Starcrossed: Perigee - A paranormal romance trilogy (31 page)

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

"I didn't exactly have a lot of time to explain," he said.

He began to unzip his jacket. He'd put it on when he woke up and it covered the worst of his bloodied T-shirt, but his jeans were still shredded. Our packed bags were stashed in the trailer, and when I'd suggested we stop so he could change out of his tattered clothes, Aric had decided we should just keep moving. He did make a concession to Olaf though, and allowed him to drive with the headlight on after we bumped off the road for the fifth time.

My teeth were chattering from the cold. His own cold hands were fumbling with his jacket's zip.

"What are you doing?" I yelled.

"You're cold! You can wear this."

"No! I'm fine!" I protested. He continued to unzip his jacket anyway. It was all very gallant, but unwarranted when we were speeding through the countryside with the wind turning his face blue with cold. I'd refused to move to the bunk in the cab behind the seats. It was claustrophobic in there, and I would have been totally trapped if we were attacked again. I'd grabbed the blankets though, but they were hardly helping - the bitter wind was still reaching right through to my bones.

"If you take that off I swear I'll just throw it out the door!" I said as my teeth continued to clash together. I heard Olaf's throaty laugh even over the roar of the wind and engine.

"Chivalry is dead, my friend!" he roared over the wind, "Move with the times!" Aric pursed his lips and frowned, throwing his arm around me instead, which was warmer, but awkward as I bumped against him on the rough ride.

"I don't know how long the old girl is going to last," Olaf yelled.

"I'm perfectly fine!" I huffed, shuffling down in my seat as I tried to evade the majority of the icy air assailing us. They seemed to have the impression I was made of porcelain but I had proved I was pretty resilient, even useful when the going got tough.

Olaf laughed again. "I meant the rig!"

"Oh," I mumbled, and Aric grinned.

We rattled on for some time, gaining valuable distance from the aerial fracas we'd left behind. I'd wedged myself under Aric's armpit and was sitting on my hands in an effort to keep them warm. The cold wasn't that bad - I was beginning to become numb to it. Perhaps this was the start of hypothermia. If I felt frozen solid, I imagined Olaf and Aric would be doubly cold, as they were sitting right next to the window-less sides where the cold rushed in to hit them with the force of a gale, while their bodies shielded me from the worst of it. Olaf gripped the steering wheel with blue-tinged fingers, and Aric's hand, grasping the hand-rail near his head, was blue as well. I'd noticed Aric had barely felt the cold in the past, but this cold was so extreme I felt the waves of shivering overtake his body next to me, and he was clenching his teeth together so they wouldn't chatter.

"Maybe we should swap places for a while?" I yelled at Aric. He declined the offer, as I knew he would.

"You're going to get frostbite!"

"No, I'm okay, quit worrying! We'll have to stop soo -"

A loud bang issued from the back of the rig, and we began to swerve dangerously along the narrow road. I sat up with a start, my heart battering my chest in terror.

"Another gargoyte?!" I exclaimed, my teeth chattering more from fright than the cold now. Aric poised himself, ready for another fight.

Olaf was wrestling with the steering wheel. "No, it's another blown tire! We've got to pull over." After a bone-rattling ride as we bumped off the road, he pulled the poor semi to a standstill. He switched off the engine, and leaned back in his seat, taking a deep breath. The silence after the tumultuous journey was unsettling.

Aric managed to unclasp his frozen hand from the hand rail and jumped down easily from the cab to the ground. He surveyed our surroundings, then offered his hand to me.

"Come on, we need to get the truck under cover. There's woods either side of us. We'll need to find a space it'll fit."

I peered into the darkness, but couldn't make out anything. Obviously Aric's night vision was far superior to mine.

Olaf climbed down from the cab and hobbled with difficulty around to the front of the semi. He was as cold and stiff as I was. I took Aric's hand, which was already warm, and tried to move my frozen body. My painful joints protested but eventually I managed to slide to the edge of the seat and Aric lifted me down. He held me up until the blood returned to my feet and I was able to stand by myself.

"I'm going to take a look along the road and see if I can spot a place to hide the rig." He turned to Olaf. "Have you still got your gun?"

"You have a gun?" If I'd known he'd carried a weapon it would have come in handy when the gargoytes were attacking.

"Yeah, well, you can never be too careful when you're driving around the countryside like I do."

"Why didn't you use it on the gargoytes?"

"I couldn't reach it. The fanger was sitting on it."

If only I had known, I would have loved to have blasted that nightmarish creature away.

I turned to Aric. "Why do we need the gun now - do you think there are still gargoytes about?" I knew bullets were useless against Innaki unless you were able to take them by surprise, but the possession of a gun was a comforting thought when it came to dealing with gargoytes. Then again, the way the leathery creatures resisted the wyk I'd thrown at it, perhaps bullets would have little impact.

Aric shrugged a little too casually. "Better safe than sorry." He began to remove his jacket. "Here, I don't need this."

"Will you stop coddling me? I'm fine." If truth be known, I was still cold and I suspected I'd never rid myself of the chill which made my bones ache, but I wasn't about to let him know that. Without a jacket he'd freeze himself and he'd already put himself on the line for me enough.

"I don't feel the cold as much as you Lucy. I'm different remember?" His smile was bright despite the dull glow of the rig's lights.

"Okay, I'll take the damn jacket, but if I see you shiver you're getting it right back again."

He shrugged off the jacket and helped me into it. I was immediately grateful for the extra layer.

"Thanks," I said, giving him a quick hug. He was indeed as warm as I'd ever known him to be.

Aric surveyed the scene, including a sweeping inspection of the sky, which was now empty of any air traffic.

"Don't stay near the truck," he ordered. "Get the gun, the backpacks and wait at the edge of the woods over there. I'll be back in a while."

Olaf went to fetch the provisions while Aric scanned the sky.

"Are they gone?"

"For now."

I shivered and crossed my arms in front of me. Aric put his arm about my shoulders.

"We'll be okay," he assured me. I looked at him dubiously.

"I don't understand one thing," I said. "If we can use wyk to move things, why couldn't the Innaki use wyk to cut the semi's engine? That would have been easier than sending a gray down to a moving vehicle."

"They were trying to do that. I was stopping them."

"Oh..." He managed to fight gargoytes and shield us at the same time? That was pretty impressive - it must take some mind power to do it.

"Do you think I could become as good as you at shielding?"

"Let's hope you don't have to." His answer was purposely ambivalent. Running his hands down my arms, he pulled me into a hug, and I winced at the pressure on the gargoyte nips on my arms.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Nothing..."

He held me at arm's length and studied my face in the light of the lone headlight. "Lucy, there's something wrong. What is it? Are you hurt?"

"Not much." His eyes were already scanning my body. "Just a few cuts and bruises."

He grabbed my arm, pushed the sleeve up and inspected my wounds. My hand was covered in small cuts and abrasions, and I had two lots of bite marks where the fangs had pierced my skin through my sleeve. The wounds were minute in comparison to those Aric had suffered.

"These are gargoyte bites," he said. "Why didn't you tell me?"

I shrugged. "They're barely big enough to mention..."

His finger traced along the undamaged skin on my forearm. "Gargoytes have dangerous bacteria in their saliva. If you don't die of blood loss after a gargoyte attack, then you'll usually die from a bad infection from their bite."

I stared down at the puncture wounds in horror. "Oh God. Can... antibiotics help?"

He smiled at me. "You won't need antibiotics. I can heal, remember?"

I sighed with relief. Aric instructed me to strip down to my t-shirt so he could make a thorough inspection of my wounds. I watched, fascinated and shivering, as he healed my wounds, one by one. The skin was left smooth and unblemished, no sign of any wound or scar.

Olaf returned with the gun. His eyes fell upon me shivering in my t-shirt.

"Gargoytes have a poisonous bite," I told him. "Did you get bitten or scratched anywhere?"

He shook his head. "Nah, the only injury I got was bruised knuckles. I've had worse."

Aric looked him over anyway, and healed the injured hand.

Olaf stretched out his fingers, and then bent them into a fist. "Fighting fit again. You could make a fortune doing that."

Aric grinned. "I think I'll pass on that." He handed me his jacket again. "We'll change after we've sorted the truck."

Olaf waved the gun at his side. "What am I supposed to be using this on? Are the gargoytes still around?"

Aric answered with a grim smile. "Maybe, but I was thinking more of bears, or wolves."

"Ah, earthly things," Olaf said, tucking the gun into his waistband. "Now those I can deal with." He turned the rig's lights off and we headed into the scrub which bordered the road. I looked back to see Aric running at superhuman speed down the road, so fast he was almost a blur, eventually disappearing into the blackness.

"Woah!" I said. "Did you see that?!"

Olaf's hand went to the gun at his waist, and he glanced around nervously. "What is it?"

"Aric - he just... took off down the road. So fast!"

Olaf grunted and turned back where he'd been heading. "He's a hybrid Lucy, they've got all sorts of super powers."

"Super powers?!" I hadn't realized he could run so fast. What other amazing things could he do that he'd neglected to mention?!

"Can he fly?"

Olaf laughed. "No, I don't think so. But I guess, technically, with the wyk thing, he could probably make himself float, or hover. You can do anything with it if you put your mind to it. Maybe he can fly. Who knows? You'll have to ask him yourself. I've never seen it happen though."

Being able to fly would be so cool, and handy too. I resolved to find out if it were possible, and if so, I was going to learn how to do it. Quite suddenly, the absurdity of my thoughts struck me as intensely funny, and I began to laugh out loud. It started with a giggle, which eventually erupted into a full belly laugh until I was doubled over, barely able to breathe, tears running down my face. I guess it was a release of tension built up in the past few hours, but I'd never laughed so much before in my life, and it felt wonderful, and a little... nuts.

Olaf turned to me, a look of concern and confusion creasing his face.

"Are you all right Luce?" he bent over to look at me as I was doubled over. I saw his worried face, but for some reason it made me laugh even harder.

Gasping for breath, I held my stomach and waved a hand at him.

"I'm... o...kay!"

Olaf took a worried look at the direction Aric had taken, no doubt wishing Aric would get back and look after his crazy girlfriend. I tried to get a hold of myself.

"Really Olaf, I'm okay. I just..." I began to giggle again, and Olaf grabbed me by the arm and pulled me along to the woods.

We stood shivering at the edge of the forest, hidden in the blackness of the leafy wood. I'd given up trying to fish around in my over-packed backpack for a something warm to wear when my underwear fell out into the mud. Around us the night creatures had recommenced their interrupted song, unperturbed now by our presence. Occasionally the sound of a cracking twig or a rustling animal broke the silence. Olaf stood tensely in front of me, his gun drawn, while I cowered with my back up against a tree. Eventually the noise would come to nothing, and we'd relax slightly. It seemed a long time though since Aric had gone down the road and I began to worry.

"He's been gone an awfully long time," I said. "Maybe we should go and find him?"

"It's been twenty minutes at the most. Give him time. These woods are thick, and that's a big thing to hide."

At the mention of his semi, his voice grew a little wistful.

"I'm sorry about your rig."

"She's insured."

"Well, yeah, but I know how attached you are - were - to that particular one."

He gave a small laugh. "To be honest, that one was getting a little... long in the tooth. I was wondering how I was going to get Jomi to agree to an upgrade, and well, now I have the perfect excuse."

"I guess so." I wasn't convinced. I saw the way he'd grimaced as he'd surveyed the damage. The rig was unrepairable.

"Can you imagine what I'm going to have to write on the insurance claim form? Attacked by aliens and blood sucking vampire things."

"I don't think that would go down well!"

"Yeah, I may have to come up with another, more plausible scenario."

"Attacked by Big Foot instead?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, much more believable."

I shivered. I'd seen so many crazy things lately that the existence of Big Foot seemed entirely possible. Life had been so insane and unbelievable I wouldn't have been surprised if a yeti, or even a unicorn had stepped up beside us in the woods. I wished Aric would hurry up and get back to us so we could work out a way to get somewhere civilized. Fatigue was overtaking me, and I longed for a warm bed and a long nap.

"How far do you think we are to the nearest town?"

"I don't know. I was too busy getting out of there and didn't bother to notice where we were going. I suppose we can hitch a ride..."