Storm Season (13 page)

Tobias looked up as the truck stopped, his deep brown eyes full of questions, but he made no move to bridge the distance between them. When Jasper turned, Tobias pressed himself closer to the door, squeezed his legs together, and wrapped his arms around his chest.

Jasper stretched out his hand, let it drop to the seat when Tobias made no move to take it. “Are you hungry?”

An almost imperceptible shake of the head was his only answer.

He waited a moment, hoping for further response. None came. “Tobias….” he started, stopping again when Tobias turned away, staring out the window into the field they were parked beside. Jasper sighed and stretched his hand across the seat again even as he wondered if he needed to “Please….”

Tobias slowly slid his hand along the leather seat and curled his warm fingers around Jasper’s.
Can we please just keep going? I just want to get away from—to get to Shaleton. To Sam.

Jasper didn’t miss the odd pause, or the correction in wording. “You’re going to have to talk to me eventually. I need to understand what happened.”

Yeah, I know.
Tobias smiled faintly.
But not now, okay? Just… drive, please?
He twisted toward the window, casting a worried glance at Jasper before returning his gaze to the field again.
I’ll, um, I’ll tell you when… when we stop for the night, okay?

There was too much he needed to know, too many heavy questions pressing down on his mind, skittering at the edge of his awareness like a headache that was about to start. He shook his head, squeezed Tobias’s hand tighter. “I need―”

Please. Just… just drive.
Tobias folded his hand back into his lap, pressed his body more tightly against the door and rested his forehead against the glass of the window.

Jasper watched him for a minute before nodding and turning the key. “All right. We’ll talk when we get there.” He wasn’t waiting any longer than that.

T
HE
wind was blowing hard, bending tree branches and flattening the grass. Lightning flashed in the distance, the soft rumble of thunder coming seconds after each flash in the sky. The late afternoon sun fought to get through the gathering clouds, giving the road an eerie twilight look.

The steel doors fitted to the cave entrance were shut when Jasper stopped in front of them. He contemplated the thick bar fastened across the opening and let the truck engine idle. “Come on.” He pushed the gear stick up, leaving the truck in park as he climbed out.

Staring at the bar with a distressed look on his face, Tobias slowly limped the few yards to the door.

“We’ll be safe for the night here. Come on.” Jasper pushed, tipping his end of the bar up and letting it slide until it hit rock. “Tobias?” He eased the bar back into its cradle. “I can’t do this by myself.”

Tobias focused, blinked, and brushed his hand against Jasper’s shoulder.
Sorry.
Then the touch was gone and Tobias’s hands were positioned under the bar, ready to push up.

It was awkward―the bar was sturdy and long, though surprisingly light for its size―but they opened the doors, dragged the bar in, and propped it against the cave wall so they could use it to secure the doors from the inside. Tobias leaned against the wall next to it and sank down, the stones of the cave catching his shirt and pulling it up behind his head.

The truck fit just about perfectly in the entrance, leaving just enough room to unload it and secure the doors and providing additional protection to the wider, sparsely furnished back area. Jasper left the keys in the ignition when he climbed out and held a hand out to Tobias. “Let’s get this shut and unload for the night.”

Tobias ignored the hand, slowly pushed himself to his feet, and grabbed his end of the bar. He stayed far from Jasper as they unloaded, jerking his hand away every time Jasper came close to touching him. When Jasper caught it, he tensed, tugging against Jasper’s secure grip.
Please don’t. Just, let’s get inside, yeah? Get settled.
He yanked hard, pulling free, and headed toward the back of the cave with a bag and a blanket.

Jasper followed, pausing only to secure the bed cover after grabbing his own things, and found Tobias had already spread pallets out on the floor and removed his shirt and shoes. He sat on the makeshift bedding, watching Jasper coolly, his whole body radiating a tension so strong Jasper could feel it halfway across the cave. There was something bothering him, and Jasper was starting to think it was more than what had happened in Durrysville. “Are you okay?”

Tobias nodded, drew his knees into his chest, and rested his chin on them as he watched Jasper putter around, thinking up little, stupid things that didn’t really need to be done but that gave him an excuse not to sit, not to start the conversation he’d been wanting to have all day but still dreaded. It was only when Tobias stretched out his arm and looked at him with a pleading expression that Jasper came over and sat down next to Tobias. “Can we…?” he began, but was cut off by a shake of Tobias’s hand as the younger man lay down.

I’m sorry.
His eyes closed, his hand relaxed in Jasper’s.

“For what?” But then he didn’t need to ask. Tobias’s whole body relaxed, his hand falling limply to the pallet and Jasper’s world exploded into excruciating pain that left him unable to see, unable to move, unable to think. He fell backward, not noticing as his head hit the rock under the thin pillow, and struggled to pull the blanket up as protection against the coming cold. Consciousness fled before he’d found it.

T
HE
lantern was burning low, but the light was too bright and sent stabbing pains through Jasper’s skull. He rolled, fumbled for the switch, and plunged the cave into blessed darkness with a flick of his wrist. He groaned as he rolled back, fumbled for the blanket and arranged it over his shoulders as he let his eyes fall shut again. “Tobias?”

He got no answer, but the warm body next to him shifted, and an arm was flung across his chest, a leg hooked over his. Soft hair tickled the underside of his chin and slow, steady breath ghosted across the exposed skin of his chest as Tobias pressed close, pillowing his head on Jasper’s shoulder and relaxing with the heavy, limp weight of someone who wasn’t going to move for some time.

“Tobias, what…?” he started, then stopped, letting his raised hand drop back to the pallet and his muscles relax further. His head was pounding, his shoulders ached, and he was far too tired to fight what was clearly a losing battle. It wasn’t uncomfortable to have Tobias draped across him, just unexpected. Nor, he realized as he drifted off to sleep again, was it unwanted.

T
HE
darkness was overwhelming, pressing down on Jasper, leaving him cold despite the warm body draped across his chest. He rubbed his eyes with his free hand, blinked several times, but the darkness was absolute. If the sun was out, none of the rays were getting past the door in the front of the cave.

Moving slowly so as not to strain sore muscles or wake Tobias, he fumbled for the lantern. He hit it once, twice, and nearly knocked it over before he was able to grab the handle and pull it closer so he could properly flick the switch. He groaned as the light pierced his skull, turning his head away and squeezing his eyes shut against the sudden onslaught.

Jasper?
Tobias’s hand slid over Jasper’s chest and his fingers lightly touched Jasper’s temple.
What’s wrong?

“Head―” he started, stopping halfway through the word to lower his voice to a whisper. “Headache.” Even that hurt a little, echoing in his skull until his ears were ringing.

Sorry. Here.

The now-familiar sensation enveloped Jasper, but stopped too soon, leaving him with tight shoulders and a slight pressure behind his eyes. He waited a minute, but the sensation didn’t return and Tobias’s weight grew heavy and still on his chest. He lifted his head, squinted at the still figure wrapped around him. “Tobias?”

I’ll finish.
He tilted his head and gave Jasper a good view of drooping eyelids and shadowy bags under his eyes.
Just give me a minute, okay?

“No.” He rolled them both over, ignoring his headache as he pinned Tobias to the pallet. It was just a normal headache now, something he’d get from too little sleep or low blood sugar―not anything to worry about. The weariness on Tobias’s face and the way his limbs flopped as they rolled, however, were a different story. “What did you do?”

Tobias stared up at him, his eyelids dropping as Jasper waited patiently, his own gaze steady. It didn’t take long for Tobias’s expression to wilt and his eyes to slip closed.
I kept the pain away while you drove. I knew you wouldn’t be able to drive if I didn’t, and we couldn’t stop, not close to the town. They would have….
He opened his eyes, shook his head.
I don’t know, but it wouldn’t have been good.

“We could have stopped―”

No.
His head rolled back and forth in an exaggerated shake.
I don’t think I would have been able to take it all away by the time we stopped. It was hard enough to just keep doing what I was doing. That’s why I fell asleep right away. I couldn’t… I’m sorry… I didn’t have the energy. I used too much earlier.

That was the real question. “What did you do earlier?”

Tobias’s eyes met Jasper’s for a brief moment.
You’re not going to like this.

Flashes of an uncontrollable need to
go
, of an uncontrollable urge to get out of town without care for how or why, of driving recklessly, of people almost hurt and of property damaged played through Jasper’s mind. No, he wasn’t going to like it. He knew that. He still needed to know. “Tell me.”

Tobias wriggled, freeing himself from Jasper’s grasp, and sat up, his back to Jasper, his knees pulled up to his chest and his chin resting on them. Slowly, one hand slid back and one finger lightly touched the side of Jasper’s hand.
I, um, I projected.

Jasper watched the still figure, waiting for further elaboration, worried at Tobias’s stillness and reluctance to talk. “I don’t know what that means,” he eventually ventured, breaking the painful silence.

Tobias visibly deflated. His shoulders slumped forward and his finger almost left Jasper’s hand.
I pushed what I was thinking… feeling… onto the people in that town.
He looked back over his shoulder, chewing on his bottom lip as his eyes met Jasper’s.
Onto you.
He turned his head away, burying his face in the arm wrapped around his knees.

Jasper’s mouth opened and closed several times as he tried to figure out how to respond to that… if he should respond to that. If he understood correctly it explained what he’d done in town, why he’d been so panicked, so reckless, but his mind refused to wrap around the idea. “I….”

Let me show you.
Tobias’s hand slid back, fully enveloping Jasper’s, and then the world changed.

T
HE
crowd in the town yelled and threw things at Tobias and told him to get out without caring that they were keeping him from the only person who could help him leave. He tried to push through, slipping around people who recoiled if he moved to touch them, taking advantage of their fear and superstition to get to Jasper.

He stretched up, standing on his toes as he tried to see over the crowd, but there were too many people to pick out the one he wanted. Sighing, Tobias went back down onto flat feet and opened his mind to the surface thoughts of the crowd. The onslaught was painful, disorienting, and he stumbled into someone who recoiled in horror. The man’s mental shriek pierced Tobias’s skull as the audible one pierced his ears.

He staggered away, hands over his ears and his eyes closed, blindly heading in the direction the onslaught of thoughts indicated he could find Jasper. The pain faded as he focused on those thoughts, and he picked up speed, moving as quickly as his still-healing feet and the crowd let him. He could sense Jasper now, could almost reach him, but the crowd was tighter here, angrier. He saw a man dragging Jasper away, saw Jasper struggling to get free, and his fear and anger exploded.

Let him go!
He put all of his fear, his anger, and his desire to free his companion into the words, sending the feelings along with the thoughts, making the man want to let go. He started forward as soon as Jasper was free, but was stopped by the crowd and forced to watch as Jasper was grabbed again, broke free, and was stopped by the man who had originally held him.

He was saying something, words Tobias couldn’t hear over the angry murmur of the crowd, and he pushed forward, projecting his desire to everyone around him, and reached them just in time to hear the man suggest he would hurt Jasper. His blood rushed his ears, blocking out most of Jasper’s protest and whatever the man said in response.

Let. Him. Go.
He sent, his fists clenched and his need to get that man away from Jasper sent forcefully with every word. His blood simmered as he waited, watching the man give in to feelings not his own and step back. Tobias pounced, grabbed Jasper’s arm, and took advantage of the crowd’s confusion to break free by following the twisting trail to freedom he’d gleaned from their minds.

J
ASPER
blinked, shaking his head to clear it as he reoriented his senses to the cool cave and dim lantern light. The hand over his was warm and comforting, but his stomach twisted as his mind processed what he’d just been shown and it took every ounce of willpower he possessed not to pull back, not to scramble across the cave and create an illusion of safety and resistance to his companion’s strange powers.

Jasper?

He noticed Tobias’s hand moving more than he heard the quiet word amidst his jumbled thoughts, and he looked up to see Tobias worrying his bottom lip. “Yeah?”