Winter's Scars: The Forsaken (Winter's Saga 5) (3 page)

That’s when she felt her heart actually tugged hard enough to turn her shoulders and face the headlights still several miles away.

“What?” she asked the darkness.

She felt the tug again and this time, her feet began moving—pulling her down the road.

“Why?” she asked herself.

A warm roya
l blue glow enveloped her aching soul feeding her strength and devotion.  She couldn’t help it; she started running toward the headlights like a siren’s call—there was no resisting her need to find the source of the emotional warmth she knew was there. 

The headlights didn’t look
predatory anymore.  They looked like home to the lost girl, running in the darkness.

Chapter 6   Strangers in the Dark

“I see her,” Sloan said.

“Holy smokes! I do too,” Cole marveled.

Creed felt the pounding of his heartbeat synchronize with the
girl’s pumping arms.  His anxious eyes could see she was running toward them. 

He coughed a laugh as he saw her yank off her high heels and throw them aside so she could run faster barefoot down the center of the empty highway.  She was chasing the same pull yanking Creed out of his seat to crouch catlike, revving to pounce from the moving vehicle. 

Farrow kept glancing at Creed through her rearview mirror and knew he was about to slam open the door and run, so she slammed on the brakes first. 

They were still rolling at a clip when Creed burst from the black SUV and ran the rest of the way.  He was terrified of what she would do, but he was desperate to hold the girl who still wore his promise ring.

They stopped several feet apart.  Creed slid on the gravel in his effort to control his momentum so he didn’t crash into her. He watched her whole body shake with intensity.  She stood breathing hard, her slender ribs showing in her chest beneath perfectly symmetrical collarbones arched on either side of her graceful throat.  Creed could see the pulse there pounding in the bright lights of the SUV pulling up behind him.

Meg put her hands to her eyes, shield
ing them from the brightness before Farrow got the hint and pulled the SUV slightly off-center.

With the light still at his back, Creed knew she wouldn’t be able to see
his facial features, but that didn’t seem to detour her.  He stood as still as stone and let her approach him on her terms.  At arm’s length she stood, shoulders squared looking up into the shadowed face of a stranger and said one word, “You.”

She cocked her head slightly, a habit she didn’t remember she got from the dying
coydog waiting for her touch in the back of the SUV full of her family and friends. 

No one moved to get out of the
SUV—instinctively knowing to give Meg time with Creed.

“You,” Creed’s voice cracked on the one, simple word.

“I know you.”  It was a statement; A beautiful, perfect statement to Creed’s raw heart.

“Yes,” he nodded once, but couldn’t help the smile pealing across his face.

She narrowed her eyes slightly, as though a sliver of self-doubt crept up her spine chilling her.

“Prove it,” she challenged.

He loved her for her courage.  She stood barefoot and bleeding alone in the dark, yet her determination wouldn’t let her fold, no matter what.

Creed glanced down and smiled at the ring still wrapped snugly around the fourth finger of her left hand. 

“The ring.  I gave it to you.”  Creed was dying to reach out and touch her, but knew he needed to gain her trust first.  Meg was a creature of emotion; when she felt safe enough, she would come to him.

Meg looked down at her hand, then back to the man standing bare and vulnerable.  Now that she could see his face, she was sure she had never seen him before, but standing this close to him was almost exhausting because of the magnetic pull she felt.  The force had her leaning in toward the stranger, despite her best efforts. 

His military cropped hair glowed like a halo around him.  The shadows cast across his chiseled face should have made him intimidating.  And if not that, then surely the torn and bloodstained T-shirt should have warned her away.  But no matter what he looked like, Meg felt him deep inside and knew she belonged with him.

“It’s just a ring
—how do I know you gave it to me?”

Creed couldn’t help but blush happily.  His heart was just so happy to have found his dark-eyed fighter.  “There’s an inscription that reads ‘My dream came true—M&C’ then an infinit
y symbol.”

Meg looked down at her hand and removed the ring from her finger carefully so as not to drop it
with her shaking fingers.  By the light of the SUV’s headlights, she read the engraving the stranger said would be there.

“Who are M and C?”

“We are.”

“What is your name?”

“Creed.  Creed Young.”

“What is my name?”

“Meg Winter.”

“Do I belong with you?”  Meg waved to the people starting to climb from the SUV one at a time as though afraid to scare away a lost fawn in the woods.

“Yes,” Creed answered simply.

“Why don’t I remember any of you?”

“An evil man erased your memory.”

“Was he the bloody-faced monster in the helicopter?”

“No, but that guy is a really bad guy, too.”

Meg nodded once, accepting these simplistic explanations.

“I feel lost,” she admitted.

“We found you, Meg.  You’re not lost anymore
,” Alik offered in a smooth voice from behind Creed.

“Who are you?”

“I’m your brother, Alik.”

“I’m your brother, too.  I’m Evan.”

“I have brothers?”

“Yes.  And there’s another back home with mom and Theo.  His name is Danny.”

Meg shook her head as if trying to stop the darting thoughts.

“I just need to know one thing,” she looked directly at Creed when she spoke, her voice soft with exhaustion.

“Anything,” Creed answered sincerely.

“Can I trust you?”

“I swear you can.”

Meg narrowed her beautiful eyes for a moment before letting them widen as though seeing something suddenly.

“You shine like a sapphire.  You’re absolutely beautiful,” Meg whispered as she walked the last three steps separating her from Creed and reached to touch his face.

At the physical contact, she felt a rush of his emotions crash over her like a tidal wave.  At the impact, her exhausted body gave in and her knees buckled.

With movements swift and sure, Creed reached out and caught her in his arms. 

Chapter 7 The Heart Knows

Meg buried her face in his chest for just a moment and inhaled his masculine scent, giving her senses and body a chance to recover.  That’s when she heard whimpering.

Her head shot up.  She stared past the people standing around the SUV to the source of the sound.

“What’s that?”

An even louder whimpering, half-bark came from the SUV at the sound of her voice.

“That’s your pet coydog, Maze.  He’s hurt pretty badly, Meg.”  Cole nodded to the back of the SUV, encouraging her to so see for herself.

“I have a pet?  What did you call him?”

“A coydog—he’s part
coyote, part German Shepherd, we think,” Sloan answered.  Meg moved toward the SUV to see for herself.

“Wait!  Stop!” Evan snapped.  Everyone froze to stare at the fourteen-year-old whose hands were held out to
keep Meg from taking another step.

“What’s wrong?” Creed demanded.  His arm was wrapped securely around Meg’s tiny waist supporting her weight easily.

Evan rubbed his tired eyes, thinking.

“The nanoweapon.   Meg still has hers intact, so does Maze.”

“Oh, shit,” Cole croaked.

“What are we going to do?” Farrow asked.  She looked from Evan to Alik.

“What are you talking about?  I just want to see my coydog,” Meg looked around at all the worried faces surrounding her.  Even Creed was pulling Meg back away from the SUV.

“Why can’t I just…”

“Meg, you don’t remember any of this, but Arkdone—that bad guy we mentioned before—he injected all of us with nanoweapons.  Half were triggers, the other half explosives.  They could set each other off if you get closer than seven feet from one another. We all disabled ours, but Maze was too sick, so we let him be.  Now that we found you, we are back to the problem of what to do.”

“I have a nanoweapon in me?” Meg asked.  Her eyes were wide with horror.

“Yes, in your heart—we all did.”

“Did?  How did you deactivate yours?”

Evan exchanged looks with Sloan before answering.

“We short-circuited them by using a defibrillator on ourselves.”

“Okay, then do that to me so I’ll be safe to be around him,” she waved her hand toward the coydog she instinctively knew needed her.

“I have two problems.  First, I don’t know if the defibrillator has enough battery power to do what we need it to do and second, I know I’m not alone in being worried about your health.  The machine packs a huge punch directly to the heart, essentially stopping it for a few moments before allowing the heart’s natural rhythm to return.”

“Yeah, and it hurts like a bit—”

“Cole!” Farrow slugged him in the arm.

“Ow, what?  It’s true.  She should know what to expect.”  Cole stood rubbing his shoulder where Farrow’s knuckles probably left a bruise. 

Meg looked around at the circle of strangers and took a slow deep breath. 

“Listen Meg, you have a lifetime of memories we need to help you get back, but right now, you’re just going to have to trust us.”  The earnestness in Evan’s handsome face was as clear as the cuts and bruises marking her bare arms and legs.

Meg cocked her head to the side and stared at the boy who claimed to be her brother.  “Let me hold your hand for a moment?”

“Of course,” Evan nodded and moved forward offering his large hand.

Meg reached out and grasped the hand that should have been as familiar as her own for all the years she’d known him.  Instead
, it was as though they were shaking hands at a first introduction.  She closed her eyes and breathed slowly at first contact.  He was absolutely sincere, she could read immediately.

“Let’s try,” she said simply and let go of Evan’s hand.

“Whoa, wait.  Why not try it on Maze?”  Sloan asked logically.

“No, I’m stronger than the coydog.  He may not survive.”  Determination flashed in her dark eyes.

“We don’t want to risk you, Meg,” Creed spoke softly to the girl still clinging to his side.

“I am stronger than I look.”  Meg pushed away from Creed and pulled her shoulders back defiantly.  “No one is going to be hurt on my account.  Not a person or an animal.”

Alik and Evan exchanged knowing glances.

“You may not know us, Meg Winter, but you are definitely the same girl we know and love,” Evan grinned widely.  “Okay Alik?”

“She’s the boss; always has been, always will be,” he smiled ruefully at his big sister.

Meg hadn’t moved from her dogged stance, but offered one nod of acknowledgment for what the two boys said. 

“I’ll get the defibrillator,” Evan said to no one in particular, a smile still curling his lips at the assurance that his sister’s core personality was very much intact.

Meg glanced down at Creed’s hand as he nudged her.  She accepted the warmth of his touch and laced her fingers with his. 

“That’s my girl,” Creed whispered into her ear so only she could hear.

Meg frowned briefly before quietly accepting his words.  She felt the wave of devotion and love spilling from his sapphire-blue aura right into the palm of her hand.  The dark-eyed girl stood barefoot in the middle of nowhere with strangers, submitting herself to a painful procedure for reasons she didn’t completely understand, but knew to be truth.

“Sloan, would you please do the honors?” Evan asked, emerging from the back of the SUV.  His skillful fingers were fiddling with some buttons on a white suitcase-looking machine. 

“Of course.” Sloan was all business as she took the machine from his hands and motioned for Meg to follow her.  Everyone else stayed back out of respect to Meg’s privacy.  Prayers were murmured, hands shoved into pockets and eyes averted from the location back down the highway where Sloan and Meg walked.

Sloan was finishing her explanation to Meg about what was about to happen.

Meg sensed her confidence and appreciated it.  She was about to put her heart in this little girl’s hands—literally.

“Sloan?”

“Yes.”

“This nanoweapon in my heart.  Is there any chance the defibrillator will activate it instead of causing it to malfunction?”

“Slim to none.  From what I’ve witnessed, you’ll convulse slightly then pass out for a minute or so while your heart works to resume its regular rhythm.”