Spy High (12 page)

After a night of waking over and over
at the slightest noise, the cheery sound of birdsong made me pry
open an eye at last. Dawn-gray lightened the canvas, and I squinted
at my watch.

Six-thirty.

“Shut up, you little feathered
bastards,” I growled, and jammed the pillow over my head.

A few moments later even its padding
couldn’t muffle the sudden din of the Spirit bells.

“For fucksakes!
Really?
” I
demanded of the pillow.

It didn’t reply, and I flung it to the
floor and staggered out of bed to shift the wooden crates away from
the entrance. With my luck Orion would…

“Storm!”

“…be right here to collect me,” I
finished my mental sentence in a cranky mutter before raising my
voice. “I’m not coming! I’m sick!”

A moment later I gave quiet thanks that
I’d worn my T-shirt and sweats to bed when he pushed through the
tent flap, looking anxious. “What’s wrong? Can I help?”

“No, thanks. I’m just not feeling well.
I’ll be okay after a bit more sleep.”

“But what’s wrong?” He eyed me for a
moment, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. “You look fine. Are you
just trying to avoid the Calling?”

I scowled and pulled out the heaviest
hitter in my arsenal. “I have terrible menstrual cramps. Go
away.”

He paled. “Oh…” A flush rose on his
cheeks and he squared his shoulders, his lips firming. “You’re
lying, aren’t you?”

“Clots,” I ground out. “Giant slimy
blood clots like pieces of raw liver…”

He clapped a hand over his mouth and
fled.

My return to bed was sweet indeed.

I was drifting in the warm hazy limbo
that precedes sleep when scratching at my tent flap roused me.

“Go away, I’m sick,” I mumbled.

The rustle of my tent flap heralded
Orion’s arrival, his beautiful eyes wide with concern. “I brought
you a hot water bottle,” he murmured, and held it out.

I sighed. “Thanks, but I’m-
…
Jesus
Christ!
” A deluge of icy water drenched me as
he upended the bottle over my head.

“No, you’re not,” he said
straight-faced, but the dimple flickered in his cheek.

I rocketed out of bed, bellowing the
vilest insults I could summon on short notice, and swung for all I
was worth with the soggy pillow. I scored a direct hit on the side
of his head and was winding up for a second blow when he sprang and
captured me in a bear hug, pinning my arms to my sides.

“You deserved that,” he observed,
grinning at me from close range. “For lying to me.”

“Bullsh… I… you…”

He ignored my sputtering. “I was
worried about you so I went to get Moonbeam. And she told me you
can’t possibly have menstrual cramps.”

“Oh, for…” I tried to step away but he
held me tightly, his grin changing from mischief to temptation.

His muscular body felt far too good
against mine. And those stunning green eyes were heating up,
evaporating the common sense right out of my head.

Before it could desert me completely I
pulled free and took a couple of hurried steps backward. “All
right, you got me. Yes, I was lying. I don’t mean any disrespect to
your beliefs or to the Earth Spirit, Orion, but I just don’t
believe in it the way you do and I don’t see the point in
participating in the rituals.”

He sighed. “I wish you’d take part,
though, if only to make Moonbeam and Karma happy.”

That was a low blow. My conscience
twinged.

“But they don’t even come to the
rituals,” I argued. “They’d never know if I was there unless
somebody told them. And anyway, Skidmark never shows up, either.
That doesn’t seem to bother them.”

The corner of Orion’s mouth twitched.
“Skidmark isn’t even capable of walking a straight line most of the
time. I don’t think you want to claim kinship with him.”

“True…” I seized the opportunity to
change the subject. “Hey, you’re the expert on the commune so
answer me this: If Moonbeam and Karma don’t mind Skidmark
constantly smoking pot and offering it to everybody he meets, why
do they prohibit any form of alcohol?”

Orion shrugged. “Marijuana is part of
the natural world. If it grows from the Earth, it’s a gift from the
Earth Spirit for us to use. Alcohol doesn’t grow from the
earth.”

“But it’s made from fruits and grains,”
I began, but he was already shaking his head.

“Alcohol poisons our bodies and minds,”
he said firmly. “You’ve never heard of anyone going on a
marijuana-fuelled rampage, have you? Alcohol makes people violent
and dangerous. Marijuana doesn’t.”

“Alcohol doesn’t change people at all,”
I argued. “It just removes their filters. If they’re violent and
dangerous to start with, then yeah, they get violent and dangerous.
If they aren’t, they don’t. If somebody’s shit-faced drunk, you
just see what they’re truly like.”

Orion frowned. “But self-control is
what separates men from animals. The Earth Spirit wants us to
exercise self-control to live together in tolerance and harmony.
Alcohol destroys self-control.”

I sighed. “Okay, I’ll give you that.
But…”

“Storm.” He stopped me with an upraised
hand. “I know what you’re doing. Stop stalling and let’s go. We can
still make it for the last half of the Calling.”

I eyed him without much hope. “Do we
have to? It’s half over already.”

Orion shook his head reprovingly, but a
glint of mischief lit his eyes. “Well, there might be another way
to celebrate the Earth Spirit’s call.”

The corners of my mouth tugged upward
at his naughty expression. “Is that so?”

“Yes.” He stepped closer, the dimple
dancing in his cheek. “I could show you the ritual.”

“I’m sure you could.” My heart picked
up the pace while my mind accelerated into overdrive. I didn’t
trust him, but I had no proof that he was actually dangerous. And
he was definitely hot…

He was inches away, his hands gliding
over my shoulders and down my arms to lift my hands. Soft lips
scattered butterfly kisses over my knuckles before he turned my
hand to kiss my palm. Then his lips drifted to the inside of my
wrist, his green eyes blazing temptation.

Oh, hell,
definitely
hot.

And Stemp had told me to get close to
him. Shit, I was practically under orders to…

Orion’s lips curved up at my indrawn
breath as he kissed his way up to the inside of my elbow. My body
called in a four-alarm fire, urging on my rationalizations.

What better way to encourage
confidences than during pillow talk in a long, lazy afterglow? If
he actually meant any harm to Moonbeam and Karma, he’d be more
likely to let something slip when he was relaxed…

Relaxation was the farthest thing from
my mind at the moment. His lips had found the sensitive spot near
my collarbone, sending electric tingles to all points south. My
hands traced the hard contours of his chest and he pulled me closer
with a throaty murmur of satisfaction.

His kiss burned my lips while he
shrugged off his corduroy shirt. His hands moved lower, pressing me
against him while he deepened the kiss. Dipping under my T-shirt,
his hot palms slid up my back while his tongue seduced mine.

He broke the kiss to nibble across my
jaw toward my earlobe. Arching my neck to give him better access, I
opened my eyes momentarily to judge the distance to the bed.

And froze, my already-pounding pulse
leaping up into heart-attack territory.

Nylon hand restraints. Lying on the
ground half-concealed by his dropped shirt. They must have fallen
out of his pocket.

Oh,
shit!

“Storm?” Orion pulled away a fraction,
his eyes dilated almost black. “What’s wrong?”

“Uh…”

Dammit, suck it up. Jane Bond the
Superspy would carry on as though nothing was wrong. Take him for
the ride of his life, and end up with him wearing nothing but the
hand restraints and spilling all his secrets.

“Um, I’m, uh…” I stepped back, my
shaking legs barely holding my weight. The memory of nylon ties
slicing into my wrists made me swallow hard, my heart rate
rocketing into the stratosphere.

I drew a deep breath and pulled myself
together, my voice only trembling slightly. “I’m sorry, Orion, I
guess… I’m not quite ready for this.”

“Oh…” He frowned, and I calculated the
distance to my gun behind the cot. I should be able to draw on him
before he could grab the restraints…

“Oh,” he repeated. “But… I thought… I’m
sorry, then. I thought you fancied me. Sorry.”

He looked so innocently disappointed
that I almost second-guessed myself. But there was no innocent
reason for anybody to carry a set of hand restraints. And there was
that odd trace of an accent again.

“It’s okay, don’t apologize,” I said,
my wobbling voice almost under control. “I do like you, I just… I’m
not quite ready for this.”

“Okay.” He turned away, stooping to
pick up his shirt, and I thought I saw his back stiffen as he
casually scooped up the restraints along with the bundle of fabric.
He turned back to face me, smiling. “It was still a nice way to
celebrate a Calling. Thank you.”

I shoved an answering smile onto my
stiff lips. “Thank you, too. For the celebration, and for taking no
for an answer.”

“Of course.” He gave me a half-smile.
“I guess, well… I guess I’ll see you later…?”

“Yeah, see you later.” I nodded like a
bobble-head, my smile plastic.

He withdrew with an awkward nod, and I
tottered over to my cot and dropped onto it as though I’d been cut
off at the knees. Several minutes of deep breathing restored my
pulse rate to only slightly higher than normal. A few seconds after
that, my brain kicked into gear again.

Stupid. I shouldn’t have let my fear
take over. This would have been a prime opportunity to get close to
Orion and figure out what his game was.

A shudder chased itself down my spine.
Or it might have been a prime opportunity for Orion to cinch those
restraints around my wrists and do who-knows-what, completely
unnoticed by the rest of the commune members while they hummed
contentedly in the main building.

I sucked in a breath and let it out
slowly. No point in second-guessing. Just do damage control.

After a moment of intent listening, I
dropped to my knees to rummage under my cot. Behind the duffel bag
was a backpack I’d brought but barely used. Now seemed like an
ideal time to remedy that.

Using a towel from my duffel as
packing, I stowed all my phones and gun-related equipment in the
bottom of the pack. Until I could create a hidden cache somewhere
outside my tent, this backpack would have to be part of my
body.

After some quick ablutions in the
bucket of chilly water I kept handy for washing up, I got dressed
and put on my ankle holster under my jeans. Strapping my heavy
survival knife onto my belt, I rested my hand on its
leather-wrapped hilt. It probably didn’t make me much safer, but at
least I felt better with its weight on my hip. My laptop filled the
rest of the space in my backpack, and I shouldered the load and
poked my head warily out the tent flap before emerging to hike down
the path.

Trying to look casual, I scanned around
me. Where had Orion gone? Did he have anyone else watching me? His
ability to locate me was even more unnerving now.

I had just turned onto the main path
when his familiar voice made my shoulders knot.

“Storm! Wait up!”

I turned, trying to look at least
moderately welcoming, and he strode up from the direction of the
main building. He eyed my backpack. “Going for a hike?”

“Yep, now’s a good time to tell me to
take a hike,” I said too heartily.

He gave an uncertain chuckle before
sobering. “Remember to watch out for the cougar. Do you have a
signalling whistle with you? Or I could…” He trailed off. “I guess…
you probably don’t want my company.”

“Not just now, but thanks for being
concerned.” I gave him a smile, making sure I made my eyes crinkle
as though I meant it. “I just need some time alone to think.”

“Okay… well, be careful.” He gave me a
half-smile and turned away, and I hurried off in the opposite
direction.

As usual I headed for the front gates
and hiked briskly along the main road, my back tingling with the
sensation of being watched. I chanced a nonchalant glance up toward
Skidmark’s eyrie but I couldn’t spot the bench. Either it was too
well concealed in the trees, or it didn’t have a clear sight line
to this part of the road.

My steps slowed as I thought back. How
much of the road had I been able to see from up there? Dammit, I
couldn’t remember. I really needed to develop Kane’s keen powers of
observation and recall.

I sighed and hefted the backpack to a
more comfortable position on my shoulders. That’d be the day. Kane
was the best agent in the service, and I was just a civilian
bookkeeper scrambling to learn.

Well, I’d better learn fast. Moonbeam’s
and Karma’s lives might depend on it. And mine, too. I could start
by breaking the dangerous habit of walking this road every time I
called Stemp.

Glancing up at the brighter spot in the
clouds that passed for the sun, I struck out into the undergrowth.
At least I had good backwoods skills. I wouldn’t get lost. That had
to count for something.

After hiking for fifteen minutes, I
intersected the river. I hadn’t realized it looped so close to the
road. Following its bank would be easy…

I hesitated, considering. Nope, too
dangerous. The rush of its water would conceal the sounds of anyone
sneaking up on me. Or any
thing
.

I glanced involuntarily over my
shoulder, but the forest was devoid of any visible life except a
squirrel cussing me out from the safety of a nearby tree.

“Easy for you to say, you furry little
shit,” I muttered, and angled away from the river until its sound
faded to a whisper behind me.