Water (8 page)
I paused as I said a silent goodbye.
Peculiar
, I thought to myself,
how he is rising instead of sinking
. Temporarily ignoring my aching lungs, I hung, suspended in time, watching his lifeless form float toward heaven. He disappeared above me into the light streaming through the slick gray and white clouds. Immediately after he was taken by the good Lord, I involuntarily started up the same path. Something was grabbing at me, forcing me to it.
Not me, damn you!
I fought valiantly - but ultimately wasn’t given a choice.
Well, if I have to go, this is a mildly admirable way to do it.
Finally relenting, I embraced fate’s hold.
Air found its way into my lungs, and the world came back to me. Several very human hands pulled me out of the water. Alex was already there, splayed out on an icy but stable part of the lake. Someone leaned over him checking his pulse and encouraging him to open his eyes. The two who had pulled me from the hole paused to make sure I was breathing, then turned to Alex to help administer CPR. After briefly arguing who got to do the pumping and who had to do the ‘kissing’, they had Alex breathing again.
He coughed up some of the murky lake water and looked around wild-eyed. I reached out to hold his hand, and his demeanor became somewhat subdued until he noticed that I was just as soaked as he.
"You fell in too?" Alex asked through chattering teeth, a coughing fit taking over.
I pushed aside wet strands of hair to see him more clearly. They broke off right in my hand. "It was more of a jump – though I didn’t know it would cost me my hair."
He laid his head back on the ice as he realized what happened, "I owe you, Kaitlyn."
"You owe me twenty to be exact, and I’ll hold you to it." I flashed a big smile at him and received one in return. Our eye contact was interrupted by the many blankets thrown over us produced by the arriving medics. Most of them surrounded Alex as his skin was a very ominous shade of blue.
Feeling returned to my body, followed by a sense of panic. Sheer pain radiated through me, drilling into skin, muscle, then bone. It made it hard to breathe and the world started to gray out. One man broke through the haze and hovered over me. Micah's warm, green eyes pierced through me and I felt my very blood bubble in conflict. He was helping me to battle the cold, but it wouldn't go without a fight.
Unperturbed and disregarding the presence of other men, Micah threw off his clothes and crawled under the blankets with me. "Help me help you," he whispered into my ear. "Force your blood to move, it will warm you. Feel it flowing down to your toes and up and out into your fingers; complete the circle. Faster, faster. Fight off the frostbite."
I concentrated, imagining it was his words pushing my blood through my body. The magic worked, the pain subsided, and only a slight shivering was left behind. The energy spent over the last fifteen minutes had drained me, and I knew I wasn't long for the waking world. Before I could go, I had to know. Whether it be damning information or not, I would not be able to retaliate against the world.
I took Micah's face in between my shaking hands and stared at him with a penetrating gaze that equaled his own. "Tell me. Did I kill mom and dad?" He hesitated, eyes widening slightly at the horror of such a notion. I had to have his answer quick before I passed out. "Hurry – tell me!"
He quickly shook his head. "No. God no, Kaitlyn."
There was truth in his eyes. Relief flooded into me and retreated, wave by wave, taking blame with them. Content enough, I allowed myself to drift off with the waves, but not before I saw a final flash of guilt cross Micah's eyes.
Questionable Timing
I woke slowly, blinking out the pink tones of a coming twilight that filtered through the window.
"You’re awake," Micah said.
I turned toward the shadowy figure in the corner of the room, letting my eyes adjust to the light.
"I am..." Momentarily distracted by the feel of my bare skin against the sheets, I peeked underneath the blankets, then finished my sentence, "…naked."
"A necessary measure to get your body temperature back up, as counterintuitive as it sounds." He smiled, coming to sit on the bedside. Instinctively, I shuffled away from him, pulling the blankets up to my chin. My movement was stopped, once again, with the clank of handcuffs holding one wrist tightly to the bed. I let out an exasperated sigh, annoyed that, after all that, I was back at square one. Sloths made more progress in a day than I had managed.
Micah’s sigh mimicked mine as he reached in his pocket and produced a small key. "It’s no use locking you up. You’ll just make a mess of things trying to escape."
Once released, I cradled my wrist protectively, rubbing out the red marks left by the handcuffs. An awkward moment passed as we sat side by side, neither of us speaking. Had there been a clock in the room we would have heard it ticking.
He scooted a little closer to me and looked expectant. I certainly couldn’t bolt out the door in my current state of undress. I cleared my throat. "So is this a new method – captivity by means of nudity?"
"As appealing as that may sound to most of our male staff, no." He gestured to a pile of clothes next to his dresser. "You’ll be staying here, with me now. Cato thinks it will be safer."
"Safer for whom?"
He leaned in closer. "Safer for everyone involved."
With him so near, I stifled my breathing, lest he be exposed to morning breath and started smoothing my hair.
He calmed my hands, laying his on top of mine. "Stop fussing, you look beautiful."
My cheeks burned with embarrassment. I looked away quickly, still unsure of his intentions. Was that how he truly felt?
Micah, sparing me for the moment, rose and paced the room. "Kaitlyn, I know you don’t trust The Seven, or what we are doing. But if you give us a chance, open your mind a little; you may come to believe in what we do. You aren’t captive here…"
I snorted, letting him know I thought otherwise.
He ignored me. "…but we need you to understand what your purpose on this Earth is."
He paused and looked at me as though waiting for an answer. I took a deep breath and consented. "Fine – no more running away, for now. I’ll give you a chance. But there are conditions. First, answer my questions and second, when I do want to leave – you will let me. Agreed?"
"Agreed," he said, without hesitation. He returned to the side of the bed to shake on it. "Everything will be explained to you in time, we just need to take it slowly. And I’ll be here the whole way."
"That’s what I am afraid of."
My joke was taken as such, and he used the relief of tension to lie down beside me in the bed, albeit on top of the sheets. His head hovered over my chest tentatively, waiting for me to accept him. I did. I wrapped my arms around him, welcoming his warmth. It felt much less awkward this way.
I ran my fingers through his hair for a bit, letting my mind contemplate the situation. Micah didn’t give me the time to decide whether I was saved or doomed.
He sat up with determination. "Why don’t you get cleaned up and get dressed. Then we’ll find something to eat, take a walk, and talk."
Keeping the sheets wrapped around me, I started to make my way off the bed. "All right, but I want more than just a sandwich this time."
"So demanding," Micah said sarcastically. He pulled on a pair of faded jeans, worn almost all the way through at the knees. At least his wardrobe was no better than mine. He pulled on a dark blue shirt, and took the time to roll up the sleeves but didn’t bother with the buttons. He left barefoot, allowing me to shower and dress in private. Despite my growling stomach, I didn’t hurry through the shower. I needed time to think, and the warm water beating down on my shoulders chased what cold remained from the lake. For the first time since I’d been in contact with this crew, I wasn’t planning my next escape attempt. I was more curious now than anything else. And I would have liked to say it had nothing to do with Micah, but he no doubt sweetened the pot.
In contrast to the bare cupboards of the kitchen, the bathroom was stocked with everything I would have requested, and then some. Shampoo and conditioner, soaps, razors, pink shaving gel, makeup, brushes, a hair dryer, perfume, and plenty of soft, oversized towels with a matching robe and slippers.
Lovely, it was the day spa appointment I never made for myself. It only took a near-death experience, a kidnapping and the life-altering discovery of magical powers to finally have it.
I showered slowly, trying out each of the scented soaps before choosing lavender to wash away the muck of the lake. I paused, looking down at my legs and sighed. They were nearly as white as the bleached shower tiles.
Wonder if they have a tanning bed on site
, I thought, my hands catching my attention. O
r maybe a nail technician.
I stepped out of the shower and gained a little more confidence looking in the mirror. I rarely wore makeup; my face had a natural even-toned glow to it. My eyebrows, albeit needing a good plucking, were nicely arched and did a good job of drawing attention to my eyes. The gold streaks that were so prevalent throughout my brown hair also graced my eyebrows, and highlighted the little gold specks in my otherwise boring brown eyes. I ran a comb through my hair but didn’t bother blow-drying it. Going completely natural would hide my broken strands better. I stopped mid-primping.
Amazing how one man could change a woman’s entire mindset.
I snorted, then quickly covered my mouth.
Better not do that around him.
It was another half hour before I came out of the bathroom, and I took even more time picking out my clothes, loathe to give up the feel of the soft robe against my bare skin. Just as I slipped a fresh-smelling t-shirt over my head, Micah walked in.
"A man of questionable timing," I remarked while quickly scanning the room for cameras. I hadn’t thought of that until now.
He walked over to the closet and chose a belt for me. "There aren’t any cameras in here - I had them all removed."
I raised my eyebrow, and opened my mouth.
He answered my next question before I could ask it. "Long before our…" He cleared his throat with a smirk. "Night together. No one else will know that you snore."
I rolled my eyes, taking the belt he held out for me. I suppressed the urge to whip him with it. Despite his teasing I had to give him credit for the belt. I would have been content to yank the oversized pants up every two minutes.
"Come on" Micah opened the door for me.
"No handcuffs or guards to accompany us?" I poked my head out the door expecting to see a group of men ready to escort me. At this point, I wouldn’t blame them.
"Just me." Micah looked down at me, and took my arm in his. We walked down the cold halls, passing door after door. I tried to keep my eyes forward, avoiding sideways glances into any opened rooms. I wasn’t anxious to catch site of Cato or Shawn, who, come to find out, was well justified in wanting to knock me unconscious. As we stepped outside, I turned my head to give the kitchen a woeful look.
Micah noticed. "I have food waiting for us out in the gardens."
I smiled and quickened my pace. "So what is it you do here at the Chakra? I mean, besides abducting beautiful, defenseless women."
"Oh, please." The side of his mouth curled up in a half-smile. "You have proven yourself far beyond defenseless."
"I am still here, aren’t I?"
"Leaving in your wake several badly beaten men, two unconscious guards, and a hypothermic Alex."
"He ok?" I had forgotten about my running partner.
"Didn’t recover quite as quickly as you did, but he’ll come around."
"Just sprinkle some dirt on him and send him back to work."
Micah laughed. "He’s not like us; doesn’t possess the same abilities. He can be useful though – he’s the logistics guy." Micah stopped short and pulled me toward him. "Thank you, by the way, for saving him. I don’t think we could have reached him in time."
I shrugged as well as I could with him holding me. "He would’ve never been there if it weren’t for me. And the lake would never have been frozen if I knew how to control my powers. I’m sorry. Tell him that I am truly sorry for that."
He took my hands into his. "No need to be sorry. And we’ll help you with your powers – later. Now…" He gestured grandly with his arm to a large blanket ahead of us. "We feast, kind of."
I smelled the food before I saw it. There were different trays of meat garnished with nuts and fruits, a loaf of bread accompanied by a small basket of various flavored butters, and even a cheesecake smothered in strawberries. I sat down and dived directly into the meats, not bothering with utensils or plates. Micah laughed and sat down next to me.
He started cutting slices of bread. "Cato decided to let us splurge. Doesn't happen often. I would tell you to relax and that the food isn’t going anywhere, but..." he looked over his shoulder. "You'd be surprised at how fast word gets around."