Shadow Cave (40 page)

“
Come on, we have to go.
They are coming for us.
”

Our luck held and the car door actually opened.
Actually, it fell completely off when Mark pushed at it.
We
might not have seemed like the luckiest people in the world at that moment, but it felt like that to me.
By all rights, we should probably not have survived the impact of the crash.

“
Look!
The fence!
”
I wanted to cry when I saw the faint shimmer next to us. The beast had tossed the car less than ten feet from the fence!
We half stumbled, half ran to its safety and hopped over it with no time to spare.
The retrievers snapped and snarled before giving up and retreating into the woods.

“
How exactly are those
‘
not as bad
’
as the Naule?
”

“
They
’
re smaller?
”

“
Not funny, Mark.
Not funny at all.
”

“
Well
,
the important thing is that we made it, right?
”

“
Oh, thank God!
We made it.
We are alive!
We are alive, right?
I
’
m not dreaming this?
”
I ran a shaking hand through my hair and looked myself over for injuries.

“
You are not dreaming, and yes, we are alive.
Are you hurt?
”

“
I don
’
t think so.
”

“
Good.
Come here.
”
He enveloped me before holding me at arm
’
s length for inspection.

“
You sure you are not hurt?
”

I shook my head.
“
No, but I bet we will both be sore in the morning.
”

“
Probably.
I am so sorry, Annabelle.
”

“
Don
’
t be.
What happened just now is in no way your fault.
”

“
Yes, it is
,
”
he
insisted vehemently.
“
I took you into unprotected territory.
I could have gotten you killed.
”

“
You know, as strange as this is going to sound, I think I am getting used to near death experiences.
Is that bad, you think?
”

“
Yes, that
’
s bad.
”

I laughed humorlessly.
“
That
’
s what I thought.
Anyway, I should probably thank you for saving my life…again.
”

He shook his head and took a step closer to me.
“
Annabelle…
.
”

His lips touched mine a second later.
He was careful and so sweet that it took my breath away.
His hand slid around to cradle the back of my neck and I leaned into him before I realized what I was doing.

“
Mark?
”
I finally pulled away from him with a million questions in my eyes.
Oddly enough, the fact that he thought I was his blood cousin was not one of them.
At least, it was not in the top twenty.
It should have been number one, but it was difficult to think with him so near.

He regarded me steadily but said nothing.
I found myself being slowly hypnotized and leaned forward ever so slightly, ready to throw any and all inhibitions out the window.

“
Wait!
”
I threw my arms up to put space between
temptation and me
.
“
We can
’
t do this.
”

“
Why can
’
t we do this?
”
he
asked simply.

“
Well, I am your cousin
,
”
I began to rattle off.
“
Not exactly, but you
—

I broke off abruptly when he grabbed my arm and flipped it over.

“
What?
”
he
murmured, holding my arm
with my hand
palm up and staring intently at the space above the inside of my wrist.

“
What are you doing?
”
I demanded.

He studied my arm for a while longer before raising questioning eyes to me.

“
You were stung.
”

“
Yes, we have already established that.
”

“
Look.
”

Small red punctures formed the emblem from the key across my wrist
...t
he emblem of
Terlain.

“
What is this?
”

“
The scavengers marked you.
”

“
Why?
”

“
To let the retrievers know to take you alive.
”

A chill crept along my spine and I shivered in the balmy night air.

“
Where?
”

“
To Kahn.
”

“
Of course.
”
I sighed and ran a finger over the red
-
rimmed puncture wounds.
Mark pulled me over to a large tree across the street in the city park and lowered himself to the ground.

“
We need to ta
l
k
,
”
he
said flatly.

“
I guess we do.
”
I scrubbed a hand over my face wearily.
“
I don
’
t suppose this could wait until I have had coffee and a shower?
”

“
What happened back there was not some random attack.
”

“
It sure doesn
’
t look that way, does it?
”

“
What
’
s in the bag, Annabelle?
”
He pointed to the purse that had somehow made it through the attack unscathed.

“
Make up?
”

“
Annabelle…
.
”

“
Oh, fine
—
here.
”
I unhooked the strap from around my neck and place
d
the bag in his outstretched hand.
“
And my name is not Annabelle.
”
I added in resignation.
It seemed like as good a time as any to come clean.

He paused in his search but did not look up.
“
I know.
”

“
It is Claire Ro
—
wait
—
what did you just say?
”

“
You have been using a fake name.
I know.
”

“
You know?
”
I repeated, dumbfounded.

“
So what is your real name?
”

“
Claire Roberts.
And I am not really from here.
”

“
It didn
’
t take a genius to figure that one out.
”
He snorted and continued to rifle through my notes.
“
What is all of this?
”
he
questioned in disbelief several minutes later.
He held the note pad I had been using in the library earlier that day.

“
It
’
s a long story is what it is
,
”
I muttered.

“
Well, start talking.
”

I told him everything
, from
start to finish
;
I left nothing out.
I had to give him credit
...
he neither interrupted
n
or looked at me as though I were crazy.

“
So there you have it.
”

“
I see.
”

“
I just don
’
t know how I am going to explain all of this to you
r
father.
I mean, he thinks that he has finally found his niece, after all of these years.
I am really sorry for deceiving your family.
Truly I am.
But I had to get away from the guards.
”
I hoped that they could all forgive me someday.

“
Claire?
”

“
Hmmm?
”

“
You are forgiven.
”

“
That
’
s nice of you to say, but let
’
s see how poor
‘
uncle
’
Bob feels about all of this.
”
I sat up straight as another thought occurred to me.
“
How did you know that I was using a fake name?
”

He shrugged.
“
Because I don
’
t have a cousin Annabelle.
”

“
But Bob
’
s sister
—
”

“
Nope.
My father is an only child.
No sister.
”

“
So he has known about this the whole time?
”

“
Well, he knew you were not his niece.
I doubt that he knows anything about the bomb shell you just laid on me.
”

I digested that for several minutes.

“
Why did he do it?
”
I finally asked.

“
My guess is that he wanted to protect you.
The night that I showed up at the house with you
,
he told me that he met you
at
a public auction.
He wanted to give you a home
,
”
Mark admitted softly.

Tears stung my eyes at the depth of Bob
’
s generosity.

“
What
’
s wrong, Claire?
”

“
You mean besides everything?
”
I shook my head.
“
He didn
’
t even know me.
”

“
He didn
’
t know me either, once
,
”
he
confessed in a quiet tone.

“
What do you mean?
”

“
Bob found me wandering the streets of Ohala.
I was an orphan.
”

“
How old were you?
”

“
Four.
”

“
Do you remember your parents?
”

“
No.
The earliest memory I have is of Bob and Pamela picking me up in an alley.
I was looking for food.
”

I was reminded again how lucky I had been to grow up in the midst of so much love and dedication.
“
I am so sorry.
”

He seemed uncomfortable with my sympathy, so I tried for a lighter tone.
“
You look like Bob, a little bit.
”