Luke had been a miserable companion the entire day. He
pouted, complained, and generally slowed her down. What little patience she had
was gone.
For the first part of the day, they'd tried to stick close
to the shore, but they eventually reached the cliffs and had to veer deeper
into the jungle.
Like being on a jungle-inspired treadmill, Lucy didn't feel
like they'd gained much ground, but they'd been walking since sunrise and the
sun was now setting over the mountains. Darkness descended quickly in the
jungle. Too quickly.
Lucy stopped and looked around. The area was mostly flat,
with some good dry wood for making a fire. "We need to stop and set up
camp, get a fire going before we can't see anything anymore."
Luke slumped to the ground without a word, and Lucy sighed
and started collecting wood for the fire. He finally joined her, just as she
had nearly finished building the fire.
Once it blazed to life, they sat and sipped at their water.
At least coconuts were in abundance, and the milk from them kept them hydrated.
They ate their coconuts in silence. Lucy pretended it was a cheeseburger and
fries, but the fantasy only made her hungrier.
Luke slurped out the last of the milk from his and cracked
it open to work on the meat. "So, did you see that Brad and Des are
together? That's awesome."
Perfect, just the conversation Lucy needed to feel even more
miserable. "Yeah, I saw. I'm happy for them."
Loneliness ate into her, and it wasn't just Luke's recent
distance that made her feel this way. She'd felt it for awhile, but hadn't
wanted to acknowledge what it was, or maybe she
couldn't
acknowledge it.
Sometimes the hole in her just felt... so hollow, and identifying the piece
that fit it was impossible.
A branch snapped in the jungle and jerked Lucy back to her
surroundings. She whispered, "There's something in the trees."
Luke did nothing to conceal his voice. "Whatever.
Probably some animal. Nothing to worry about."
"Maybe. But even if that's true, then that's dinner.
Something other than coconut. I'm going to check it out."
Luke didn't offer to come, which hurt her, but she ignored
the feeling and grabbed her gun and knife. She walked quietly and heard more
branches snap. It could be something big. She hoped the gun and knife would be
enough. Her stomach rumbled with the promise of hot meat but the sphere in her
pocket pulsed and her instincts made her cautious. It might not be an animal
after all.
Another snap, closer this time.
She rushed forward, fast but careful, closer and closer to
the sound.
Then she stopped.
In front of her stood a young man around her age, dressed in
black, with black hair streaked with some kind of light highlight.
He had a submachine gun pointed at Lucy.
She had her pistol pointed at him.
They locked eyes.
Around them the jungle seemed to fall silent, as if holding
its breath to see what would happen next. Or maybe that was just Lucy.
As they stared at each other, Lucy studied him more closely,
focusing on the details of his face, despite the darkness surrounding them. His
chiseled jaw was locked in focus, and his green eyes seemed to study her just
as intently as she studied him.
A woman came up behind him carrying a flashlight. The tall
forty-something woman with sandy blonde hair brought mixed feelings for Lucy.
Agent Simmons smiled. "Lucy! Oh, we've found you."
She gestured to the guy with the gun. "Agent Riley, stand down. She's with
us."
Agent Riley lowered his gun, and Lucy did the same as
Simmons embraced her.
"We're so glad to see you. We saw the plane go down and
hoped you'd all made it to the island, so we put together a search party
immediately. Where is everyone? Where's Agent Morrison? All communications have
been down. We didn't even know if anyone survived, but you did!"
More IPI Agents surrounded Simmons as she talked. They
smiled and said hi to Lucy. Everyone looked relieved to find her.
Lucy didn't want to tell them the truth. She didn't want to
be the one to take away their hope, but she had to. "My brother, Luke, is
close by. But... we're the only one's who survived. Agent Morrison, and
everyone else, is dead. Beleth and his team killed everyone. We barely
escaped."
Simmons frowned as Lucy explained what happened and gave
them directions to the crash site—to the best of her ability.
Silence hung in the air when she finished her story.
Simmons wiped a stray tear from her eyes. "He was a
good man. All the agents on that plane were."
Lucy didn't know what to say to that, so she nodded.
"We have a fire going. It's over here." She turned and started
walking.
Simmons, Riley and the others followed her back.
Luke looked up from stoking the flames. "Interesting
choice for dinner. I was expecting something more edible."
Agents settled around the fire and Lucy gestured to the lead
agent. "You remember Agent Simmons."
"Sure, hi. Glad you found us. We've had a hell of a
time out here."
Once everyone was settled around the fire, Simmons spoke.
"We've been searching for survivors for two days, but it's a big island,
as you know. We've run across some interesting finds here—creatures that don't
look normal."
"Same with us," said Luke. "We saw a moth
that didn't look like a normal moth—giant, with glittery bright wings. There's
something unnatural about this place. Makes finding food hard."
Agent Simmons pulled out her pack and handed Luke and Lucy
some jerky and dried fruit. "I know it's not much, but it should give you
some strength. What have you been living on?"
Lucy nudged her brother. "I tried eating Luke, but he's
too chewy. Mostly coconuts." She pointed to their pile by the tree.
"Help yourself if you get hungry or thirsty. Just don't smash them against
a rock. It's messy."
Agent Riley chuckled and Lucy took that opportunity to get a
better look at him. The highlights in his hair were silver and his eyes glowed
like a cat's in the firelight. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach, and it
took her a moment to realize that she was attracted to him, which made sense
given how handsome he was. At second glance, he looked a few years older than
Lucy, but she didn't mind. She thought she'd like a man a bit older than her,
someone who knew what he wanted in life.
While Simmons continued to fill them in on reports from IPI,
Agent Riley sat quietly. Lucy wondered what he was thinking, and wished she
could just dip into his mind like Sam and find out.
"Tomorrow we'll head back to base and reassess the
mission," said Agent Simmons as she stood and stretched. "Tonight,
let's get some sleep."
As the agents set up their sleeping bags, which Luke and
Lucy both eyed with envy, Hunter walked away from the group.
Lucy followed him with her eyes as he found a clearing in
the trees and stood staring at the moon. His lean, muscular frame didn't look
relaxed against the backdrop of night. He looked poised to fight, and she found
that oddly stimulating. She could imagine sparring with him, feeling her legs
around his waist as she flipped him, or he flipped her, their bodies pressed
together. She blushed at her own thoughts and swatted herself mentally. Must be
jungle fever or something, because that was just not like her.
Simmons nudged Lucy with her elbow, startling her. "Go
talk to him. He won't bite."
An image of his teeth nipping at her neck made her grateful
that the heat from the fire and a sunburn could explain her red face. Biting...
didn't sound that bad... but no.... "What? I can't just—"
"Don't worry about it." Simmons shoved Lucy up.
"Once you get him talking, he'll do all the work."
Inspired, Lucy tiptoed forward and stood beside the agent.
She'd never been shy before—not even close—but she had no experience with men.
Boys with crushes, sure, but Agent Riley was not a boy with a crush. He was all
man.
She was nervous as hell, but refused to cater to that
weakness. "Hi. I'm Lucy."
He offered his hand, warm and soft and strong, and they
shook. He towered over her, a bit taller than Luke. "Hunter Riley."
Lucy giggled, then covered her mouth with her hand.
Why?
Why did I giggle at his name? That's so stupid.
She had to admit that his
name made her weak in the knees. He could hunt her anytime.
Oh my God.
What's wrong with me?
She had to stop thinking like a cheesy romance novel
and focus on work.
"So," asked Hunter, "how do you know Agent
Simmons?"
"Agents Simmons and Morrison helped me and my friends
out after we escaped from... the place we'd been living. You should know, I'm
not like other people."
She'd never had to explain herself to someone before. On
assignment she had to keep her powers secret, and at Rent-A-Kid everyone
already knew. Living this new life, in the real world, would be a challenge.
She would have to be careful about who she trusted with the truth of who she
was.
Hunter chuckled. "What, do you have powers or
something?"
She assumed she could trust him. After all, Simmons knew
about her. That's why she and Luke were here. "Well, yeah, actually.
That's exactly what I have."
He raised an eyebrow. "Powers? Really? Are you going to
start shooting lasers out of your eyes? Should I back away?"
He scooted away from her in mock horror and she giggled.
God,
why does he keep making me giggle like a moron?
"No. No lasers, though
that'd be kinda nice sometimes. No, I can tell when people are lying."
"Seriously?" His face fell. "I think you and
I can't be friends then."
What? Is he serious?
Lucy tensed, but her head
buzzed. He was lying. "I—"
"Relax. I'm joking. But seriously, I can't be around you."
Another lie.
"Why? Do you lie a lot?"
"Sometimes. Sometimes I like to."
And another.
She could play along—see where this was
going. "Really?"
He shrugged. "Well, it's a free country. I like to
exercise my rights."
Lucy's head buzzed and she crossed her arms over her chest.
"You're lying."
"What, it's not a free country?"
She almost stuck her tongue out at him, but caught herself.
This wasn't Luke. "No, you said you lie a lot. You don't."
"You sure? I mean, I just lied, just now. How—"
"I'm sure."
"Okay. See this whole you-being-a-lie-detector thing,
this isn't going to work."
"Well fine, then I'll just leave." Lucy turned
away, done with the games.
Hunter grabbed her arm and stopped her. "No, don't. I'm
joking. I know about your powers. I know who you are. You're fine. We're
good."
Lucy focused on his hand, and a tingle of heat passed
through it and into her arm. She wanted to explore that feeling and see where
it led, but she pulled away and searched for something else to say that didn't
sound totally lame and awkward. "You have cool hair."
Oh sheesh.
Good one, Luce. Very original.
"Well, thank you. My mother was actually the first to
die my hair like this."
Another buzz in Lucy's head. "She was not."
"Yeah. She didn't love me."
Another lie—based on how the power felt in her, she could
tell if someone was lying maliciously or in a teasing way. He was teasing her.
Lucy laughed. "You talk a lot but say very little."
"I... yes. Sometimes I do." Hunter's lips curved
down a fraction and he looked at his watch. "It's late. We should probably
get some rest."
"We... yeah, probably." Lucy was exhausted after
hiking from sun-up to sun-down, but she didn't want to leave.
Hunter smiled and walked away, back toward the fire and his
sleeping bag.
Oh to share that with him tonight.
Lucy scolded herself again and focused on the moon, now
waning from the full moon a couple nights before. Soon, they'd be back at the
base. Soon they could continue with their mission. And soon... she'd get to
spend more time with Hunter.
Another buzz filled her body, and this time it had nothing
to do with a lie. At least she hoped it didn't.
Ana fussed as I held her on the changing table with one hand
and pulled her dirty diaper off with the other. "Oh, baby, I love you
tons, but you stink!"
How could something so small and cute create such a noxious
mess?
My cell phone rang, but I'd left it on my bed, which I
couldn't reach from the changing table. A few wipeys later, and Ana gurgled and
smiled, content to suck on her bottle in her crib.
I dashed to the bed and grabbed my phone, just as the call
went to voicemail. I punched redial. "Mrs. Beaumont!"
"Hi, Sam, I just wanted to let you know we landed
safely and are on our way to your house. Tommy wanted to speak with you."
"Oh, sure. I'm glad the trip went okay."
She fumbled with the phone, and then Tommy's voice came on
the line. "Sam! We're almost to your house. Mom says it's just an hour
more. She said I should sleep since it's the middle of the night, but I can't.
I'm too excited. I can't wait to see you." He lowered his voice to almost
a whisper. "Mom's been real sad, Sam. She smiles and doesn't say anything,
but I can feel it in me, like having to sleep in a wet, cold blanket. Can you
help her?"
Poor Tommy. Reading minds had its own burdens, but I
wouldn't want to be empathetic. He had a hard life ahead of him, weighted down
with the emotions of others. Maybe we could teach him how to control it, how to
shield himself and discern between his own feelings and others. Father Patrick
had shared horror stories of empaths who used drugs and alcohol to numb the
pain. None of them lasted long without help.
"We can help you both," I said. "I can't wait
to see you."