Infinite Ties (All That Remains #3) (15 page)

“God, Air,” I pant, his words pushing me
to the edge, bringing tears to my eyes.

“Yes, give it up to me. Let me hear you.”
I’m confident he’s not the only one who heard me as the fireworks behind my
eyelids became indistinguishable from the streaks in the sky. I’m still
drifting when I hear Airen curse.

“What’s wrong?”

A guilty grin spreads across his face. “Um…I
forgot to tie up the boat.” He points to the shadow bobbing in the dark about
ten feet away.

“Airen!” I slap his chest. “My shirt is in
there!”

“Guess you’ll have to swim back naked.” He
laughs and hands me my panties and jeans, slipping his boxers on.

“Shh, someone will hear us.” I’m standing
topless in the middle of a pond, the lantern illuminating my nudity like a
spotlight.

“Oh…okay,” he whispers with an impish grin
before running and leaping into the air. He tucks his knees and does a
cannonball into the chilly water. If they failed to hear the splash, I’m sure
his hoot as he surfaced gave us away.

“What the hell are you doing?” I demand,
fighting to keep the amusement from my voice.

“Right now I’m trying to find my left
testicle. Then I’m going after the boat. Sit tight.”

“Air, it’s too dark.”

“I can see fine. Stay put. I’ll be just a
minute.” True to his word, I see him hoist himself into the boat and the splash
of oars slicing through the water grows louder a few minutes later.

“Are you okay?” I ask when he steps on the
raft, handing me my shirt.

“My nipples could cut glass.”

Giggling, I tug his dry shirt over his
head. “You’re crazy.”

He grabs my hips and jerks me against him,
his lips landing on mine in a passionate kiss. “You’re my life, Abigail. My
heart.”

“Multiply that times eternity and you
might come close to how I feel about you.”

It’s late when we return to the camper and
I’m asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. I wake just before dawn when I
realize I can’t feel Airen’s warm body beside me. He sitting on the edge of the
bed, gazing out the small window.

“Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah, go back to sleep, darlin’.” He
crawls over and lies beside me.

Bullshit. He’s had another nightmare. “What
are the nightmares about?”

“Don’t…I’m not…I can’t. Don’t ask me.”

“Okay, just listen. We’ve heard enough to
figure out the broad strokes. You just correct me if I’m wrong.” When he
doesn’t argue, I go on. “You were sexually abused as a child and the nightmares
are flashbacks, making you relive the abuse.”

He buries his face in my neck, hiding from
me, and I feel awful making him face this, forcing him, but he has to come to
terms with it. Holding him tight, I ask, “Am I wrong, Air?” Please, let me be
wrong.

My heart is sliced in two when a dry sob
shakes his body as he whispers, “No.” Somebody hurt him. Somebody touched him,
or—please no—raped him when he was a child.

“I love you, Airen. I love you. Do you
hear me? I’m so sorry someone hurt you, but it doesn’t change a goddamn thing.
It doesn’t affect how I see you, and Joseph will feel the same. You have to
know that.”

He nods against my neck, drawing in a
watery breath. “No more. Not tonight. Please.” His pain is palpable and all I
know to do is hold him, let him feel I’m here.

“No more,” I agree. “Let’s go back to
sleep.” After a few minutes, he relaxes and his breath evens out. It takes me
forever to fall back to sleep while visions of a small dark-eyed boy haunt me.

* * * *

Every muscle in my body aches when I wake
the next morning, an instant reminder of my morning with Joseph and my night
with Airen. They better make up soon or I’m going to be fucked to death. My
eyes are barely open when Jon steps inside the camper, laughing as I scrabble
around for the blanket to cover my nudity. “Get the fuck out!”

“Fuck, Gail.” He sneers. “I thought things
were supposed to improve with age.”

Instead of the usual shame, rage streaks
through my veins. “My life has improved. That’s more than you can say. Now get
out.”

“Things are looking up at the moment. We
have the place to ourselves. Tell me, have you learned to give a decent blow
job? I’m a little on edge today and I’m worried what might come spilling out of
my mouth in front of your friends.”

He’s gone completely insane. I’m on my
feet in half a second, the blanket held so tight around me my hands ache. “Get
away from me!”

“Have you told them yet, Gail? Do they
know they’re fucking a whore? I don’t imagine it’ll come as any surprise to
them since they pass you back and forth like a joint.”

“What do you want? Why are you even here?
You could’ve told them all this shit and been long gone by now if you just
wanted to fuck things up for me.”

“This is the most fun I’ve had in years,”
he says with a laugh. “Watching you freak out over that old diary was classic
psycho Gail behavior. It must be nerve racking though, trying to balance this
teetering pile of lies you told them, knowing at any second, I can bring it all
crashing down.”

“I haven’t lied to them.”

“Your whole Abby act is a lie and you know
it. You’re trying to play the poor innocent single mom. I wonder what they’ll
think of the pictures of their sweet girl blowing other men. Oh, and the
videos! Did you know I had videos? They were quite a success on the internet
before the plague. Which should I show them first?

“Of course, I might be persuaded to keep
them to myself. There’s obviously a shortage of women so I’m willing to settle,
to roll in the gutter a bit. Who knows? Maybe you’ve learned a thing or two in
the last fourteen years. You’re going to go to Florida with me.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you!”

“You’ll beg to come with me after they’re
done with you, and we both know that day is fast approaching. You have a
choice. You can leave with me and they can remember you as Abby, or I can fill
their heads with tales and images they’ll never forget, and they can remember
you for the whore you really are.”

“I’d rather be dead than with you.”

“That threat doesn’t work with me, sugar.
You know that.”

“Just get out. Airen will kill you if
you’re here when he comes back.”

Jon laughs. “I’ll break that boy in half.”

“He’s stronger than you’ve ever been,” I
scoff, unable to resist taunting him. “Solid muscle and a dick that never goes
soft.” I don’t know what made me say it, where I got the guts, but I strike a
nerve.

“You little bitch.” Before he can take a
second step toward me, the camper door closes with a loud thwack, and I look up
into Joseph’s angry eyes.

“What the fuck are you doing in here?” he
demands.

“Relax, I came to tell you everyone’s
meeting at the shooting range in a few minutes.”

“You stay the fuck away from her.” Joseph
steps in front of me.

Jon laughs as he turns to leave. “Don’t
worry, man. She’ll come to me.”

As soon as he’s gone, Joseph glares at me.
“What the hell was that about, Abby? How long was he here? Why aren’t you
dressed?” Intimidated by his demanding questions and angry tone, I slump onto
the bed.

“He…I just woke up and he was here.”

“What did he say to you?”

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit, Abby! You’re white as a sheet.
Did he touch you?”

“No! I swear!” He’s so pissed.

“I told you I don’t want you alone with
him.”

“I don’t want to be. He just showed up.
Why are you blaming me?”

“Fuck,” he mumbles, swallowing back his
anger, and taking a seat beside me. When his warm arms embrace me, my head
rests on his shoulder and I feel my fear and panic begin to abate. “I’m sorry,
ladybug. It’s not your fault. But there are things you aren’t telling me and I
don’t trust that asshole one bit. Where’s Airen?”

“I don’t know.”

“All right. Get dressed. We have to get
prepared for tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“We’re going in after the kids. Then we’re
getting the hell out of here. Nothing has been right since we left.” The cold
trickle of fear down my spine becomes a surging river.

Everyone is waiting for us when we join
the group at our makeshift shooting range. “Hey, sleepyhead,” Airen says, leaning
to drop a kiss on my forehead. “I was just getting ready to come get you.”

“Impeccable timing,” Joseph growls, and
Airen glares at him. The tension between them is thick, and everyone looks
uncomfortable except Jon, who’s not even attempting to hide his grin. He’s
happy with his latest attempt to stir up shit. My chest tightens at the thought
that he isn’t finished. I know he’ll get jumped by a group of angry men if he
starts insulting me, but that won’t keep them from hearing his accusations. And
I’m not a good liar.

Nic grins at me and says, “Good morning.
Did all the racket keep you awake last night?”

Like a dumbass, I walk right into it. “What
racket? I didn’t hear anything.”

“Yeah, it was weird. Sounded like it was
coming from the pond. Lots of splashing.”

I feel my cheeks heat up as I mumble,
“Must’ve been some ducks.” I’m such a bad liar.

“Damn big ducks,” Nic teases.

Airen quacks and everyone cracks up. He
grabs me around the waist from behind, laughing when I try to slap him. “Ducks?
That’s the best you could come up with?”

“I didn’t see any ducks, but I got a good
look at a full moon,” Troy says, winking at me. At least their teasing lightens
the mood.

“Okay,” Mac speaks up, pointing to the
rows of cans set up along the sawhorses. “Let’s just take some practice shots
and warm up. Then we’ll see who’s got the goods. Sammy, stay behind these hay
bales unless we tell you it’s safe to move.”

“Duh. Wasn’t gonna play Frogger with
speeding bullets,” he scoffs.

Airen cuffs him lightly on the back of the
head. “Don’t be a smartass.”

Sammy grins up at him. “Bet I’m a better
shot than you.”

“Dream on boy.”

“If you win, I’ll haul your firewood for
the next two days.”

Airen grins at him. “And if you win?”

“I get your silver fishing pole.” I laugh
out loud at his terms. Airen adores that damn pole. Nic and Troy exchange a
smile at Sammy’s behavior. He seems like a different kid. Airen may be messed
up over what happened to Sammy, but it’s obvious he got through to him.

After we insert our earplugs and put on
our safety glasses, the sound of gunshots fill the air. Spread out in a line
behind the hay bales, we take turns, five at a time, so it’s hard to tell who
hits what, but I know I’m knocking them down.

After a quick break to reset the cans, we
agree to shoot one at a time. I’m happy they’ve included me, Sammy, and Diane,
even though we aren’t accompanying them tomorrow. Shooting takes my mind off my
worries and lets my nervous stomach settle.

Though it was Sammy and Airen’s little bet
that turned this into a contest, it seems to bring out everyone’s competitive
instincts. Making it a game helps us forget we’re training to kill actual human
beings and that we may be killed in the process. I haven’t said anything yet,
but I have no intention of being left behind tomorrow.

“Okay,” Mac announces, jogging back to
join us, “there are five sets of ten cans. Let’s see who can hit the most out
of ten.” Sammy goes first, and the boy can shoot. Eight cans lie on the grass
when he’s finished.

“That silver pole is mine,” he brags. Troy
laughs, shaking his head. “What are you laughing at?” Sammy asks with a smile.
“You couldn’t hit the ground with a scope and a laser.”

“All right,” Airen intercedes. “Let me
teach this boy some humility.”

“They say those that can’t do, teach,” I
reply with a shrug, earning me a slap on the ass. Airen mows down the cans one
after another until the last. I don’t know if he got overconfident and moved
too fast or what, but he misses the final shot. When he instantly scowls at the
weapon, everyone laughs.

“Don’t even try to blame the gun!” Nic
laughs. Airen glares at him, muttering something about the sighting being off.
A grin spreads across his face as his hand falls on Sammy’s shoulder.

“Make sure that wood is good and dry.” I
can’t hear Sammy’s mumbled response, but I doubt it’s complimentary. The
contest resumes and we quickly learn who can aim and who can’t. Gary, Mac, and
Diane all tie at seven cans. Jon and Eric manage six. Troy appears embarrassed
when only three cans fall to the ground. “I’m not sure the third one counts,”
Airen teases. “It was teetering on the edge.”

“Shut up. It counts,” Joseph snaps,
drawing a glare from Airen. Shit. It was going so well. They haven’t spoken to
one another, but it wasn’t awkward.