Luke's Dream (27 page)

I recalled the letter she’d left her mother.
I doubted hearing from a stranger that she was okay would ease her
mother’s mind.

Winifred nodded slowly.

“I’m not hungry anymore,” Bethi said quietly,
setting her plate aside with the pencil. Jim took both.

“Bethi, you need to eat,” I said, giving Jim
a look.

“I just want to go to my room.” She stood and
slowly left. I followed and hurriedly ate the rest of my food as we
walked the hallway. I knew what would happen to me once she
crashed. Starvation.

When we reached the room, I let her in first.
While she kicked off her shoes, I threw away my empty plate, turned
down the covers, and removed my shirt. She grabbed her toothbrush
and paste and closed herself in the bathroom for a few minutes.

I waited by the bed until the door opened.
She stepped out smelling soapy and minty, Joshua’s scent a distant
memory. The pull tugged at my heart as her gaze met mine. I wanted
her in my arms where she belonged.

She crossed the room, and I helped her ease
into bed.

“How are the stitches?” I asked, lying beside
her and lifting my arm.

“Fine.” She settled against me, nuzzling my
chest with her cheek as I wrapped my arm around her. Her hand crept
to its normal spot on my waist, and her leg moved just enough to
cover my knee. She was holding herself back from a full sprawl,
most likely due to her stitches. A part of me worried though. Had I
waited too long?

Moments later Bethi’s breathing evened out. I held her for two
hours, dwelling on the past, before I finally eased out from under
her to use the bathroom and brush my own teeth. Remembering her
accusations about leaving her and never being there when she needed
me, I rushed. In less than two minutes, I was back. Thankfully, she
hadn’t started to twitch or cry in that time.

Getting comfortable, I pressed a kiss to the
top of her head.

“I’ll be here in the morning and every
morning after, if you’ll still have me.”

I closed my eyes and let myself drift off.
Sleep managed to hold me for several hours before someone walking
in the hallway woke me. After that, I started counting the bumps in
the popcorn ceiling. I made it to one thousand four hundred
seventy-two before giving up.

Bored out of my mind, my gaze settled on the
television. Not my first choice for entertainment, but it would
kill the time. I looked around the room for the remote and saw it
on the nightstand.

It took some serious stretching, but I
managed to grab the remote and turned the TV on with no volume.
Even with the volume off, I cringed at the high-pitched electrical
squeal coming from the thing. Still, it was better to watch fifties
reruns than it was to go back to counting bumps on the ceiling.

* * * *

After almost fourteen hours, Bethi’s
breathing changed, waking me from a light doze. I’d given up on the
television near dawn when my stomach had started to cramp with
hunger. My only escape had been sleep.

She’d moved closer at one point so we were
now tangled together, her arm over my waist and my hand on her
stomach. Her head lay on my bare chest, and my arm was under her
shoulders.

She stretched slightly but didn’t open her
eyes right away. Instead, she snuggled against me more firmly. The
doubt I’d felt last night evaporated. She was awake and consciously
pressing against me. Her lips were almost brushing my chest.

I was loving the feeling a little too much
when she lifted her head to glance at the clock.

“You must be starving,” she said, lying her
head back down.

“Your arm was looking good about six hours
ago.”

“I bet.” She sighed and closed her eyes
again. Her fingers moved slightly on my skin. I struggled not to
shiver or let my mind wander to places best ignored. I really
wanted to let it wander, though. I’d almost lost this…every inch of
her pressed against every inch of me.

Something under the sheet twitched.

Think of food
, I told myself.
Waffles. Emmitt mentioned a waffle maker. Think of that
.

My stomach growled.

Bethi laughed. “You win. We’ll go feed
you.”

“You, too,” I said, sitting up quickly. “All
you ate yesterday was a sandwich.”

“Not true. I had a plate of pie, too.”

I escaped to the bathroom and took a quick,
cold shower. I embraced it with a wide grin. Bethi was still
mine.

After I was dried and dressed, I was calm
enough to look her in the eye when I opened the door.

“My turn,” she said with her arms full of
clean clothes.

I stepped aside, and she closed herself in.
She took a bit longer in the shower than I had and even longer in
the bathroom after turning the water off. I sat on the end of the
bed and waited.

When she opened the door, she grinned at me.
With her dark hair combed straight against her head, she looked
waifish. She needed to eat better.

“Feed me,” she said as if reading my
thoughts.

An easy demand to fill. Standing with her bag
already over my shoulder, I held out my hand.

“Whatever you want,” I said.

When we reached the breakfast area, everyone
else was already there.

Winifred watched Bethi closely.

I was going to give you another thirty
minutes before retrieving you two. Did she sleep well?

Yes. But I’m not sure how long it will
last.

Winifred nodded as we moved further into the
room. Bethi’s attention was on Emmitt and Michelle who couldn’t
stop looking at or touching each other. New Mates were a bit
annoying.

Bethi looked at Gabby and the two shared a
grin. Not liking it, I led Bethi to the small breakfast buffet.

I handed her a plate and proceeded to load it
with a bagel, eggs, sausage, and a waffle. Looking at her hallowed
cheeks, I added a bowl of cereal, too.

“Seriously? I’ll be sick if I eat all that,”
she said as I took everything from her and brought it to the table
Grey and Carlos shared.

“He’ll eat what you don’t,” Grey said with a
laugh.

Bethi sat and started to eat. I went back for
my own plate, listening to them.

“Any news?” she asked.

“One of their sentinels must have discovered
the Compound empty because they stopped grouping and have fanned
out. Gabby said they are creating a net across the states, but
there are holes big enough to wind our way through. It just might
take a little longer,” Grey answered.

“Bethi,” Winifred said coming up from behind
her. “When you’re done eating, I’d like to check your stitches. Let
me know when you’re ready.”

Bethi wrinkled her nose but nodded as she
pushed food around her plate. I speared a sausage from her plate
and held it up to her.

“Eat.”

She rolled her eyes but opened her mouth and
took a bite. The bite seemed to motivate her to eat more. She
worked through the bagel and eggs then slowly poured the milk into
her cereal. My plate was already empty as she crunched her way to
the bottom of the paper bowl. I watched her glance at the waffle
still waiting for her.

“Too much,” she groaned.

I grinned and took the waffle. She’d done a
fair job on the meal, but I knew it would take more than one meal
to restore her.

As soon as we finished, Winifred was at
Bethi’s side. They left to use one of the rooms while the rest of
us cleaned up and headed for the cars.

Carlos and Grey went to Sam’s truck and Gabby
and Clay came to stand by the car. I’d forgotten Gabby wanted to
ride with us. Standing beside her now, I wondered why I’d ever
given her consideration as a potential Mate. She was pretty enough
and her scent nice enough, but she didn’t hold a candle to
Bethi.

“Are they still looking for our trail?” I
asked.

“Yeah. The first highway. Our trail must have
dissipated enough that they couldn’t find the exit we took. They
went much further east than we did before turning back. They’ve
spread out now, fanning throughout the area.”

“Good.”

“It would be if there weren’t other clusters
starting to do the same in different areas.”

“That’s bad?”

“I’m not sure. I’m still new to seeing
everything at this scale.”

“What do you mean, new?” The way Michelle had
been talking, I’d had the impression both she and Gabby always had
their abilities.

“It wasn’t until I Claimed Clay that I could
see…everything. Before, it was just a small area around me, like
several city blocks. Maybe the Urbat did this kind of searching for
us in the past and we were just lucky to avoid it. But somehow, I
think what they’re doing is new.”

Gabby’s abilities had changed when she’d
Claimed Clay? That wasn’t good news for me. If Bethi heard that,
she’d really start pushing.

Winifred and Bethi walked out of the hotel
doors just then, and everyone got into their assigned vehicles.
Engines started as I opened the back door and waited for Bethi. She
smiled at me as she neared. It did things to my insides. Things I
really liked.

Gabby opened the opposite side door and Clay
sighed. He likely didn’t want to sit apart from her any more than I
wanted to sit apart from Bethi. Too bad. My girl was hurt. There
was no way I was riding shotgun.

I carefully helped Bethi get in the back
seat. Before Gabby could slid in from her side, Clay caught Gabby
by the back of her shirt. She turned to kiss him.

Bethi moved over and I quickly got in so I
wouldn’t need to witness more. I wasn’t jealous about Clay getting
the girl. I was over that. I still didn’t understand it, but I was
over it. However, I was jealous that everyone around me was hooking
up; and the girl I wanted was right next to me, but I needed to
wait. Waiting was starting to feel like torture.

“How you feeling?” Gabby asked Bethi, after
Clay got in front.

Winifred pulled out of the lot, leading the
other cars.

“Fine,” Bethi said. I settled in my seat,
getting comfortable. My leg pressed against Bethi’s and her
shoulder brushed mine. Sitting three in the back was nice. More
contact.

“If it’s okay, I have some questions for
you.” Gabby glanced nervously at Winifred and me.

“It’s fine with me,” Bethi said.

I wasn’t sure yet if it was fine with me.
Gabby’s nervousness was worrying me.

“You’ve said a lot about our abilities. I
thought...I thought I was meant to find pairs.”

“What do you mean?” Bethi asked.

“When I touch people, if I’m feeling the
right things, like empathy, I can transfer my power to them. Then,
I get this kind of echo back from it, like ripples. When the ripple
hits the right spark, it glows brighter. Does that make sense?”

“I haven’t lived anything like that yet. I
didn’t know you could transfer your power. I wonder if the rest of
us can,” Bethi said.

I didn’t like the direction of their thoughts
and hoped that was the end of question time.

“When I transferred my power to Clay, my
spark lit brightly. When I transferred it to Luke, your spark lit
brightly. That’s why I sent him. Well, part of the reason.”

That shocked me. I’d figured she’d done
something to me when Clay dragged me back to their room so she
could ask if I’d had a good time going out. The way women had
thrown themselves at me had been very enjoyable. Then. It wouldn’t
be now. I’d never considered there might have been more to the
experience or why she’d slipped me the note with directions to find
Bethi. She’d knowingly sent me to my Mate without mentioning it to
me?

“You knew?” I said.

“I wasn’t sure. But I wasn’t wrong, was
I?”

Gabby watched me closely, and I frowned at
her. The direction of this conversation needed to change. With
Bethi’s determination to be Claimed and Mated as soon as possible,
I wasn’t about to admit anything.

“I could pass my power to you,” she said to
Bethi.

“No,” Clay and I said at the same time.

Clay turned in his seat to give Gabby a look.
It wasn’t angry, but I could see warning there. Good. He needed to
keep his woman under control.

The idea of what had happened to me happening
to Bethi worried me. With Gabby’s ability in me, I’d been a magnet
for women. I couldn’t even remember that night without feeling
guilty because Bethi sat beside me. Resisting Bethi would be
impossible with Gabby’s gift in her.

“It drains me,” Gabby admitted. “At least, it
did before I Claimed Clay.” She reached forward and ran her fingers
in Clay’s hair. “Clay, it probably won’t affect me anymore.”

He shook his head. “Hands to yourself.”

Good. Gabby sighed and sat back. Clay still
kept a close eye on her.

“What’s your reason for not wanting me to
try?” she asked me.

“Bethi’s perfect the way she is,” I said and
looked out the window.

Clay laughed.

“Have you felt the other part of my ability?”
Gabby asked Bethi. “The attraction I have on men? I transfer that,
too. When I transferred it to Clay…well, I Claimed him on the
spot.”

Bethi’s scent changed to sweet pears again. I
glanced at Clay, hoping he’d be able to control his Mate.

“I’d guessed about there being another race,”
Gabby said quietly. She looked at Clay sadly. “We came up here a
day early because they tried challenging Clay. The men had a
different color spark. While one had Clay distracted, another came
in from the back. Clay heard and got there in time. But not before
I saw the man.” She turned and looked at Bethi. “I felt it. The
pull. But it felt so wrong,” she whispered.

“Because for you, it was,” Bethi said. Then
she looked at Clay. “To the death?”

He gave the barest shake of his head.

My head swam with this new information. Gabby
feeling the pull for an Urbat meant our women could Mate with them,
a race that had always existed, but we didn’t know about until a
few days ago. Like we needed another reason to guard our females.
So many families had gone to the woods never to return to
civilization. I wondered if there was a flourishing commune of
unmated females out there somewhere. Maybe my mother would still be
alive if we’d taken to the woods, too.