Blooming in the Wild (20 page)

Bella turned on him, the last remnants of her warm glow of pleasure dissipating. “What?” she said defensively.

He closed his eyes for a moment as if asking for patience, the red plastic comb hanging lax in his hand. “Bella, you don’t want another job like that.”

“Oh, and why not?” She turned her back on him, scowling and he resumed combing her hair, tugging a little harder.

“Because, you’re not a suit. You don’t belong locked up in a goddamn office all day. You belong out here, with the trees, and the plants—and freedom.”

She rolled onto her knees and turned to face him, anger so sudden it came out of nowhere blazing in her. She might be in love with him, but he could still be as dense as a lava boulder. “We can’t all play for a living, you know.”

He pulled his head back as if she’d slapped him, his cheekbones staining with red. “Oh, so I play for a living, huh? And I suppose hawking swimsuits and hiking shoes is more important?”

He tossed the comb aside, levered himself to his feet, and stood there, shaking his head. “At least I’ve found a job I love.”

She glared at his gorgeous ass as he turned his back on her and bent over to fish a pair of shorts from his bag. His sac hung heavy between his muscular thighs, and part of her wanted to reach out and touch him there, pull him back down with her. Part of her wanted to smack him on that ass—hard.

“Well, at least I’m not afraid to put down some roots,” she snapped. Blinking hard against a sudden blur in her eyes, she groped in her own bag and found her last clean bikini. She thrust her feet into the brown-and-white-flowered bottoms, then had to yank them off again and untwist them before wriggling into them.

She let out a squeak of surprise as Joel reached down and pulled her to her feet, his big hands holding her upper arms. He scowled down at her. “Yeah, you’re right. I don’t want to be tied to one spot, held down and strangled by a place that I can’t get free of. But I’ll tell you something. You’ve got roots, but they’re in a big cement pot. And they’re gonna strangle you, sooner or later.”

They glared at each other for a moment. Bewilderment and anger tumbled inside her. How had their idyll become this mutual attack?

“You’ve only known me for a few days,” she said quietly. As she had him. Was she really in love with him, or were these powerful emotions just the heat of the moment?

“I could say the same,” Joel said, echoing her thoughts. He shook his head. “Look, I don’t mean to psychoanalyze you. It’s just that…” His gaze softened, and he lifted one big hand to cup the side of her face, stroking across her cheek with his thumb. “You’re so beautiful out here. Like you’re part of this forest—a young queen, and all of these”—he waved his hand at the trees around them— “are your subjects.”

Bella gazed up at him, her heart swelling so much at his praise that it hurt. “Mahalo,” she whispered. “I’m… Is that really how you see me?”

His eyes heated, and he stepped closer and squatted to grasp her around the hips and lift her high in his arms, looking up at her. “Oh yeah,” he murmured. “Now, about that thing with the flowers. Think you could do that again?”

She slid her arms around his shoulders and bent her head to brush her lips over his. “I can do better than that,
kâne nohea
.”

He groaned. “I may not survive, but I’ll die a happy man.”

Bella bent to kiss him again, but as their lips met, she froze. The trees were whispering, but now it was harsh and sibilant—a warning. She lifted her head.

“Take care, little sister. Take your kâne nohea and go, high onto our mountain. Conceal yourselves.”

“What is it?” Joel asked. “Do you hear something? Other than the wind in the trees?”

She looked up into the trees. “Something’s wrong.”

He frowned quizzically. “How do you figure that? Did you hear something?”

Bella searched for an excuse, not quite ready to share the fact that she heard voices. Might be a bit much for a post-coital chat, even for this world adventurer. “The birds—they’re quiet.”

“A little too quiet,” he murmured, but his eyes were serious. He let her slide to the ground and turned toward the cliff’s edge.

“They’re coming,” she told him. Picking up her bikini top, she fastened it with quick efficiency. Then she walked over to the edge of the bowl, into the shadows of the trees, and looked down.

“Watch out, they’ll see you,” he said urgently, moving up beside her. He pulled her farther into the shadows of the tree.

“It doesn’t matter. She knows we’re here.”

To Do: When negotiations are called for in dealing with pugnacious locals, the tour director will step forward, using her expertise
.

“Hello,” called an amplified voice from below, echoing off the mountain, rising over the sound of the surf and the rustle of the trees.

A pale figure moved away from the cluster of people standing on the beach below. Camille Helman, dressed in immaculate white. She carried a megaphone, and she waved at them from the beach, as cheerily as if she were an invited guest. “Aloha, Bella Ho’omalu. I know you’re up there somewhere. You’d better come down, or the party will begin without you.”

“Don’t let her see you,” Joel gritted. “She can’t be sure you’re here.”

“She has Cassie,” Bella realized, her stomach sinking as a slender blonde figure was hauled forward by a much larger male.

“What the hell?” Joel swore. “How did she find her?”

“Cassie must have panicked,” Bella said. “I shouldn’t have let them stop down below. I should have made them come up farther.”

“Hell,” he muttered again. “Well, she doesn’t know for sure you’re here, so—”

“Better come out,” Camille called. “Or my boys start shooting.”

“She knows,” Bella said as another figure walked forward. It was Li, his pale hair recognizable even from here. He had a bandage on his neck, and he walked stiffly, but he took Cassie from her captor. The model’s struggles were plainly visible.

“I have to go,” Bella said.

“The hell you do,” Joel said harshly. “Camille’s a sociopath, Bella. Giving her another hostage won’t solve anything.”

But Bella shook her head. She looked up at him, knowing her heart was in her eyes and not caring.

“I love you,” she admitted. She stood on tiptoe and kissed him on his warm mouth. But when his hands came up to hold her, a bough heavy with flowers dipped into his way. Bella slipped away, stepping up to stand on the very lip of the lava bowl. “
Carry me, o my forest. Bear me safely down to do what I must.”

Joel batted the vine away, his face going white. “
Bella.
What are you doing? Don’t—” he bit the word back and froze as if afraid his voice would push her over, his hands outstretched.

Bella reached for one of the long vines draping down from the trees that grew from the lava wall, their roots imbedded deep in the lava. She smiled wistfully at him. “I’m more than a hostage, Joel. I’m a ho’omalu, a guardian. I’m sorry I didn’t explain to you before. I’ve been having trouble believing it myself. But I am one, and now I have to go.”

She looked down, and the scene below was so like the Maui nightmare that she shook with terror. The Jet Ski motors in the little bay rumbled, echoing through the forest like that of the SUV in the dream, and there—a flash of scarlet caught her eye, and she saw a red bird soaring through the still air, wings outstretched, its clear cry floating up to her.

“
This is no dream, little sister. Come, we will carry you. Fight for us, with us.”

She caught her breath in a sob. Clearly, the forest believed in her. Now if only she could.

“God damn it,” Joel swore fiercely, his eyes blazing at her, his face pale under his tan. “
A fricking vine?
Even I don’t do that, Bella.”

“I do,” she told him, and then she wrapped her arms and one leg through the thick, ropy vine and jumped.

She heard him roar something after her, but the wind rushing in her ears drowned it out, and she was swooping down through the trees, the passing forest a blur of green.

She swung so close to the earth that it seemed to rush up to meet her. Bella steeled herself to let go and fall. But instead, the vine swung her up and then back, like a pendulum. On the third swing, Bella let go and landed on her feet in the sand and dried palm fronds. She stumbled, went to one knee and then pushed herself upright again. She paused a few seconds, letting her equilibrium catch up with her balance, and then looked around her. Oh God. She’d made it— swung down without killing herself.

Now to make it worthwhile. She swallowed hard as her lunch threatened to come back up her throat, and locked her wobbly knees.

“
Nani.
” Bella looked around her. That had not been the forest voices but a real one.

She stood among the palms clustered on the east end of the camp. She could see Camille and the others through the trees. They’d obviously seen her land too, because two of the thugs were walking this way, guns at the ready.

“Nani. Here.”

Bella turned, peering into the shadows behind a cluster of palms. Her heart lifted. “Frank!”

He was crouched behind the palms, the automatic weapon across his thighs. He had a bloodstained bandanna tied around his head, and his once-white Hawaiian Dive T-shirt was stained with blood and dirt, but he managed a crooked smile as she scurried toward him.

Bella took his outstretched hand, squeezing it with both of hers. “Oh, you’re alive. I hoped you were when we saw the cave was empty.”

“Yeah, but no time for that. Where’s Joel?”

“He’s up there.” She pointed up the mountain. “Probably cussing me out right now.”

“Get down,” Frank hissed. “They’re coming. You get behind me. There’s a full magazine in this thing. We can hold them off ’til the Ho’omalus get here.”

Bella dropped to her knees, but then Camille’s voice echoed through the trees again.

“I saw you come down, Miss Ho’omalu. Come out, come out. If you make my men look for you, your little friend won’t like it.”

The next sound through the megaphone was a muffled cry of pain. Cassie.

Bella scrambled to her feet. “I have to go out there.”

“No.” Frank reached for her. But he wavered and sank back to his haunches, his face pale.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Be safe, Frank.”

The two armed musclemen, Baldy and an equally burly man with skin so dark it nearly matched his black Hawaiian shirt, were waiting for her when she stepped out between the trees. The dark-skinned man stepped forward, but Baldy stopped him.

“She said not to touch the girl.” Baldy gestured with his weapon, indicating that Bella should walk before him to the open area before the beach.

Bella had nearly reached the edge of the trees when she heard a rattle of palm fronds behind her, and then a thud of impact, followed by a grunt.

She whirled to see Joel crouched atop the black man, a thick vine dangling behind him. Joel lifted one arm and punched the man on the side of his head with a solid thunk. As Baldy turned to look, Joel sat back on his haunches, his victim’s gun in his grasp, aimed at Baldy.

“Bella, get over here,” Joel ordered.

“Move, and I shoot her,” Baldy said. Bella saw that his weapon was now trained on her. He smiled at Joel, revealing a metal tooth with a large gem that glinted in the sun. “Yeah, even if you get me, your girlfriend still gets it. Tough choice, huh, Action Boy?”

“Shit!” Joel dropped the weapon and stood up.

Baldy nodded. “Good choice. Now move it, over there with your friends. Not you,” he warned Bella. “You go where she tells you.”

As Bella watched Joel walk out into the sunshine to join Camille and her crew, fury filled her, nearly burning through her fear. And over her head, the palm trees began to sway, their fronds rattling like sabers.

Ignoring the armed men, she stalked toward the woman in white who waited arrogantly on the lava shelf before the trees, hands on her hips. Li hovered close behind her, one arm around Cassie, his shining knife blade at her throat. A thin rivulet of bright blood trickled down her slender, pale throat, and she was crying silently, her sunburned face hopeless.

“Let her go,” Bella demanded, her voice shaking with anger. “Your quarrel is with me. Very well, I’m here. Let her go.”

Camille tipped her head, her face shaded by a wide-brimmed purple hat. “Oh, so dramatic. Well, little Miss Ho’omalu,” she spat. “Make me.”

Bella stared back at her, and for the first time, she let her rage flow through her, let it go. The trees around the camp began to sway, their trunks creaking and groaning. The fig and ohia trees waved their branches, and the palms rattled harder, drowning out the surf.

Camille held up one hand before her face as a palm branch sailed by, narrowly missing her, and the brim of her hat lifted in the wind. “Well?” she demanded. “I’m waiting.”

The woman didn’t know, Bella realized. She couldn’t see that this was not an ocean wind; it was Bella herself causing this commotion. Turning toward the cliff, Bella fixed her gaze on one of the dangling vines and beckoned with all her might. She had to do more, make a big enough commotion that Camille and her men would be distracted.

To Bella’s shock, the vine tore free of the cliff and writhed down the dark rock. Full of triumph, hardly daring to hope for more, Bella turned and pointed her arm at Li. “
Take him.”

The vine sailed through the air, between the lashing trees, and smacked the Asian across the face. He flew backward, eyes wide with terror. Cassie slumped to the ground, hand to her throat, but Bella hardly noticed as the vine writhed around Li’s body. It fell across him in heavy lengths.

Vengefully, Bella snapped her fingers at the palm over his head. A huge coconut fell from the tree, striking him directly on the face. He jerked once and was still.

Camille turned on Bella, white with fury, her eyes wild. “You—” she growled. “Denas was right. I didn’t believe him when he told me there was something weird about your family…that they used some supernatural power to take Stefan. But
you’re
doing this. I know you are.”

She gestured at her men, beckoning them forward.

“Get her,” Camille shouted at her men. “No, better yet, get him!” She pointed one thin arm at Joel, and Baldy leapt forward behind Joel, pressing the barrel of his weapon into Joel’s back.

“Leave him alone,” Bella warned. “Or I will do much worse. “ What that might be, she had no idea.

Camille turned on her. Then her face relaxed, and she actually smiled. Mimicking Bella’s snap of her fingers, she held out her hand. The nearest thug handed her a small insulated carafe.

“But you see,” Camille said to her. “Soon you won’t be a problem, because you’re going to drink what I give you, or Chase will shoot your lover. He won’t survive at that range, dear.”

“No,” Joel said sharply. He grunted, jerking forward as Baldy shoved him with the barrel of the weapon. The man he’d punched grabbed Joel by the arm, his face twisted with the promise of vengeance. Joel ignored him. “Don’t, Bella.”

“What is it?” Bella asked, staring at the thermos. Sickening dread spread inside her, because she was sure she already knew.

“Oh, just a little something my chemists made up especially for Hawaii,” Camille gloated. “You remember. We call it Kona Kula, Kona Diamonds. Very appropriate, I think, as its worth is that of diamonds.”

She watched Bella, her light eyes shaded under her fashionably tilted straw hat. “What a choice, hmm? Watch your lover die, his blood spewing over this beach, or sacrifice yourself. Die, or perhaps live, irreparably damaged from the very drug that the Ho’omalus killed my brothers over.”

“Bella! No!” Joel roared, struggling to break free of the men who held him. A third man grabbed him, and they held him, though not without a struggle.

“Oh, she‘s going to drink it,” Camille crooned. “And do you know why? Because, as I’ve watched her, I’ve learned all about little Miss Ho’omalu. She’s a good girl and always tries her best to please. Please her mama, please her new daddy and his family.”

Bella struggled to stand straight and tall, to show no emotion, no vulnerability. God, the woman had actually had people spying on her. She knew all the painful points to zing her arrows in, knew how to jab, as if she held Li’s knife in her hands. But let her talk; let her fling her sharp blades. Let her try to finish the grinding humiliation she’d begun on the
Hypnautique
. Every moment counted.

“Doesn’t want to displease anyone,” Camille went on. “Or lose her job. Please her employers at their stupid little sporting goods company. Well, do what I tell you, good girl, and your friends will live. And you might too, who knows.”

“No,” Joel pleaded hoarsely. “No, Bella. Give it to me, you bitch. I’ll drink it. Not her.”

Camille ignored him, and so did Bella, their gazes locked.

The woman was right.

Bella was going to drink it. But not for the reason Camille gave. But because if she obeyed Camille, the drug would take at least a little while to take effect, and watching her would delay Camille, keep her from killing the others. And by the time Bella was unconscious, or dead, her ohana would be there. She could feel them coming, a deep knowing in her very bones.

Yes, the Ho’omalus were coming as fast as they could. And they would save Joel and Frank and the others.

Not her, but that didn’t matter. Sometimes a person, even a good girl, got the chance to do something heroic, and this was hers. And even though she was shaking in her sandals, ready to pee her bikini bottoms, she was going to do something much more worthwhile than hawking swimsuits and shoes.

“No, Bella,” Joel shouted, struggling again. “She lies. Don’t do it. It’s poison.”

Bella smiled at him, with her mouth, with her eyes, her heart. “It will be all right,” she said.

And then she held out her hand and accepted the cup. It looked like some kind of herbal tea, smelled of some dank garden weed.

She took one drink and nearly choked on the bitter brew. Another and then gagged, finally swallowing. The cup fell from her hand, splashing the rest of its contents on her legs and bare feet.

Lifting her head, Bella gazed at her captor. Camille watched her avidly, her eyes wide and greedy, lips parted, her teeth showing like those of a shark closing in on her prey.

And then the world began to spin in great dizzying sweeps. Bella staggered and, no longer in control of her limbs, tried to right herself. As a dull roar sounded in her ears, the ground swept up and hit her hard, her face smacking into the rock.