He crossed his arms. “Hasn’t anyone ever told you not to believe everything you hear?”
“I’ve heard that a time or two,” she said, playfulness in her eyes, or was it . . . flirting? “The thing is, rumors generally become so because they’re true.”
“That’s a messed-up view to have.”
“I know. That’s why I give the person the benefit of the doubt before I accept the rumor as the be-all-end-all.” She smiled at him, no disguise about the flirtation in it, and what was crazy was Patrick’s smile of reciprocation.
Here we were, death circling around us in some sweltering Central American jungle, and these two found it an appropriate time to bat lashes at each other. Dinosaurs had better survival instincts.
These two were perfect for each other.
I snapped my fingers. “Back to reality kids. Reality being thirty of John’s gorillas chomping at the bits to pull every last bit of life from us.”
The four light faces around me eclipsed into darkness. Debbie –Downer wasn’t generally my thing, but a girl’s got to do what she’s got to do to save her man.
“The Morpher’s here,”—I gestured at him—“morphed and ready to go. You two can stay here and pass notes if you want,”—I didn’t make the annoyance in my eyes slight—“but I’m getting you out of here.”
William was staring back at me, covering his mouth that I knew was turned up in amusement. “I’m getting you out of here,” he said, still looking amused by my tirade, before turning to Norberto. He embraced him and though it seemed there should be stranger things I’d seen, I couldn’t think of any as I watched William hugging . . . himself.
“If you need anything, anything at all, you know where to find me.”
My William pulled back from imposter William as he said, “An honor, sir.”
Patrick threw his arms in the air, giving me a look that said, can you believe this guy? Before twisting Norberto away from William. “You know what to do, you’ve been trained by the best”—Patrick winked at him—“make me proud. Divert some Inheritor slugs.”
Norberto high-fived him like he’d just been given a pep-talk pregame as opposed to pre-death. “Ladies,” Norberto nodded at us, his legs popping from energy.
“Lead them away from here, as far as you can,” William said, likely feeling the weight of having to chose between the deaths of many Mortals to the death of one Immortal. It couldn’t have been an easy one, but he exuded grace under fire. “Then morph back as soon as you can. You know what they’ll do to you if they catch you?”
Norberto nodded once. “I grew up in a village near here. I take my calling of being a Guardian seriously. If it takes my life to save theirs, I’d consider my Immortality well spent.” With that, he jetted into the trees, nothing but the white-blue streak trailing into the night to remember him by.
I, like William, would be forever indebted to Norberto. There’d be few things I’d deny him if he ever asked me for a favor.
“You two go first,” Patrick instructed, kneeling beside me, coaxing me up with his shoulder. “Sierra will go with me.” He looked at her, challenging her to argue back, but there was nothing but agreement shining from her. “We’ll take the first plane out of here since I can bet neither one of you thought to bring any kind of identification.” His eyes pointed at us in a parental way.
William and I shifted.
“That’s what I thought. Good thing I’m the responsible one.” He looked back down at Sierra. “And since I’m all too aware that John requires all his people to carry the proper identification to be ready for anything, I’d wager your passport and ID are in your inside left coat pocket.” He fished for said pocket, Sierra’s eyes narrowing in direct relation to how long he fished. “Man, I’m good,” he said, waving several documents our way.
Realizing we were still there, he said, “Do you need me to do a countdown, maybe ready-set-go style?”
I felt the same confusion register in William as was me.
“Code word for,” Patrick said under his breath, “get the hell out of here.”
“What about you?” I asked, stepping forward. “You don’t have any time to waste trying to maneuver your way into this poor, unsuspecting girl’s better judgments.”
“Watch who you’re calling unsuspecting, sweetheart,” Sierra said, “or poor for that matter. I’ve got a reflector field so impenetrable to guys like him it would make your pretty little head spin.”
Patrick motioned at her like he was showing off his A+ science project. Reviewing William and my flat faces, he ceased the joking. “Don’t worry, we’ll be out of here soon. I want you guys to go first so we can be the ones they’re hot on if any get past Norberto. Besides, what’s the fun in being an Immortal if I can’t give myself a hit of death-induced adrenaline from time to time?” He grinned, his face alive. “Hurry on home. We’ll be waiting.”
“Don’t wait up,” William said, his voice spilling implications. “It might take us awhile.”
“I really enjoyed the time off I had from gagging around you two love-birds,” Patrick said, cringing. “Oh well, as they say, all good things must come to an end.” He looked at me. “Take care of him.”
“That’s all I’ve ever tried to do,” I replied, looking down.
“Yeah, but you’ve done a sucky job of it. Stop being such a martyr. Grab your man and ride off into the sunset.”
“I will,” I vowed, perhaps the most solemn one I would make.
“Welcome back, sister,” he said. “I missed you.”
“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I missed you, too.” My smile turned stern and I was back in the present moment. “Don’t wait any longer than a minute,” I told him. “I’m serious, Patrick.”
A salute was all I got before I was thrown against William’s chest via his arms that had lifted me into them. “He’ll be fine. This is like the kiddie pool in comparison to the deep water Patrick’s been in over the years.”
“Hopefully I didn’t forget my floaties back home,” Patrick’s voice dimmed as we darted through the jungle.
I’d experienced William’s speed before, if speed was the right word to use. Mach 3 seemed the better description given the way we were jetting forward, the jungle blurring into a dark green tunnel. It had me wondering if William’s odometer topped out at a maximum speed limit. I felt another burst of speed ignite in him, as if proving limits weren’t something that pertained to him.
It seemed silly he was carrying me when I was plenty capable of holding my own tramping through the Nicaraguan jungle, but the thought of separating myself from him, if only by a few feet, seemed like an impossibility.
“I don’t think so,” he said, pointing his eyes at where my teeth were victimizing my lower lip. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Fine by me,” I said, amazed. We’d always been able to feel each others emotions, like some sixth sense inside me could register what was going through him, but it appeared his had sharpened to the point of reading my mind . . . with crazy good accuracy. Super. Just what I needed.
“In fact . . .” He skidded to a stop, lowering me to the ground, pressing me into the nearest tree. “This is better,” he whispered. “You’re not going anywhere from here . . . for awhile.” My heart didn’t have a chance to react before his mouth covered mine. He kissed me, hard and deep, crushing his body into mine.
I was sandwiched between the banyan tree and William’s body, positively squished with no air to breath, yet I couldn’t pull him tighter to me. My hands roamed his back, welcoming him closer, wondering if our bodies could fuse into one. A few notes of splintering sounded behind me, reminding me that the object holding us up behind me was not Immortal strength. Something else floated to mind . . .
“Are you serious?” I breathed, giving a weak effort at shoving him away. “What are you thinking?” I scanned the area surrounding us, trying to calm the flames he could turn into a wildfire in about two seconds.
“That was kind of the point,” he said, his breathing accelerated. “I didn’t want to think. I just wanted to kiss you.”
I sidestepped him, backing up a few yards, knowing from experience distance from him and my rationality were in direct relation. “I appreciate the effort. I really appreciate it,” I said, my lips still warm from his. “But I can’t really imagine a worse time to take a hiatus from thinking.”
He stayed silent, looking like he was consumed with trying to calm his breathing, so I continued “Let me restart your memory. We’ve got a pack of John’s soldiers on our trail.” His face didn’t change, looking like he needed another jumpstart. “Sent here to kill you.”
He shrugged, like John’s men were chasing him with nothing more deadly than paint-ball guns. I felt a bit of my anger switch to him. There was no way I could protect him if he took such brash risks with his life. “All I care about is that you were gone an hour ago and now you’re back in my life. I want to be with you, making up for lost time, not dodging a bunch of Inheritors in the jungle. Let’s face it, Bryn, there will always be something or someone chasing us; we can’t live our lives running a never-ending marathon.” His eyes held mine, coming for me. “Besides, you’ve got a lot of making up to do.”
I swallowed, my throat going dry. I back-stepped, matching every one he took towards me. “I’ll make you a promise,” I said, taking another survey of the surrounding area. “Once we make it to the Colorado border, we can take a break . . . where we can do a little making up for lost time.”
“Colorado?” he said, a note short of a holler. “That’s a good day away. No deal.” His head shook. “Mexico. And I’ll take more than just a little making up for lost time.”
It was my head’s turn to shake. “I want more than just a thousand miles of distance between us and this place before we let our guards down.”
“Just how much distance are we talking about?” he asked, wetting his lips, making no qualms about tempting me back to him—as attractive and luring as a venus fly-trap.
“I’ll take three countries and two states,” I answered, crossing my arms.
“Not a chance,” he answered, crossing his arms as well, although I’m sure it was another attempt at tempting me towards him since his arms were bursting through the cuffs of his shirt. “Texas.” I opened my mouth to object. “And that’s my final offer. Take it or leave it.”
We’d wasted enough time arguing. Whatever distance we’d covered from William’s rip-roaring speed could have been closed by John’s men if Norberto and Patrick’s plan hadn’t worked. “Deal,” I sighed. “Since I don’t really have any other choice.”