Skin Walkers: Leto (6 page)

Shy looked down at the speedometer, the vehicle was slowing rapidly, “Please just go and I’ll tell you.”

“Answers first!”

“Jesus Aries!  Please!  I’ll tell you just go!”

Aries pulled her foot completely off the gas pedal and the motor whined as it slowed.

“B
ABY!”  Shy shrieked.  “He’ll kill me if he finds out about the baby.  I’m pregnant.”

Aries
mouth opened as she turned to stare at Shy in shock before she clamped her mouth shut and slammed her foot back on the gas pedal, pressing it until it was flat to the floor. 

Shy watched as Aries focused straight ahead, her pupils expanding until her eyes were nearly black as she slowly inhaled.  “I scent no second life Shy.”

Shy lifted a hand to gently place it on her belly.  “You’re not supposed to.  But it’s there.”

Aries’ tone softened
“How far along are you?”

“I don’t know.  Five, six weeks
maybe.”

Aries’ eyes crinkled at the corners, “Why would Leto want to kill you simply because you
’re pregnant?  If anything that would keep him away from you.  We should tell him.”

Shy smiled weakly, the action not reaching her eyes.
  “I believe it’s his child.”

Aries’ brows hiked, “Again I reiterate we need to tell him Shy.”

Shy shook her head and began sobbing, “You don’t understand Aries.”

“Well help me understand damn it!”

Shy turned to Aries then, “Leto thinks I worked with the Megalya.  He thinks I’m one of them.”

“So tell him the truth.  Shy if he’s trusted you enough to sleep with you then he’ll listen.”

Shy threw up her hands in defeat, “He hasn’t!”

“Hasn’t what?”  Listened?”  Aries was completely lost.

“He hasn’t slept with me Aries.” Shy’s lower lip trembled with the revelation as tears streamed freely and sobs wracked her slender shoulders.  “The Megalya did this to me.  They used his semen to impregnate me.  He doesn’t know I’m carrying his child.  No one does.”  She dropped her head to stare at her belly before caressing it, “I carry his scent because I carry his child.  He’s never touched me until he tried to kill me five minutes ago.”

Chapter
8

Aries nearly missed the
curve in the road and had to jerk the jeep back onto the black top as she tried to regain her composure.  “Shy I can’t help you if you don’t tell me everything.  So please, start from the beginning and tell me all of it.”

Shy wiped her tea
rs on the sleeve of Aries’ coat as she sucked in a shaky breath.  She had to trust someone with the truth and the kind Walker woman next to her was as good a hope as any.  “I was assigned to intern with the Megalya as part of my exit courses for college.  I’d never heard of them, didn’t know what they were.”

“You were Megalya?”  Aries’
incredulous tone was accusatory.

“I was an intern.  I didn’t know what they were doing. 
I had to earn my last credits so I signed up for an internship.  God, if I’d only known.”  She fell back against the seat shaking her head.  “I’d heard them speak of their research on Walkers, Skin Walkers.  I assumed it was all fictitious or at best some idiotic plot the military was working on for super soldiers that they’d attempt to execute and surely fail at sometime in the distant future.  I didn’t know that you’re kind actually existed.  If I’d known…I never would have taken the position.  I’m not evil; I don’t want to hurt anyone.”  Her eyes flashed to Aries, “I
didn’t
hurt anyone.  I would never do that!”

Aries’ eyes flashed dangerously then.  “When you said you’d heard of Conn,
was it just from York speaking of him?”  She thought she’d scented the lie earlier but it didn’t make sense at the time for Shy to lie about how she knew of Conn.

Shy
shoved a hand into her hair.  “They have files Aries.  On all of you.”  She shrugged one slim shoulder negligently, “Well I assume
most
of you.  There were so many… I never saw anything on you though.”

“What information did these files have?”

“Everything.  Height, weight, sex, appearance.  It listed friends. They were trying to piece together relationships. I-I think they were trying to create a lineage.  We focused on descendency, but they don’t have much information in that regard.  They’re not sure who’s related and who’s married.  I think they’re trying to track the source.”

“Source?
”  Aries scoffed angrily.  “The source, or sources, are long since gone.  Why in the hell would they care?”

Shy drew in a long breath, “Replication.”

The word had Aries turning to her in horror.  “Please tell me you’re fucking joking!”

Shy’s head dropped closer
to her chest.  “They abducted Leto and experimented on him Aries.  When I tried to put a stop to it, they locked me up.  They said they erased my identity, my bank account, my school records.  I don’t even know if I exist anymore.  They locked me up and experimented on me too.  They used me to test the viability of insemination using Walker seed.”  She shook her head dejectedly, “It worked and it’s all my fault.” 

Aries’ eyes grew wide in incredulity.  “That’s why Leto doesn’t und
erstand why you carry his scent?  He doesn’t know that they experimented on you with his seed!”

Shy nodded, “He’s never touched me until today.”  She raised a hand to swipe at the fogged up window at her side, “But
it’s more than them just experimenting on me with Leto’s seed.”  Silence stretched between them until Aries narrowed her gaze on the smaller woman. 

“
I’m carrying his child, and he thinks I’m one of the Megalya.”  She turned to Aries, “Fuck I am!  I helped them Aries, I thought it was all just some ornate military bullshit.  Some wanna be sci-fi break through.  I didn’t know what I was doing.  I was just supposed to find a compatible female for the sample.  When none of the subjects matched I…I swapped my own DNA into the equation hoping it would work and I’d earn an easy ‘A’.  I didn’t know…I didn’t…”

“Jesus Christ Shy
!  We have to tell him.”

“No.  He thinks I’m Megalya.  He’ll think it’s a
trick.  He’ll never understand.  He’ll never trust me.  He already wants to kill me.  I don’t care what he does to me,” her tone shifted to one of resolve, “but I won’t let him hurt my baby.”

“Shy, I don’t know what to do here.  We can’t run forever.  Conn can track me easily.   We’re bound.”

“Then let me go.  Pull over and get out and I’ll take the jeep and keep running.”  Panic flared to life as Aries slowed the vehicle.  “What are you doing?”

“It’s no use Shy.  Leto’s found us.”

Shy turned to stare out the back window.  “He’s not there, we still have time.  Just go damn it!”

Aries shook her head
and pointed upward, “He’s above us.  The only reason he hasn’t tried to stop us is because Conn’s afraid his attempt would cause me to crash and Conn would never allow any harm to come to me.”

“No
!  No, no, no, what do we do?”  Shy was frantic now.

Aries stared at the other woman as the car slowed further.  “We can’t out run him Shy.  We’re nearly out of gas.  He’ll just stay overhead until the car dies.  It’s best we sort this out now with Conn close.”

Shy’s eyes were wide with terror, “Aries?  You won’t let him hurt me will you?”

Aries shook her head, “He won’t hurt you again.”

The setting sun cast a blood red hue to the wintry Montana Sky.  It was rare to see the sun in the winter months and its uncommon appearance cast a foreboding chill to the early morning as the jeep crawled to a halt.

Chapter 9

“What should I do?” Shy asked in sheer panic.

Aries
slammed the gear into park leaving the keys in the ignition as she barked, “Stay in the jeep and lock the doors.”  She pulled the pistol from the holster at her hip as she jumped out of the jeep and slammed the door behind her.

Shy watched as Aries had her pistol trained on some unforeseen obj
ect circling the sky overhead. Shy shuddered and crushed herself into the seat as Leto dropped to the asphalt.  She watched as he shifted from a massive bald eagle.  Impossibly long feathers receded to smooth muscular flesh to form a kneeling man.  Shy’s eyes bulged in disbelief. 

When Leto
stood his clothes regenerated, wrapping around his corded limbs and torso to form jeans, hiking boots, and a tight black t-shirt.  Despite the weather, he generated no coat or jacket.  It was what he’d been wearing the day Shy had first seen him strapped to the table at the Megalya facility. 

When Leto looked up, his brown eyes smoldered with rage as his eyes locked on Shy.  Aries
stood between Leto and the jeep with her pistol aimed at the Walker’s chest. 

Leto completely
ignored Aries and any threat she posed as he growled at Shy, “Get out of the car.”

Shy felt her breath catch as terror shot through her.
  She pulled her eyes from Leto to reach hastily across the driver’s seat quickly locking the door before reclaiming her seat and locking the door at her side as well.

Leto’s smile didn’t reach his eyes.  “Do you honestly think that’s going to stop me Shy?”  He took a step closer.

Aries pulled the slide on her handgun, chambering a bullet.  “Back off Leto!”

His
eyes reluctantly slid from Shy to frown at Aries.  “
Thi
s
doesn’t concern you.”

“You’re not going to touch her.”  Aries took a step closer, which garnered all of Leto’s attention. 

“Fine.  I’ll deal with you first then her.”

Neither Walker seemed to notice the blacked-out four-wheel drive
truck that screeched to a halt behind the jeep Aries had commandeered

Shy watched in relief as four men quickly exited the vehicl
e.  All wore the same winter-camo fatigues that Aries donned.

“Do
not
threaten my angel Leto!”  Conn’s pistol was trained on the larger Walker.

Leto turned to Conn and dipped his head dangerously, “Do you really want to interfere in this?”

Conn didn’t have to motion to his team.  Lok, James, and Shane silently circled Leto until he was centered between the group of mercenaries. 

Leto turned to sneer at the other Walkers
.  He knew what they were doing. 

Conn holstered his pistol and held his hands up in a gesture of surrender, “We’re not trying to keep her from you Leto.”

“
That
is exactly what you’re doing!”

Conn inched closer to Aries, “We’re concerned about you.  You’ve only just been released.  We all know how difficult the captivity must have been.”

Leto tilted his head, watching Conn with slight confusion.  “You think I’m sick?”

Conn slowly dropped his hands as he side-stepped to stand directly in front of his wife
blocking her from Leto’s view.  “It explains why you’d hurt your angel.  You’re confused.”

Leto’s eyes darkened furiously
as his eyes slid back to Shy where she cowered in the jeep.  “
That
is
no
t
my angel.”

Shy flinched at the statement and dropped her eyes as she slowly slid from the passenger side to the driver
’s seat.

Anger was evident in Conn’s tone as he challenged, “Of course she’s
yours Leto.  She carries your scent.”

Leto thrust a finger in Shy’s direction as he bit out, “Touch those keys and
you’ll fucking regret it!”

Conn chanced a glance over his shoulder before turning back to Leto.  “It’s post traumatic stress disorder Leto.  It’s common.  It’s curable.”

Leto threw back his head and laughed viciously before sobering, “I’m not psychotic Conn.  That bitch bears my scent because she’s Megalya.” 

Conn shook his head in confusion as Leto continued, “
They experimented on me, took my blood.  She already carried my scent when I met her, before I ever touched her.  I did not bind her to me,” Leto’s eyes rested on Shy as his lip curled in derision, “I do not claim her.  She.  Is.  Not. Mine.”

Conn and his men turned then to stare accusingly at Shy
causing tears to well in her eyes before they slipped free.

At Conn’s back Aries whispered, “It’s not what he thinks.”

Conn turned to stare at his angel before stating without looking at Leto, “Regardless of what she is or what she’s done, Monroe wants her brought in.  We won’t allow you to hurt her.”

Leto smiled in challenge
scissoring his massive arms in front of his bulging chest then behind his back as he prepared for battle.  “Whichever one of you thinks you can stop me…”

“Shane.”  Conn didn’t blink as a loud pop sounded milliseconds before Leto spun and caught the tranquilizer that had been aimed at his back.