Dark Knight of the Skye (26 page)

“Eat a lot, we’ll be starving when we wake… just one small thing. Take a shower, or if you can’t find one, jump in the closest river.”

“Holy Saint’s, hen,” Danny laughed. “T’wul be dawn iffin ye dinnae both are fur nae givin it a rest.”

“This is great,” Arnaud interrupted.

“Ye’ll nae hae a thin tae say when ye hae a hen tae boss ye…,” he paused looking over at D`nae. “Ne’re ye mind, just be fur keppin tae yersel.” Then he wrinkled his brows and nodded once at D`nae.

“Hmm,” she smiled. “He’s right, it’s late and I’m just worried about my mom. Take care of Duchess. She loves fries, so y’all share. Grady, you know I’m just jackin’ with ya, right?”

“Why do you think I stick around? I’ve never had a little sister before, and I’m kinda getting used to being around you guys.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed,” she winked, then glanced back at Tabitha, who was now loving on Duchess.

The three canines drove away, with the four legged one sitting in the middle, with Tabitha’s arm around her back. The other three stood in the dust of the truck and the red glow of the taillights as they drove off. D`nae looked first to Danny, then over at their newfound friend, Arnaud.

“If one bug touches me while I’m asleep, you both are going to get it.”

When Arnaud started to explain that she wouldn’t know it anyway, Danny just put his hand on his shoulder and shook his head. Arnaud smiled, and knew at that moment that he had made the right decision to give them his alliance. He had made friends with his creator’s enemy, and instead of pushing them in the direction that Alasdair wanted them to go, he followed in the way that they were choosing, fighting as one of them as if he had been with them from the very beginning. Danny took D`nae’s hand, and shockingly, she reached out and offered her free hand to Arnaud. He took it tentatively at first, then squeezed when he felt the pressure of her weight, and the three flew to their cave of protection.

They landed at the mouth of the cave and D`nae dropped both of their hands, standing and watching as the two of them starting making their way deeper in. Danny walked back to her and took her by the hand. She smiled, but the only thing running through her mind was what she couldn’t see crawling on the sand colored walls. Danny called out to Arnaud, then pitched him his lighter. He spun the wheel and the jagged opening came to life. Every nightmare that D`nae had had as a child was starting to come true. The thought of being trapped in a room full of spiders and snakes was one of her worse fears, along with her newest one of being locked in a sanctuary for the loved ones that are no longer among the living. The death grip she had on Danny’s arm was all he needed to know that she was in no way liking their temporary stay, but there was absolutely nothing he could do but keep an eye out for anything that slithered, or was smaller than the palm of his hand.

They reached the turn and both Arnaud and Danny moved to the far left to miss the hanging roots of the shrubs overhead, but D`nae, who was constantly looking behind her, walked face first into the hanging tendrils. Her scream was ear piercing and the movement of her arms was like a windmill in a thunderstorm. The more she swung at the things, the more she became entangled in the fine silk like veins of the roots. Danny was laughing so hard that he was having a difficult time telling her that it wasn’t a giant spider web, and she was managing more of her wild swings on his upper arms and head than the roots themselves. Arnaud, being raised with several siblings, could hardly maintain himself, holding himself up on the wall, laughing so hard that he couldn’t stand straight. D`nae fell back, landing hard on her backside, holding up the broken roots in her hands.

“What? I don’t like spiders!” she proclaimed shaking all over and letting Danny help her to her feet. “Not one word, either of you.”

She turned around and tripped right into the huge sinkhole that Arnaud was trying to warn her about. The lighter went spinning out of her hand and blackness drenched the cave. “Danny! Danny, help me up!” she screamed, feeling for the top of the rim frantically with her hands. It was the sound of the rattlers that made her freeze where she was half-lying, half-hanging with her arms stretched up. She willed herself to lift off the ground but her body was firmly anchored to the dirt floor. Tears were pouring down her face by the time Arnaud clicked the lighter to life, and Danny’s heart melted with the sight of her innocence. He jumped down in the sunken ground and crushed the head of the snake behind her, then pitched it out of sight. He leaned down and gently laid his hand on her back.

“Shhh, tis a’ richt noo, luv. Wisnae ne’re goin tae hurt ye, no why Ah’m alive.”

“I really don’t think the poison of anything can hurt our kind,” Arnaud said squatting down.

“I don’t care, they’re gross,” she cried, pulling herself out and to her knees with Danny’s help. “You could have told me a hole was here.”

They all three watched the slow moving glow crawl on the outer curve of the wall as they fell to the pull of their daily deaths. D`nae gripped onto Danny, and he encased her as if he would never hold her again. Arnaud sat as close to D`nae’s back as he could without touching, and pulled his knees up, placing his face down, waiting for the burn of his flesh as it peeled away from his bones, just as he had seen right before the door was slammed and he died to the daylight world, many evenings ago.

Grady drove into the small town of Eagle Pass, and saw no drive thru that would even be open at the hour. He did, however, see a small convenient store and pulled in. He asked if Tabitha needed to go to the bathroom or wanted anything special from inside. Fries were the first thing she asked for, and she gave him a strange look for asking when he told her it wasn’t that kind of a store. He told her he would surprise her with something different and went in, soon coming back out with two little white bags and two bottles of soda pop. He got in and handed her one, then pulled out a burrito and started eating it. She watched him for a few minutes, smelled the aroma, then followed his actions. She filled her mouth, chewed a bit, then spit the food out the window.

She hesitantly took a small sip, then turned the bottle up, drinking half of its contents without stopping. Before they headed back out toward the others that afternoon, Grady had pulled back into that same little store seven times to get her more root beer, then bought two twelve packs for the road, along with a large bag of dog food. While he was driving back out, Tabitha sat in the backseat playing with Duchess. She stretched her legs to get more comfortable, accidentally kicking over the bag of dog food. Duchess immediately started sniffing around the top, so Tabitha tore the top open and smiled as Duchess went to town on the contents inside. It wasn’t long before she could smell the sweet scent coming from the bag and reached in, grabbing a handful. By the time Grady got a good look in the review mirror, she was happily chewing and going for seconds.

He sat there for a minute, looking back through the mirror, then closed his eyes and turned around right as she popped several pieces in her mouth.

“Honey, that bag is meant for her kind, not ours. It’s dog food,” he explained then waited for her response, but all she did was pop more into her mouth. “Humans make that just for there four legged companions. It’s not meant for human intake.”

“It’s far better than that beef roll you gave me this morning,” she replied crunching down, making his stomach churn.

“That’s just not right.”

“You ate wild pig. Taste this and tell me that it is not just as good as that thing you gave me,” she said, holding out her hand.

“I don’t remember much about the pig… much, but where I come from we just don’t eat dog food, babe,” he said, making his way over the seat.

Grady started digging around in the grocery bags that he had gotten from the store and pulled out white powdered donuts. “These are my favorite,” he said as he opened them and ate one, making all the yummy sounds he could, saying the words ‘how sweet’ like a man talking to his lover. She licked her lips, remembering the sweet sensation that had already past her tongue, and dropped the dog food back into the bag. He smiled at her and handed her two of the donuts, watching as she put them to her nose. She put one of the mini’s in her mouth, and giggled like a child, looking at Grady with huge eyes. The sounds she was making gave him the giggles and within minutes they were both laughing, shoving white powered mini donuts into their mouths. With every burst of air that shot out, a small puff of white sugar wasn’t far behind. Both were sprinkled in tiny white dots from the lap of their legs to the collar bones of their shirts.

Tabitha looked up at Grady and laughed out loud so hard that partially chewed donut flew from her mouth and hit him right in the face. Grady grabbed her and rolled her onto her back, making Duchess jumped over into the front seat. She continued to laugh as he smeared the donut he was holding into the side of her face. She screamed out, reaching under him for the last of them. Out of nowhere, she lifted her upper body and licked the sweet sugar off the side of his cheek, grazing the corner of his lips. She laid back down, looking up at the man who was no longer smiling back at her. She chuckled out a few times then just laid there breathing heavily. Grady reached up and moved the hair that was lying across her forehead, then bent down and kissed her lightly on the lips. Tabitha’s heart began to race and the moment that Grady lowered his body down on top of hers, it seemed to stop altogether before ending up at the base of her throat.

Grady couldn’t take his eyes off of hers, not even to kiss her soft lips again. He was captivated with the way the brown of her eyes was actually moving and taking on a slight glow. She reached up and grabbed the back of his head, bringing her face mere inches from his. He placed his hand under her back, and pressed her chest to his, while her eyes searched his desire. She blinked, lowering her lashes in a dazed manner then opened them just enough to look deeply into his eyes. She took his mouth with a passion that drove them back down into the seat. Tabitha wrapped her legs around his waist and Grady responded, pressing his full need into her. Her chest arched against his, and her nails raked down his back, leaving four fine tears down both sides of his shirt.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked, his breath sending chills down the length of her body as the warm air of each word touched her cheek.

“I have never been asked. You are my first shifter,” she whispered back against his ear.

“I have felt your call since the moment I woke in this body. I smell you like you’re next to me at all times,” he kissed down the side of her neck. “You’re like a drug that I’m finding myself addicted to in ways that I can’t even explain.”

“My needs have not failed to notice your scent either, and I must admit, it maddens me,” she replied, biting down on his shoulder.

“We have to get out of this truck,” Grady said, pushing himself up.