Twisted (18 page)

Vapors. I'm running on vapors.

Slowly she rolled over onto her trembling arms.
Painfully she pushed her aching legs under her and climbed to her feet.

David glanced at her, then continued after Ed.

Gaia tried to go toward them, but she could barely manage a step. Her head swam, and her knees were weak. She wasn't going to be fast enough. There was only ten feet between David and Ed. There was at least thirty feet between Gaia and David.
There was no way
for Gaia to get to Ed in time.

“Hey,” she called in a hoarse whisper.

David kept after Ed.

“Wasn't I the one you wanted?” Gaia's voice was a little stronger this time.

The gap between David and Ed was down to five feet. David raised his knife to strike.

“Hey, chicken!” Gaia screamed.

David froze.

“Are you afraid to fight me?”

David pivoted like a rusty screen door and looked at Gaia. “I'm not afraid of you.”

“Then show me.”

Gaia had trained herself to hold back. Even when she was fighting a mugger or a thief, she was careful to stop, not injure. She threw those rules away.

David staggered toward her with the knife held high. He pointed the glittering blade toward Gaia's face and swung the edge from side to side.

David was strong. David was fast. But by now Gaia
knew one thing for sure—David wasn't well trained. She leaned back her arm as if she were going to throw a punch.

That was all it took to draw David's attention. He leaped at her with
surprising speed.

Gaia fell back. Her balance was gone. She was going to hit the ground—there was no stopping that—but there was enough strength in her legs for one last good kick. She pivoted on her left foot, kicking and falling at the same time.

David's right leg broke with a noise
like a gunshot
. A thin, high whine escaped his blood-smeared mouth as both he and Gaia toppled to the ground.

GAIA LAY ON HER BACK IN THE
grass, biding her time. She knew David thought she was spent. Done. Gone. But she was just waiting. Overhead, the gloomy clouds that had covered the sky all day finally parted. Stars peeked through.

She'd never seen stars in the city. But they were up there now, sparkling down at Gaia as if they had come out just to watch
the bitter end
.

From somewhere nearby she could hear sounds of breathing. They weren't pleasant sounds. The breathing was kind of wet, as if the person making the noise was pulling as much blood as air into his lungs with every breath.

A hand grasped Gaia's ankle. Another closed on her knee. Something hard and cold pressed against the skin of her leg.

David was coming.
He was climbing along Gaia's body
, and he still had his knife.

Patience. Patience.

One of David's hands came down in the middle of Gaia's stomach with painful force. The other hand, the hand with the knife, slid along her arm.

It was strange. After a lifetime of feeling alone, or embarrassed, or just plain angry, what Gaia felt now was calm. She had done everything she could. Somewhere, way down in her brain, a voice was calling for her to get up. Get up and fight. But that voice was faint and far away.

Gaia was tired. Very, very tired. But maybe, just maybe, if she waited until just the right moment, she could finish this thing.
And maybe she could live through it.

Tangled black hair came into view. Even from this close, Gaia could barely recognize the face as David's. His nose flattened like a pancake. His face painted over in blood. His lips pulled back in a snarl of rage.

Slowly David dragged himself beside Gaia. Then he raised the knife and held it above her chest.

“See?” he croaked through bloody lips. “See, I'm the best after all. I can beat you. I'm the best.”

Gaia had no idea what he was talking about. David sat up straighter, raised the knife high, and plunged it down at Gaia. She raised her arms. Watched his eyes widen in surprise. And then it happened.

THE SOUND CAME THREE TIMES,
all very close together. Hiss. Hiss. Hiss. It was like the noise of air being let out of a bicycle tire. Like water falling on a hot skillet.

DAVID'S SHOULDER ERUPTED. HIS
body twitched around to the left, and blood poured out across his chest. There was a cracking, and for a moment Gaia saw something white exposed in the core of his wounds.

Bone.

“I . . .,” said David. “You . . .” A bloody foam spilled from his lips. It hit her face with
a sickening splatter
. David toppled off of Gaia and fell still at her side.

For several seconds Gaia lay there, trying to understand what had happened. Something had hurt David. Something had stopped him.

She wasn't going to die. Not now. It seemed like an
impossible thought.

Someone stepped into view at the edge of the clearing. Gaia turned her head for a better look.

She saw a tall figure in a trench coat. She saw the gun in his hand.
She knew the face
. Her uncle. Apparently he couldn't call or write, but he had an uncanny ability to materialize when she was in danger.

The figure at the edge of the clearing only stood there for a few moments. Then he turned and stepped back into the shadows of the trees.

Gaia closed her eyes.

IT TOOK ED NEARLY TEN MINUTES TO
get his wheelchair upright, get his battered self into it, and roll across the damp ground to Gaia's side. For every one of
those ten minutes
he harbored the unthinkable thought that she was dead.

And yet when he actually reached the center of the clearing, he was amazed to see Gaia sit up and push her ratty hair away from her face.

Total, utter, complete, euphoric relief.

Ed calmed his heaving chest before he let himself open his mouth. “Hey, Gaia,” he called. “Your new boyfriend's the killer.”

Gaia made a tired, gasping noise that might have been laughter on
the planet Exhaustion.
She stood slowly, swayed on her feet for a few seconds, then staggered over to lean against Ed's chair.

“Thanks for the update,” she said. “How did you get in here?”

“Easy.” Ed rapped his knuckles against the armrest of the wheelchair. “I got in while Sam was getting arrested.”

Gaia blinked. “Sam got arrested?”

“Worked out
great as a distraction.”
Ed said with a grin.

“Okay,” said Gaia. She shook her head and swayed so badly that she almost lost her grip on the chair.

“What happened?” asked Ed. “I couldn't see what was going on. I was so afraid. . . . I mean, I was afraid he was going to . . .”

“Kill me?” Gaia nodded slowly. “He almost did. We'll leave him for the police.”

David suddenly moaned.
His broken, bleeding hand scrabbled at the grass.

Gaia pulled back her foot and kicked him again. The moaning stopped.

Ed looked at her and shook his head. “You know, sometimes I can't tell if you're really brave or just perpetually pissed off.”

TOM KNEW HE HAD TO GET MOVING.

Once Loki and his operatives had figured out that Tom Moore was here, they wouldn't pass up the chance to bag him when they had it.

He turned to leave and heard movement behind him. Quickly he pressed himself against the dark trunk of an elm and waited.

A man was coming across the field. It was a tall man,
a man Tom had no trouble recognizing.

Loki walked straight across the trampled field. He paused a moment beside the broken form on the ground. Then he knelt, grabbed the boy by the hair, and delivered
a sharp slap
across the face.

David groaned.

“Wake up,” said Loki. Another slap. “Open your eyes.”

The eyelids fluttered.

“She shot you?” Loki said.
“She used a gun?”

The boy on the ground said something. From his place by the trees, Tom couldn't hear the words, but he could hear Loki's reply.

“Home?” Loki shook his head. “I'm afraid that boat has already sailed.
You're worthless
to me now.”

The boy spoke again, and this time Tom could make out his words.

“I'll tell,” he said. His voice was high and raw, like a child who had been crying. “I'll tell them everything.”

“Yes.” Loki released his grip on the boy's blood-soaked hair and stood.
“Yes, I'm sure you would.”

Tom knew what was coming next. He turned away from the scene and started to make his way through the woods. He had gone no more than a dozen steps before he heard the gunshot.

There
have always been horror stories about first dates, blind dates, setups, hookups, and probably a bunch of scenarios I've never even heard of.

But this has to be one for the record books.

This is the type of thing that could only happen to someone as undateable as me.

At least I didn't kiss him.