Dangerous Lovers (6 page)

I didn’t get the chance to test my idea, though, because then that terrible shriek sounded in my ears like cutlery on plates. I shot up from my position on the ground. Nelly was standing nearby with her right arm wrapped around her belly and her left thumb thrust into her mouth. Whipping my head to the right, I saw that someone else was fighting with the creature. Someone I had not expected to see.

Jackson.

Jack was keeping his opponent occupied, but not for long. He was losing the battle fast. I rushed from behind, scooped my sword up from the ground, and swung it hard at her neck. She fell silent.

I doubled over, trying to catch my breath, that strong surge of energy possessing me once again. Swiping some of the creature’s black blood from my lips, I said, “Jackson… what… the… hell —?”

Nelly tugged at my arm. “Not now. We have to keep going.”

Jackson tilted his head to the side, like a dog does when it’s listening to something no one else can hear. “She’s right. More are coming.” He glanced around, eyes skipping rapidly over the headless thing at our feet. “Where do we go from here?”

It was difficult to think. I was delirious with adrenaline, sweeping my eyes frantically over the forest, trying to find something familiar. To my immense relief, I spotted one of the markers my mother had pointed out to me yesterday.

My God, how could that have just been yesterday?

“This way,” I said, waving my hand to my left.

We took off in that direction, and all too soon I got the discomfiting feeling that the sharks were catching up. It was the distinct feeling of being hunted, of running for our lives.

Nelly must have felt it too. “How far is the creek?” She panted.

“Not too much farther… I think,” I said. I wasn’t sure, but the creek had been one of the markers my mother had pointed out, so I hoped I was right.

“Good. They can’t cross over running water.”

“What—?” I began, cutting myself short when that unmistakable on-edge feeling kicked up a notch. The hunters were closing in fast.

“Run, as fast as you can. It should be just up ahead,” I shouted.

“It is,” said Jackson. “I can hear the water.”

We tore through the forest with the creatures right on our heels. I wasn’t sure how many were chasing us because I couldn’t risk glancing back, but by the sound of it, there were at least three.

Nelly reached the creek first and promptly hopped over, with Jackson and me following seconds later. I snuck a look behind me just in time to see two of the things slam right into what seemed like an invisible wall. I didn’t have time to ponder this, so I kept running, giving the others directions as needed.

At last, we reached the clearing, and I felt a wave of relief flood through me. Jackson and Nelly started to slow down, but I urged them forward. “No.” I paused, struggling to catch my breath. “I think there is an opening in the hillside. Follow me.”

I hadn’t heard anything following us since we crossed the creek, but I didn’t want to take the chance of standing still. Sure enough, there was a small space among the undergrowth, beckoning us inside the hill. The opening appeared big enough for one person to slide through at a time. It was hard to see, due to the fact that the sun had completely disappeared, but like I said, my night vision had always been pretty good.

Slipping inside, I had to crouch for a few feet, the ceiling gradually growing taller as I moved in farther. I came to what must have been a larger part of the cave, but couldn’t really tell because I’d lost what little light the moon and stars had offered outside. Even I can’t see in complete darkness.

I was just beginning to panic over my loss of sight when a small light popped on behind me. I turned to see Jack holding up his cell phone. Snatching it out of his hand, I held it out in front of me. Just as I’d thought, this part of the cave was much bigger than the opening. In fact, judging by the outside, it shouldn’t even be able to fit in here.

Glancing around, I spotted what looked like battery-operated camping lanterns. I rushed over to them, and using the phone’s light, was able to flip the switch on one of them, then the others. Light illuminated the cavern, revealing a room of hard-packed dirt on all sides.

Fearing that the light could be seen from outside, I found a neatly stacked pile of large logs near the cave’s entrance and began stacking them in front of it. Jackson and Nelly joined in my efforts, and soon, we had the cave’s entrance reasonably sealed off.

Nelly and Jack collapsed to the ground. I considered doing the same, but decided I needed to search our hiding spot first. Those logs and lanterns had been placed there purposely, undoubtedly by my mother, and I was pretty sure she had left other things for us as well.

A brief search led me to two backpacks and a plastic bag containing blankets. I tossed the blankets over to the others and rifled through the backpacks.

They contained a few items I’d expected: nonperishable food, water, two pairs of jeans, two sweatshirts and a case of long, sturdy matches.

They also contained a few things I hadn’t been expecting: a thick bundle of cash, four pints of frozen blood wrapped in cold packets, and a folded piece of paper with my name scrawled across it. Body trembling, I took a seat on the floor by the others, who were now sprawled out on the ground, and unfolded the note.

Dear Alexa,

I was hoping you would never have to read this, but the fact that you are means my greatest fear has come true. I know you must be confused and afraid about what has happened, and I regret that I wasn’t able to share these secrets with you earlier. The fact that you are reading this also means you have survived, however, and I can honestly say I expected no less. I know you will do what you must to protect your sister. I cannot tell you how important this task is, and I can only hope I have prepared you adequately for what is now ahead of you.

There are some things you must know. First, the Lamia cannot travel in the daylight; the sun is deadly to them. Use this to your advantage and try your best to only travel during the day. Second, the Lamia are not the only ones you have to worry about, so be wary of everyone you meet. Everyone has an ulterior motive. Third, trust your instincts. They are powerful and may be the only thing that can save you. Finally, trust Nelly. No matter what information you may gather, know that she loves you and would willingly trade her life for yours. You are family, sisters, and despite what others may say¸ you know this to be true.

Be careful, Alexa. For both yours and Nelly’s sake.

-Mom

P.S. Be strong and believe that you did what you had to.

There was also a phone number scrawled at the bottom of it. I looked it over and decided it wasn’t one I recognized. Glancing up, I saw that both Nelly and Jack were staring at me. Folding the note, I stuffed it into my pocket.

None of us spoke for a long time. I wasn’t sure what to say. I couldn’t even begin to process what had happened tonight, and I realized I must still be in shock. My thoughts kept shifting back to my mother and her words in the letter, trying to make sense of things that made no sense at all. I felt completely numb, like I should be crying or screaming, but my body didn’t understand the commands.

I’d left her. I’d left her to die, and now that I had time to think, I couldn’t help but feel as if there was something else I could’ve done. I felt like a coward. Like I deserved to have one of those creatures bring me my death.

At the same time, I was questioning my sanity. Hoping that maybe this was some sort of dream, and I would wake up tomorrow to find that none of this had actually happened.

“What now?” It was Nelly who snapped me out of my thoughts. Her voice was small and nearly inaudible behind the left thumb she had stuffed in her mouth. “What do we do now?”

She was shivering, her face was streaked with tears. For the first time in my life, I felt ashamed for
not
crying. I had always seen it as a sign of weakness and refused to let others see me in that rare state.

But now, everything was different. We’d just been dropped into some sort of nightmare, and we had more than likely just lost the only parent we’d ever known. I should be ashamed. I
should
be crying.

Scooting over to Nelly, I drew her into my arms and let her sob into my shoulder as I stroked her hair. If not for myself, at least I could be strong for her. “Shh, it’s okay. Everything is going to be okay,” I whispered. “We just have to wait. We just have to wait until the sun rises.”

Nelly pulled back from me, but kept hold of my right arm. Running her fingers over my wrist, she gasped. “I can’t believe this.”

I started to agree with her, until I looked down and saw what she was talking about. I shot up to my feet, causing her to topple off me as I did so.

“W-What the hell is that?” I squeaked, working hard to keep my voice down.

Jackson crawled over from where he was sitting and grabbed my arm. Running his fingers over my wrist, he repeated Nelly, “I can’t believe it.”

I darted my eyes between him and Nelly, trying to figure out what the hell they were talking about. “How many did you kill?” asked Jack.

It took me a second to grasp what he was talking about. I was still staring at my arm. “I don’t know. Three… or four.” I counted them off in my head. “Three… what the hell does that have to do with my arm?” Wrapped around my wrist was a floral design, similar to a tattoo. Except it was a brilliant silver color, and it was perfectly smooth. The silver vines crawled up and around my forearm and then disappeared under the sleeve of my shirt. Three small lilies had sprouted from the vine; one on top of my wrist and the others climbing up my forearm. Pushing up my sleeve revealed a small sun at the top of the design, near my shoulder. It was beautiful. And it freaked me out.

Taking a deep breath, so I wouldn’t start shouting, I said, “Okay, what is going on?”

Jackson cleared his throat. He still had that awed expression on his face. “It’s the Sol Liliums… the symbol of the Proeliator.”

As if sensing my confusion and growing anger, Nelly answered my next question. “It… well, it means sun lilies… and Warrior in Latin.”

I tried to add it all up. Three lilies for three dead… What had my mother called them? Lamias. One lily for each Lamia I’d killed.

I’d killed.

This thought seemed to smack me in the face. I had just killed three… whatever they were, but the point remained the same. I’d killed.

And I hadn’t even really thought about it until now.

“It matches the symbol on your Gladius,” Nelly said, saving me from falling into what could only be more horrific thoughts.

“My what?”

She reached over and picked up my sword. The blade must have retracted at some point, because now, it looked like just a pretty, silver handle again.

“This. It’s a Gladius. They were the weapon of the ancient Proeliators,” Nelly continued.

I skimmed through the small amount of Latin I knew. “Gladius. Doesn’t that mean… like…
butt
in Latin?”

She chuckled, but there was no humor in it. “No, that’s gluteus.

Gladius in Latin means sword.”

“Where did you get that?” asked Jackson.

I started to tell him and then stopped when another thought came to mind. “That’s not important,” I said bitterly. He looked confused at my sudden change in tone. “What is important is what you’re doing here. You seemed to pop up at a very convenient time, Jack. Tell me what you’re doing here.”

He just looked at me. I gripped my sword—I was not going to call it a Gladius—and, like before, the blade shot out from it. I got to my feet and faced him down. “Don’t make me ask again, Jackson. What are you doing here? How did you even find us? You don’t seem to be very shaken up after what just happened.”

Some part of me suspected I was overreacting, but my mother’s words came back to me:
Everyone has an ulterior motive.
Maybe I could trust him, but maybe I couldn’t. And, at the moment, I wasn’t really willing to take that risk.

“Whoa, whoa, calm down, Lex.” Nelly had stepped in between Jackson and me and was holding her hands up in a
back off
gesture. This fueled my rapidly growing anger.

But, looking into her eyes, I felt a wave of calm wash over me, and suddenly backing off sounded reasonable. I shook my head and managed to pull my gaze away with considerable effort. “No, don’t do that!”

“Don’t do wh—?”

“I don’t know what! Whatever it is that you’re doing. We have to know we can trust him! How do we know that we can trust him?” I sounded like I was pleading.

Nelly spun around to face Jackson. I couldn’t see her face, but whatever look she gave him made his eyes go wide, and then his face just went… blank.

Nelly blew out a slow breath, as if steeling herself for something. “Jackson,” her voice was calm and comforting, like she was talking to an infant. “Give me your hands, Jack.”

Jackson immediately obeyed, reaching up slowly so that his hands rested in Nelly’s. I stood, gaping. Could this night get any stranger?