Runner's Moon Trilogy Megabook Series (50 page)

You're under arrest."

Sarah didn't see Raynes make any kind of gesture, but two of his men split up and slowly began to walk the perimeter on 688

either side of the building. She could immediately see what they were intending to do. So did the officer.

"Nice try, Raynes, but did you honestly think I would come here by myself? This building is surrounded. We already have your accomplices tied up outside and waiting for you to join them." The officer nodded at the man approaching closest to him. "Keep coming, jerkwad, and see what happens."

The man froze.

Then, to Sarah's astonishment, the officer directed his attention to her. "Sarah, which one of these cretins hurt you?"

Unable to think or act, or even to wonder how he would know who she was, Sarah raised her face toward Dreese, giving a tiny nod in his direction.

The officer seemed to understand. "One last warning, Raynes. Call back your dogs before they come any closer.

You'll be escorted over to Big Oak to face charges of attempted murder, kidnapping, and extortion, on top of the page full of other niceties you've managed to rack up."

Raynes, who had remained silent all this time, finally spoke. "Nice try, Deputy. Keep going, men. Can't you tell when he's bluffing? If we really were surrounded, they would have stepped in by now. No ... he's called for the cavalry all right. It just hasn't gotten here yet."

Oddly, a big grin split the deputy's face. "Think I'm bluffing? That's good. That's good. Then go ahead and come after me, gentlemen, and you'll see how much I'm bluffing.

Only let me warn you guys about one very important thing.

That little lady sitting over there? The one you've been 689

smacking around and humiliating? The next man who touches her is going to be sorry he did."

His last words echoed in the big room, an apocalyptic voice fading into the darkness. Sarah could tell by the man's stance that he was totally aware of where the men who were sneaking up on him were located. But he also seemed to be waiting for some sort of signal.

"Aw, fuck this!" Dreese sneered, and he pulled out a massive handgun from the back of his pants. As if on cue, the others raised their machine guns to aim at the officer, and Sarah felt the scream rise into her throat.

That inhuman roar she had heard only two other times in her life suddenly tore through the building, chilling the blood in her veins. There was the sound of glass breaking, and with an immense explosion three of the upper windows detonated from the outside in, spraying glass over everyone below.

Three creatures came flying through the windows, shrieking that inhuman sound that terrified her like nothing ever had before in her life. Sarah blinked against the sight of their horrific features as they landed amid the men with the guns and began swiping at them with immense claws.

A scream gurgled in the back of her throat. She struggled helplessly as the monstrous aberrations continued to fight.

And although there were twice as many of Raynes's men as there were of them, it was clear the creatures had the advantage.

Blood flew. The carnage intensified. A man screamed as one of the creatures with hands like blades sliced one arm into ribbons. Another man got off a short round of bullets 690

before another monster grabbed him and shoved him against one of the mill's machines. There was a soggy crunch, and the man slid unconscious to the concrete floor.

More shots went off. She heard more of that unearthly growling, followed by more screams. Sarah tried to find where the deputy had gone, but it was too chaotic to see anything but the press and confusion of bodies. Or to hear anything but the grunts and cries from the men as they wrestled against the beasts who were overtaking them.

What seemed at first to be a lopsided confrontation quickly turned in the other direction. Despite their weaponry, Raynes's men were no match for the sheer strength and savagery of the terrifying monsters.

Something cold pressed hard against Sarah's temple, and she froze.

"Back off if you want her alive!"

It was Raynes. She couldn't see where he was standing behind her, but she could see the side of the Magnum that was leaving a welt on her forehead.

The fighting ceased, stopped as suddenly as if someone had thrown a switch.

"I mean it! Let me go, or this little lady you're so anxious to save will be just another unlucky victim tonight," Raynes threatened. Every word he spoke was the absolute truth, and they all knew it.

She raised her eyes to see the creatures standing a little more than a dozen yards away, and her eyes widened. Two of them were male. They had on what looked like camouflage-printed briefs. One wore a wide, blood-soaked bandage 691

around his waist. The other monster, the third one, was female, if the slimmer figure and what looked like breasts were the real things. Although Sarah wasn't quite sure, there also appeared to be wing-like membranes attached between the creature's arms and outer thighs. The female's unusual one-piece bathing suit was dark green.

The realization made Sarah take a mental step back. Since when did monsters wear bathing suits and briefs?

"Not a smart move, Raynes," the deputy commented. He had come up the aisles and was now standing behind the three creatures who remained at a half-crouch, ready to spring at them at the slightest opening. They were all breathing heavily from their exertions, but Sarah got the distinct impression that they were more concerned about keeping her safe than taking these men apart.

Raynes pulled back the hammer. Sarah felt her heart leap into her throat. "I have a one-pound pull on this trigger. A good sneeze will make it go off. Do you really want to test it, Deputy? Call off your monster squad!"

"If you kill her, I will personally rip your entrails from your body and make you watch," the creature on the far left hissed.

Ohmygod! She blinked. It sounded like ... Simon's voice!

But that was impossible.

Behind her, Raynes chuckled. "Then I guess you could say we're at an impasse. If I kill her, I'm dead. But if I let her go, I'm dead. In my book that's a lose-lose situation."

"You don't have to die, Raynes," the deputy said, although his shotgun never wavered from where it was aimed at the 692

man standing behind her. "Put the gun down and step away from her."

"And then what'll happen to me?"

"You'll testify against Pycee for the trouble you and your men have been paid to make at the mill," another one of the monsters said. He snarled, revealing rows of thin, needle-like teeth.

Befuddled, Sarah could only stare at the blood-covered, human-looking creatures. The one to her left, the one with Simon's voice, continued to stare more closely at her than at the man behind her. She stared back, aware of the gore splattered across his chest and arms. Blood dripped from the tips of his huge claws at the ends of his hands.

His mouth moved, a thin slit in his green mottled face, and that warmth that continued to keep her sane and focused grew warmer, reaching all the way to the tips of her fingers and toes. She sniffed, and the unmistakable scent of mint carried over to her. Sarah took another breath.

Mint.

Ohmygod!

Her eyes were riveted on his, on the creature's eyes. On pale blue eyes filled with glittering jade fragments.

Oh, dear God, no!

Sarah had no idea what these murderous creatures might do next, but by the tone of Raynes's voice, and the hesitancy of the people in front of her, it wasn't promising. Neither was this a High Noon scenario, waiting for who would back down first. Or who would draw first.

Too bad Mr. Dreese neglected to tie down her feet.

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Sarah kicked herself backwards as hard as she could. The chair plowed into Raynes's stomach, throwing him off-guard and off-center.

The Magnum went off. Somewhere the bullet ricocheted off a piece of machinery, but not before the creature to her left leaped forward to snag Raynes in his grasp. Sarah fell onto the floor, gasping at the painful jarring from her tailbone to the top of her skull. She opened her eyes in time to see the greenish creature lifting its bloody claws to rip out the man's throat when the deputy grabbed it by the wrist and hissed,

"Not here. Not in front of her." They both glanced down at where Sarah lay helpless, watching them in return. "Go help Jeb," the officer ordered in a low voice, so low she almost didn't catch it.

The creature gave Raynes one final glare that was hot enough to melt steel, then released him to the deputy.

Raynes grimaced at the cuffs tightening around his wrists. "All you got is circumstantial evidence," he muttered.

"On the contrary," the officer commented. "I think we can prove a pretty good case of kidnapping, assault, and battery, not to mention possession of illegal firearms. Come on." He gave the man a shove toward the door. Glancing over his shoulder, he spoke to the female creature who stood nearby.

"Tir fiondor?"

"Migar gohonna dirindiris," she responded.

Sarah could swear a tender look passed between the two, then the three creatures turned to exit out the back. But before they did, the one male that reminded her so much of Simon paused and glanced back at her. He started to say 694

something when the wounded male stopped him with a shake of his head. The trio left, leaving Sarah alone, half-naked, and lying helpless on the concrete floor, surrounded by a half-dozen broken, bloodied, and some seriously injured men amid the shattered glass.

She gave a shaky sigh. She couldn't think, couldn't move.

There wasn't a damn thing she could do except wait for someone to come release her. Whenever that would be.

Physically exhausted beyond normal limits, and mentally drained, she had no recollection of slipping into unconsciousness.

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"Sarah?"

The word came from far away, as though it was being spoken from the end of a long, long tunnel. At first she wasn't sure she'd heard it, until it was repeated.

"Sarah?"

Slowly she managed to open her eyes. She was sitting upright in the chair again, not lying on the floor where she'd pushed herself.

"Sarah, can you see me? Can you understand me?"

Somehow she was able to focus on the man bending over her. To her surprise it was the deputy. Frantically she tried to scan the area around him, but he was adamant about her keeping her eyes directly on him.

"Shh, shh. Don't try to talk. Just nod. Are you in any pain?"

Pain?

It was then she realized her hands had been freed, but her arms lay down by her sides. Sarah looked down to see that the officer had draped his shirt over her nakedness. Her hands involuntarily reached up to clutch it.

"I c-can talk." She forced herself to swallow around a parched throat and took a deep breath. Faintly she remembered to test it for the fragrance of mint, but the scent eluded her. Sarah frowned. "No. No pain."

696

"Let's try to get you up on your feet, then. Careful now."

The man took her elbow with one hand and drew the other arm around her waist to support her. Gradually she got to her feet and managed to keep her balance. "Would you rather I carry you?"

"I ... I need to go..."

"I'm taking you there," the man told her. "Don't worry."

Sarah gave him a confused look. Did Summer tell him about her? It would make sense then how he knew her name.

"Who are you?"

The man grinned. "Thomas DeGrassi. Now, let's see if you can make it out to the car."

"My car is dead."

"We figured as much. There's probably a short somewhere in the system 'cause it's got enough gas. Come on. Let's get you out of here and over to the cabin."

"S-Simon." She stopped and put a hand on his arm. "I have to see Simon." The tears were rising again. There was no way she could adequately explain to Simon what had happened to her once she saw him again. All she could do was pray he would let her rest until she was finally able to put two coherent words together.

DeGrassi nodded. "He's waiting for you at the cabin. Come on."

At the cabin? Taking a deep breath, Sarah took another couple of steps, when her eyes flew open and she looked around at the mess surrounding them. The blood remained as proof she hadn't imagined the whole horrifying scene. But the 697

bodies were gone. She threw a questioning glance at the deputy.

"They're already taken care of. My job is to get you safely home."

"Are they ... dead?"

"No, but I'll bet a couple of them wished they were. Let's go, Sarah. It's nearly time for the first shift to arrive."

"If Simon knows I'm here, why didn't he come for me?"

DeGrassi gave her a look that she couldn't interpret. But she would bet everything she owned that he was hiding something from her. Something he didn't want her to know for some reason. She couldn't begin to guess.

Until it struck her full in the face.

The green creature whose voice sounded like Simon's.

The blood-smeared monster with Simon's light blue eyes filled with green flecks.

The frightening beast that tried to protect her.

Ohmygod. Ohgodohgodohgodohgodohgod...

"Th-that was him ... wasn't it? That ... thing ... it was Simon, wasn't it? Somehow ... it's him."

DeGrassi dropped his eyes and stared for a moment at his feet. "Come on," he finally said, giving her a little nudge.

"We'll talk on the way."

"Wait." She took a moment to turn the shirt around and slip her arms through the sleeves, buttoning it up before rejoining him.

Outside the world looked a little more normal. There were a few ambulances and one black hearse. There were also three vehicles sporting the Russup County logo on the doors.

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One older gentleman dislodged himself from the knot of men gathered by one of the cars and walked over to where she and the deputy stood waiting. He tipped the brim of his hat at her.

"Miss Drumman, I'm Sheriff George Klotsky. I'm happy to see you survived this ordeal."

"Your Welcome Wagon leaves a bit to be desired," Sarah quipped, adding a smile.

The sheriff grinned, relieved, in return. "It's nice to see you've managed to retain your sense of humor. Thom, you might want to take her over to the ambulance and have those head wounds looked at."

"No," Sarah protested. "No. I want to see my fiancé first. I want to see Simon."

"I understand that, Miss Drumman, but we're going to need to take some pictures. Get evidence of your injuries.

You understand, don't you?"

"It's okay, Sarah. As soon as we're done here, I'll take you home. You have my word," DeGrassi told her.

Nodding slightly, she allowed the deputy to lead her over to one of the emergency vehicles, where a tech quickly took her vitals and noted details of her injuries, including the shredded blouse and bruises to her upper torso. While the man went to fetch a camera, Sarah tried to ask DeGrassi about what she had seen inside, but the man motioned for her to remain silent. She obeyed.

Not much later the tech put a small bandage on the cut above her cheek and declared her fit to be released. DeGrassi helped her over to his car and placed her in the passenger 699

seat. Sarah waited quietly for them to get past the gates before speaking. But by then she had had time to fit a few more pieces of the puzzle together.

"What are they? Are they human?"

"No," the deputy replied softly. "They're aliens from another planet."

She glanced at him to see if he was serious, but she already knew he was by the tenseness evident in his body language and by the set of his face, which she could discern in the dashboard light.

"Tell me."

DeGrassi took a deep breath and let it out noisily.

"Imagine a world where another species came down and began taking people away. Just siphoning them off like goldfish out of a tank. Simon ... Simolif, and Jebaral, and Tiron, they were the goldfish. The species that took them away are the Arra. Following me so far?"

Sarah nodded.

"The Arra are known throughout the galaxy for enslaving whole races. They have no qualms about exterminating entire species on a planet. But when they took the Ruinos, they realized they'd struck gold."

"Ruin-os?"

The deputy nodded. "Barandat Vor was their home planet.

It's a lush, tropical planet much like our Amazonian rainforest. The men there are extremely strong. They have these huge claws on their hands and feet because they use them to till the ground." The man glanced over at her to see 700

how she was taking it all in. "Ruinos are a peace-loving species. They're farmers, not killers."

"But they tore into those men like they were made of paper."

"The Arra taught them to fight. The Arra made them fighters because the Ruinos had no other choice if they wanted to survive." DeGrassi swallowed loudly. "Sarah, the Arra sold them to other worlds, to the highest bidders. And the Ruinos that were too old or sickly to be sold were ...

eaten."

"What?" Sarah gasped.

He nodded again. "I know it's difficult to absorb it all at first, but I'm telling you the truth."

Sarah crossed her arms over her chest and stared out at the stars lining the heavens. She knew all the constellations.

She knew all the names for all the phenomena out there in outer space. The clusters, the gas clouds, the nebulae, comets, meteors—the list was endless, and she knew every minute detail for memory. It was ingrained into her cells as though the information had been born with her.

She also knew DeGrassi was telling her the truth. She didn't doubt anything he was telling her. After all he was—

"Oh, God." She jerked around in her seat, hand to her mouth. "You ... you're married ... to—"

"To Tiron. Yes."

"The female creature? That was her?"

Again the man nodded. He was slowing the car down. They left the rutted main road and turned onto what seemed to 701

Sarah to be nothing more than a path that wove through the edge of the forest.

"Good heavens, no wonder I couldn't find the road!" She glanced over her shoulder. "You'd think that the mill would keep its main road in better condition than that one is."

She got a snort of amusement from the man. "That's not the main road. The trucks use the main road that comes out on the other end of town. It's wider and in much better condition. But townsfolk like to use the one we were on because it's shorter and closer to town."

In the distance Sarah could see a light steadily growing closer and brighter. The nagging in her stomach that had appeared when she finally accepted the truth about what she had seen was becoming more and more persistent. And nauseating.

"Where's ... is Simon here?"

She looked over to see DeGrassi shaking his head.

"They're on their way back to the cabin. They should arrive shortly." He glanced over at her. "Hannah and I need to talk with you first."

He pulled around the makeshift circular drive, stopping in front of the cabin made of hand-hewn logs. It was rustic but appeared to blend right into the woods, as if it were meant to be there. Sarah helped herself out of the car as she stared at the house. "Ohmygosh, this place is awesome!"

"Thank you," responded the woman who had come out onto the porch to greet them. She was young, and blonde, and very beautiful. Almost the perfect match to Simon's good 702

looks, a little voice niggled in the back of Sarah's mind. Sarah sighed.

"Hi. I'm Hannah. I'm so sorry we had to meet this way,"

the woman said, holding out her arms. Sarah walked into them and immediately felt welcomed. "It's been a rough day,"

Hannah continued.

"Has anyone told you that you have a gift for understatement?" Sarah commented dryly.

The woman laughed brightly. "Come in. Thom?" She glanced at the big man standing on the steps.

"I'm right behind you."

Hannah led her into the cabin, where a profusion of potted plants also lined the walls and hallway. At the sight of all the greenery, Sarah couldn't help but smile.

"I know it's an ungodly time of the morning, but would you like some coffee?"

"Decaf?"

"No, but I have some wonderful herbal tea, and I like it even though I'm not much of a tea drinker myself."

"Sure. That would be nice. Thank you."

"Thom?"

The deputy held up a hand. "No, thanks. I've had all the caffeine I can take for the night. Sarah's been roughly handled by Pycee's men. She'll need a lot of extra attention tonight."

At the tone in his voice, Sarah looked up to see the two of them exchanging looks. She'd taken a seat in one of the kitchen chairs. It was wooden with a tall back, and a little 703

plush pillow was tied to the seat. DeGrassi dropped into a similar chair on the other side of the table.

"Do we need to make an appointment to see Dr.

Fitzhugh?" Hannah asked.

"No. One of the Med Techs examined her and gave her a clean bill of health. But a couple of aspirin might be a good idea to make sure she rests comfortably."

Sarah ran a hand through her hair. At the back of her scalp she felt the crusted bits of blood left from when Dreese had torn out some of her locks. "Please ... quit stalling and tell me what's going on. Tell me about these Ruinos. Tell me I'm dreaming. Please tell me the man I'm in love with isn't some horrible, grotesque looking creature from the black lagoon."

The microwave dinged. Hannah withdrew the mug of hot water and placed it and the packet of tea in front of her. Then she took her own seat and waited for Sarah to finish adding sweetener.

"What does he smell like to you?" she began softly.

"Huh?"

"Simon. What does he smell like to you?"

Sarah's smile came and went. The vision of a green face kept floating around, just beyond her view. "Mint. Warm, fragrant mint. Not peppermint, exactly. Or wintergreen. Or spearmint. Just ... mint." She glared at the woman. "What does that have to do with anything? Especially what happened tonight?"

"Because only true mates can smell each other's special scents. His marks you, and yours marks him." Hannah gave 704

her a wistful smile. "He told us you smell like rain. Sarah, listen. I'm going to tell you some flat facts about Ruinos.

Whether or not you want to believe me is up to you. But in the end, if you believe me, you will accept Simolif."

"But if I don't?"

"Then ... you don't. Either way, you're welcome to stay the night here. Alone. Or with Simon. It's totally up to you. In the morning, if you wish, you can leave and go back to Templeton. No one will try to stop you."

"What about what happened tonight at the mill? Won't they need my statement or anything?"

"We'll try to work around it," DeGrassi assured her. "If your testimony is needed, we'll let you know. But right now we might be able to get a conviction on what evidence we already have."

Sarah nodded to acknowledge his promise. The two people exchanged another look. Hannah cleared her throat before starting.

"Thom's told you about how they got here?"

"Hadn't gotten that far," DeGrassi informed her.

"They were kidnapped from their home world and sold to other species. Or eaten," Sarah supplied.

"Yeah. That's the PG version. Want to hear the full truth?"

Sarah stared at the pert blonde who had suddenly turned hard, as if what she was about to tell her was more difficult for her to voice than it would be for Sarah to hear.

"They were beaten and tortured. The women who were unmated were raped repeatedly. Their numbers were decimated to the point that within a few years their entire 705

species was nearly eradicated. The Arra realized this and tried to force the Ruinos women to mate with unmated Ruinos men, hoping they would find their life mates. Unless there is a true joining, Sarah, Ruinos cannot reproduce. The Arra tried to force the Ruinos into reproduction. And when that didn't work, they tried to mate them to other species."