Hunting Medusa: The Medusa Trilogy, Book 1 (17 page)

Andi sat a couple feet away from the camp stove later, watching the pot filled with rehydrated stew begin to thicken and bubble. Kallan stood at the cave entrance, wearing only his boots and unbuttoned cargo pants. His black hair was rumpled and his jaw hard as he stared out into the dark waterfall. He’d been increasingly edgy since the discussion about the amulet, and she’d decided it might be best to keep her mouth shut for a little while.

 
His current anger seemed to stem from her reminder that he was supposed to kill her, not from his inability to take the cup.

Not that she wanted to die.

She frowned and stirred the stew, realizing her stomach was gurgling with hunger pangs.

Dying didn’t frighten her as much, though, as his declaration earlier. She went cold, then hot just recalling it.

He loved her.

Good Gods, how had that happened?

Or was it just a distraction?

Scary as the idea was, she didn’t think he’d been lying when he said it. Not the first time, nor any of the other times he’d repeated it when they were rolling across the blankets and sleeping bag earlier.

Her heart pounded harder. Aside from her family, no one had ever said that to her.

She stirred the stew briskly, trying to distract herself.

But she looked again at the front of the cavern, where Kallan still stood with one arm braced against the rock. A muscle jumped in his tight jaw.

She dragged her gaze away from his face to the wide shoulders and strong muscles visible in his back and arms.

“You need to know I’ll die before I let him kill you,” he said, startling her.

Andi blinked, and he turned his head toward her, his green eyes as hard as his jaw. Her heart jumped up into her throat. Gods, he was serious. A hot splatter of stew hit the back of her hand, and she jerked her spoon away from the small pot to turn the burner off, forcing herself to look away from him.

“Maybe you should be practical,” she started.

“Maybe you should think about trusting me a little,” he cut in, swinging around to fully face her.

The front view was as distracting as the back, she realized, absently noting the crisp dark hair spattered over his wide, muscular chest and narrowing onto his flat belly, to that unfastened button…

She pulled her gaze back to his face when he stepped away from the cave opening.

“I got you safely away before Stavros could kill you. I just spent the last two days taking care of you.” His nostrils flared. “I don’t know how you’ve managed by yourself all these years.”

A lump pushed her heart down out of her throat, making her nose and eyes sting.

“If I haven’t earned a little trust after the last two days, I don’t see how you can ever trust anyone.”

That was low. She dropped her spoon into the pan and pushed to her feet. “That wasn’t very nice.”

“It doesn’t look like your family rushes to help you out every month.”

She couldn’t argue, as it was true, but that didn’t lessen the sting.

“So when did anyone take care of you last, Andrea? Besides me?”

“Not since I was thirteen,” she yelled. “Then it wasn’t so bad, until Annis died. Now I take care of myself.” Her vision blurred a little, and she blinked hard.

Kallan moved toward her, his mouth a flat line, his green eyes flaring sparks. “But you trust them anyway?”

“They’re my family.” It really was that simple. If she truly needed them, one of them would come.

“They’ve abandoned you to the Harvesters.” His shout echoed in the cavern.

To her horror, a tear slid down her cheek, but she didn’t wipe it away. “They need to be safe too,” she whispered.

“So the sacrifice of one isn’t a big deal if the rest are safe?” His tone was still rock-hard, though lower in volume.

Andi didn’t want to think about it that way. His view of the whole situation was so distorted.

Wasn’t it?

“As long as none of us get the amulet, it’s okay to lose the Medusa every once in a while?” He touched her cheek, wiping away the tear there.

Another fell, and she wasn’t sure if she was angrier at him or herself. Or her family.

He pulled her into his arms suddenly, and she let him, hiding her face against his chest. Another tear fell, and she shut her eyes. “You’re wrong,” she whispered around the lump in her throat.

He grunted but didn’t say anything else, rubbing one big hand up and down her spine, spreading warmth she hadn’t realized she needed.

Her racing heart gradually eased back to a normal speed as he held her, and she inhaled shakily. Under her cheek, his chest was wet. That could
not
be from her, she thought, sniffling a little. “Are you ready for supper?” she asked after another moment.

He took a slow, deep breath, then let it out just as slowly. “Think about what I said, Andrea. Please.” He kissed the top of her head and loosened his hold on her.

She nodded, not meeting his eyes, and turned back to their dinner, which they ate in silence. She did a quick clean-up afterward, then paced the chamber. “We’ll need to take turns being on watch tonight,” she said finally. “I’ll take the first shift.”

Kallan remained in the middle of the nest of blankets where he’d sat to eat his stew, and his green gaze missed nothing when she faced him from the back of the room. “Do we have another way out of here? In case?”

She tipped her head toward the back of the cave.

He pushed to his feet and followed her into the smaller chamber.

Andi took a quick breath, then eased the shelving unit away from the wall a few inches to uncover a hole. It was big enough for her to get through, but she suddenly realized
he
might have a problem.

Evidently, so did he, judging by the frown on his face. He squatted down to study it. “That’s it?” He touched the rock on one side. It didn’t look as though the passage was wide enough for him.

“’Fraid so.” Cold settled in her belly. If she had to escape that way, she didn’t want to leave him behind to face his angry cousin.

“I’ll manage,” he said shortly, shoving to his feet. “Hopefully we won’t have to use it.” He helped her push the shelves back into place. “Your protections, they’re strong?”

She nodded. She’d given them a boost before they’d clambered up behind the waterfall, and she was certain they’d hold.

“Stavros has a different talent,” Kallan said slowly, putting his hands on her shoulders and rubbing gently.

She swallowed. “You mean he has to worry about whether he’s locked his keys in the car?” The joke fell flat, and the cold in her belly seemed to expand.

“Every Harvester has a different ability.”

Her mouth went dry. “What is his?” she asked, though she was very afraid of the answer.

“He can sense magic.”

Like her protections. Her knees went watery. He’d know exactly where she’d done her spells around the property boundaries.

And he’d find the cave, protected as it was.

She met Kallan’s gaze and didn’t feel at all reassured.

“He can also undo whatever was done.”

Her knees gave out, and she dropped to the floor, staring up at him.

He crouched down in front of her. “It will take him a little while. He can’t just undo something automatically. It’ll take a while to figure out all the steps, but eventually he’ll find what he needs.” He rubbed her shoulders again. “The best thing we have going for us right now is that tracking isn’t his specialty. As long as he’s alone, it’s going to take him some time to search the property.”

Andi shut her eyes, feeling worse by the second.

“If he’s brought one of my cousins who is skilled as a tracker, we’re in trouble.”

Chapter Seven

Kallan hated having to tell her all that, as her face had gone a shade paler with each revelation. But she needed to understand what they faced. She needed to know if she wanted to survive.

But she swallowed after a moment, and she opened her eyes, the blue dark. “All right.” She pushed to her feet, brushing aside his hands and moving to the mouth of the cave. “I’ll be right back.”

He watched her pick her way down the rocks to the small ledge behind the falls, waited as she knelt and chanted something he couldn’t hear over the water. But he could feel the surge of energy as she did whatever it was she was doing. Likely adding to the protection on the cave for the night.

But so much magic would be a beacon to Stavros once he was close enough.

He bowed his head, racking his brain for something else to slow his cousin down and coming up empty. Stavros was too smart to fall for another lie about his location.

Andrea clambered back inside and let him catch her wrist to pull her upright.

“We have to be gone before he gets here,” he said gently.

She nodded.

“And you’ll have to undo everything when we go. Otherwise, it’ll still draw him.”

She nodded again. “Fine.”

“Do you have any preferences for where we go next?”

“Wherever you want.”

He frowned. “Really?” There were a lot of places they could go that wouldn’t be flagged automatically and immediately as possibilities by his cousin.

But she was being awfully agreeable.

Kallan studied her face more closely. “For how long?” He had a sneaking suspicion…

“Until I can take care of your cousin myself.”

He shook his head, smiling. “No.” Still, he gathered her close, despite her slight resistance. “It wouldn’t be safe for you.”

“Nothing much is safe for me right now.” She lifted her face so he could see the anger flaring in her eyes. “I just want to go home, to my house.”

He held her gaze for a moment. “You know you can’t.”

“No, not right now.”

“Not as long as you’re the Medusa,” he corrected her. “If Stavros has found your house, you can bet it won’t be left unattended until he’s convinced someone else is now the Medusa.” He slid his hands to her lower back, easing one under the hem of her shirt so he could stroke the spot where her tattoo started. “As long as you carry the amulet, you’re a target.”

“Then you’d better kill me, because I won’t spend my life running.” She pushed away from him, striding around him to pace the room.

He couldn’t do that. She knew it too, damn her. He dragged one hand through his hair and swung away to look out into the darkness. He’d never run before, from anything. But he would run, at least temporarily, to keep her safe from Stavros.

He just needed her to trust him a little. Enough to keep her safe. That would be a good start.

Andi took a sip of water as she sat in the mouth of the cave hours later, listening to the falls. Occasionally night sounds reached her—an owl hooting, several deer leaping into the stream.

Behind her, Kallan lay in silence, but she knew he wasn’t sleeping. He was far too alert, too tense for that.

She was completely exhausted, but she didn’t want to sleep.

“You should lie down.”

She shut her eyes. It was tempting. To lie down beside him and rest. But she couldn’t. Not when there was a man hunting her—maybe even in her home or on her mountain now, stalking her like she was an animal.

“Andrea.”

She glanced at him. “I’m fine. You should get some sleep while you can.”

He sighed, but didn’t reply.

She knew he didn’t sleep, though. Not for a long, long time. She stared out into the dark, trying not to think of the things he’d said to her. The accusation he’d made about her family earlier. That one hurt. The other declaration scared the hell out of her.

It also made her heart beat faster with pleasure.

That was not a good thing. She couldn’t have a man in love with her who intended to kill her.

Then again, that same man had also promised he’d die to protect her. He’d already lied to his family to keep her safe.

Kallan Tassos was a lot more complicated than she would have guessed.

Hours later, her brain had simply given up on trying to figure out the tangled mess of her life when she felt his hand on her shoulder. “My turn.”

She didn’t argue this time, getting slowly to her feet and stretching. He kissed the top of her head.

“Get some sleep,
meli
. I’ll keep watch.” His hand slid down her back, and he nudged her toward the sleeping bag.

Andi kicked off her boots and rolled into the blankets, which were still warm from his body. She inhaled deeply, his scent making her smile a little. He smelled good. She fell asleep thinking that.

When she woke, there was faint light outlining the cave opening where Kallan stood, every muscle tense.

“Is he coming?” She threw back the blankets and grabbed her boots.

“He’s somewhere on the mountain. And he’s got company.” He glanced over his shoulder at her, but it was still too dark to see his expression.