Voracious - Alice Henderson [78]
“It’s nothing,” he breathed, wrapping his arms around her. “I’m just glad you’re alive.”
“Nothing!” she said in disbelief.
“I’ll heal,” he said simply. “You should have seen this an hour ago. I could see my own bone marrow.”
She winced.
“How are you?”
“I’m fine,” she reassured him, feeling the slick of his sweat beneath her fingers as she hugged him back.
“But … I don’t understand.” He pulled away. “Didn’t he come after you? Didn’t he find you?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“But—” Noah shook his head, looked down. Ran a hand over his face, wiping blood out of his eye. “I don’t understand. Why wouldn’t he come after you?”
Madeline had no idea why. She stood there silently. “What happened?”
After a moment, Noah looked back up at her. “We fought, but I didn’t have the knife, so it wasn’t much of a struggle.”
She cut in. “I found the pack and came back with the knife, but I couldn’t find you.”
“I’m glad you’ve still got it. We crashed through the cabin, ended up breaking through the back door. I took off down a path in the back. He came after me …” His voice trailed off.
“Go on.”
“He gave me one hell of a swipe to the head. I went unconscious. As I faded out, I heard him move off in your direction.” He looked down her intently. “I thought he’d get you for sure.”
“Well, if he had come after me, I would have been ready.” She thought of the knife lying safe in the backpack.
“Damn, you’re tough.” He held her again, but she didn’t feel so tough. She was scared. Damn scared.
“So where do you think he is now?” she asked, hugging him again, placing her head on his shoulder.
They parted. “I don’t know. But I think we should get out of here. Fast.”
“I’m with you on that.” She looked around at the deepening shadows, wondering what they hid. “Let’s go.”
As they walked to the car, he asked her, “Where were you going?”
She shrugged. “To hike out.”
“Just like old times, eh?” he laughed.
“I wasn’t looking forward to the seven-mile hike back. As much as I love hiking, fleeing down a mountainside because I’m in mortal peril is getting really old.” She paused. Then, looking around she said, “Do you think he’ll find us again? I mean, back at the cabin in Apgar?”
Noah gingerly touched the wound on his cheek. “At this point, I don’t feel like we’re safe anywhere.”
She took in his injuries. “I think I should drive. You’re in no shape. Do you have a first aid kit?”
He shook his head. “I think it’s back at the cabin. But give me another hour. My leg and neck will be just fine.”
She gazed at him in amazement. “Not even Neosporin?”
He laughed.
Noah opened the doors to the Jeep, Madeline checking the back end about five times before she was convinced the creature wasn’t in there,
“It’s not back there,” Noah said finally. “Really. I don’t think it can change into a box of snow chains. At least, not a very convincing box of snow chains.”
She raised her eyebrows. “You’re the expert.” Hefting herself into the Jeep, she said, “Are you coming or what?”
Noah shook his head, a bemused smile on his lips as he climbed into the passenger seat of the Jeep.
“Should we return to our cabin?” she asked.
“It’s too late to go anywhere else tonight.” After a long pause, he added, “Are you going home now? I mean, now that you say you aren’t in danger?”
Madeline climbed into the driver’s seat quietly, resisting the urge to say yes. She was a changed person when it came to her gift. At least, she was trying to be. Finally she shook her head. “No,” she said at last. “I told you I’d help you track him, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Suddenly reality dawned upon her. She thought of the centuries Noah had been tirelessly tracking the creature. He still hadn’t succeeded in killing him. Classes started in San Francisco in just two months. This was her chance at a normal college life. What was she supposed to do? Postpone classes? She stopped that train of thought. They had two months. Two whole months. And there was a difference now. Until now Noah didn’t have her gift aiding him. Now they would know where the creature