Through The Veil (7 page)

Both Malcolm and Marcus left the room and Lori leaned up
against the side of the bed, which she now realized was just a modified table.
As she surveyed the room, she became more confused. “What is this building?
This doesn’t look like any kind of hospital I’ve ever seen before.”

Brooklyn just laughed. “That’s because it’s a millhouse.
This is where we generate our electricity.”

“Um, okay?” she sounded hesitant. “Do you often use it as a
hospital, too?”

“No, we use it like that just for special circumstances…like
strangers without wings who fall wounded at Marcus’s feet. He wasn’t sure if
you were trustworthy enough to take to the village.” Brooklyn shook her head as
Lori glanced mystified at the closed door. “He seems to have changed his mind
about that now, though, hasn’t he?” she murmured thoughtfully.

“I guess so.” Lori’s gaze lingered toward the door where
he’d disappeared. She had so many other things to worry about right now, but
she took a moment to wonder about him. Did he have a wife or girlfriend?

Brooklyn interrupted her musings. “We need to get you
dressed. We had to cut off your shirt, but we just sliced it up the center so I
think we can make it work for now. It’s still damp from where I washed the
blood out, but it will last until you get to the village.”

It took some maneuvering, but the two of them finally got
her dressed. Her side hurt, but she felt more like herself by simply being
dressed. Her clothes gave her a layer of lightweight armor, even if it was
simply a mental armor.

As they walked out of the building, Marcus barely looked at
her before he scooped her into his arms. She didn’t even have time to check out
their surroundings. Her only impression was lush and green and foggy before
Marcus spread his big beautiful purple wings and they took off into the sky.
She couldn’t control the squeak she made. Holy shit! She knew they told her so,
but this man actually flew. She clung to his neck as the treetops skimmed just
below their dangling feet.

He peered at her with the first touch of humor she’d seen
from him twinkling in his eyes. “Lori, I promise to not drop you, but if you
strangle me, then we’ll both die.”

She loosened her panicked hold on him. “Sorry,” she
whispered. The landscape whizzed by. “How long have you been doing this?”

“About seventeen years now.”

“Okay, that’s good. You’ve had lots of experience.”

His lips twitched and he swooped back in among the trees
again, which had her gasping. She tried not to grab him tighter. Suddenly, a
golden glow of lights burst out of the gloom of the trees, but really high off
the ground. Every once in a while, she caught a glimpse of other people flying
through the air. It seemed everyone had different colored wings. Her mind
boggled at such an amazing new world in front of her.

It suddenly dawned on her what exactly she saw. She turned
back to him. “Your village is literally in the trees?”

“Yes.”

“
Treehouses
…” she murmured to
herself as she noticed the little wooden structures nestled among the branches.
“They’re fantastic.” She craned her neck, trying to see inside some of the
windows. There had to be twenty or thirty houses here, all at least fifty feet
off the ground. She’d never seen trees so huge. It created a fairy-like village
vista straight out of a children’s book. She looked at the man with wings
flying her in amongst the trees. Maybe she really had died; either that or she was
unconscious and having some really bizarre dreams.

A week ago she had been in a cage suffering through another
round of endless torture. Now she flew through the air like a bird. How was
this even possible? No matter her misgivings about the situation, she couldn’t
ignore the burst of happiness that flowed through her. She turned to grin at
him. “Tell me the truth. Am I dreaming?”

He gave a low, rusty, chuckle which sent a tingle of
awareness through her body.

“No, this is definitely no dream,” he said as he swooped
lower. He gave his wings a final flap before they glided gently down onto what
looked like a large deck. The house behind the deck stood dark, unlike most the
others in the village. She tried to peer into it through the gloom, but
couldn’t tell much in the falling darkness of twilight. He held her still.
“Hang on and I’ll turn on the lights so you can actually see.”

He walked in through the doorway and she couldn’t help but
watch his glorious ass cupped so nicely in his fitted jeans. All of it framed
out by those gorgeous wings. Who knew that a guy with wings could be so
incredibly sexy? Of course, the rock hard muscular body helped a bit, too.

Suddenly warm light flowed out of the windows of his home
and she gasped at the beauty of it. The house construction featured warm wood. While
not large in expanse, the house went up at least three floors with winding
staircases that circled around the tree trunk to each level.

He walked out the door and asked, “Are you ready to lie down
for a little bit? I know you have to be sore and exhausted.”

She took stock of how she felt. “I’m actually pretty good.
How is that? I just had surgery. Shouldn’t I feel weaker?”

“No, actually…” He seemed about to say more but studied her
for a moment. “We have so much we need to talk about. I have a feeling our two
worlds are very different now. Since the Veil fell, we heal faster if the
injury isn’t mortal.” A flash of pain crossed before he quickly masked it. “I’m
guessing that isn’t the case in the ES?”

She shook her head, chewing on her lip, wondering what it
all meant.

“Malcolm also has minor healing abilities that use the
energy that flows naturally from the Earth. Between the two, it makes for quick
recuperation to most injuries.”

“Wow, okay. Really?” She watched him for duplicity, not
trusting anything, especially her instincts anymore. But he seemed sincere. For
now, she would go along and see what she could learn because she agreed with
him. It seemed things were very different here.

“Come on in. We can talk for a little bit and then I can
show you to your bed,” he said.

He acted like he planned to stay here with her. Hell to the
no if he expected something sexually from her.

She eyed him suspiciously. She understood how Alice felt
when she followed the rabbit into Wonderland. Going through that hole had
brought her into a whole new fantastic world and she didn’t know who or what
she should trust.

The last time she trusted someone, she ended up being a
science experiment for six years. She needed to remember that and keep her
guard up. “Wait a minute. Is this your house? You think I’m staying here with
you?” She tried to keep her tone calm, not voicing the panic she felt.

 
“Yes, this is my
house,” Marcus answered, his voice soothing. “No one is going to hurt you here.
We have empty homes for guests, but most are in the trees and you can’t get up
or down from them since you don’t have wings. We don’t want to leave you alone
for the night, especially after your injury. I’m a Warrior, the equivalent of
what we have for law enforcement here, so I took charge of your care. If you’d
rather stay with Malcolm or Brooklyn, I can call them.”

With those few words came the realization that she didn’t
want to be with anyone else. She wasn’t sure she could trust any of them, but
for some reason she felt a higher level of security with Marcus. He had helped
her and offered her shelter when he had no reason to trust her either. For all
he knew, she was here to harm his people.

“I’m sorry. I don’t want to seem ungrateful. It’s just all
so different.” She hadn’t eaten in days and with the stress and strain, she
suddenly felt lightheaded. “Right now, can I get something to eat and maybe
I’ll have a better grasp on my bearings?”
 

“Yeah, of course.” He opened the door and waved her in.
“Come on in. Let me see what I have to eat. How’s your stomach? Would you like something
substantial or something a little bit lighter at first just to see how it
settles?”

She peered around the room they entered. It looked small, with
a mix of both the living room and kitchen fitted into a cozy little space. All
the furniture featured log construction and had a great masculine rustic feel
to it. She blinked in surprise. Even though they were in a tree, a small stone
fireplace dominated the corner of the room. She would have thought that was a
fire hazard.

The room had all the comforts of home…art on the walls,
bookcases overflowing with books, even several comfy-looking throw pillows on
the large chairs. She turned her attention toward the kitchen and found Marcus
standing there, watching her with an eyebrow quirked and his arms folded across
his massive chest. He’d seemed large before, but in this small room, he was huge.

A blush suffused her cheeks. “I’m sorry. It’s just all so
incredible. Did you ask me something?”

He smiled at her gently. “How hungry are you? Do you want
something light or something heavy? I don’t want to overwhelm your system.”

“Something light I think just to take the edge off. I
haven’t eaten in a couple of days so I probably should take it easy. Maybe just
bread?”

He frowned at her like he didn’t like her answer.

Nudging her into a chair that sat at the edge of the kitchen,
he handed her a glass of what looked like milk, but tasted much sweeter. He set
to work making her up a plate filled with a couple of slices of bread, fruits,
and cheese pieces.

When he sat it in front of her, she lifted her glass, took
another sip, and asked, “What is this? It looks like milk, but definitely has a
different flavor.”

He shook his head. “No. We call it
trilk
,
short for tree milk. It comes out of the trunk of a new kind of tree that’s
developed in the last eighteen years. It’s full of nutrients and most of us
love it. Since we don’t have many cows anymore, it works as a good substitute
for milk.”

He’d been examining her with a scowl on his face. Now he
reached toward her and touched her cheek at a tender spot. She flinched and he
immediately withdrew his hand, suddenly appearing even fiercer as his expression
tightened.

“Why haven’t you been able to eat for two days? Is that how
long you’ve been running with a bullet in your side?” Anger pulsed in his
voice, and that didn’t make any sense to her. He didn’t know her, so why would
he be angry on her behalf?

She ignored his questions as she ate voraciously. She hadn’t
realized just how hungry she had become. “What happened to all the cows?”

“Predators,” he spat out through gritted teeth.

One word that sent a chill down her spine. “Is that why you
live in the trees?”

“Yes. We have safety precautions for our remaining livestock
and a few other ground accommodations, but for the most part, we prefer the
safety the trees provide. It’s not safe for anyone to be out wandering around
on the ground after dark. Never forget that.” As he spoke, his body tensed with
anger and he clenched his jaw. She wasn’t sure what she’d said wrong.

Suddenly her appetite fled. She’d simply crossed a bridge,
but she’d entered a completely different world than the one she’d left. What
exactly happened when the Veil fell, and how had their worlds diverged so
drastically?

“I think I’m done.”

He scowled down at the food remaining on her plate. “Are you
sure? You didn’t eat much.”

She nodded.

“Okay.” He pulled out a cover for her plate and placed it in
what looked like a refrigerator. “I’ll put it in here, but if you get hungry
later, come help yourself to it.”

“Thanks.” She stood and couldn’t hide the grimace of pain.
In just that short amount of time, she’d stiffened up.

He hadn’t missed it. “Hang on. I almost forgot. Malcolm said
you needed to drink this to help with your pain and to prevent infection.” He
pulled a packet out of his jeans pocket and moved over to the sink, which she
hadn’t noticed before, where he filled a glass with water.

She inspected the kitchen with wonder. “How in the world do
you all manage all this? Running water, refrigeration, electricity…all up in
the trees?”

She drank her medicine and marveled at how refreshing it
tasted.

“My brother, Malcolm, is brilliant. Doctor and inventor…we
truly wouldn’t be able to function as a society without him. A lot of what you
see is his invention.” As he talked he led her up the stairs and around the
tree trunk.

An awning covered the stairs to protect them from the
elements. The shimmer of lights glowed from the other tree-houses through the
leaves as they walked. “How many people live in this village?”

“There are a total of forty-seven people in thirty-one homes
in
Springlake
.”

“Are there any children?” She asked, somehow knowing the answer
already.

“No.”

His answer was short and terse and hit her like a blow to
the gut. When she’d been little, she’d wanted to be a school teacher and
mother. Her flight to the WS had been made out of desperation, but with it
she’d harbored hopes of finding kids again. To find hope that maybe she
wouldn’t spend the rest of her life alone.

“Let me guess. Not in eighteen years, right?”

“Yes. Is it the same in the ES?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” Their two worlds still had a few
things in common. She had really hoped sterility wouldn’t be one of them.

He showed her his house in a more reserved and withdrawn
manner. Neither of them raised the question of where she’d stay again. She
didn’t see any sexual interest in his gaze and continued to feel safe in his
presence. It was stupid for her to trust that, but she was too tired to fight
it anymore today.

Marcus’s house featured two bedrooms on two different levels
with a bathroom built onto the middle level. They’d accomplished so much here,
but as she sank her sore and weary body into the bed, she thought about what
she’d learned. Obviously, sterility represented a concern here, too. What
chance did they have as a society if they weren’t able to conceive a new
generation?