Once Upon a Caveman (19 page)

“Understand,
if you pursue Anniah, Skoll will challenge you.”  Rhawn warned.  “He wishes to
mate with her.  Since you lost the
Ardin
, no one is intimidated by your
powers.”  Rhawn doubted he even had any.  If Lucy didn’t possess magic, surely
this moron didn’t either.  “Skoll will fight you for her and he will win.”

Warren
frowned.  “Ya think?”

“I
know it.  He is a great warrior and you are not a great anything.”

“I
know.  I blew my chance at greatness senior year.”  Warren reported in a
melancholy tone.  “All the scouts came to the Homecoming game and I was
ready
for them.  I needed that fucking scholarship so bad I could taste it.  Then,
I’d be outta Clovis for good.  Away from all the people who know what an
asshole I am and what a
bigger
asshole my father is.  Just a total clean
slate, ya know?”  He made a face.  “Of course, I fucked it all up.”

Rhawn
tried to piece that story together, but it made no sense.  “You failed at a
game?
 
This has ruined you whole life?”  He couldn’t imagine such a thing.  “Why? 
Just play another.”

“It
wasn’t just
a
game.  It was
the
game and I blew it.”  Warren ran
a hand through his hair.  “I thought I was going to break records, ya know?  …
And I did.  I’m the high school quarterback who threw the most interceptions in
a single quarter. 
That
was my big football legacy.”

Rhawn
wasn’t sure what that meant exactly, but he heard the defeat in the other man’s
voice.  Obviously, this game had been some kind of manhood ritual and the
Savior had fallen short.  Having met Warren, Rhawn was not surprised.

“Football
was over for me, after that.”  Warren continued.  “And without football, I was
nothing.  Just a fucking car salesman, with two greedy ex-wives and a
bankruptcy filing on my credit report.”  He went back to staring after Anniah. 
“Too bad you don’t get any do-overs in life, huh?  Once you miss your shot at
greatness, it doesn’t ever come back.”  He reluctantly looked away from
Anniah.  “She can do better than me.  She’s gonna see that pretty quick.”

“Yes.” 
Rhawn concurred.  “For both your sakes, stay away from her until then.”

“I
guess.”  Warren cleared his throat, not at all convinced.  “Hey is that Taffi
over there?”  He asked after a long moment.

“Of
course.”  How could he
just
be noticing that?  “She’s been here for
several days.”

Warren
looked insulted.  “And what?  She didn’t fucking say ‘hi’ to me?”

“She’s
been busy.”  Rhawn intoned, switching his attention down the beach.

The-Queen-of-Whatever-She-Was-Queen-Of
had recovered from the berry scare and had taken her place as another goddess. 
Notan seemed at a loss as to how she fit into the Clan’s pantheon, but it
didn’t much matter.  Everyone treated Taffi with frightened deference and she
clearly enjoyed it.

Lucy
said it probably reminded her of “her glory days as an eighteen year old
bitch.”

“Whatever.” 
Warren rolled his eyes.  “I’m over that skank.  Taffi always did think she was
too good for me, ya know?  And her breasts are
totally
store bought.  I
know.  I was there when she picked ‘em out.”

Rhawn
ignored that, watching Taffi flirt with Skoll.  The other man might be planning
to Choose Anniah, but he was giving most of his attention to Taffi.  It didn’t
seem to occur to him that she was manipulating him for her own benefit.  He was
too enthralled by the kisses Taffi doled out when he did her bidding.

Rhawn
understood her motives, though.  It was why Taffi was the person on the island
who worried him most.  She was cold and calculating in a way that made her
unpredictable.

It
made her dangerous.

Taffi
understood social cliques on a highly advanced level.  The Queen was savvy
enough to see the divisions in the Clan, even without understanding the
language.  In response, she’d sidled up next to Skoll and wasn’t letting go. 
It was a wise move.  Taffi was envious of Lucy and Skoll was obviously the one
who hated the Destroyer most.  Their interests aligned.

More
importantly, if conflict erupted, Taffi would be safe from Skoll
and
Lucy.  Skoll believed Taffi to be a benevolent goddess, trying to undermine the
Destroyer’s cause.  And no matter what she might mutter to the contrary, Lucy
had no intention of harming the girl.  Taffi was therefore the only “god” on
the island who no one was plotting against.  On some level, Rhawn nearly
admired the girl’s maneuvering.

Mostly
it just worried him, though.

Skoll
still wanted to overthrow Lucy.  Rhawn didn’t want Taffi helping him succeed. 
He was fairly certain he’d have to kill Skoll, but his plan was to wait until
after the mammoth hunt.  They would need the extra hunters to bring down a
large creature.  After that, Rhawn would simply ensure that Skoll didn’t get on
a
ragan
.  It was cold and effective.  That son of a bitch wouldn’t be a
threat to his mate for much longer.  Rhawn would make sure of it.

“I
used to date Taffi.”  Warren put it.  “She was my girlfriend back in high
school.”

“The
two of you do seem well suited.”  It wasn’t a compliment.

“She’s
a real bitch.  Set my stereo on fire when I got her
white
roses instead
of
pink
roses for her birthday.  Then she went and slept with Craig
Turkana at the party.  Eighty bucks worth of flowers, totally wasted.”  Warren
went back to watching the fire.  “She wasn’t worth all the attention she got
from the guys.  Lucy was always special one.”

“Yes.” 
Rhawn agreed.

“Lucy
was just so fucking
smart
.  Doing geometry problems in her head smart,
but also like
clever
smart.  She could figure shit out and she didn’t
even have to
think
about it.  That’s why Taffi hates her.  Can’t keep
up.  It can intimidate a person, ya know?”

“Lucy
is brilliant.”  And she wouldn’t settle for a man who wasn’t
also
brilliant.  That fact preyed on his deepest fears.  Rhawn may have Chosen her,
but Lucy would never fully accept him if he was as stupid as everyone believed.

He
sighed wearily.

“Yep. 
She’s brilliant.”  Warren lamented with a shake of his head.  “Way too
brilliant to ever let me see her naked, I guess.”

“Way
too brilliant for that.”  Rhawn intoned and wondered if it was too late to
strangle the god.

“Probably
for the best.  I’m more like her brother, now.”  Warren surmised in a
nonchalant tone.  Clearly, he wasn’t pining for the Destroyer.  “We’re almost
too close to ever get it on, because it would fuck up our really deep bond, ya
know?”  He glanced at Rhawn, again.  “She’s digging on you, though.  Sort of
threw me, at first.  You don’t seem like her type.  She likes the puny
geek-squaders, ya know?”  He tapped his temple.  “Brainiacs.”

Rhawn
didn’t understand all of that, but he got enough.  “She wants an intelligent
mate.”  It wasn’t a question.  He already knew the answer.

“Oh
yeah
.  She and Teddy O’Connell were
totally
almost an item in
high school and he ended up in MIT.”

“Ted-eeo-connell.” 
Rhawn repeated.  “This is the male she desires?”  Then, Rhawn would hunt this
unknown rival down and challenge him, too.  When you wanted to keep a woman
like Lucy, you fought everyone who threatened to steal her away.

“Nah.” 
Warren said, ruining the burgeoning plan.  “Teddy and Lucy never got together. 
She never really got together with
anyone
that I know of.  Which is why
I’m surprised she seems to like you.  Sorry I got a little touchy about that,
by the way.  Go ahead and nail her.  Might loosen her up.  Really, you have my
permission, as the guy who’s almost her brother.”

“I
don’t
need
your permission.  I challenged you for her and won.  She is
mine
.” 
Rhawn frowned, close to pouting himself.  “I now seek
her
permission.”

“Good
luck with that.”  Warren scoffed.  He seemed to notice the
ragan
building for the first time.  The man’s observation skills truly were abysmal. 
“Hey, what’s with all the boats?”

“Lucy
wishes us to leave the island.”

“Great.” 
Warren muttered.  “We’re all going to die.”

The
fact that he agreed with the Savior made Rhawn seriously reconsider his
stance.  “Do you know the way to our new land?”  He asked without much hope. 
For a god, the other man seemed fairly uninformed about… everything.

“
New
land?”  Warren echoed.  “Dude, I don’t even know where
this
land is.”

Rhawn
wasn’t surprised to hear that.  It occurred to him that Lucy would have been a
much better Savior than Warren. 
She
was the one who’d won the
Ardin
. 
She
was the one with a plan. 
She
was the one who wished to save
everyone from Uooloa. 
She
was the kind of deity his parents had hoped
to see on the other side.  Lucy should have been the one sent to save the Clan.

Lucy
should have been the one sent to save the Clan.

His
eyes went wide, his mind repeating the words like an echo.

“Where
is
Lucy?”  Warren asked, looking around.

“She
is supervising the tar gathering.”  Rhawn reported, his mind racing.

How
had
his ancestors determined which god would be the Destroyer?  They’d
predicted the arrival of a man and a woman, which had come true.  But, had they
just
assumed
that the male would be the stronger and more virtuous? 
That he would be the one to lead them?  That
he
would be the Savior?

What
if they’d been wrong?

Or,
what if they’d gotten the legend
right
, except for the most important
part?  What if they’d mixed up the roles of the gods?  What if Warren
wasn’t
the Savior, destined to guide them to a new home?

What
if
Lucy
was?

“She’s
at those pits?”  Warren snorted.  “Probably trying to save that damn lion,
then.”

“What?” 
Rhawn barely heard the other man, still considering possibilities.

“This
big cat attacked me earlier and got stuck in the tar.  That Skoll guy wanted to
kill it, but Lucy pitched a fit and wouldn’t let him.  She’s got some kind of
obsession with it being all ‘extinct.’”  His fingers made air quotes around the
word.  “She keeps saying we’re stuck on Planet Ice Age or something.”  He
snorted.  “No way, right?  I still think this is Aruba.”

Rhawn
wished he would just be quiet.  He couldn’t think with the man’s constant
chatter.

Warren
didn’t let the lack of response slow him down.  “Anyway, I’ll betcha she wants
to get the cat out.  Lucy’s always been a friggin’ animal lover.”  He made a
face.  “I
know
she’s the one who took Chipper the Woodward High
woodpecker back to the forest and let him out of his cage.  That bird was our
mascot
,
man.  Totally jinxed our winning streak, sophomore year.”

Rhawn
slowly turned to look Warren.  “
What?
”  Even in his distracted state, he
processed enough of that gibberish to understand that his woman --the most
special being in the world and the possible Savior of his people-- wanted to
free a man-eating predator from a lake of tar.  “No.  She would not go near a
trapped long-tooth.”  He said, because he wanted to believe it.  “Even she
would accept that that it’s too reckless to attempt such a thing.”

“Too
reckless?”  Warren arched a brow.  “Dude, have you
met
Lucy?”

Yes. 
Yes, he had.

Shit.

Rhawn
took off towards the pits at a dead run.

Her
hand tangles in his hair, as his mouth slides down the column of her throat. 
She tilts her head to give him better access to her neck.  It’s a sign of
feminine surrender.  Not the kind a male needs to force, but a deeper, more
primitive instinct.  An unconscious signal that her body is yielding to his,
recognizing his claim.

His
mate.

Rhawn
scrapes his teeth against her throat like an animal.  He feels like an animal. 
Wild, Raw.  A low sound escapes him, almost a snarl.  She answers with a small
whimper, accepting his dominance, and he barely holds onto reason.  If he
cannot have her soon, he will explode.

“Vando.” 
He can barely get the word out.

“I
don’t know what that means,” she pants, “but right now it sounds fucking
amazing
.”

Rhawn
and Lucy’s Dream- Six Years Ago

Since
the island was about to be blown to tiny charred bits, it seemed pretty pointless
to worry about the sabretooth.  Unless they wanted to try some kind of
Life
of Pi
thing, it would stay stuck on this rock even if they got it
un
stuck
from the tar.  When the volcano erupted, the poor cat would be incinerated
along with the rest of this tropical hellhole, so why not just leave him be?

Because,
Lucianne Meadowcroft
never
just let things be.

Being
unreasonable didn’t exactly win her any popularity contests, but it did get
things done.  However long the cat had left, she didn’t want him suffering a slow
death by starvation.  He was such an amazing, majestic creature.  He deserved
to run free.  And she was
going
to make it happen.  It had taken her a
few days to find a rope, but now she was ready to act.  She might be losing a
mammoth tomorrow, but she was damn well saving the cat.

…Even
though Rhawn was going to be
pissed
when he found out.

Which
was why Lucy hadn’t told him, in the first place.  Rhawn was smart enough to
know this plan was stupid and she didn’t want him talking her out of it.  He
was way too logical, sometimes.

Lucy
felt a little bit guilty about excluding him, though.  Rhawn was her partner.  She’d
never had a partner before and she liked the sensation of having someone by her
side.  The two of them complimented each other.  Understood each other.  Lucy
could look over at Rhawn, and he’d arch a brow, and they’d both know
just
what the other one was thinking.

All
their strengths and weakness found a balance when they were together.  Lucy was
pushy and he was calm.  She saw the big picture and Rhawn focused on the
details.  She was an antisocial control freak and he was… kinda perfect.

Lucy
felt a deeper connection to him than to anyone else she’d ever met.

That
worried her.  A lot.

Lucy
had pretty much come to the conclusion that she wasn’t getting back to New
York.  She had no idea how she’d arrived on the island, so backtracking her
steps was impossible.  She couldn’t very well recreate whatever worm-holey,
string-theory-ish,
Interception
-esque quirk of physics that had brought
her here.  For better or worse, she was stuck in this place for the foreseeable
future.

Obviously,
that wasn’t great news.  She was going to miss electric blankets and sesame
bagels and
The
New York Times Book Review
.  Lucy wasn’t about to kill
herself over losing them, though.  Not even the bagels.  She didn’t even have a
cute little dog that she needed to get home to, so she could survive here. 
Thanks to her master’s degree, she mostly knew what to expect from this faux
Ice Age, so she was even enjoying herself sometimes.  When the volcano wasn’t
trying to kill her, anyway.

She
would be okay.

The
much bigger problem was Rhawn.  The gorgeous guy who she was sort of almost
living with.  …And who just happened to think she was a goddess.  Deep down,
she knew Rhawn was the reason she was so okay with maybe staying marooned in
this world.  Just so she was marooned with the caveman, Lucy could deal with
anything.  Did she even
want
to go back to a world where she only
dreamed of him once a year?

Hell
no.

But,
when he finally figured out the truth, Rhawn was going to hate her.  He
wouldn’t want to stay with someone who’d lied to him.  Lucy did
not
want
to lose Rhawn.  She’d spent years imagining him and now he was real and right
in front of her.  She wasn’t going to let anything screw that up.  Especially
not her own lies.  Before they went any farther, she needed to figure out how
to tell him the truth.  It was the only way he’d ever be able to trust her,
again.

But
it was seriously,
seriously
going to suck.

All
her life, people had assumed that Lucy was going to do something special.  All
her life, she’d failed to meet expectations.  Sure, she’d done well in school. 
And as an adult, she paid her taxes and could rattle off the names of all the
presidents.  But, she’d never quite lived up to the hype and changed the world. 
In her heart, she knew she never would.

Lucy
could live with disappointing her teachers, her hometown, and even herself.

Disappointing
Rhawn would gut her, though.

He
really thought she was special.  A goddess.  It was going to kill him when she
explained she was just Lucy Meadowcroft, from Clovis.  He was never going to
look at her the same way again.  That was the main reason why she wouldn’t sleep
with him.  It wouldn’t be fair to him, unless he knew who she really was.

And
he was a damn hard guy not to sleep with, so she totally deserved some credit
for her thoughtfulness,

Lucy
managed to loop one end of the sinew rope around the sabretooth’s neck through
sheer effort of will.  The four other Clan members standing around watched her
like she was out of her mind, but they didn’t try to run when she pantomimed
for them to start heaving.  Inspiring fearful obedience was one of the perks of
being an evil goddess.

At
first, the cat thrashed and fought.  Afraid that he was going to snap the ropes,
Lucy started talking to him.  Actually, she started
singin
g.  Her
musical virtuosity could clear a karaoke bar in ten seconds flat, but the cat
seemed bizarrely fascinated with the off key serenade.  Who knew sabretooths were
such Nirvana fans?

Midway
through the second chorus of
Smells Like Teen Spirit
, Lucy realized that
the cat had stopped fighting and that they were making some progress in freeing
it.  He edged closer to solid ground, inch by painful inch.  This was going to
work!

Lucy
met the creature’s yellow eyes, still wondering over his existence.  If she was
being
really
honest, most of the reason she’d majored in paleontology
was the dreams.  When your head was filled with a certain gorgeous caveman, it
kind of sparked your interest in the past.  But, above and beyond her obsession
with Rhawn, she’d fallen in love with sabretooth cats.  They were her
unicorns.  Magical, perfect beings that she’d spent all of grad school fantasizing
about.  They fascinated her.

To
see one alive… it was more than she’d ever imagined.

The
cat stared at her, like he understood that she was trying to help.  Maybe he
did.  They were social animals.  She was sure of that.  In fact, it had been
the entire premise of her thesis.

Fossils
showed some cats had survived with crushed bones and crippling injuries.  It
would have required months to heal many of their wounds, months where they
couldn’t have hunted on their own.  But somehow the cats recovered and lived
for many more years.  Lucy believed that it would only have been possible if other
cats nursed them back to health.  Like modern lions, they probably lived in
prides.

This
sabretooth was used to having someone care if he was in trouble.  Used to
giving and receiving assistance.  It was so clear to her.  If only she had more
time, she could’ve proven her thesis was right.

Hopefully
if any of his feline buddies
were
watching from the forest, though, they
would also understand that she was just lending a hand, because those teeth
weren’t just for decoration.  They were for ripping out the insides of anyone
who got in their way.

Lucy
jolted at the sound of leaves rustling.  She looked around, her heart pounding.

Other
kinds of man-eaters were probably out there, too.  Animals stuck in the tar always
drew the attention of carnivores. Then the predators often got stuck themselves,
trying to devour some incapacitated creature.  The La Brea tar pits back in LA
had hundreds and hundreds of fossils, almost all of them from carnivores
looking for an easy meal.  If she recalled correctly, dire wolves were the most
plentiful specimens on display.  They hunted around the edges of the pits,
looking to strike.  Lucy had a soft spot for sabretooths, but studying those
gigantic wolves freaked her out.

Crap,
it was freaking her out just
thinking
about them.

The
cat’s golden gaze locked on hers like he knew she was worried.  Like he wanted
to reassure her.  Lucy found herself relaxing, hypnotized by the intelligence
and beauty of this animal.  For an endless moment, they stared straight into
each other’s souls.  It was magical.

The
gunshot sounded like an explosion.

Lucy
jumped a foot in the air, a horrified cry leaving her throat as the sabretooth collapsed
sideways in a lifeless heap.  He had been shot in the head!  Fucking
shot!
 
Blood poured from the wound, his magnificent body sinking deeper into the tar. 
Someone had just killed her unicorn.

Her
head slowly turned to gape at the murderer.

Craig
Turkana, Woodward High’s resident drug dealing scumbag, stood there with rubber
flip-flops on his feet and a scary looking gun in his hand.  The ominous black
weapon stayed trained on the dead sabretooth.

“What
the hell have you been, Meadowcroft?”  Craig demanded at a roar.  “You think
you could just leave me for fucking dead!?”

“You
son of a
bitch
.”  Lucy advanced on him, even as the helper-cavemen went
dashing off into the jungle.  “How could you do that?!”  She gave him a shove,
too furious to even care about the gun.  “Are you out of your
mind?
  You
just
slaughtered
that poor animal!”

“So
what?”  He bellowed back.  He was still wearing cargo shorts and that classy “Fuck
the World” t-shirt, but he didn’t seem to notice the cold.  Opiates must’ve
kept him warm.  “I’ve been lost in the goddamn rainforest for days.  I’m hungry
and tired and all my cigarettes were drowned at sea!”  He pushed her back and
Lucy nearly fell.  “And instead of coming to rescue
me
, you’re wasting
your time on some mangy lion?!”

“It
was a sabretooth cat, you asshole!”

“I
don’t give a rat’s ass if it was Tony the Tiger!  I want off this rock and
you’re the only one here smart enough to make it happen.  So concentrate on
Swiss Family Robinson-ing our way back to civilization
or I will shoot you
in the fucking brain!
”  He waved the gun in her direction, his eyes glazed
with anger and fear and some kind of drug.

Wait
a minute…

“You
brought a revolver to the class reunion?”  Lucy shouted, realization dawning on
her.  “Why?  How did you even get it on the ship, you psycho?”

“It’s
a
Glock
, not a revolver.”  He mocked.  “And I bought it for protection,
which I
obviously
needed since you’ve stuck me in that fucking Tom Hanks
movie with the volley ball!”

“You
are seriously deranged.  What did
I
do except warn your worthless ass to
get up on deck?”  She glowered up at him.  “But --hey!—with 20/20 hindsight, I’d
definitely leave you to sink, now.”

“You
snotty little bitch.  You think I won’t kill you? 
Huh?
”

“I
think you’ve sucked at everything you’ve tried, so the odds are certainly in my
favor.  You haven’t accomplished one damn thing in your whole damn life!”

That
just made him angrier.  “Bullshit!  I’m the only person in the whole class who
ended up a success!  I’m the biggest fucking dealer in Fort Wayne, Indiana! 
I’m Walter frigging White, meets Gordon goddamn Gekko!  I’m a
business man
,
bitch!”  He smirked.  “Not too bad for someone who got expelled two weeks
before graduation, thanks to you.”

“Thanks
to
me?
”

“Yeah,
it’s
your
fault I got kicked out! 
You
were the one who ratted me
out for the library fire, senior year.  Then you called me a loser, as the
principal dragged me away.”

“You
are
a loser!”

“
Shut
up!
”  He jabbed the gun at her.  “You tried to wreck my life.  You think
any colleges were going to let me in with
arson
on my permanent record? 
I wanted to be a photographer, but you screwed up everything for me!”