Hunting Medusa: The Medusa Trilogy, Book 1 (18 page)

Her heart pounded crazily in her chest, making it hard to breathe evenly. She fumbled with the laces on her boots for a few seconds, then got to her feet. “How long?”

“If they follow our trail from yesterday, five hours or so. If they follow Stavros’s eye for magic, much less.” He moved away from the entrance. “Either way, we need to be gone long before he finds this place.”

She nodded, folding blankets with trembling hands.

“Andrea.” He caught her wrists as she wrestled the sleeping bag into submission.

She looked up and found his eyes dark with concern, but his jaw hard with determination.

“We’ll be fine.”

She swallowed and nodded. “Okay.” She had to trust him on this—that he would get her to safety and not hand her over to his cousin who wouldn’t care if they got the amulet or not before he wiped her off the face of the earth.

After all, he hadn’t killed her over the past few days when it would have been extremely easy.

She paused in her folding at that thought.

The Harvester hadn’t killed her.

She glanced up and found him back at the cavern opening again, the line of his shoulders stiff. She’d trust him in this. She
had
to.

She got everything put away, hoping she could come back sometime soon. Or just sometime. She stood staring at her shelves of supplies and felt a lump try to clog her throat.

She swallowed it down and grabbed some MREs to add to her backpack, turning away. “We’ll need more water for today.”

“Do you mind packing while I keep an eye on things?” He looked at her over his shoulder.

“No.” She felt better with something to occupy her mind, and repacking her backpack kept her busy for almost five minutes. Then she gathered more water bottles for Kallan, though she didn’t root through his pack. Instead, she set them down beside his backpack and moved to the doorway, touching his back lightly. “I’ll watch while you do your pack.”

He kissed her, hard and fast, and left her blinking stupidly at the stone wall when he moved away.

Andi inhaled and forced her gaze to the water streaming in front of the cave, noting the brightening of the sky outside. The birdsongs multiplied and amplified around them.

It only took him a couple minutes to replenish his backpack, and then he stood beside her, his body warm. “We should eat before we head out. But nothing requiring a fire, I think.”

She agreed, heading to the back of the cave again to find something.

They ate in silence, both watching the lightening sky outside, tension making the air around them heavy. When she’d finished her energy bar, she glanced up to find him watching her.

“Do you trust me for this?”

She nodded, noting the way his jaw relaxed slightly at her response. Her pulse beat faster.

“All right. Then let’s go.” He touched her cheek lightly and moved away to grab the packs.

They climbed down, and Andi knelt on the ledge to undo her protections on the cave, her head bowed and eyes shut. While she was at it, she sent a quick plea to the Gods that she’d be able to return here again safely.

They swam away from the cave in the opposite direction from where they’d arrived yesterday, and climbed—dripping—onto the other bank, careful to step only on the rocks and not into the soft earth. The less evidence they left behind for his cousin to find, the better.

Kallan glanced at his watch several hours later. They’d been heading down the other side of the mountain, away from Andrea’s house, and she hadn’t relaxed at all the entire way. In fact, he’d bet that if she weren’t wearing her backpack, her shoulders would be hunched up with the tension in her. He strode along behind her, just a step or two, periodically opening his senses to see if Stavros was getting closer.

Not gaining on them yet.

When they reached the foot of the mountain, they had to figure out where to go from there.

He’d been joking last night when he mentioned Scotland, but he’d been thinking about it for a while now as they walked. Neither of them had any ties there, and it might be a safe place temporarily.

Andrea stopped suddenly and he caught her arms to stop himself before he knocked her over.

“What’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “I thought I heard something.”

He cocked his head to one side to listen. He heard nothing but the chattering of the squirrels and birds in the trees. He opened his senses further and felt his heart skip a beat. “He’s closer.” Maybe nearly to the cave. Where their trail would stop, at least for a while. Stavros would need one of the cousins who was expert at tracking—rather than just simply good—to pick it up again. Kallan hoped Stavros hadn’t brought Pietro or Giles.

She shook her head. “Maybe my imagination is just working overtime.”

“Perhaps.” He patted her arms before releasing her. “How long to the road?”

“Half an hour, tops.”

Maybe it had been a car she’d heard.

She started walking again, then stopped when a bobcat leaped from a low branch onto the old trail they were hiking.

Heart pounding, Kallan caught her arms, watching the cat watch them. It was only a few yards away, and if it decided they looked like something worthy of a taste, he needed to get her behind him. She lifted one hand to cover his, staying him.

The cat’s dark eyes remained on them, unblinking for a very long moment, and then the animal jumped into the brush on the other side of the trail.

Andrea smiled up at him, then began walking again. He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding and started after her.

It took less than thirty minutes to reach the road, but there was no traffic. Getting a ride might be difficult.

Kallan surveyed the area, then dug his map out of one of the pockets on his pants. If they went east here, it would be good for losing Stavros, but not very helpful in a more permanent escape. If they went west, though, they were more likely to find a ride. And stay in Stavros’s hunting ground.

A low hum reached his ears a second before Andrea turned to him, anxiety shadowing her eyes. He shook his head. “It’s good.” Not one of his cousins.

Her expression relaxed slightly, but she reached for his hand anyway.

Surprised, he linked their fingers and smiled down at her. A minute later, a truck rumbled around the bend, slowing when Kallan put up his free hand.

An old man sat behind the wheel of the dusty pickup, a battered baseball cap perched on the back of his head, and he rolled his window down. “You kids need a ride?”

“Where are you heading?”

“Ellsworth.”

“That would be great. We were supposed to meet friends, but I think we must have missed them.” He gave her fingers a light squeeze.

“Climb on in.” The man gestured to the passenger door.

Kallan led the way around the front of the truck, shedding his backpack, then took Andrea’s to put into the back before he helped her up into the cab. When they were both settled, he leaned forward. “I’m Phil.” He ignored the startled glance Andrea shot him at his introduction. “I really appreciate the ride.”

The old man took his right hand off the wheel and stretched it toward Kallan. “Ted. It’s a long way to anywhere from here, Phil.”

Kallan shook his hand. “It is. We met our friends yesterday to hike onto the mountain, and after we broke camp, they got ahead of us. I guess they figure we made it back to town, but we landed on the wrong side of the hill.”

Ted laughed. “It happens, even to the most experienced of us at least once.”

Kallan relaxed, chatting with the man about hiking and then the conversation moved on to more general topics, and the drive to Ellsworth was quickly over. Ted dropped them downtown at a spot where Kallan told him they could walk to their friends’ apartment. They hefted their packs.

Andrea let out a long, slow breath and closed her eyes. “That was interesting, Phil.” When she opened her eyes, she showed faint amusement mingled with worry.

He winked at her. “We got to town, which is where we needed to be, and none of my cousins are nearby. Now we’ll get a car and head for Boston.”

“Boston?” She let him lace their fingers and started walking at his side.

“International airport,
agaph
.” He gave her fingers a squeeze. “You did bring a passport, right?”

“One or two.” She bit her lip. “Where are we going?”

His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he ignored it. “I’ll let you know in a little while.” He steered her toward the rental car office he knew was only a couple blocks away.
 

She didn’t protest though he could see the questions in her eyes, and he wished he had some way to reassure her this would all work out.

He couldn’t, though. Not as long as she was the Medusa. As far as he knew, there was only one way for that to change, and he was in no hurry now for
that
to occur.

Within twenty minutes, he’d rented a car with one of his alternate identities, and they were on their way south, out of Ellsworth.

Andrea sank back against the passenger seat, closing her eyes. “Are we safe for a little while?”

“Yes.” He knew for sure Stavros was nowhere near them. He needed to make sure it stayed that way.

She sighed and relaxed a little more.

“Get a nap. We’ll be on the road awhile.” He touched her cheek lightly, and she opened her eyes, rolling her head against the headrest to look at him. “I know you didn’t sleep enough last night,” he said. His pocket vibrated again.
 

She smiled faintly. “Neither did you.”

“I’ll be fine. Close your eyes again,
meli
.” He stroked her cheek, then put his hand back on the steering wheel.

She obeyed him. He knew exactly when she fell asleep—just twenty minutes out of Ellsworth. He relaxed then, but only a little. When his phone vibrated again, he sighed. He was sure it was Ari or Stavros, but didn’t bother to look. He’d have to pick up a new phone before they flew out of Boston, and they’d need a suitcase. They could hardly get on an international flight without some luggage, and he knew the airline would never let them have their weapons in a carry-on.

That was one good thing about getting on a flight somewhere, he mused as he drove. No one else would have a weapon there either, so his Medusa was safe for a while.

And she
was
his Medusa. He was equally sure of that, whether she believed him or not. Perhaps he would be able to persuade her once they got to their destination.

And maybe he could figure out a way to keep her safe permanently.

Andi woke when the car beneath her slowed, and she jerked upright in her seat.

“It’s all right. I’m just going to grab us some food.” Kallan gave her a little smile.

She exhaled slowly. “Okay.” She dragged her fingers over her head automatically, then remembered she hardly had any hair left to straighten. For now, anyway. Her hair grew back quickly, she’d discovered. Just in time to have to cut it again.

She sat up straighter. He was steering the car onto an exit ramp from the highway. “What time is it?” She fumbled to turn her watch face toward her.

“Suppertime. You slept through lunch.” He touched her wrist. “And I’m starving. We’ll stop, grab some supper, take a look at the flights leaving Boston, buy me a new cell phone, and continue on to the airport.”

She nodded, trying to make her brain wake up and function properly. “Where do you suppose your cousin is?”

“Probably back at your house, at least temporarily.”

She didn’t like the sound of that. At least she hadn’t left anything with contact information for any of her family that would get anyone else hurt. “Do you think I can use your computer later? To send an email to my family.”

“Of course.” He hadn’t even hesitated.

She liked that more than she should. She looked out the side window at the blur of buildings they passed. “Where are we?”

“York. What are you hungry for?”

Her stomach rumbled, and she blushed. “It doesn’t matter.”

He was smiling when she glanced over again. “How do you feel about Chinese?”

“Sounds great.”

He steered the car into a strip of shops and restaurants, and she inhaled deeply. Already, she could smell the food, making her stomach growl more loudly. Two doors down from the Chinese restaurant was an electronics store, and she nodded to herself. Kill two birds with one stone.

Kallan touched her knee. “Are you all right?”

She turned to look at him. “I’m better. Thank you.”

His smile widened. “How do you feel about shopping?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Depends on what we’re shopping for.”

“We’re going to need a little luggage for our trip.”

She considered that as he climbed out of the car. “I guess it would look funny to get on a plane without anything,” she said when he pulled her door open.

“Very. And we don’t want anyone to remember us for anything like that.” He caught her hand to pull her up and out of the vehicle. “So we’re going to get dinner, a new phone and a few things for traveling.” He kissed her lightly. “Sound like a plan?”