Skin Walkers: Leto (15 page)

Jenny licked her lips, “You need bed rest. 
And your underweight, that’s not good for the baby.  Honestly Shy, if you stay I can…”

“What else?”

Jenny’s brow furrowed disapprovingly, “You need to start taking pre-natal vitamins immediately.  Seriously Shy, twenty pounds wouldn’t hurt, thirty’d be great.”

“Fine,” Shy bit out, “
Is there anything else.”

Jenny’s li
ps thinned into a line of disapproval.  “As a physician I strongly urge you to reconsider your course of action here.”

Shy snorted, ignoring the comment.  “
I’m going to need some money.”

Jenny didn’t hesitate to reach into the pocket of the slacks she wore.  “You’re in luck.  The girls and I had a poker game planned for shift break.”  Jenny held up the folded bills and Shy grabbed the money quickly.

“I’ll send you a check when I get where I’m going.”  Shy released Jenny’s coat and shoved her forward before sliding into the driver’s seat.  “Where am I?”

Reluctantly, Jenny supplied, “The Highwood Mountains, just East of Great Falls.”

Shy nodded.

“One more thing,” Jenny quickly grabbed the car door before Shy had a chance to close it.

“Fuck, what?”  Shy’s eyes scanned the area fearfully.

Jenny smiled then.  The excitement and brightness of her smile was so genuine it had Shy pulling back from the woman.
“It’s a boy Shy.  You’re going to have a son!”

Shy stilled, shock
keeping her from moving.

“You should know,
I haven’t informed Leto of the baby’s sex.” Jenny continued proudly, “He’ll be the first male Walker born here at StoneCrow.”

Shy gave Jenny a somber look, “No
, he won’t.  My child will not be born here.”  Shy pulled the door closed and clicked the electronic button, locking all the doors before she raced from the estate.

Jenny watched the taillights as she crossed her arms over her chest
and rubbed her arms in an attempt to fight the chill of the snowy night.  “Stoney?”

The Walker nurse stepped from the shadows behind her, “Yes Chief?”

“Contact Leto, let him know his angel has checked herself out of the facility and is currently en route off the estate.”

“Already done.”

Chapter 20

Shy had no problem at the main gate.  She suspected Dr. Arkinson had advised them to have t
he gate open as a safety measure for the sake of the child.  It was a foolish mistake on the Doctor’s part, for as much as Shy wanted to be free of StoneCrow, she wouldn’t risk her son’s life to do so.

She slowed her
rate to maneuver the winding mountain road that led down and out to the highway.  There had been a map of Shonkin at the Megalya facility along with dozens of other maps of small mountainous areas where the Megalya suspected the Walkers were taking refuge.  By some miracle, Shy’s heritage touted Blackfeet ancestry, which had led her to study only one map, the map of Shonkin, as it was the Blackfeet word for High Woods.  She knew where she was and how to get to the nearest town. 

Once on the highway, Shy
stayed within the speed limit.  There was no point in risking her life or her son’s.  If the Walkers wanted to follow, they’d do so effortlessly regardless of the pace she set.

A son. 
One hand slid to rub comfortingly over her belly as she sucked in her bottom lip. 
Oh my God!  I can’t believe it!  I’m going to have a son!
  The dawning realization conjured up tears. 
What will he look like?  Will he be healthy?  What will I name him?
  So many questions and too few answers. 
First things first.  I need to get to town and I need some food.
  Her stomach rumbled its concurrence.

I wonder if he’ll grow to be as handsome as his father.
  Her lips curved into a rueful smile.  From the moment she’d laid eyes on Leto she’d thought him handsome, and now that she’d seen him without his scowl, she found him even more attractive. 

His
too black hair seemed to mirror his constant too black mood.  Yet, she knew that in the breadth of his arms, under the unrelenting watchfulness of his gaze, some lucky woman would one day be sheltered.  Even his warm brown eyes that had scowled at her with such disdain, still showed promise of softening for the right person.  Regret seared her chest with the knowledge that it would never be her. 

Quietly, Shy
followed the highway she remembered led to the nearest town.  Once a set of headlights had shone in her rearview mirror for several miles, convincing her that she was being followed, but eventually the lights disappeared as the vehicle behind her turned off on some rural road.

Ahead, b
right lights formed a faint glow in the distance indicating that she was nearing the town.  The knowledge helped relieve some of her tension.  Finally, after almost an hour she passed a lit sign that read, ‘Welcome to Great Falls’. 

Just inside the city Shy breat
hed a sigh of relief when she found a café with a large neon sign under the name indicating the restaurant was open 24 hours.  It was 11:30pm when Shy pulled into the parking lot. 

She circled the building and parked behind it in an effort to hide the vehicle from the view of the highway. 
She found the button that popped the trunk and exited the vehicle to search for a coat.  The temperature had steadily decreased in the time she’d been on the road.  Shy rubbed her arms frantically as she stared down at the empty trunk.  Slamming the trunk closed, she peered into the backseat of the car. 
Shit!
  No coat there either, she had no choice but to do without. 

Shy
crammed her hands into the pockets of her jeans.  One hand pulled out her bra and her socks while the other fished deeper coming up with the wad of cash she’d taken from Jenny.  She quickly thumbed through it. 
$46.00? Christ!
  It wouldn’t get her a place to sleep for the night, but it’d get her fed.  

She entered the restaurant and headed straight for the restroom.  Inside she locked herself in a stall and quickly put on her bra and socks before using the facility and washing her hands. 

Staring in the mirror she sighed roughly at the sight that met her.  She was sickly pale except the dark circles under her eyes.  Her cheeks were sunken and for all her pinching, she couldn’t manage to bring any color to her them.  She gave up on her face and raked her slender fingers through her hair in effort to tame the long auburn locks. 
What I’d give for a steaming bubble bath. 
She managed to crisscross the strands into a loose side braid before she was satisfied enough to leave the restroom and find a table.

“Hi hon…just one?
”  The stout older brunette waitress asked as Shy approached the ‘please wait to be seated’ sign.

“Yes.”  Shy followed the woman to a table near the windows that overlooked the highway.

“Um, sorry...”

The waitress turned to frown at Shy.

“I forgot my coat.  Is there any way I can sit someplace a little warmer?”

The waitress slid her eyes down Shy’s petite frame before turning from the window seat and leading Shy to one closer to the counter.  “Good Lord girl, you’ll catch your death of cold.”

“Thank you,” Shy murmured as she slid into the booth in the center of the restaurant.  She hadn’t avoided the windows due to the cold weather, she simply didn’t want to be seen should any Walkers drive by searching the area.

The waitress slid a menu onto the table.  “Can I bring you something to drink?”

“Coffee.”  Shy replied instinctively, taking up the menu.  As the waitress turned Shy caught her, “Wait!  Can you make that hot tea instead?”

The waitress didn’t look at her, simply penned a large ‘X’ on her pad and wrote something beneath it, “Not a problem.”

Eyeing the menu Shy discovered just how difficult it was being responsible for the life and health of another human being.  Her mouth literally salivated at the thought of pancakes, eggs, and bacon, but she quickly flipped the page away from the breakfast section knowing her son deserved something more nutritious. 

When the waitress returned with a mug of steaming black tea, Shy placed her order. 
“Sirloin steak, wild rice, steamed veggies, and a cup of hot chicken noodle soup to start.”

The waitress waddled away while Shy tried to convince herself that
steak wasn’t too far off from a mound of syrupy pancakes.  Her mouth disagreed, but her conscience was eased by her choice.  Her lips quirked ruefully.  She had enough people angry with her; she didn’t need to be mad at herself too. 

She
wrapped both hands around her mug of tea absentmindedly to warm them as she thought about her future.  She knew she needed to contact her sister as soon as she got the chance.  First, she’d need to think of a lie.  The truth, horrific as it had been, would only incite her sister to call out the National Guard. 

Shy dropped her chin into her upraised hand as her elbow rested on the table.  She didn’t want to relive
the atrocities that had happened to her and Leto at the Megalya facility, and she certainly didn’t need any national attention drawn to a child that was the product of artificial insemination from a never heard of shape-shifting species.  No, she’d tell her family that her son was the result of a raucous night of sorority-girl life.  While her mother certainly wouldn’t approve, it was definitely a thousand times better than explaining the truth.

Her soup finally arrived and Shy savored every
aromatic spoonful until her dinner was served.  The sirloin steak, while not large, was cooked to a medium rare perfection.  It seeped savory juices as she cut into it.  She took alternating bites of her steak and wild rice before she attacked the bright pile of steaming vegetables on her plate.  By the time she was finished, not a single piece of broccoli, cauliflower, or carrot was left on her plate.

“Any dessert hon?”

Shy dabbed her mouth with her napkin, “No thank you.  Say, would you happen to know the name of a cheap motel in town?”

The waitress eyed her over the ta
blet she wrote on, “The motel on 15
th
isn’t bad.  Cheap, but clean.”

Shy winced as she pulled
eleven dollars from her stash to pay for dinner plus two dollars for a tip.  Then she held up the remainder of the cash, “Thirty-three dollars kind of cheap?”

The waitress stopped writing to eye Shy suspiciously, “
You in some kind of trouble?”

Shy shook her head, “No! No, just…passing through and need a cheap place to stay is all.”

“Well,” the Waitress frowned bracing both arms on the table, “I don’t know where your traveling to, but I doubt thirty-three dollars is gonna get you there.”  The Waitress passed a cursory glance over the restaurant before leaning lower, “Look, if you’re having….
man
trouble.  There’s a shelter down town.  No questions asked.”  The waitress stood and jotted something on her pad before ripping a sheet from her tablet and handing it to Shy.  “Here’s the address, just let them know you need a place for the night.  They’ve even got clothes they can give ya’.”

Shy could feel her cheeks singeing a bright red as she dipped her head to inspect the scrap of paper. 
Christ lady you have no idea the kind of ‘man’ trouble I’m having!
  “Th-thanks.”

The waitress took the empty plate and coffee cup and strode to the counter as Shy quickly rose
and exited the restaurant.

Inside the car she shivered as she waited for the vehicle to warm up. 
Damn Montana winter!
Her breath was coming out in cloudy puffs and the vehicle was taking too long to get warm.  She left the keys in the ignition and exited the vehicle intending on going back inside the café to wait for her vehicle to heat up.

“Hey pretty lady, need some help?”  A large man wearing a cowboy hat and a long black duster stepped from behind a
semi-truck cutting off her path to the café.

“No thanks,” Shy answered politely trying to pass him, “Just gonna wait inside for my car to heat up.”

The man’s hand snaked out and caught her arm causing Shy to cringe.  Ever since she’d been assaulted at Megalya she hated being touched, especially by men. 

“Don’t touch me!” She barked instinctively trying to pull from the man’s grasp.

The man’s grasp tightened, “Hey darlin’, no need for hostility.  Just trying to help keep you warm is all.”

“
Take your hands off her!” 

Shy didn’t need to look over her shoulder.  She k
new the voice, and by the sound of it, Leto was pissed!

Chapter 21

The cowboy jerked Shy to his side and looked up at Leto.  “Why?  She yours?”

Shy was startled when she was jerked to face Leto.  He was angry but for once it wasn’t directed at her.  It felt…nice. 
God he’s beautiful!

Leto didn’t respond, simply dropped his eyes to the hand that was still crushing Shy’s arm.