The Forbidden Trilogy (64 page)

"And modest. Let's not forget that."

"No, we mustn't forget my modesty. It's my most
charming quality, after all."

Lucy couldn't help but return his smile.

They'd been walking so long, lost in each other's banter,
that they hadn't been paying attention to the sounds in the jungles until they
heard a crash.

Lucy jumped. "Something's out there. Let's go
look."

"I love a woman who walks toward potential
danger."

She ignored his comment—at least she pretended to—and crept
up to a huge fallen tree that a car could've driven through, had there been a
pathway. It reminded her of the giant redwoods in California. They peeked over
to see what kind of animal was causing such a ruckus, and Lucy nearly fell over
at the sight.

Hunter rested his hand on her lower back, and while she
didn't need it there for support, she liked how the warmth of it traveled
through her body. But even a touch from Hunter couldn't distract her from what
stood before them.

Huge, giant, enormous animals. No, not animals. They had
hard shells with bright emerald patterns on them. Some had scary looking horns
protruding from their face—a top and bottom horn that curved upward with
teeth-like notches on it. They looked like....

"Beetles." Hunter spoke in a whisper.
"They're beetles, I think. Only... giant!"

Giant was an understatement. Four of them, each twice the
size of a mini-van, foraged in a clearing.

Lucy studied them more closely and recognized something
about them. "My brother is a big bug expert. He had a book once that he
couldn't stop talking about. Everyday he'd insist on showing me pictures and
filling my head with useless bug trivia. I remember a beetle, a Hercules
beetle, I think they're called, that looked like these. Obviously not as big,
and these are more brightly colored, but otherwise they're similar. If I
recall, they're actually harmless. They eat rotten fruit."

"You're a surprising woman, Lucy." He moved his
hand up her back and to her shoulder. "We need to get back and tell the
others about this."

He turned to go, but Lucy didn't move. "Wait. I want to
get closer, to see them better."

"Are you nuts? We have no idea what they'd do. Besides,
the others need to be warned."

Lucy ignored him and crawled forward, scaling the dead tree
and slowly approaching the beetles.

Hunter cursed as he climbed the tree and joined her.
"You need to stop and think. This is dangerous and reckless."

She pointed out one beetle in particular, who looked
different than the rest. "Look at him. Look at those colors—blues and
purples. Do you think he's the leader or something? He looks bigger than the
others too."

Although, at their size, it all became a neck-straining
blur. Lucy took another step to get closer. She wanted to see their horns, and
to examine the shell of what she assumed were the females. She stepped on a
twig, and it snapped. The sound seemed to fill up the valley, and the giant
beetles all paused in their scuttling and looked at her.

Hunter tensed beside her. "Shit. Let's go."

Lucy pulled out her gun and aimed at the creatures, but
couldn't pull the trigger. A loud horn blasted.

"Lucy, come on." Hunter grabbed her arm and pulled
her toward the log and over it.

She holstered her gun and let Hunter lead her away.

Had the beetles made that sound? They must have, because
they charged after Lucy and Hunter like a stampede of angry elephants.

Just as Lucy's foot cleared the log they'd climbed over, it
moved. The beetles were ramming into it.

She and Hunter ran faster, harder, pushing themselves to get
back to the group and warn them. The ground under their feet rumbled like an
earthquake. A root snagged her foot and she tripped, but caught herself
mid-fall and kept running. The foliage thickened in one place, making it harder
to run. Hunter pulled out his sword and hacked through the web of green bushes
and branches to give them an easier clearing. Trees shook around them as they
finally approached the other agents and Luke.

Lucy screamed through heavy breathing. "Run! Run
now!"

The agents looked confused, but the horns blared again and
the ground thundered. Everyone turned and ran with Lucy and Hunter.

Luke caught up with them. "What the hell's going on,
Sis?"

The beetles broke through the shrubs they'd run behind, and
now everyone could see what they were running from, including Luke. "Oh
shit. Not good."

One of the agents tripped and fell on a rock, scraping his
knee bad enough to draw blood. Simmons helped him up and pushed him to run.
They came to a fallen tree in their path, with no way around. The scrambled up
and over it, helping each other in the process. The beetles caught up with
them, rolling the tree trunk out of the way as the last agent cleared it.
Surrounded by the giant creatures, they found themselves at a dead end against
a boulder.

Right or left?
Lucy grabbed Luke and pulled him
right. Hunter followed them.

The other agents, led by Simmons, weaved to the left to
avoid one of the beetles, who slammed into the boulder head first and fell
over, stunned. The other beetles learned from their fallen comrade, and one
chased the agents while two followed Lucy, Luke and Hunter.

The terrain became rocky and uneven, making the running
harder, but they pushed through. Sweat dripped down Lucy's face and into her
eyes. She swiped at it and forced her body to move faster. Another drop of
sweat stung her eyes and she closed them on reflex without slowing. Strong
hands wrapped around her chest and pulled her back.

"Stop. Look." Hunter held her against his body.
She could feel his heart race against her back.

When she stopped, he dropped his arms from her chest to her
waist, but didn't let go. She looked down and realized he'd just saved her from
running straight off the cliff.

She took a step back, and his body moved with hers.

"Good. You okay?" He turned her around and
examined her.

"I'm fine. Thank you."

She noticed Luke scowling at them from a few feet away.
Whatever.
He could be Mr. Mopey if he wanted; she was done with it. Besides, she didn't
need his permission to get to know a guy.

They heard the beetles approach. "We have to decide
where to go. We can't just keep running."

She eyed a log that created a bridge to the other side of
the cliff. Below them, way below them, a furious spray of water assaulted sharp
rock. "We could walk across that. They wouldn't be able to follow."

Luke shook his head. "No way. That's crazy. That thing
isn't stable."

Down the trail, the largest blue beetle crashed his body
through a few trees. He'd be there soon. They had to hurry.

"Give me a better idea." Without waiting for a
response, Lucy climbed onto the log and started crossing to the other side.
Beneath her, water surged and crashed against rock. But it was a long way to
that water. She looked back toward her destination and focused on that.

Just like driving, you had to keep your eyes on where you
wanted to go, because your car, or in this case, your body, would naturally
travel in the direction you were looking. Much like life, actually. Whatever
you focused on the most was what you manifested.

Hunter immediately joined her on the log, followed by a
sulking Luke. They were half way across when the beetle approached the log and
rested its front legs on it.

The log shook. It couldn't withstand the pressure of the
three of them plus the beetle.

"Luke, we're going to have to jump. You need to slow us
down, like you did before."

"No, Luce. I can't. Keep going. We can make it to the
other side."

Before Lucy could respond, the log tipped to the side and
Lucy jumped off.

Hunter and Luke fell off the log as well, and the three of
them fell toward the dangerous and rocky water.

Her heart pounded and the world spun. "Luke! You have
to slow us down!"

Nothing. They didn't slow, and Lucy braced for the impact
that could kill her. Hunter reached out his hand and she grabbed it, squeezing
it tight as she closed her eyes.

With mere seconds left before impact, the air around them
shifted and thickened.

Luke is doing it! But wait...
They were still falling
too fast. "Luke!"

Water rushed up to meet Lucy. She stared into Hunter's green
eyes, and he didn't let go of her hand as they crashed into the water and
everything went black.

Darren drove through the darkness. This far into the
countryside, no streetlights showed us the way, and the headlights of our car
only illuminated so much.

I punched redial over and over, desperate to reach Mrs.
Beaumont, but she didn't pick up. I tried to force my powers to guide me to her
and Tommy, or at least tell me what had happened, but they refused to bend to
my will. Instead, they mocked me with a sense of looming disaster without
giving me any tools to fight it.

Darren frowned. "Maybe ease up on the phone. It doesn't
seem to be helping."

I dropped it in my lap and sighed. "Nothing is helping.
Nothing is working. Where are they?"

We drove along the route they would have taken to get from
the airport to the mansion, so we'd have to find them one way or another—unless
they'd gotten lost. Or something worse. My stomach cramped, and I forced away
those thoughts.

Darren turned on the radio, presumably to distract me. A
country love song filled the car, and though it wasn't
the-song-that-could-not-be-named—I so did
not
need reminding of that
drive with Drake, as we fled our fate and headed to California together—it was
close enough to bring tears to my eyes.

Drake. Any small thing could tear that wound open again.

Sensing the change in mood, Darren flipped off the radio.
"Sorry, just thought some music might help."

I swiped at an errant tear. "No, it's okay. Just
emotional. It's the hormones. And worry."

"I understand. I get it, Sam. You've been through hell,
and now you're worried about Tommy. None of us will ever understand what it's
been like for you. You saved us all from that fate and now you have to live it
alone. I'm so sorry." He touched my hand briefly, then pulled back, as if
unsure how to offer comfort without stepping into something more than
friendship.

"I'm glad no one else has to experience this. And
everyone has been very supportive. It's not so bad." Even as I said it, my
heart cracked open, and a sob escaped.

All of the fear and anguish and loneliness and misery poured
out of me. I hadn't cried since Ana had been born, not wanting to saddle her
with that emotional baggage so soon, but this awful fear for Tommy and his
mother released all my pent-up grief.

Darren reached across the seats and put his arms around me,
using his powers to keep the car steady, and I turned his shirt into a wet mess
of tears. He didn't speak, didn't tell me to stop crying. He just let me be
until my sobs turned to hiccups, and I could finally breathe again.

I used my sleeve to wipe my eyes. "This is embarrassing.
Maybe I should've come alone. I'm clearly not sane enough to be around other
people."

He wiped the hair out of my face. "That's why you
shouldn't be alone, Sam. You need your friends."

A familiar tension built between us, and it scared me.
"Darren, we
are
friends, and I'm so grateful. More than you could
know. But that's all I can be right now. Please understand."

He smiled, his hazel eyes full of compassion. "I'm not
going to lie, Sam. I've had a crush on you since we were kids. If we could ever
be something more, I want it, but now is not the time. Just know that I'm here
for you, as a friend, or... more."

His strength and warm presence tempted me, but my heart
wasn't mine to give away. Not anymore, and maybe not ever. Still, I had no idea
he'd felt that way for so long. Suddenly all the little things in our past
presented themselves in a whole new way—the time he'd shared his lunch with me
when Mary had splattered mine into my lap, the way he'd always shared school
supplies in class. We'd never talked much, so I didn't know him well, but he'd
been a steady presence in my life since kindergarten.

I'd always thought of him as a kid, but the man sitting
before me gave me a new perspective. Neither of us was a kid anymore, and for
better or worse, the dynamics of our relationship had changed. I didn't know
what to say or how to respond to his declaration.

Before I could come up with something, a vision slammed into
me.

'Sam! Sam! Help me, Sam! They're coming for me. Sam!'

Tommy called for me, but I couldn't see him the way I
sometimes saw the other kids—one of the new powers the Seeker had given me. I
only saw a ball of light that represented Tommy.

'Hurry, Sam. I don't have long.'

"Sam, what's going on? What do you see?"

"It's Tommy. Someone's coming for him. We have to
hurry."

He pulled his arm away and clutched the wheel. The car
lunged forward. "Do you know where he is?"

"He's close, or was. We need to keep an eye on the
road."

Haunted trees cast strange shadows in the headlights, their
normal beauty taking on a sinister glare. Monsters seemed to lurk there in the
dark.

My stomach clenched in fear and future grief.
Whom would
I mourn tonight?
For evil stalked me, and I wouldn't face the morning
unscathed.

Twenty minutes later, the flicker of dying headlights by the
road confirmed my fears. "Stop!"

Darren slammed on the brakes. Before the car could even
settle, I flew out and ran to the side of the road, using our own headlights to
navigate the treacherous terrain.