Storm Season (7 page)

“We’re out of time.”

“No.” Jasper shook his head. They weren’t. They couldn’t be. It didn’t seem possible, but a glance at the tiny patch of sky above the creek confirmed Darius’s quiet announcement accurate. They had to head back if they had any hope of reaching the house before the storms started.

“We can start here tomorrow. We’ll find it faster without stopping to look around all the time.”

Carla meant well, but they all knew the markers they’d left would most likely be gone in the morning, and it would only be sheer luck that would let them find this place again. It would take even more luck to get close, as by going home, they were giving the advantage of time to the people they sought.

It was a lose-lose situation. If they left now, they’d give up any advantage they might have gained. If they kept going, they’d have to face the storms without the protection of a building. This early in the season, they would probably survive, but they would not be undamaged.

Jasper couldn’t decide which he’d prefer. He stood, frozen, unable to come up with the best solution. He didn’t want to abandon Tobias―he had a responsibility there―but he couldn’t ask Carla and Darius to brave the storm either. It wasn’t their responsibility, nor was it Kyree’s, and they’d all be in danger if Jasper didn’t agree to leave. Reluctantly, he turned around and started back down the creek. “Let’s go, then.”

He had only managed four heavy steps when Kyree started barking, yapping louder than she had all day. Jasper turned to quiet her but stopped, unable to believe his eyes when he saw the source of the commotion. Stumbling over the top of the hill was a dark-haired, half-naked man, his arms crossed over his chest and his frame shivering so violently Jasper could see it even fifty yards away.

Jasper’s feet carried him forward without conscious thought. He scrambled up the hill, only marginally aware of Darius and Carla following, and calling out as he approached, “Tobias!”

T
HE
rain started when they were still a mile from the house, big fat drops falling from the sky slowly at first, but with rapidly increasing intensity. The forest canopy kept the worst of it off, but they were soaked by the time they reached the edge of the trees to peer out at the open ground that stretched between the woods and Jasper’s house. It was only about five hundred yards, but with lightning flashing and rain turning to sleet and hail, it would be an arduous trek across muddy, uneven ground.

Jasper glanced back, checking one last time for the men Tobias had somehow gotten away from. He saw no one, just as he had every time he’d looked since he’d found Tobias, and he forced himself not to wonder where they’d gone. After turning back, he scanned the field, trying to calculate the safest route between their present position and the back door, but the flashes of lightning didn’t illuminate the ground for long and only served to add to his worry. They would be the tallest things for a good distance as they dashed across the field.

It will only get worse.
The hand on Jasper’s shoulder trembled as Tobias shivered. He was wearing Jasper’s coat, Darius’s hat, and Carla’s scarf over the thin pajama bottoms that had been his only covering when they found him, but he’d spent close to twenty-four hours exposed to the elements, and the little bit they’d been able to provide wasn’t enough to keep him warm.

“I know. Let’s go.” Jasper took the hand from his shoulder and held it in his own, both so Tobias would be able to talk to him without making his headache worse and so he could help the shivering man if he stumbled. Tobias’s normally olive skin was a pale white and his breath came in ragged gasps through blue-tinged lips. Jasper wasn’t sure he would make it all the way to the house.

They ran quickly, Tobias wincing with each step as his bare feet hit frozen ground or slick mud. They slipped and slid together, Darius, Carla, and the dog close behind. Muttered curses and pain-filled yelps filled the air as they picked their way across the uneven ground, the full force of the sleet and hail hitting their skin, wind burning as it whipped water into their eyes, and the ever-present threat of a lightning strike urging them to move faster though they could hardly lift their legs.

They were almost to the house when Tobias went down, his feet sliding in opposite directions and his mental cry slicing into Jasper’s brain despite the contact of their skin. Jasper tugged up on the hand, trying to help, but Tobias slipped again, his feet hit Jasper’s, and they both ended up on the ground.

The lashing wind, biting precipitation, and slick mud made it nearly impossible to get up. Even after he let go of Tobias’s hand, Jasper still slid in the mud as he tried to convince cold-stiffened limbs to cooperate.

“Here.” Carla held out a hand, and Jasper cautiously took it, mindful of how Tobias had pulled him down. As he braced himself, Darius’s hands slid under his arms from behind, and between the three of them, he got to his feet.

Tobias was still shivering in the mud when Jasper turned and grabbed his hands. He was prepared to help Tobias up by himself, but to his surprise, Darius and Carla both grabbed one of Tobias’s arms at his shoulder, and the three of them hauled the near-frozen man to his feet.

Thanks.
It was a soft whisper Jasper barely heard when he slipped Tobias’s arm over his shoulder.

Darius’s mouth twitched into a small smile as he helped hold Tobias steady until Jasper could fully support him. “You’re welcome,” he yelled over the howling wind, flinching as a particularly close bolt of lightning flashed, followed immediately by a loud crack of thunder. “Now let’s get inside before this gets worse!”

It wasn’t until they reached the back door Jasper remembered what he’d forgotten in the panic of the day. As he groped for the handle in the blinding rain, he cursed, his fingers scraping against rough plywood instead of painted metal. They’d boarded up the back doorway before setting out, propping the actual door against the kitchen wall to protect it from further damage. “We have to go around front!” he yelled as he guided Tobias back down the steps and started around the building.

Jasper kept Tobias as close to the house as possible. The silent young man had gotten even paler since they’d fallen, and he was stumbling with almost every step. Twice, either Darius or Carla had to help catch Tobias before he pulled Jasper down as well, and Kyree danced just off to the side, whimpering every time her master slipped.

The front door was blessedly easy to open and they stumbled inside, heedless of the water dripping onto the wood floor. Jasper wanted nothing more than to collapse into a chair and rest, but he forced himself to push the door shut and lead the way to the stairs.

J
ASPER
convinced Tobias to take a hot shower to drive the chill from his bones. By the time he stumbled down the stairs sporting wet curls and wearing Jasper’s warmest clothes, Jasper, Darius, and Carla had cleaned up the worst of the mess in the kitchen and had soup on the stove and bread warming in the oven. Jasper had half-expected Tobias would go straight to bed, and said as much as he placed two steaming bowls of soup on the table.

It smelled good,
Tobias replied with a smile and a quick brush against Jasper’s arm before Jasper went to cut the bread.

They ate in silence, the dull, rapid click of spoons against plastic bowls―all that had survived the destruction of the kitchen―a testament to their hunger. The soup and bread were devoured in minutes. Their warmth spread through Jasper’s body as he sat back with a satisfied smile on his face.

Carla cleared the table, and while she was rinsing the dishes, Darius leaned forward and looked pointedly at Tobias. “An explanation would be nice.”

“What is there to explain?” Jasper asked, indignant on Tobias’s behalf. The urge to protect his guest was rising again, this time directed at Darius.

No, he’s right.
Tobias gently pushed Jasper back in the chair.
I should explain. Just,
his eyes flickered to the plywood covered doorway and the window over the sink,
not here. Upstairs, okay?

Jasper conveyed the request to Darius with one word. “Upstairs.”

Lightning flashed just outside and they all promptly agreed.

T
HE
safe room had been built to hold one adult, two if they were close. Four plus a dog was downright claustrophobic, but with careful rearrangement of the furniture left haphazardly around the room, they were able to make it bearable.

Tobias took over quickly, touching first Darius’s shoulder and then Carla’s. Both moved to sit on the blankets they’d spread on the floor to serve as their bed as Tobias crossed the room to where Jasper was hovering by the door.
Come on,
he said, wrapping his hand around Jasper’s.

Jasper followed and allowed Tobias to sit him on the bed. His mind was occupied with the strange feeling he’d gotten in the pit of his stomach when Tobias had taken his hand rather than touched his shoulder like he’d done for Carla and Darius. It meant nothing, he was sure―Tobias was just used to taking his hand, or maybe he’d thought Darius and Carla would be more comfortable with being touched on the shoulder. It was a silly thing to worry about.

And yet, his stomach fluttered when Tobias didn’t let go and he wanted to stare holes into Darius and Carla as they touched Tobias’s legs. It was just so Tobias could talk to them all, so they could have a conversation without his repeating everything Tobias said, he knew that. It was to make all their lives easier, including Jasper’s, and yet there was a part of him that wanted to pull Tobias away, to keep him for himself, to―

No. He was not thinking that. Tobias was his guest, a young man he’d taken in to help, not a potential love interest. That was all it was. Jasper hadn’t had anyone since he’d moved out from the coast and Tobias was attractive, tactile, and intriguing. It was only lust, and he wasn’t going to think about it. He was going to ignore the twisting feeling in his stomach and the way Darius and Carla were casually touching Tobias’s legs and―

“Jasper!”

The smack Darius gave his knee snapped Jasper out of his reverie and he blinked. “What?” Darius simply raised an eyebrow, and Jasper’s cheeks burned. “Right. Sorry.” He was
not
going to keep thinking those thoughts. “Go on.”

Tobias shifted uncomfortably next to him.
What do you want to know?

“Why we had to spend all day trying to find you for a start,” Darius muttered loud enough for Jasper to hear. He looked uncomfortable sitting on the floor and kept glancing at his hand where it rested on Tobias’s leg.

They wanted me so I could do something for them. I don’t know what. Something to do with my… abilities.
Tobias shrugged.
They said something about… Sheldin? Sheltin?

“Shaleton,” Jasper supplied. “It’s a city on the south-east coast. The people there are a little… odd.” That was the most diplomatic way to put it. Shaletonites tended to be particularly fanatical about the storms that ravaged the continent each wet season, and they stupidly braved the storms in attempts to worship or defy them. Back in Crittendon, there had been heavy betting each year as to how many Shaletonites would commit suicide by storm. Jasper had never bet, but he’d known someone who won big one year.

Yes!
Tobias agreed.
That’s it. They wanted to take me to Shaleton so I could… do whatever it is they wanted me to do.

“Hailstones!” Carla exclaimed, and Jasper nodded his agreement to the sentiment. If the men wanted Tobias for his psychic abilities and they wanted him to use them in Shaleton, the outcome could only be bad.

“How’d they find you, though?”

Hostility dripped from Darius’s voice, but Tobias didn’t seem to notice.
Kyree. They followed Kyree. They were looking….
His expression grew pained and desperate.
I think they’re the people who took Sam.

“Sam?” Jasper’s stomach did that burning, clenching, flipping thing again and he viciously pushed the feeling aside. It didn’t matter how much this Sam person meant to Tobias. “Who’s Sam?”

Samantha. My sister.
The knot in Jasper’s stomach vanished.
Something hurt her last year while she was… out, and she never came back. The men, they mentioned a girl, and I think it was her, and whatever it is they want me to do, Sam couldn’t—or wouldn’t—do it and I think they hurt her and they’ll hurt her more when they get back and I don’t know what they want her to do or what they want me to do or where this Shaleton place is and I need to help her, I was trying to find her!

“Whoa! Calm down.” Jasper put his free hand on Tobias’s shoulder and waited for his breathing to resume a normal cadence. The mental speech could go on and on without pausing for breath, but Tobias’s breathing was too ragged for Jasper to be comfortable.

Large brown eyes met Jasper’s.
I have to find her. I have to help her.