hot air. He believed what he said. That didn’t make it true, but it made it very heartfelt. He wanted her to feel better and he wanted to do it with truth.
“Shit sucks,” he said. “Yeah, you gave me the options but I made the choice. You can’t force that shit and it was my fault. So, I’ll take the blame for it and move on.”
Okay. She’d take that. She’d let that be the truth for her. She didn’t need more. She’d accept that at face value and move on. It was easier than trying to pick it apart and find the ways he was wrong or she could find loopholes in his forgiveness. She nodded into the air at a question that wasn’t asked because she would accept everything he laid at her feet.
Now the only thing she needed was for Drake to get back and for her to have her talk with him. They needed to discuss some things as well, for clarification. Part of her wished that Diego was awake enough to hear her ranting; she wanted someone to bounce these things off of. She wanted to let it out to someone and Erik wasn’t the person she would force to listen to this. She didn’t return his feelings and she didn’t want to encourage him, but she also didn’t want to torture him. He deserved more than that.
So, she was left to tumble the issues around in her head.
***
Night fell and Drake was still very much gone. Alessia wouldn’t sleep tonight and she knew that Erik wouldn’t either. Diego was in a permanent state of sleep and she didn’t think that was a good thing. He wasn’t getting any better, despite the rest. He needed antibiotics, they needed to clean him up, get him food and water. They would need to keep moving soon and hope that Drake somehow found them. Alessia knew the solution waiting for them. She didn’t want to admit it or give into it, but it was the way things would be soon.
“How should we move him?” she asked, nodding to Diego.
Erik looked up and turned. “You’re giving up on your boyfriend so easily?”
“Getting him better needs to be the first priority,” she said as if the possibility of Drake being captured and tortured wasn’t at the forefront of her mind.
“Well, we can take turns carrying him,” he said. “He can’t walk on his own. He could stumble a few steps on our shoulders with some leaning but I don’t think it will get much farther than that.”
Alessia nodded. She didn’t have the strength to carry Diego on her own. They’d have to do what they could to avoid hurting him permanently. Nothing was broken and the bruises were mending. He didn’t seem to have any internal bleeding but that didn’t mean all his wounds were obvious.
“So, should we move now or wait for daylight?” Alessia asked. She wasn’t sure which was more dangerous and which was the suicide mission.
“I say we go now,” Erik said and Alessia didn’t want to think he was saying it just because he wanted to try to lose Drake in their struggle to get to shelter and civilization. “Daylight is too obvious. Everyone wants to move around in daylight because it’s nice and safe, but this way will be better, trust me.”
She decided there was some truth in that. Everyone always waited until daylight to start moving; they felt safer, but if everyone did it, then everything out there would know where to find humans. Not that she was suddenly giving into all sorts of fears and fancies like vampires and werewolves (though Diego was the closest thing she’d ever gotten to something like that).
They packed up what little camp they had, did their best to disguise the fact that anyone had been living and moving through there,
and made their way towards where Drake had flown off to. At the very least, they could follow his trail that way, working towards him, assuming he didn’t circle back around or choose to make his way back to them through a different route. They’d hopefully catch him as they moved through the wilderness, headed south towards civilization they hoped was there.
It became clear very quickly during their excursion that they couldn’t last long, carrying Diego the way they were. He couldn’t make it on his own. They let him down for a brief amount of time, tasked him with trying to make his way out on his own, but it always ended with him succumbing to some weakness or another and tumbling to the ground. It bothered Erik, Alessia could tell that much with the way he groaned and moaned as he bent down to pick Diego back up to his feet. But he kept it to himself.
She never would have pegged him for the type to be quietly selfless. He seemed like the picture of a man who would complain and be the first to suggest they leave Diego behind while trying to make their way to safety. But he didn’t say a word. He glared, he groaned, he might have even growled once or twice, but he moved on, all the same, quietly helping Diego along and moving the group. She didn’t want to admit their roles had changed, that he had morphed into the leader position. She’d hoped to retain that for herself since it was her idea to break off from Lana and move south.
But he was also very good at what he did. He was a natural when it came to directions while Alessia was quite useless at it.
“Don’t look so gloomy,” Erik said when she incorrectly tried to point them south. “It’s not like you need to know stuff like this. I just went camping a lot.”
“I just thought I would be better at this whole setting out on your own thing than I am,” she said, sighing.
Erik turned to look at her; she saw it out the corner of her eye and felt it in her cheeks as they heated under a prolonged gaze. He had a way of looking at her that was constantly analyzing and she didn’t know if it excited or scared her more than anything else. “You don’t always need to have the practical skills to be a good leader or an asset to a group. I’ll be the brains, you be the heart of the operation.”
“The heart?”
“You’re the one who was brave enough to stand up to Lana and stand up for Diego. I was pissed, but I let it happen. So, you’ll be our moral compass; you’re certainly very good with directions when it comes to that,” he said with a small smile and Alessia fought down the urge to launch forward and hug him. Diego was still hanging on his shoulder and they hadn’t exactly gotten down the whole touching thing. She didn’t know if it was something she should try to do yet, until they had a better grounding for the elephant in the room between them.
It worried her that she felt more likely to touch him with Drake not here. It felt like it was somehow his presence that kept them from connecting better. That worried her because of what it could mean.
She didn’t get the chance to ponder it too much, however; the next thing she knew Erik shoved her down onto the ground and someone shouted.
Chapter 16
She understood, first and foremost, that they were being attacked. Someone was coming after them. No—someone was attacking them, right on them. She tasted dirt as her face slammed into the ground without the warning to protect herself. She tasted blood next from where her teeth had slammed into her cheek and popped the skin. She’d check later to see if any of them had been knocked loose.
For now, all she focused on were the vital parts of her body. Her head and her neck and her stomach. These were all the places that instinctively she tried to cover as she curled up in on herself, hearing shouting and pounding feet all around her. In a single instant, their quiet hideaway in the woods had turned into a battlefield. She had no idea how many people were assailing them but she suddenly felt heat. She opened her eyes.
A fire roared around them. She watched more flames pour out a dragon’s moth like water from a hose. It joined the licks of flames already sinking its teeth into the dry grass and trees. This was a wildfire that would spread instantly, and dangerously. Alessia found herself hoping they weren’t near any civilization. She didn’t want to be the reason some little kid in the rural parts of California lost their home.
“We need to move,” Erik shouted over the roar of the flame. The heavy heat pushed down on her, keeping her flush to the ground as if trying to press her right in.
Erik was right. She had to get up. That was the first step in making any of this right. She needed to get on her feet. She needed to stand. But fuck if everything didn’t hurt. The heat rose. It was fascinating how painful and real something so invisible could be. She pushed up, using every ounce of muscle strength she hoped hid in her arms and shoulders, and then in her legs when they touched the ground. She stood. Then she moved to pull Diego up; he was worse off than she was and completely confused.
“Get him out of here,” Erik called, looking around wildly.
The dragons in the sky circled them like vultures. She wasn’t sure what they planned to do to all of them, but she knew that they were here, first and foremost, for Diego. She needed to get him to safety.
“Come on,” she whispered to Diego, squeezing his arm and trying to inject some type of inspiration into his movements. They had to get out of the flames before the circle the dragons above created, completely closed them in.
Ultimately, Alessia settled for just throwing Diego and herself out into the air, and across the heat. She felt a sting as her ankle was touched, just briefly, by the lick of a flame. She’d been burned before on ovens and hot food. But it didn’t feel like the fire. This wasn’t just a burn, this was a melting pain. Tears were in her eyes before she could stop them. She was afraid to look at the damage; she was sure all she would see would be painful, awful clawing and scaring. A bite mark from the fire itself would be forever imprinted on her skin.
But she needed to keep moving, they needed to get Diego to safety.
But then it occurred to her. Erik wasn’t with her. She turned around. He ran around in the circle of fire, trying to draw the attention of the dragons overhead. He tried to keep them watching him while they got away. She knew how this went in movies. She was supposed to run away because the person creating the diversion was sacrificing themselves for you. You needed to not waste that sacrifice. That was the point of things like this.
But Alessia didn’t want to leave him there. She didn’t want to leave him to be hurt, to be killed. She would have no way of surviving in the woods without him and, more than anything. He was her friend. She didn’t want to lose him. Especially not like this. She couldn’t handle losing someone else and she wouldn’t be guilty the rest of her life because of it.
But she also didn’t know what to do about it. She felt completely powerless and understood, just for a second, why people were so scared of shifters. She was an ant on the ground; the dragons circling for the kill above might as well be gods waiting to strike.
But that strike never came because another dragon joined the fight. It didn’t take long to figure out exactly who it was when they slammed into the other dragons, full force, head on, trying to do as much damage as possible.
Lana.
She dove on the other dragons, knocking them to the ground. She was a beautiful creature of shimmering gold and pure rage. Alessia found her eyes locked in on the image as she knocked her fellows to the ground and engaged them in a brawl. It was like watching something on the Discovery Channel, beasts of immense power looking to destroy each other.
I was captivated by the image, drawn in, not realizing I made the same mistake again, ruining her ability to save me if I didn’t help myself as well.
“Alessia, we need to go!” Erik yelled, coughing through the smoke.
His face was covered in sweat and it dripped in places, showing through the soot from the smoke. He was bleeding above his eyebrow in one spot and the sight of it seemed to knock me out of my trance. They needed to move. They needed to run. So we did.
***
They found shelter in the form of a mouth of a cave. Alessia thought it was only in movies that people hid out in caves but there they were, hoping a bear wasn’t hiding in the deeper parts of the cave. No one elected to travel farther in and look. They all wanted to be at the mouth, a place where they had a good vantage point and an easy escape if they needed it.
“How did they find us?” Erik asked Lana, in human form once again, with barely disguised accusation in his voice.
“I heard them,” she said. “We have ways of communicating that humans can understand. I could hear them. They followed your scent and the blood that Diego dropped with every step you took.”
“It’s not his fault,” Alessia defended quickly and Lana rolled her eyes.
“They were looking for him but I don’t doubt they wouldn’t love to do you two in just to prove a point,” she said. “You’re boring old humans, incredibly weak, no skills to speak of, and yet you managed to evade James.”
“With your help,” Alessia said with a frown.
“Yeah well, it pissed them off all the same,” she said. “Where’s the professor?”
“He went to find help,” Erik said. “He hadn’t come back yet.”
“The chances that they have him are pretty high,” Lana said. “James is trying to rally together some fractured groups of shifters. I got that much from dumb and dumb out there. There’s a bounty for all of you, courtesy of Damien Orlando and James wants to use you as leverage against him. We’ve got a very difficult road ahead, especially with that little show back there. Are you ready for some serious running?”
The Artistry of Love (Alien SciFi Romance) (Celestial Mates Book 2) Page 54