Hunting Medusa: The Medusa Trilogy, Book 1 (14 page)

She met his gaze full-on. “I promise.”

He nodded slowly. “You may need it.”

A frown line appeared between her dark brows.

His cousin was persistent, after all, and Stavros wouldn’t let Kallan stand in his way. He’d let no one stand in his way when he set his sights on something.

Perhaps he should have let his cousin come yesterday when she could have turned him to stone, solving one part of their problem. It wouldn’t have solved the issues between them, but it would have gotten Stavros out of their way.

Andrea looked around the room, then into the living room. “I need one more thing.”

He turned to watch her go up the stairs before he moved to the chest she kept along the living room wall. He touched the latch so the lock gave, then pulled out her dagger, as well as his own weapons. And her silverware. He grinned at the look on her face when she got to the foot of the steps again.

“Well.” She stared while he put her knife block back on the counter and dropped the forks and knives back into the drawer.

“The lack of silverware would look odd if anyone came in.”

Her mouth flattened. “You think he’ll search the house?”

“I would, if it were me.” He saw no sense in lying to her. Not now. Especially since Stavros was the most dangerous of his cousins.

She swallowed, then nodded briskly. “I suppose so.”

He dropped his gaze to her hand, where a small box peeked out between her thumb and finger. “What’s that?”

“My grandmother’s necklace. I wouldn’t want to lose it. If I can’t come back.”

Kallan felt his chest squeeze as she tucked the box into her backpack along with her cell phone and its charger. He knew he wasn’t personally responsible for the war their families waged. It had been going on for centuries and centuries. But he felt responsible for leading his cousin here. Perhaps his digging into the myths and lore had alerted Stavros to her whereabouts. He had no way of knowing.

She stuck her wallet into the pack too, then zipped it up. “I think that’s it.”

“You’ll need to put on boots, I think.” He cleared his throat.

She toed off her sneakers and bent to grab the hiking boots beside the back door where he’d put them after that first night. His gaze caught on the curve of her behind, and his breath snagged in his chest.

Now is
not
the time.
Still, he watched the play of her muscles in the close-fitting denim as she put her boots on.

“Can you think of anything else you want to take along?” He needed a distraction.

Andrea shook her head. “I think we’re set.” Her jaw was tight, and her eyes were clear. Resolute.

He took a quick breath and held out her dagger.

Their fingers brushed when she took it from him, sending heat rushing up his arm. And hers, judging by the way her eyes darkened and widened. She turned away, sticking the dagger into the sheath he knew was inside her right boot, then straightened.

“Ready?”

She nodded. “Let’s go.”

Kallan helped her get her backpack onto her shoulders, then hoisted his own before letting them out of the house. “Which way?”

She lifted her chin toward the far corner of the house, away from the trail they’d taken once already.

And he followed her, noting her purposeful stride as they headed into the shadows of the towering trees. He hoped this turned out better than all the other encounters between Harvesters and Medusas over the last generations.

But he couldn’t say for sure, which made him nervous. Edgy.

Andi kept up her steady pace as they trekked farther into the forest. The sounds of the birds and chattering squirrels kept them company, as they had for the past two hours. He didn’t try to carry on a conversation with her while they walked. He was clearly accustomed to physical activity.

Which meant she’d have a harder time than she’d anticipated in ditching him.

Not that she’d imagined it would be easy.

Nothing could possibly be easy about this. Her luck clearly didn’t run in that direction.

She paused to take a sip of water from the bottle she’d tucked into the side of her backpack, and he stopped beside her. Warmth spread up her spine, and she frowned into the bottle she held.
Stop it.
He was not potential mate material, no matter how happy her hormones were when he was near.

“All right?” He took a quick drink from his own water, his arm brushing hers as he did so.

She shifted her weight onto her other foot, away from him. “Fine.”

He met her gaze.

Her pulse skipped.

“I know you don’t want to trust me, but you can. On this, you can.”

It sounded like a vow, she thought, panic making her heart beat faster. She didn’t want to believe him.

But on this one thing, she realized she did. Of course she did. Even though she hadn’t wanted to, she’d trusted him not to kill her after they’d made their bargain for the scissors. He’d earned it.

She swallowed, her mouth dry, and lifted her water bottle to her lips again, giving herself a distraction from the intensity in his green eyes.

He sighed, then took another drink.

Andi closed her eyes briefly, girding herself, and capped her bottle. The next stretch would be more of a challenge. Maybe this would be where her luck changed.

Or not.

Two hours later, she panted softly, her heart pounding hard as she put one hand on the nearest tree trunk and dropped her head to pour the rest of her lukewarm water over the back of her neck.

Straight up the side of the mountain, and he was still not doing more than breathing hard, the bastard.

She felt her backpack shift, and glanced to the side.

“Getting you another drink.” He tugged a bottle out and then rezipped her pack.

She mumbled her thanks and chugged down half the bottle in one go. Then turned in time to see his throat working as he swallowed the last of his bottle. His skin glistened with sweat, muscles beneath shifting and making her want to touch. With her fingers, her tongue.

She inhaled slowly and looked away again. It seemed she was stuck with him. At least for now.

He touched her arm, and she lifted her gaze. “Do you want a break?”

She shook her head. “Not if we want to get there before dark.”

He frowned. “What if I think you need a break?”

Andi felt a little surge of annoyance. “You’re not my father.”

“Thank Goddess,” he muttered, brushing away a drop of perspiration from her temple.

She blushed.

“Andrea, I’m just trying to point out, and obviously badly, you had a really rough day yesterday, and maybe you should take it a little easier than you have so far today.”

“I’m sorry.” She took a drink from the fresh bottle. “I haven’t had to run for my life before, and I’m not used to requiring help, and apparently, neither is sitting well.”

Kallan smiled a little, and his fingers slid down to the corner of her mouth. “Apology accepted.” He leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose lightly, startling her.

She resisted the urge to shift her head so their mouths would meet. Instead, she put her bottles away and adjusted her pack on her shoulders. “The next leg should be easier.”

He gave her a knowing smile, but kept his mouth shut.

And she found herself smiling back.

Stupid.

But her smile didn’t fade as quickly this time.

As she walked, more slowly now, she let her mind drift to what it would be like to actually have a real relationship again. If she could ignore the fact he’d come to kill her, there were other aspects of the past few days she could get used to. Like having someone to talk to who didn’t think she was a complete nutcase. Like having someone who not only believed in the myths that shaped her life, but had also been influenced by them. Like the smoking-hot sex.

She fanned herself a little.

“You all right?”

Heat climbed her throat. “Still cooling down from that last segment,” she called back over her shoulder. “Jackass,” she added under her breath.

She resolved to think of nothing but getting to safety for now. Getting distracted by wishing for things she knew she could never have wouldn’t keep her safe from Kallan’s cousin.

Andi froze in mid-stride, her heart thundering in her chest suddenly, and it wasn’t from exertion this time. Her gaze stuck on the dark, shiny creature lying across their path, and her pulse pounded in her ears.

His hands landed on her shoulders. “What?”

“S-snake,” she whispered.

“Are you kidding?” He moved to stand beside her, and looked into her face. “You’re serious,” he said after a couple seconds, a grin tugging at his mouth. He glanced to the trail ahead and started to laugh. “It’s only a garter snake.”

Andi ground her teeth together, heat climbing her neck to her face, but not in a good way now. Just because that damned Athena had cursed her to sprout snakes on her head every month didn’t mean she liked them.

He laughed until she wanted to hit him. Or better yet, turn him to stone. Too bad she wasn’t PMSing anymore.

Not looking at Kallan, she folded her arms and waited for the snake to finish slithering across the path.

Still chuckling, he gestured to the trail ahead. “All clear.”

She hated him. Sticking her chin in the air, she marched past him, barely resisting the urge to smack him as she went. She consoled herself with that mental image for a few minutes, of punching him square in the nose. Or mouth. Maybe knocking the smug grin off his face. Drawing blood would be good. She curled her fingers into fists at her sides as she went, only vaguely aware of him close on her heels.

After a while, though, she grew more aware of his nearness, as the forest darkened around them. His heat was within reach, if she stopped and stretched out her arm. Not that she would. Especially not now.

“How about some lunch?”

She jerked herself back to the present and glanced over her shoulder at him. “There’s a good spot just ahead,” she said after a second.

He grunted a reply, but said nothing more, simply striding along behind her.

As they neared the small clearing, Andi slowed her pace, shrugging her pack off her shoulders, and then sank onto the flat boulder there.

Kallan dropped his pack next to her feet and sat on a fallen tree a foot away. “How much of the mountain is yours?”

She gave him a measured look as she dug an energy bar from her backpack. “Most of it. I’d have thought you would know.”

He rested his elbow on his knee and his chin in his hand, green gaze steady on her face. “I wasn’t worried about the size of your property, just in how to reach you.”

That didn’t make her feel better. She tore open the wrapper and took a bite of the granola mixture.

“I didn’t anticipate we’d need somewhere to flee to.”

She stopped chewing and met his gaze.

“I should have anticipated it.”

“Why would you? You thought you were coming to kill me and steal something. You had no way to know your job would be far more complicated than any Harvester ever knew.” She swallowed the food and took a big swallow of water to wash it down, where it sat in her stomach like a lump of lead. She took another drink, but it didn’t help.

“I thought I was coming to kill a monster,” he corrected her, touching her knee with his water bottle before he sat up straighter and took a drink. “I didn’t anticipate you.”

She wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not, so she didn’t reply.

“How far, Andrea?”

She glanced at the path behind them. If she’d taken him the more direct route, they’d nearly be there already. As it was, she’d dragged him up the rocky side of the mountain to the hottest part of the day, then on a slight detour to the west. From here, they still had miles to go.

She hoped she hadn’t delayed them too much. Or that his cousin hadn’t traveled faster than Kallan had guessed.

“Around two hours.” If they were really fast.

He looked skyward, where the sun had dropped slightly, and was now no longer directly overhead.

Andi looked at her watch, surprised to see it was after two. She’d dallied too long.

“Is there a direct route from here to there?”

She glanced up, startled, and found a hint of amusement in his gaze. He knew, damn him. He
knew
she’d taken a roundabout route. “Yes.” It wouldn’t be easy, but it would be direct.

He nodded, then dug into his own backpack for an energy bar—which he inhaled. “You should finish yours,” he said around his last bite.

She forced herself to eat the rest, but it tasted like dirt. She drank her water slowly, then put the wrapper and empty bottles into her pack. She grabbed two fresh bottles and tucked them into the outer pockets where she could reach them easily.

Kallan took her pack, and she let him help her into it. His hands rested on her shoulders for a moment, and his warm breath slid over the top of her head. “I don’t mind,” he said softly. Then a quick kiss brushed her hair before he straightened up and away.