Luke's Dream (17 page)

Part of me was tempted not to return at all.
But, Joshua already knew about her. Likely, the only reason I
hadn’t been commanded to hand her over was because he knew I was
bringing her to the Compound. No, we couldn’t stay away. I just
hoped Gabby would be there as she promised.

“Tomorrow,” I said, finally answering
Bethi.

She glanced at me, looking as troubled as I
felt. Then, she reached out, twining her fingers through mine. The
gesture made my chest ache.

We walked hand in hand back to the road. When
we reached the bike, she turned to eye me. I studied her just as
closely.

“You’re pale,” I said, brushing my fingers
along her cheek. “And you’re still bleeding. We need to get that
looked at.”

“Or you could just take us to a hotel, I
could clean up and you could help me with some gauze and tape.”

Gauze and tape wouldn’t be enough. I was
about to say so when she held up her hand.

“We can’t afford the questions a hospital
would ask.”

She was right.

“And we can’t ride around with you looking
like that,” she said, when I moved toward the bike for clothes.

I looked down at myself. Blood coated my
skin, my shirt, my pants…I was red from head to toe. I could change
but would probably get the new clothes dirty in the process.

“What do you suggest?” I asked, looked back
at her.

She pointed to the nearby marsh, which had a
thin layer of ice over the water it offered. Humor drifted around
her.

“You’re liking this, aren’t you?”

“I’ll get Tinker Bell ready.”

I snorted and started toward the water. My
pants and shirt were beyond cleaning, but I wasn’t stripping with
her watching.

“And you better hurry,” she said from behind
me. “Who knows what’s still headed in this direction.”

I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it
far into the bushes. Then, gritting my teeth, I kicked off my shoes
and stepped out onto the ice. Water soaked my socks and seeped up
my pant legs. Although I had no worry about things like hypothermia
like a human would, the cold didn’t feel too good when it hit my
thighs. I didn’t move any deeper.

Using my hands, I splashed water onto my
face, hair and chest, painting the surrounding ice pink with my
efforts.

Behind me, Bethi’s breathing grew more
pained.

Turning, I found Bethi standing in the same spot, her vacant gaze
pointed at the ground and her arm wrapped around her middle.
Shivers shook her body, and she swayed slightly on her feet.

“Hang in there,” I said, but I doubt she
heard me.

I hurried to finish rinsing away the
remaining blood. Once I thought I had it all, I shook the water
from my hair and wiped my hand down each arm. The water ran clear.
I turned and found Bethi staring at me with half-lidded eyes. It
wasn’t desire, but sheer exhaustion.

My sloshing steps from the water seemed to
draw her attention. I crossed the road, heading for the bike and
dry clothes. My pants were a wet mess, and I would need to change
out of them.

“If we drive straight through, how long till
we get there?” she asked as I reached the bike and opened the bags.
She continued to watch me as I pulled out a clean pair of
pants.

“If nothing happens?” I walked behind her,
and she didn’t try to turn to look. “Ten to twelve hours depending
on the roads we take.” I stripped off the wet pants and pulled on
the dry pair. Going back to the bike, I fished new socks from the
bag.

She watched me tug them on.

“We need to push through. I can’t take
another run in,” she said as I pulled on my shoes.

I didn’t like the beat look in her eyes.
Although I agreed she couldn’t handle another fight, pushing
through wouldn’t help her. She wasn’t thinking clearly. She was
tired and needed rest.

Moving to stand before her, I opened my mouth
to suggest we find her a place to clean up. The bloody front of her
shirt was going to create a distinct scent trail.

“No, Luke. I can’t. I’m done. Do you get it?
Just
done
.”

Her defeated tone tore at my heart. I gripped
her arms lightly and gave her a gentle squeeze before carefully
pulling her into a loose hug. Her arm stayed wrapped around her
middle just as tightly as the scent of her pain wrapped around
me.

I kissed her hair and rested my cheek on top
of her head for a moment, trying to encase her with my love and
protection.

“Don’t give up. Not now.”

She exhaled shakily and leaned into me for a
moment.

“We need to get moving,” she said. “Every
minute we stay in one place, the more likely they are to find us
again.”

I could tell she wanted to pull away, so I
gave her room. Before she could leave, I lifted her chin so she
would meet my gaze.

“We’ll get there,” I said. I wasn’t sure how
or in what shape, but I was determined. These men who were after us
needed to be stopped. All of the Elders needed to get involved.

I looked at the circles under Bethi’s
beautiful eyes. She didn’t deserve what had happened to her. She
deserved care and consideration. Love and appreciation.

Her gaze drifted down to my lips, and her
pulse jumped. I knew the direction of her thoughts and, as much as
I wanted to love and appreciate her, now wasn’t the moment.
However, remembering that became difficult when she wrapped her
free arm around me and touched my bare back.

“Bethi, don’t…”

“Don’t what? Don’t think of how that kiss
felt? Don’t wish that you’d let your guard down enough to let it
happen again so I can forget everything else and imagine a world
where just you and I exist? A safe place where I can sleep without
haunting dreams? A place where men don’t chase me down and cut me?
Yeah, I better not. Reality and morals are way better, anyway.”

Conflicting emotions tore through me as I
watched her walk away to wait by the bike. She liked kissing me and
wanted to do it again. And the way she said “you and I” like we
were already a pair was music to me. A grin almost won out over the
worry the rest of her words had created. But temptation to smile
died quickly as I watched her hug her arm to her waist.

She’d been chased down and injured, and it
sounded like she resented me for it. Although she’d been the one to
run from me, I willingly took the blame. I should have anticipated
she was up to something. Her scent had been different.

Annoyed with myself, I followed her and got
on the bike. Without looking at me, she reached into the saddle
bags and handed me a clean shirt. She waited until I’d pulled the
material over my head.

Each move she made as she positioned herself
on the bike was slow and measured, her pain palpable. She settled
the bag around her shoulders first then lifted the strap over my
head. While I tightened it, she put her arms around my waist and
pressed her cheek against my back. Her skin cooled me through the
thin shirt. How had I not noticed how cold she was? I was so tired
of failing her. She needed food and a warm, safe place to rest. Why
was that so hard?

I started the engine and turned my head.

“No falling asleep,” I said.

“Good one. Just get us there before I bleed
out. And don’t stop because I fall asleep. Just nudge me or
something,” she mumbled against my back.

The last time we’d tried that, things hadn’t
gone well. My palm tingled, and a fine sweat coated my face.
Shifting slightly in my seat, I pulled away from the shoulder and
let the cool air dry my face. If she started leaning to the side,
I’d try to grab for her hair.

She managed to stay awake for a few miles as
I drove north, pushing straight toward our destination. When I came
to a group of five other motorcycles heading in the same direction,
I felt Bethi smile and relax further.

We stayed at the back of their group while
Bethi drifted into one of her dreams. She didn’t twitch as much in
this one and stayed centered longer than I’d thought possible. I
wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad. The scent of her
blood hadn’t lessened and my back felt wet. I wanted to stop, but
keeping with the other bikes would help cover her scent trail.

Bethi did finally start to slide when the
group signaled for a back road. Instead of following, I kept going
straight. When her right arm grew slack, I knew she would slip
further if I didn’t straighten her soon.

Although grabbing for her hair would have
been safer for me, it wouldn’t have been for her. So I once again
reached back to push her upright. Thankfully, this time I caught
her arm, and she settled onto my back once more.

As the sun dropped so did the temperature,
and Bethi started to shiver. I could push through to the final leg
of our journey; but if she was right, there would be more mutts
waiting for us. Between the dark and her current state, I couldn’t
risk another ambush. So, I kept my eyes open for a quiet place to
stay. With her still bloody, and my back likely coated red, I
couldn’t pick a hotel.

I pulled into every overgrown driveway. Many
led to fields. Some led to poorly kept but very inhabited homes.
Although I was disappointed with my continued lack of luck, I kept
trying.

It was over an hour later that I pulled into
a long, overgrown drive that lead through trees which opened to
overgrown fields. Ahead on a slight rise, I saw a barn and the
charred remains of a house. Snow had recently dusted the area and
pooled in shallow patches between the upright tufts of grass. My
breath fogged with each exhale, and I knew Bethi had to be cold.
But, the barn would provide us with the shelter we needed.

It was about time our luck changed. The sun
had already dipped below the tree line in a vivid display of orange
and red. I wanted to get her settled before full dark.

When the drive faded into hip length dried
grass, I stopped and killed the engine. Bethi’s pulse jumped, and a
moment later, she lifted her head.

“Why did we stop?” she asked as I loosened
the strap.

“I’d rather approach the Compound in
daylight.” Our quiet voices carried in the twilight. “How is the
cut?”

She pulled the strap from over my head and
climbed off the back. I stood and watched her gently stretch her
legs. The slight bend she kept to her middle told me what I needed
to know. The cut wasn’t doing well.

She shrugged in response to my question. “Why
here?”

The front of her shirt was completely dark,
and I could feel my shirt sticking to my back. Stepping forward, I
unzipped Bethi’s jacket and tried lifting the shirt. I needed to
see if it was still bleeding. But the material didn’t lift. It was
dried on. I really didn’t like that. I also didn’t like how she was
already shivering.

“Those guys following us are too used to
looking at hotels. I thought this would be safer.” Yet, now I
doubted the decision. Bethi’s cut needed to be looked at—there were
a few at the Compound who could do that without needing to take
Bethi to a hospital—and she needed to rest somewhere above
freezing.

“Some real sleep sounds good,” she said in a
wistful tone with a glance at the leaning barn. I should have known
she wouldn’t care too much about where we’d sleep. She had bigger
concerns.

I sighed and gently touched her cheek.
“You’ll tell me if it starts hurting,” I said.

She snorted. “It hasn’t stopped hurting.”

“I imagine not,” I said, dropping my
hand.

Taking the bag from her, I started pushing
the bike uphill through the grass toward the barn. Bethi quietly
and slowly followed. Although the old barn leaned heavily to one
side, it had a solid roof. As we drew closer, I saw a few of its
old boards had rotted at the base. Hopefully it would create air
flow without too much chill.

Pushing the bike through the gaping door, I
studied the interior. A layer of dust and bits of old hay covered
the floor. Even with the gaps in the boards, the interior smelled
old and musty but in a good way. Bethi sneezed and groaned. I
winced thinking how that must have felt.

“I’ll look around,” I said, moving to check
the back of the building. I was hoping for an old horse blanket or
something to use as a cover but found nothing. Maybe that was for
the best. With an open cut, she would have likely gotten an
infection. She probably still would. I wanted nothing more than to
pull out my phone and call Gabby to tell her to come get us. Yet,
if I did that, would we be attacked again while we waited? I was
suffering with two levels of need to keep her safe. Safe from those
trying to get her and safe from the elements and infection. Which
was the greater danger? The attackers. They’d been willing to hurt
her last time. I could only hope an Elder would be at the Compound
to treat Bethi when we arrived tomorrow.

Turning, I went back to Bethi. “It’s empty
and untouched. We’ll stay here for a few hours.”

Her cold fingers wrapped around mine, and I
led her toward the back. When she started to stumble, I flicked on
a tiny LED flashlight attached to the bike keys and pointed to an
empty stall partitioned by a half wall.

“If you need a moment,” I said softly.

She blushed, grabbed the flashlight, and
shooed me away. I didn’t go too far and listened for any sign she
was having trouble. I was standing near a dry mound of hay when she
stepped from the stall and clicked off the flashlight. She walked
blindly down the center aisle, one hand in front of her while the
other hand cradled her middle.

“Here,” I said when she drew close. I tugged
the bag to lead her off to the side then gently nudged her down
onto the pile of hay.

“If I wake up to bugs crawling on me, I will
not be happy,” she said as I settled on my back next to her. She
quickly scooted closer, half laying on me. Shivers continued to
wrack her. I wrapped an arm around her, trying to share my
warmth.