Emergence (Eden's Root Trilogy) (24 page)

Fi blinked against the utter darkness.
There was a click as Asher locked the door. A match flamed and he pulled a tiny, jarred candle from his pocket and lit it. He handed it to her and grabbed a blanket she hadn’t noticed in the dim light, spreading it on the floor. He took back the candle and set it beside the blanket. Pausing, he ran his hand through his long, loose hair.

“Ash, what is this?
What did you find?”

He
stood, his blue eyes burning like the candle.

“I found
us some privacy, Fi.”

Oh.
Her heart stuttered a little and she suppressed a giggle. He stepped forward and pulled her to him, sliding his gloved hands into her back pockets. She unzipped his jacket and slid her arms around him, pressing her face to his chest. He smelled, as he always did, of soft, sun-warmed cotton. “Mmmm. You’re so warm. But…” She lifted an eyebrow. “…Here?”

His lips curled as he leaned down an
d kissed her, softly at first. It was a sweet and delicious “pretty please.” She tasted him, savoring his textures. The smooth curve of his bottom lip, the grit of his scruff, the silken whispers of his hair as it cascaded over them both. Hungry, she parted his lips and deepened their kiss. His breathing grew heavier, coming in erratic bursts as his fingers dug into her hips, cinching her against him. She broke away, gasping, “All right. You win.”

The race was on as they both began tearing off their winter gear.
Her shoes clanged against the desk as she kicked them off. She looked up just as her husband ripped off his shirt and she froze. The light wavered, lapping over each knot of muscle. Her mind flew back and she was a girl again, standing in her underpants with a bar of soap, shocked by the sight of a man pulling himself from the bath. A man who’d riveted her as he did now, with the light dancing over his skin. It was the moment she’d understood the difference between teenaged fantasy and full-on, grown-up lust. She swallowed. “I was wrong.”

“What?”
He was mid-sock-removal and had just noticed her eying him.

“About you winning.
Because I definitely win.”

He stood and stretched
slowly, making it a point to flex every single muscle. “Is that so?”

She took a step toward him.
“Guess I’ve never been able to keep my eyes to myself, have I?” She untied her cargo pants and let them drop.

“Damn,
” Asher groaned. “I do love you in your underwear, Mrs. Grey.” He took a deep, shuddering breath as she reached out and started untying his pants. “But now that you mention your whole Peeping Tom moment…”

She looked up at him.
His eyes were dancing. “What?”

“There’
s something about that day that I didn’t tell you, Fi.”

Really?
“What’s that?”

His mouth opened and then he paused, his face twisting
as if he were embarrassed.

“C’mon, now,” she laughed,
thumping his bare chest and simultaneously fighting the urge to trail her fingertips over his abs.
So damned sexy…
She shook her head. “You can’t start that and not finish!”

“
Ok, ok. You’re right,” he admitted. “It’s my fault for starting this.” His eyes slid down her body to her fingers, tucked just inside his waistband. A flush crept up his neck. “The truth is that when I left you at the bath that day, I didn’t just walk away. I, um…I stayed and I watched you.”

“What?
” Fi’s mouth flopped open.
Like a stupid cliché
, she thought,
but WHAT?!?
After all the ribbing she took for stalking him, he did the same thing? She almost wanted to smack him, but one look at his face set her laughing instead. Even in the firelight he was an obvious shade of beet. He looked like a kid who’d been caught stealing. “Hmph,” she replied. “Is that so?”

She stepped back, releasing Asher’s pants, which puddled at his feet.
“So then…” She turned her back to him and crossed her arms, grabbing her sports bra at the bottom. “…You’ve seen this already.” She pulled the bra over her head and dropped it at her side, glancing over her shoulder. “Right?”

His eyes
were wide and he seemed to have gone mute. He nodded. She turned away again and hooked her thumbs into her panties, giving a little shimmy as she stepped out of them. She was about to turn back when he snatched her and spun her around. He kissed her so hard that their teeth clacked, and he grabbed her by her thighs, lifting her into his arms. She clung to him and buried her face in his neck.

“I guess we both win,
” he said, the breath hot on her shoulder. He sank to the floor with her in his arms. “I need you, Fionnuala. You needed me once. And now I need you.”

She could barely hear him.
Nonsensical thoughts of “yes” and “now” and “please” drowned out the part of her that was worried about tomorrow…that knew this was the source of his need. It didn’t matter. Right now, there was nothing else. Only need. “Yes, Ash.” Her fingers snaked into his hair. “Now. Please.”

----------- Fi ------------

Hours later, Fi sat snuggled in her husband’s arms. They’d rejoined the others without explanation as to their disappearance, not that one was needed. Everyone was busy finding a way to ignore what was to come the next day.

“Ugh!” Sara tossed her Bible to the floor and it bounced onto Fi’s feet.
“Why did you make me study this stuff?”

Given that they were stuck indoors until the weather improved, training was off the to-do list and Bible study was the next priority.
Fi reached down and picked up the book, fixing the folded pages. She was silent, letting Sara work it out on her own. She knew that the whole religious aspect was Sara’s least favorite part of their cover.

For Fi, it was a return to her childhood.
Before her grandparents had moved back to Ireland, she’d attended Mass with them fairly often. But for Sara, the Bible represented only the Truthers, and the Truthers made Sara sicker than even the Lobos. At times, Fi would catch her unconsciously stroking her scar while she read. “What’s wrong, Sara?”

Her friend
gripped her head as she shook it. “I just wish I hadn’t had to do this part. The Bible study, I mean.”

“Sar, I know you’re not really into it, but we just have to memorize a little…”

Sara plopped down on the sleeping bag beside her. “That’s not the problem, Fi. The problem is that we can’t kill Carter.”

Fi sat back, stunned.

“What?”
Sean perked up from the other side of the fire pit, where he was discussing siege tactics with Julius. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Sara groaned.
“See? This Bible stuff sucks.” The others stared at her in shocked silence. “Well…I was skimming and I flipped ahead to the end. Guess I wanted to see what happened,” she said, pausing. “What, no laughs? Tough crowd.”

“C’mon, Sara, out with it,” Julius snapped.

“Sorry, Commander, sorry. Anyway, I was reading the stories of the apostles and how Stephen was stoned to death for his faith, and how that just stirred the Christians more, made them fight harder. And so, I started thinking…”

“…
that we can’t kill Carter,” Fi finished. “Shit. You’re right. We can’t kill him because all we’ll do is martyr him.”

Fi felt like throwing down her own Bible.
All day and all night since the moment Sean had radioed them, the only thing that had eased her mind was the thought of centering the barrel of her .22 right between Carter’s eyes and seeing his fear as she pulled the trigger.

She had no idea how she felt about letting him live because that option had never occurred to her.
It was one thing to try to spare innocent Truther women and children. Well, sort of innocent anyway. But Carter?

“So if we can’t kill him, then what do we do?
Capture him?” Sean’s question echoed Fi’s own.

She thought about it.
The only reason that Carter had followers in the first place was because they believed his lies. “We have to discredit him somehow.”

“But how?” Sean asked.
“If we just call him a liar, he’ll say the same about us. Darryl told us that Carter already started his counter-story.”

Fi frowned, stumped.
She looked down at the Bible and flipped through the pages, seeking an answer. The others were silent as well, lost in their own thoughts. How could they discredit Carter if the followers believed him and not Eden? What would make them change their minds?

The thought of Darryl drifted through her mind and took her back to her conversation on the cliff top with Asher, just before their wedding.
Yes
, she thought,
that’s it
. It had been the answer then and it was the answer now. “I’ve got it.” All eyes swung to her. “We’ve got to get him to confess.”

“How are we going to do that, Fi?” Sean asked.

She smiled, her plan formulating in her mind. “We’re going to trick him. And not only is he going to confess, he’s going to do it very, very publicly.”

################################################

The next day dawned against its will, the sun pounding the backs of the unrelenting clouds, demanding to be let out. Without success. Sleet and wet snow fell intermittently, smearing the forest greys into a single, dark smudge. They were just a mile from the enemy.

Despite the dank conditions, the Army of Eden stood gathered, keeping silent vigil as Fi and Sara prepared to leave.
Fi slid out of her black technical jacket and into the oversized cotton barn coat they’d selected for her “character,” Marie. Instead of her fleece ear warmer, she slid a bandanna over her head and ears. This would also help to conceal her real hair color, if they had to stall Carter for more than a few days.
It’s a decent plan
, she thought, shivering.
It just involves being a lot colder than I like.

She spotted a bright blond head bobbing behind the front row of the Army, straining to see. “C’mere
, Hannah.”

Hannah stepped from behind the others shyly.
As always, she wore the Army of Eden headband over her golden braid. She looked exactly like an angel. No one would ever suspect that the heart of a warrior beat in that tiny body, Fi thought, pulling her jacket around Hannah’s shoulders. “I want you to keep this for me, ok?”

“No,
I can’t!” she protested.

“I insist, Hannah.
It’s my lucky jacket. It’s kept me safe. So I want you to promise me two things…”

Hannah
nodded, her bottom lip trembling.

“First, I want you to promise me that you’ll wear this lucky jacket wherever you go.”

Hannah’s giant blue eyes began to well with tears. “…Ok.”

“And, I want you to promise me…promise me, that you’ll
stay out of the battle. I know you promised me once, but I want to hear it again. This battle isn’t the one to start with, ok? Promise me?”

Her tears spilled over.
“I promise.”

Fi zipped her up.
“Good.”

“Fi, we have something for you,” Marcus stepped forward.
“For both of you girls, actually.” He gestured and the women behind him handed forward what looked like clothing. There were two dark vests with straps at the shoulders and waist, and one weird tube of fabric with panels sewn into it.

“Those are bulletproof ve
sts for you girls,” Marcus said. “From the SWAT raids. And the other is for your little one, Fi.”

“What?” Fi e
xamined the dark tube of fabric. “It’s a sling!” She felt the inside. It has been lined with fleece, but she could feel definite panels on the inside. “A…bulletproof sling?”

Marcus grinned and nodded.
“Everyone wanted to do something to help protect the little guy. We know you girls are pretty serious protection, but we had the idea and it seemed like a good one. It’s like insurance.”

Fi’s heart squeezed.
How much of a difference would it make having the safety of that sling around Luke? “Thank you, Marcus…and everyone. Thank you for this.”

Asher slid beside her, his arm slipping around her waist.
She leaned into his warmth. She knew that he was grateful as well, though nothing would truly ease his burden.

“All right, everyone.
Let’s give them some privacy,” Julius called.

With whispered “Goodbyes!” and “Good lucks!” the Army melted away into the west.
The only ones left were the Seeders.

----------- Asher ----------------

Asher flinched as tiny needles of freezing rain hit his cheeks.
It was midday, but you wouldn’t know it. The lowering clouds darkened the skies to nearly dusk and he resented it. Figurative darkness would have been enough for him today. From the corner of his eye he saw Sean and Sara wrapped around one another and speaking in soft voices, when they spoke at all. For a split second his heart ached for Sean.
He’s the only person in the world who knows exactly how I feel right now.