Wisteria (Wisteria Series) (39 page)

“Ugh…” Now the biters in the trees were moving toward her.

In his entranced state, the biters now sensed them and more biters emerged from the darkness, moving closer to Bach.

Even what was left of Vic’s flesher was crawling toward her.

“Bach?” She shook him.

He didn’t respond and remained planted on the ground.

“Bach!” She slapped him, but still nothing. Wisteria looked around to see more and more biters appearing. The pair was surrounded. The stench of the biters began to flood her senses. It was so strong that her eyes watered.

Fortunately, Vic had dropped his weapon, and, being a biter, he no longer understood how to use it.

She darted over to Vic’s flesher, grabbed the rifle, and dashed back up against Bach who still stood rooted. Pointing the weapon at the biters as they neared, she fired, but nothing happened. Maybe it was broken. His weapon was more advanced than anything she’d ever used so she had no clue as to what was wrong with it.

“Arrgh…” The biters were closing.

Relax Wisteria
. Dropping the gun and taking her sword from Bach, she readied herself to protect them both, as the flesh eaters shuffled closer.

‘‘Ugh…”The first biter lunged, its mouth spewing thick black blood.

Swinging her sword, it sliced through the infected’s head, separating it from the rest of its body. The biter fell and its head rolled across the ground. As two more infected attacked, she gored one in the forehead before jabbing the other through the eye.

Three more biters hobbled toward them.

Wisteria wanted to flee, but she was unsure if Bach was safe in his current state. “Bach?” She nudged him, but he remained stationary. She remembered that he’d once said he could protect himself from the infected when he wasn’t distracted and right now, his mind seemed somewhere else. She slashed fiercely at the advancing biter. Its left arm dropped to the ground, but the flesh eater kept coming.

“Bach!” She struck the biter again, slicing off part of its hand.

Suddenly, a strong wind blew through the trees. The gust became so strong that it started to blow her across the orchard.

“Colista-Bren-Navida,” she screamed to him. “Bach!”

“Wisteria.” Bach aroused from his trance and reached out to her.

“Whoa.” She clutched to his arm as the blast of air blew around her, lifting her and the other bodies off the ground and into the air. “Don’t let go!” she screamed as the corpses of the biters flew by. “Don’t let go of me, Bach.”

“Trust me.” He held on tight.

Clasping him as securely as she could, she didn’t know how long she held on. Eventually, the winds died down and Wisteria landed gently on the grass. “What was that? What just happened?”

“The infected will not bother this town today,” he panted. “The swarm is heading north now.”

“Thank you.” She stroked his sweat soaked face. She stared at him, unsure about his condition.

“Wisteria?” Coles emerged from the trees.

There were four or five other soldiers, skulking behind him in the dark.

The Major grimaced as he inspected the biters on the ground and dangling from the trees.

“You did this? How?” Coles asked Bach.

“He’s not infected!” She stood between the soldier and Bach.

“Thank you. You have my respect.” Coles held out his hand to Bach.

“The rumors were lies by…” Her voice trailed off in shock at the sight of his extended hand.

 
“I was not trying to earn your respect.” Bach inspected Coles’s hand, as if deciding whether or not to touch him, as he wasn’t one for touching people.

She thought he was like Coles in that way.

“I was talking to Wisteria.” Coles turned to her. “This is the second time you’ve put yourself out there for the island. You didn’t have to warn Cheung. You could’ve just hid.”

She doubted if hiding would’ve made any difference. Killers like Rupert and Brenda would’ve found her. “What do you mean, the second time?”

“You sounded the alarm last week,” Coles pointed out.

“You believe that?” she asked him.

“I don’t believe Steven Hindle could’ve done that,” the man quipped. He turned his attention to Bach. “I know we’ve had our differences.”

“Interesting that you would call them
differences
,” Bach answered in a cold tone.

“I can admit that I was—wrong. I am sorry. And you’re welcome to remain here in Smythe, freely.”

Wisteria could see that it was killing the Major to say those words.

“Just keep you super-human crap to yourself in my town. I don’t want you giving these people ideas.”

“You do not think I will infect your island?” The boy seemed more irritated than pleased.

“Cheung explained that you aren’t contagious. That is all I need—for now. So, if you can control yourself? You can stay,” Coles replied. “I’m going to have a tough time explaining this to the leadership council. I don’t need them getting nervous.”

“Do not worry about me. I will not be staying,” Bach replied.

* * * * *

Wisteria stared at Bach as the soldiers fanned out in the trees, curing the unconscious biters.

Without a word, they walked through the gates and found several trackers collecting the bodies of the cured biters under the supervision of Cheung, as well as Tom Hindle. Steven’s father was inspecting the bodies.

“Do you need these?” A soldier pointed to a pregnant biter.

“Yes.” Cheung paused when he saw Wisteria passing.

“You’re still researching. So this isn’t behind you.” she walked up to her teacher.

“Come on, Wisteria,” Bach whispered. “We need to leave.”

“Like I told you, this island isn’t here by mistake,” Cheung replied. “One day you’ll thank me for this.”

“Oh yes, I see
Dr. Hu
.”

Silas Cheung looked over at Wisteria and then shook his head.

“Wisteria, get into the car,” Coles called out and gestured to his vehicle. “We need to take you to your brother.”

As she headed toward Coles’s SUV, Bach stopped her. “Everyone is safe, so we need to go now,” he informed her.

“What’s wrong?” She felt panicked again.
Were they in trouble again?

Resting his hand on her shoulder, he smiled. “Nothing is wrong.” Bach looked pale and definitely in need of a lot of rest. “I came back to take you away from here. You have no reason to remain.”

“Bach, you’re not making any sense!”

“I want you to leave the Isle of Smythe and come with me. There is nothing left for you here.”

“That’s impossible.”

“No, I have three hundred days to teach you how to pass as a Thayn. When I return home after the Great Walk, you will be perfect at acting like one. None of my people will question you or me being together and perhaps we could find a way to take you back to the Jade Ocean.”

Her eyes widened as she realized the gravity of what he was saying. “I can’t leave with you! My mother died today, Bach. She’s dead. I’ve got to find a way to tell David, and you want me leave with you and be a slave? How can you ask me that?”

“I cannot see any other way.”

“Any other way for what? I thought you’d want to stay here. Coles said you’d be fine here.”

“These people are evil,” he stated emphatically while reaching toward her. “They tried to kill me. Nothing that man could ever say would make me trust him or remain here. You need to leave with me now.”

“Bach, no.” She jerked her arm away before he could touch her. “I’m so grateful you saved my life again and you even saved Smythe.” She tried to smile but the pain of losing her mother was beginning to sink in. “But I can’t leave now even though my life…my life has been destroyed.”

“So why stay?”

She saw that his lips were moving and words were coming out, but what he was saying made no sense to her. “My brother’s here. I cannot abandon David now.”

He paused while breathing heavily. “Fine, he can come too, but I will have to renew him.”

“Renew my brother? You’re just thinking about yourself and what you want.”
Why didn’t I realize before just how strange this boy really was?

Bach wanted to keep her with him because it would make him happy and not because it was what she needed or what her brother needed. And right now, dealing with his needs was the lowest thing on her agenda.

She needed to find David. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I need to bury my mother.”

“Wisteria—let me try to explain it better.”

“I said, I’m not going anywhere with you!”

“Hey guys?” Garfield opened the door of Cole’s car. “What’s up? A lover’s quarrel?”

“Garfield!” Relieved to see her friend, she hugged him. “What are you doing here?”

“I should ask you the same question,” Garfield replied. “I sounded the alarm and saved everyone, but got grabbed by Coles.”

“You did what?” she asked.

“I figured the more people who got to safety the better,” Garfield explained.

“Thank you.” Wisteria hugged him again.

“Wisteria,” Bach called sternly.

“I told you I’m not going anywhere with you,” she snapped.

“Let me explain it again?” Gently, Bach placed his hand on her shoulder. “This is the only way.”

“You need to stay away from me, Bach,” Seething, she spun around and got into the car, slamming the door shut. How could he insist she run off with him after everything that had happened?
And do what? Be like Piper, fawning over him and acting like he’s a god? What was wrong with him?

“Are you okay?” Confused, Garfield looked at her and then over at Bach.

Covering her face with her hands, she tried not to scream and cry at the same time.

“Garfield, step aside.” Bach reached for the car door.

Garfield muttered something and the two guys exchanged harsh words.

Wisteria couldn’t really hear anything through the vehicle’s window. When she looked again, Bach was gone.

Garfield got in beside her. “He told me about your mother.”

“What am I going to do?” Wisteria burst into tears.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

No one could see him because he was well-hidden in the clock tower. Even if someone on the ground looked directly at the window they wouldn’t see him. The room was too dark and too far away for human eyes to see into.

Wisteria looked like a Thayn, Bach thought as he watched her weeks later, hurrying into her home, followed by Garfield. Her expression was blank and lifeless. He couldn’t comprehend why she’d chosen to remain on the Isle of Smythe when she looked so unhappy.

This was the tenth time he had come back to the Isle of Smythe since the day she was almost taken by Red Phoenix. The aim each time was to convince her to leave with him, but he never spoke to her and ended up watching her instead.

Perhaps he was being unreasonable. After all, he had three brothers and he loved them. Was asking a human to part with a brother any different? Bach wasn’t sure, since she was only human. He stood, watching the quiet streets of the Isle of Smythe, unsure of what to do next.

The sun started to rise. “So you still have not decided what you are going to do?” Enric said when he arrived in the tower. “I am getting tired of your pointless journeys.”

“I thought about renewing her. If I did that, she would have no choice, but to come with me.” He had decided against it, as he still didn’t want humans around him. Wisteria was the exception—the only exception.

“A free Terran would never be allowed in Jarthan and even less at home,” Enric replied. “You will eventually have to leave her behind or remain on Terra until she dies. I would suggest the first option. Otherwise, the empirics may come after you.”

“Do you ever think about Piper? She served you for almost two years.”

Enric shrugged. “I had a bird that died as a child once. I think about her like that sometimes.”

“Your nighthawk Tak-Tak? You hated that bird.”

“I did not hate it; she was just irritating.”

“The bird or Piper?”

“Both,” Enric replied. “At least Tak-Tak could be easily trained. I am disappointed I allowed Felip to manhandle her and set her to do the things that she did. I hope with the new Thayn your brother has lent to me that things will be better.”

They finally left unseen and unheard over the walls of the island. They raced through the empty streets of Norton, past the abandoned houses, heading out of the county, toward Hammond Village.

Bach had fully regenerated so this journey would be over in a few hours.

“Are you going back tomorrow?” Enric asked as they ran.

“No, this was the last time.”

“You have said that for the last ten days.”