Return to the Shadows (19 page)

“He scratched you.”

“A simple scratch feels like this?” I
groaned.

“It’s not that simple. Their nails are
incredibly sharp and the tips are covered in a neurotoxin. The
effects should wear off by morning. Hopefully the scratches aren’t
too deep. Are you in very much pain?”

“It’s hurting pretty bad.” I tried to flex by
shoulder in an attempt to gauge how deep the wounds were. “I can’t
really move it; it’s stiffening up.”

“That’s normal. Don’t try to move around so
much. We’ll find out soon enough—we’re back at the house.”

“Already?” I hadn’t even been aware we’d
turned down the lane that led to the drive.

“Come on, warrior princess, let’s get you
inside.”

The first thing we saw upon entering the
house was Mark, pacing the front entryway.

“Where the hell have you been?”

“We went for supplies,” Aries replied by way
of explanation. “Help me get her in the living room.”

Mark paused then blinked, abruptly
registering the way I was leaning heavily against Aries. “I’ll take
her.”

In the next instant, I found myself swept up
and carried close to Mark, his long, even strides taking us to the
formal living room and the plush green couch in the corner. “What
happened to her?”

“We were attacked by a group of coatyl. One
of them came up behind us and cut her shoulder.”

“Where are they now?”

“Back at the store. I killed the one that
hurt Claire and trapped the others. But I’m certain they’ve managed
to get loose by now. They might be staying close to the store. It’s
hard to say.”

“How many?” Mark kept up the conversation as
he peeled my shirt from my stinging back and carefully slipped it
over my head, leaning close when I hissed in pain.

“I counted ten, not including the one I
killed.”

“Damn.”

“I saw one on the way here. After we left
Lerna, that first night we were here,” I mumbled, swaying a
little.

“Then the coastal towns have been
breached.”

“It looks that way.” Aries nodded. “How is
she?”

“The scratches aren’t deep enough for
stitches. Claire, how do you feel?” he asked.

“It hurts. I’m so tired. I have to take care
of Ashley.”

“Marta put her to bed an hour ago. Don’t
worry about anything right now. I need to clean your back and then
I’ll let you rest, okay?”

“Mhmm.”

“I’ll go get the first aid kit,” Aries
offered. “It’s in the kitchen?”

“No, Marta keeps it in the bathroom off the
kitchen. The one under the stairs.”

Aries retrieved a small white box containing
an array of bandages and something in a clear glass bottle that
smelled like alcohol before leaving me in Mark’s capable hands.
“I’m leaving at first light to lead a search party of the cities
near the general store.”

“Take any of my men that you need. And…thank
you for taking care of Claire.”

“Where’s she going?” I mumbled, not even
wincing anymore when the cool, wet pad scraped against the wound in
my back. Everything felt fuzzy, off somehow.

“Upstairs to bed. Which is where you’re going
in a minute.”

“I can’t move.”

“I’ll carry you.”

“I just want to go to sleep, Mark.” My eyes
closed on their own.

“Then we’ll sleep right here on the
couch.”

“We?” My eyes popped open.

“I’m not leaving you alone tonight.”

I might have argued, but the blanket he
tucked around me was like being wrapped in a cloud, and his warm
weight curled around me felt nice. I might even have questioned the
change in his attitude toward me, but I was quickly losing the
battle to keep my eyes open.

“I won’t be able to stand it if anything
happens to you, Claire. I can’t lose you again.” His voice was
husky in my ear. It was the last thing I heard before falling
sleep, and the sweetest thing I’d heard in a very long time.

***

I woke in the morning to the scent of strong
coffee and something...sweet. I opened my eyes to investigate, even
though I immediately registered the pain in my shoulder. What I
really wanted to do was close my eyes again and curl into a tight
ball in my bed—no, not in bed, I realized, blinking rapidly. I was
downstairs on the couch. And then I remembered the events of the
previous night. Coatyl...so many of them.

My mind replayed the scene in the grocery
store, the pain of the coatyl’s long, sharp nails in my shoulder,
Aries, and our escape. And...something more. Sitting up took more
effort than I felt ready to give at the moment, but it was the only
way to reach the hot coffee that someone had left on the end table.
It was a bold, strong brew, just as I’d suspected. Good.

I continued to sip at the hot liquid while I
fought to remember the very last part of the evening, the elusive
hint of a memory that seemed faded now. Mark had tended my wound,
that much was clear enough, but for some reason, I was also pretty
sure he had spent the night on the couch with me. Not talking or
even moving, just...there, almost as if he’d stood guard throughout
the night. Other things were less clear. For a moment, I thought I
could recall Mark’s voice in my ear, a low murmur of words that
were at direct odds with his usually cool attitude toward me. Then
again, his spending the night on the sofa with me was out of
character as well—at least it was now. Maybe I had imagined the
whole thing, I reasoned. I must have, because Mark didn’t want much
of anything to do with me. Did he?

I stretched and finally shed the thick
blanket that was still tangled around my legs, rose from the sofa,
and, still cradling the mug of coffee, made my way slowly and
carefully to the kitchen. The discomfort in the back of my shoulder
had become more of a dull, throbbing ache, and I realized that I
was hungry. I wasn’t sure what time it was, but a glance out the
window showed a sky that was tinged with just a hint of purple; it
was early then. Marta would be awake, Bob would either be on his
way downtown already or barricaded in his home office for the day,
and Ashley would soon be waking up.

But it wasn’t Marta I found in the kitchen,
elbow deep in what looked to be pancake batter—it was Mark.

“I hope you’re hungry,” he told me without
turning around from the hideous mess he was in the process of
making. I cringed, thinking about what Marta would say when she
spied her kitchen, her domain, in such shape. Batter dripped from
several places on the countertop, hitting the floor and pooling
there. The countertops themselves were a white, sticky mess—ditto
with the tile backsplash.

Wide-eyed, I said the first thing that came
to mind. “Marta is going to kill you.”

Mark chuckled. “Yes, she probably will.
Everyone’s gone and I thought you might be hungry when you woke up.
Guess it’s been a while since I’ve cooked in an actual kitchen.” He
frowned. “I promise these will taste better than they look.” He
dropped six circles of batter onto the stovetop griddle and turned
to face me.

I doubted that very much but was too polite
to say so. “It’s a little early for everyone to be gone. Did
something happen?”

“No, nothing like that.” He tossed a quick
smile in my direction and flipped his masterpieces over.

“Marta and Bob took Ashley to a pancake house
in town.” One of his pancakes stuck to the hot surface of the
griddle and broke apart when he tried to wedge the spatula beneath
it. “Maybe it’s not too late for us to catch up to them.”

“No, I’m sure those will be, uh, wonderful,”
I lied, and vowed to eat them anyway. After all, pancake mix was
pretty standard, wasn’t it? Even if he’d used too much water, or
forgotten to grease the pan, they would still taste more or less
the same, right?

A minute later, when he placed an extra large
plate of his creation in front of me, I found out I was wrong.

“They aren’t good, are they?”

“They’re very...salty,” I managed.

“Don’t eat them,” he sighed, and moved to
take the plate. “We’ll go out for breakfast.”

“No. This is fine,” I insisted. They really
weren’t fine at all, but I was too hungry to care—much—and I didn’t
feel like going anywhere right then. Especially not out in public
among people. So I smothered the salty, part overcooked-part raw in
the middle pancakes in syrup and drank three more cups of coffee to
get rid of the aftertaste.

“You didn’t have to do that.” Mark smiled and
refilled his own cup.

I shrugged. “Thanks for cooking, anyway.
Thanks for taking care of my shoulder last night, too.” I watched
his face carefully.

“It was no trouble. How do you feel?”

“It hurts. I’ll be all right.”

“There’s some pain medication in the bathroom
upstairs.” He began to rise.

“No, I’ll get it in a minute. I want to go up
and take a shower.”

“Okay.” He fell silent, drinking his coffee
and staring idly out the kitchen window.

“Mark, did you sleep on the couch last night
with me?” I finally asked in a rush.

“Yes.”

“I see.” So I hadn’t been dreaming, then. It
took a moment to process that.

“I didn’t think it was a good idea for you to
be alone.”

“Did you...” I paused and looked away, unsure
of how to phrase my question.

“I didn’t touch you, Claire.”

“No, not that. I know you didn’t...you
wouldn’t...”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

“The thing is, I had this crazy dream that
you spoke to me last night.”

“Really?” He leaned back and regarded me
thoughtfully.

“It wasn’t a dream, was it?” I asked, certain
from the look on his face that he really had spoken those words the
night before.

“No,” he admitted without taking his eyes off
me. “When Aries came through the door with you last night—” He took
a deep breath and shook his head. “Claire, will you tell me what
happened that day?”

“You mean the day I disappeared?” I asked
after a moment, though I was certain he could only be referring to
that particular day.

“Yes. You tried to tell me before and
I...well, I’m sorry that I acted as if I didn’t want to hear it.
I’d like very much if you would tell me now, though. I think I’m
finally ready to listen.”

***

“Someone should have gone with her.”

It was late afternoon, and I was pacing the
dining room for what must have been the hundredth time in three
hours.

“I’m telling you, Mark I don’t like this.
Look at my arm.” I held it out for his inspection.

“Goosebumps.”

“How’s your shoulder feeling now?”

“It’s a lot better since the shower,” I
responded, rotating my arm to make sure. “Hardly hurts at all.”

“Good, then put on a sweater.”

“Very funny. I’m telling you it’s a sign.
Something is wrong. I just know it.”

“Aries can handle herself. That’s what you
told me. She’s very capable, isn’t she?”

“Oh, I suppose that she is,” I mumbled
grudgingly. But that did not mean I didn’t worry about her. It was
impossible not to remember a night a little over a year past. A
night I was sure I would never forget. I didn’t dare tell Mark why
I feared for my friend. That was the thing about friendship.
Sometimes you became a guardian to their secrets. What had happened
to Aries definitely fell into the category of not my business to
tell. I fervently hoped that wherever she was right now, she was
safe.

“Why don’t you sit down and try to relax? Bob
has Ashley occupied. You should take advantage of the peace and
quiet.” He pulled out the chair next to him at the table and
flashed me an inviting smile.

“Well, now, you’ve got me there.”

“You must get busy back home,” he pointed
out.

“I do. I love Ashley with all my heart, of
course. But, yes, kids are a lot of work. Plenty of joy, but they
can also be a bit on the high-maintenance side. And then there’s
work. My job, I mean. Although that’s gotten a lot better as of
late.”

“I thought you loved your job. What do you
mean by better?”

“Wait. You actually want to hear about my
job? I’m shocked.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I thought you weren’t interested.”

“That’s not true,” he said quietly. “Claire,
I understand why you had to go. Now. I just…want you to know that.
I know that we talked this morning, but I need to make sure we’re
clear on that.”

“I never stopped thinking about you,” I told
him suddenly, needing to remind him that he’d never been
forgotten.

“I’m glad to hear it. And yes, I want to hear
about your job. I want to know everything about you. Always. So
catch me up on the last year. What was so horrible about your job?”
He leaned back and smiled.

“The hours mostly. My boss went to prison.
That helped a lot with the work environment,” I joked.

“Prison?”

“Turns out he embezzled a lot of money in
addition to…a lot of other things.” For the second time that night,
I held my tongue, albeit for different reasons. I was surprised
that Marta had not said anything to Mark about the trouble Ashley
and I were in. A second later, Marta appeared in the doorway as if
I had conjured her up.

“Has Aries come back yet?”

“Not yet. Here, I made a fresh pot of coffee.
The two of you look like you could use it. Especially you.” She
wagged a plump finger in my direction.

“How kind of you to notice,” I said
dryly.

“You haven’t been getting enough sleep, have
you?”

“I get plenty of sleep, Marta.”

“Marta, don’t start in on her,” Mark teased
as he poured his coffee.

“And you!” The old woman was clearly
exasperated. “Don’t get me started on you. A haircut is what you
need. But then what did I expect, you running around doing who
knows what with those naked heathens?” She was still muttering
under her breath as she left the room.