by Lisa Daniels
The men had celebrated too early, and were not prepared for Silas to be able to do anything but fall over. Now that they saw he was more than capable of responding, they began to panic. “You missed his heart!” The one holding the rifle lifted it, but not fast enough to stop Silas. The sound of a gun was amplified beside her as Silas pulled both triggers at the same time. Her eyes were closed, so by the time she looked up, all she saw was the movement of leaves where the men had fallen. Her ears ringing, Naomi had no idea what to do.
Turning to look at Silas, her mind reeled with everything that had happened in the last five minutes. Part of her wanted to flee, but another part of her knew that Silas would need attention. Regardless of what kind of criminal he was, he had treated her very well. The idea that he was going to die because of her was almost crippling.
“We have to stop the bleeding.” She tried to remove the coat, but a hand stopped her.
Silas was looking at her, an unreadable expression on his face. “Yes, I do, but I’m not going to keep playing games with you.” He seemed entirely too collected for the amount of blood seeping out of his chest. Silas almost seemed unconcerned. “Are you coming with me, or do you want to keep running through the woods until they kill you?”
Naomi looked into his beautiful hazel eyes, but they looked so cold, like the forest on a clear winter day. “I’ll go with you.”
His eyes bore into hers, “You won’t keep making things difficult for me?”
She gave a little shake of her head. It was obvious that she couldn’t keep running through the woods. She had no idea where the drug ring had bases, and if she kept going, Naomi felt certain she would get herself killed. Sticking with Silas for now seemed to improve the odds that she would survive. She just hoped the price wouldn’t be too high.
“Then keep your mouth shut.”
“But your—” She stretched a hand out to his wound.
“It’ll be fine once I get a little more comfortable.”
“What?” Naomi blinked a couple of times. That made sense last night, but what on Earth could he possible mean out here in the middle of nowhere? There was no way to get comfortable.
“Mouth. Shut,” Silas said, his eyes warning her. She nodded vigorously to indicate she understood.
Silas narrowed his eyes for a second, almost like he was warning her of something.
Then his appearance started to change, and before she knew it, Naomi was staring into the eyes of an incredibly large polar bear. Unbidden, her mind began to analyze what was happening the only way it knew how, by relating it to things she did know, which was entirely limited. They are probably always really large, but they don’t look like it in pictures. Not without a point of reference.
The bear reached a paw up. Terrified, Naomi found she could not run as the paw moved toward her face. Better than being shot, I suppose.
She felt the paw push her jaw up. Swallowing, Naomi realized it had just shut her mouth. It turned around, lowering itself a little. Naomi had no idea what that could possibly mean, even after the bear snorted. It turned and looked at her, almost like it was judging her. Then, without warning, it lashed out, its mouth clamping down on her coat. Naomi was aware of the way she hung from its jaws, just a few inches from the ground, as the massive bear turned and began running at a rather slow pace away from the corpses.
This must be a drunken dream. I am still drunk, and I will never do that again. Never. Naomi couldn’t do anything as she swung limply from the bear’s jaws. The weekend had gone from bad to worse to just bizarre. A drunken dream was the only explanation for this strange twist, but that did not make her feel any better as her stomach started to remind her that it was still too delicate for what was happening. Even if it was just a dream.
After a while Naomi’s stomach was impossible to ignore. It was growling and gurgling so loud that she couldn’t even be sure it was her making the noise and not the bear. When her stomach seemed ready to purge, the bear unexpectedly stopped. It lowered her gently to the ground, and Naomi understood why people felt compelled to kiss the ground after a rough experience. Fighting back the urge to both kiss the ground and throw up, Naomi clutched her stomach.
A voice nearby gave her a temporary reprieve from her extreme discomfort. “It’s certainly not the best idea, but it looks like the only one that will work in the current situation. You were curious about the chimney, so now you get to see why you could see it from so far away.”
Naomi turned and looked at a very large building that was clearly somewhere where wealthy people came to escape from the rest of the world. It had several stores, and the chimney that she had seen from a distance was one of three. The corners were more like the rounded shape of a fairy tale castle than a building, and a helicopter sat on top of one of them.
“Holy… what is that?”
“I believe that a wealthy, unnamed tech mogul used to own it. One of Alaric’s competitors. He had it built after Alaric retired, probably thinking that he would be able to steal all of Alaric’s clients. Didn't work out that way, so he sold it to invest in purchasing another company. He has always been better at the business end—he’s got no brains for anything outside of finances. Anyway, a wealthy group you’ve probably never heard of bought it from him, and they have retreats here with some of their executives. They only use it about two weeks out of the year, so it’s pretty much completely wasted the rest of the year.”
“And they don’t have any security?”
He pointed at a corner near them. “They have a security company that monitors it.”
Naomi looked at the camera. “Then they can see us? Isn’t that a bad thing?”
Silas shrugged, “Give me a minute.” He walked over to a large box on the outside of the home. Naomi couldn’t see much from where she was, but there was a glow that looked like a monitor of some kind.
“What are you doing?”
“Making it so they can’t see us.”
“How?”
Silas stepped to the side. “Just hacked into their system, deleted the footage of us and looped in from last week. Would have gone further back, but the sun set a lot later then, and that would have made it easy to see there was something wrong with the tape.” He closed the box. “When we leave, I’ll set it back. Come on.” Silas leaned over, gently grabbing Naomi’s arm. “Let’s get you inside and see about finding some medicine. I'm sure they’ve got stronger stuff than most homes.”
Naomi let him help her off the ground. As Silas strode towards the door, she turned to look at the area around them. The lawn was spectacular and large with what looked like an elaborate set of shrubs. Making a mental note of it, Naomi decided she would check it out from inside the place. The forest around them was spectacular, and she felt a strange sense of peace as she looked out over it. After everything they had gone through, it made no sense, especially since Silas had been shot.
As soon as she remembered that, she turned and ran after him. Naomi had spent enough time at hospitals when she was in high school to know how to be of at least some help. Sure that Silas had just been putting up a front, she rushed to get inside to make him rest while she tried to help him. Naomi may not have known much about him, but she knew that she did not want him dying. She tried to believe that it was because she didn’t want to be alone after the day she had had, but a part of her knew that wasn’t even remotely what had her so concerned.
Chapter 7
Trapped in Style
“Silas!” She ran through the door, prepared to see him collapsed on the floor. Despite her stomach’s protests, she ran through the large entryway, looking briefly into different rooms as she searched for him.
A tall figure appeared at the end of a long hallway. “What’s wrong? Are they here?”
Naomi shook her head, “No, no. It’s you!”
She watched his shoulders slump as she reached him. “Look, I know you have to be uncomfortable—”
“Of course I am. They shot you! Come with m
e and lie down. I helped with a kid who was accidently shot in the leg.” She had grabbed his arm and was pulling him down the hall toward a room that she had noticed several rooms back. “And another time, I triaged a neighbor who managed to impale his foot on a rake. Then I was in the room during an emergency surgery, although please don’t tell anyone. The staff would be fired if anyone knew. I was quite insistent.”
When they reached the room, Naomi pulled him over to the couch. “Lie down. I’m going to go get some supplies.”
“Naomi, wait—”
“Just lie down. You’ve lost a lot of blood and I have to do something.” She hurried out of the room, hoping she could find a bathroom quickly. Actually, a place like this probably has a nice stash of first aid. I’m sure they have all kinds of shooting accidents when out hunting illegally. The thought was very cynical, something she had learned from her own personal experiences. People who owned these kinds of retreats always reached such financial heights on the backs of other people. That was a lesson she could never unlearn. Time to put those first aid supplies to good use.
It took a couple of minutes, but she eventually found a room that looked like a mix between a break room and a kitchen. Sure enough, there was a rather robust first aid kit on the wall. Naomi pulled it off and opened it to see what it contained. A smile flitted across her face as she saw things that she could use that weren’t normally in these kinds of kits. Slamming it shut, she raced back to the room where she had left Silas.
He was reclined with his hands across his chest and his eyes closed.
“Silas!” She ran over to him and threw the kit on the ground. “Hold on, I’ll fix this.”
A hand fell on top of hers. “It’s okay. There’s really not much you can do.”
“No! I’m not letting you give up so easily.” She pushed him down. His eyes went wide at the sheer force of her resolve and strength. Naomi had a square of gauze in her hand and began unbuttoning his shirt. “We’ll need to get you to a hospital as soon as possible, but—” She stopped talking as soon as she got the shirt open. Her hand went out to his chest and the small wound now visible. Frowning, Naomi looked at him. “You were shot. I saw the blood. This looks like you got a serious scrap in wood shop or something.” Though it wasn’t nearly the life-threatening problem she had expected, he was still hurt. Naomi picked up the alcohol and began cleaning the circular wound.
“What are you doing?” Silas looked at her, then tried to sit up.
Her hand reached up and shoved him back down. “Stay down. I know this hurts, but it won’t take long.”
“Look, I appreciate it, but you really—”
“Shh. Just behave and it will take less time.” She worked quickly, cleaning up the blood and covering the wound with gauze. “That should take care of it. You’ll need to change that at least once a night. I can do it as long as we are trapped here, though. I imagine was will be stuck for a while with those guys crawling around out there. I didn’t notice any cars or anything, although there was a garage. I can’t imagine stealing a car would be a good idea because people like this always know their mileage. I'm sure we can come up with something, though.” After cleaning up the mess from the bandaging, Naomi began pressing on his ribs.
Silas began to giggle and pulled away. “What are you doing? That tickles.”
“Checking to see if they are broken.”
He pulled his shirt together and began to button it up. For the first time since she had started treating him, Naomi noticed his incredibly muscular chest and perfect six pack. The way his muscles moved as he buttoned it up was mesmerizing. She was vaguely aware of him talking, but she couldn’t really hear what he was saying through her intense interest in his body. Jamie had been fit, but he was nowhere near as physically flawless as Silas.
“Naomi?”
She looked up, wide-eyed and feeling like she had been caught doing something wrong.
Silas leaned closer as he finished buttoning his shirt. “Are you okay? You look like…”
Naomi tried to watch his mouth, but he seemed to be getting further away from her. Nothing that he said seemed to reach her.
That’s just bizarre. They were her last thoughts before she blacked out.
* * *
Naomi heard some movement around her and tried to sit up. Her head ached, and she groaned.
“Naomi!” She tried to open her eyes to see the person who was talking, but everything was dark. “Hold on, I’ll turn on a light.”
“Silas?” Her mouth felt dry, and she tried to sit up again.
A hand gently pushed her back down. “That is not a good idea in your current state.”
“I had the strangest dream. Just bizarre.”
“Well, that tends to happen to a lot of people after the kind of day you’ve had.”
“Really? I guess you probably know better than me, huh?” She smiled in the direction that the voice was coming from as the light turned on. Covering her eyes, Naomi flinched.
“I’m sorry. Is that too bright? I can see about—”
“No. It’s fine, I just need to get accustomed to it. My head is killing me, though.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet. Here.”
Peeking out from behind her hand, Naomi saw a large hand with two pills and another one with a glass of water. She gave a little laugh, then immediately grabbed her head. “Oh, that was a bad idea. But it’s like you have been nursing me all night. I must be a huge pain. Babysitting someone you barely know.”
“As long as you realize it.” She looked over at him and noticed that he was smiling at her, although she couldn’t see much of his handsome face without her glasses.
“I will try to pay you back. Maybe help you with your homework or something. If you can make time for me with no notice, I’m sure I can make time for you. Shouldn’t you be getting some sleep?”
“No, I’ll be fine. It’s just after 6:00.”
“Whoa, really? You literally took care of me all night? I feel so ashamed and embarrassed.”
A hand patted her head. “It’s alright. I don’t really mind. It wasn’t much fun until you showed up. I’m just sorry you got dragged into it.”
“Dragged into it? No, I dragged you into my mess. I'm sure you had better things to do than listen to me whine.”
“You were no trouble at all. Except for that one point, but it worked out for the best.”
“Isn’t it too early to say?”
There was a deep laugh. “I suppose you are right. We have to get out of here before we can declare victory.”
“What do you mean get out of here? We aren’t trapped. Can I get my glasses, please?”
Silas was quiet as he handed them to her. Naomi unfolded the glasses and slid them onto her face. Several things happened. She realized that it had not been a dream and she was still in dire peril. The gasp caused the side of her head to pound, and it did not feel like the headache she had that morning. Finally, her eyes drifted down to Silas’ chest, and she became acutely aware that he was sitting on a bed. The same bed she had been sleeping on.
“Calm down. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. I haven’t had time to go looking for a communication device, but now that you are awake I’m going to look. I will get us out of here, don’t worry.”
Naomi’s mouth opened and closed like a puppet’s mouth. Finally, she managed to find her voice. “It was real. The whole thing was real.” She stared at her lap, her head throbbing and her brain unable to fully understand the day.
Silas wrapped his arms around her. “It’s okay. I promise, you are going to be alright. I'm not going to let anything happen to you.”
Part of Naomi was screaming that she should shove him away, that if what she had thought was a dream was in fact real, this man was far more dangerous than the men outside. But a much larger portion of her felt the warmth spreading through her body and the comfort of his body was far stronger than any sense of danger she felt. “Was I hallucinating?”
S
he felt Silas shaking his head, “No, you just blacked out.”
“No, before that.”
He pulled back. “It’s possible. Your body temperature dropped far too much for a human. It could have triggered a hallucination.”
“What do you mean, for a human?” She looked up at his face.
“Oh, I see.” He stood up and moved towards the door. “You weren’t hallucinating. I am a shifter, just like most of the rest of my family. We don’t have the same physical limitations as humans. I’m going to look for a comm device.”
“Silas!” Naomi swung her legs over the side of the bed, the idea of him leaving far more terrifying than the idea of him not being human. You should be scared of him. Why are you chasing him? What is wrong with you? Naomi ignored her thoughts and tried to follow him.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, you hit your head on something out there. You should not be doing anything to exacerbate it.”
Naomi felt him wrap his arms around her and place her on the bed. He then began to stand back up. She grabbed his shirt. “Don’t go.”
The room was silent. Naomi kept her head down, her eyes closed tight, and her fists clenching his shirt.
Finally she felt a hand on her forehead, then a pair of lips. Silas’ hands gripped hers and placed them in her lap. “It feels like you are starting to get a fever. I won’t leave you if you need me, but I’m worried about having enough to take care of you. You need to go to a hospital. I do not have the medical training you have, unless you count the injuries people get while they are drunk.”
Naomi looked up at him, a thin smile on her face. “Sometimes the best practice is on drunk people. I’ve seen what some of them have gotten up to.”
Silas smiled and sat down near the foot of the bed. “I’ve never let anyone get that hurt. Your injuries are well beyond my abilities. I bandaged it, but not very well.”
Naomi’s hand went up and touched her head where it was throbbing. The wrapping went all the way around her head. She frowned, somewhat surprised that she had not noticed before he pointed it out. “That’s okay, I can do it.”