Shadow Cave (25 page)

“
Uh huh.
”
She grunted and shifted her back against the tree behind us.
She crossed her arms over her chest and smiled as she shook her head.

“
It
’
s still a good plan, damn it.
”

“
Sure it is.
”

“
Now, what was so important a few minutes ago?
”

“
You had that look in your eyes.
”

“
Excuse me?
”

“
The one that says you
’
re about to do something stupid
—
”

“
I don
’
t see what
’
s stupid about trying to get us out of here
,
”
I snapped.

“
Like
take on twelve armed guards with a twist tie and a match,
”
s
h
e
finished.

I glared at her for a minute before I was forced to concede her point.

“
Ok
ay
, maybe so
,
but if that guard shack had a lock and I had a lighter
,
those jerks would be in serious trouble.
”

“
Damn straight they would.
”

“
Yeah
.
”

“
Your brother, he had that same look in his eyes.
”

“
When?
”

“
The day that he left; when he told us he would be back.
He had that look in his eyes too.
”

I considered that for a moment.
It was even more proof to my suspicions.
Something had seemed off about his promise to return.
I was pretty sure I had just figured out why.

“
Aries
,
what do you think he meant?
”

“
I don
’
t know.
”

“
Do you think he was going to try and find Kahn?
”

“
Oh, no!
”

I sighed.
“
My thoughts exactly.
”

“
But, he wouldn
’
t.
He could not think that he had a chance…
.
”

“
No, it
’
s not his normal style
,
”
I admitted.
“
Aries, it
’
s none of my business, but…
.
”
I paused.
As much as I wanted to know what, if anything, had happened between her and Mike, it felt wrong to ask.

“
What?
”
she
prompted.

“
Were you close with my brother?
”

“
He endeared himself to all of us.
He is very kind.
”

“
I see.
”
At least, I thought I did.
I supposed that all depended on
‘
endeared
’
having the same meaning here that it did back home.

“
He offered to help us in any way that he could while he was with us.
Usually, we stay in our protected area.
But there are times when we have to venture out
—
or want to.
He insisted on accompanying us on every outing; for protection
,
”
she
explained with a
gentle
smile as she reminisced.
“
I stayed up late that last night, talking to him.
We just talked all night.
”

“
You care about him, don
’
t you?
”

“
It
’
s silly, isn
’
t it? I don
’
t even know him.
”
She fixed her eyes on the dirt and closed her eyes.
It wasn
’
t hard to figure out what she was thinking.

“
It
’
s not silly.
”
I slipped an arm around her slumped shoulders.

“
He
’
s been gone a long time.
”
Her voice was muffled.

“
I will find him…somehow.
”

“
He
—
he wouldn
’
t want me now
,
”
she
confessed in a broken whisper.

“
Shush...
don
’
t
talk like that.
Of course he would.
I know my brother, ok
ay
?
He
’
s made of stronger stuff than that.
”

“
You think so?
”

“
Sure.
”

“
Let
’
s go
,
you two!
”
A red-faced guard stood in front of us and dug his toe into the dir
t
.

“
Where are we going?
”

“
Bedtime
,
”
he
bit out.

I noticed that it was dark and that I was sore.
We must have been sitting for hours.
There were only three guards in our immediate vicinity, I noted with budding hope.

“
Hey Aries?
”

“
Claire?
”
She cast
a
nervous glance from me to the guard and back again.

“
You know what would have been an even better plan?
”

“
What
’
s that?
”
she
asked hoarsely.

“
This!
”
I shoved her as hard as I could manage.
She stumbled forward several feet and turned around to face me with wide eyes.

“
Claire! Stop!
”

The guard with the ruddy complexion was behind me then.
His fingers bit into my arm, but he still looked more bored and irritated instead of worried.

“
Go!
”
I screamed at Aries while I threw my free elbow into the guard
’
s midsection.
I landed a second blow to his groin and he slumped to the ground.
Aries was running in the distance.
I started to follow before I saw the other two guards.
One was running to me while the other chased after her.
Their angry shouts were attracting the others.
Choices
, I thought.
It all came back to choices.
And at that moment, a voice in my head seemed to scream
‘
choose
,
’
and I abandoned all hope of my own escape.

I picked up a semi large branch and swung hard at the man running at me
before scooping up my bag and running
.
There was only one way to stop the man chasing Aries.
I shot him.
The gun
discharged
twice
before
a bullet finally
hit him.
The
object
felt cold and heavy in my hand and the guards were coming fast behind me.
Thinking fast was the name of the game
,
and all that was left to do was
whip the
thing
into the small river to my left.
It teetered on the bank before splashing into the water.
The last thing these people needed was to have the guards start carrying guns.
My eyes
squinted
, trying
to pick Aries out in the growing darkness.
When I didn
’
t find her, I breathed a sigh of relief
, right
before a heavy weight slammed into my back and pitched me into blackness.

***

“
Claire.
”
His face swam in front of me for a nauseating instant before becoming solid.
And still.
Thank God.

“
Mike.
”
I smiled and reached through the dark to touch his face.
“
I don
’
t feel so good.
”

“
You hit your head.
”

“
That seems to be happening a lot lately.
”
I sat up and looked around.
We were in the middle of a grassy meadow.
Fat green jewels hung from the trees.

“
Where are we?
How did you find me?
”

“
Just rest now.
”

“
No
,
the guards!
Come on, we have to get out of here.
”

“
Quiet. Rest, Claire.
”

“
I don
’
t understand.
”
I reached out and touched his arm
, and
felt nothing.
“
Oh my God
,
you
’
re dead!
”
I cried

Mike laughed and shook his head.
“
I
’
m not dead.
And neither are you.
”

“
Then what is this place?
”
My headache was getting increasingly worse and I had to focus hard in order to hear him.

He looked up sharply, hearing something that I did not.

“
Mike?
What is it?
”

“
You have to wake up now, Claire.
”

“
Wake up?
I
’
m already awake.
We have to go.
Help me up.
My head
...
God
,
what
’
s wrong with me?
”
I was on my knees then, clutching the front of my head.
Mike was no more than a hazy image through the pain.

“
Help me please
,
”
I groaned in agony.

He leaned in close to whisper in my ear.
“
To know why is to know where.
”
And then he was gone.
I was alone in the meadow.
I curled into a ball and began to scream.

***

“
Claire!
Wake up.
”
The voice cut through me like a knife.
My eyes popped open.
Bad idea
, I moaned and promptly closed them.

“
Get up now
,
”
the
voice ordered.

“
Mike?
”
But it wasn
’
t Mike.
I opened my eyes more carefully.
Mike was gone and so was the meadow.
It was Carlo who stood over me.
I closed my eyes and prayed for a swift death.
Painless was already out of the question.
My head was pounding and I was pretty sure if I moved I would be violently ill.
I kept my eyes closed and tried to separate the two masculine voices that were blending together over me.

“
Damn it, Carlo.
What happened to this one?
”