Always (7 page)

A large piece of wood began to crumble in the fire, causing a shower of orange sparks in the night air.

“
Have you never been in love, then?”

“
No,” he answered too quickly. “I never have.”

“
You must be a very lonely person, then.”

He sighed softly. “I’m not.”

I let it go, choosing instead to change the subject. “Do you have any family? Brothers or sisters? Where are your parents?”

He rose gracefully from the ground and placed two more logs on the dying fire. The flame leapt back to life. I inched closer, tilting my face into the warmth. It wasn’t until after he sat back down that he answered my questions about his family.

“
My parents have been gone for a long time.”

“
We have that in common.”

“
I suppose we do.” His lips upturned slightly.

“
And siblings; do you have any?”

“
I have five brothers.”

“
Five?” I was shocked. I, who had never had any siblings or even a cousin that I could be close to, was suddenly very jealous. How wonderful it must have been for him to grow up with so many brothers.

His teeth flashed wide. “Five,” he confirmed. “And my brother, Dominick, has a sister called Elizabeth.”

“
Isn’t it your sister as well?”

“
No, but we are close enough to be.”

“
Are you close to your brothers?”

He chuckled slightly. “Sometimes.”

“
Is now not one of those times?” I watched his expression closely, but he only smiled my way.

“
Now is a time when I want to travel with David and Sylvia.”

“
He’s your cousin?”

I saw his hesitation before he nodded. “I guess so.”

I bit my lip and leaned back against my makeshift backrest. “Sylvia is very beautiful,” I said wistfully.

“
David seems to think so.”

“
And you? Do you think she is?”

“
Beauty,” he took a deep breath, “Beauty is a tricky one.”

“
Not really.”

“
A woman can have attractive features and if her heart is cold, her attractiveness fades. In the same light, a woman can have plain features with a golden heart and suddenly, she is the most beautiful creature you have ever seen.”

“
Okay, then,” I nodded slowly. “Sylvia has very…attractive features.” I raised both my eyebrows in his direction.

He laughed loudly. “Yes, I suppose you are correct.”

I smiled and settled myself in closer to the flames of our fire. As the heat began to work its way into my skin and even deeper, I began to relax. My eyelids fluttered closed on their own accord. Maybe a little sleep would be okay.

Chapter
Eight

“
Claudia,” I heard my name being called by a deep attractive voice.

“
Hmm?” I mumbled, still mostly asleep.

“
Claudia, you have to get up,” this time, the voice was followed by a shake. “Claudia!”

My eyes popped open and I sat up straight. Marcus was close to my face–his eyes wide. “What’s wrong?” My heart pounded hard in my chest.

“
We have to go.” Something in his tone made my stomach drop.

“
Ryan’s back?”

“
He will be,” Marcus nodded, “and soon.” He was already throwing dirt on our dying fire while I tried to scramble to my feet.

“
What are we going to do?”

“
We’re going to run.”

“
Where to?”

“
Just come on, Claudia,” he grabbed my hand,” just trust me right now.”

Of course I would trust him. Who else was there to help me out here? I squeezed tight to his hand and let him pull me along once again through the night.

Even if it had been daylight, I wouldn’t have been able to see where we were going because we were going so fast. I ducked when he pulled me down and turned as a horse would when its rider pulled the reigns a certain way. I didn’t dare stop.

I still couldn’t hear anyone in the woods except us and I couldn’t see anyone except Marcus, but I kept running as if my life depended on it, which in all likelihood, it did.

“
Please,” I gasped when I thought my lungs would explode, “can we stop just for a minute?”

He only slowed down slightly in response. “Oph,” I grunted.

Uncle Philip’s over large boots made it especially hard to run. I was slightly surprised that I was still on my feet, but I suspected that was only because of Marcus’s hard grip on my hand.

“
Marcus, please,” I panted.

He stopped abruptly and was instantly in my face. “We have to keep going,” he hissed.

I tried to sneak in a few deep breaths while he glared at me, but we were off before I could properly breathe again.

Rocks and tree roots were littered all over the ground so that I had to jump over a few. I felt a large rock going into the bottom of my foot even through the boot. I cried out, but this time Marcus couldn’t catch me and I tumbled to the ground.

“
Ow,” I whimpered. I covered my injured shin with both my hands.

Marcus was down beside me in a moment. “Are you alright?”

I tried not to cry, but too much had already happened that night and I couldn’t hold the tears back. I didn’t let go of my leg to wipe off the tears.

I quickly scanned the damage to my nightgown. It was mostly still in one piece besides what was torn by Ryan earlier that night. Then I noticed the hemline.

It was almost completely torn off. That realization brought another bout of tears. “My night dress is torn,” I sobbed anew. How was I going to go home in a torn and dirty nightgown? What would they all think of me? I had already been gone far too long. I covered my face with my hands and cried harder.

“
Claudia,” he cooed, “the night gown was already ruined.”

“
I know,” I croaked.

“
Let me see your leg,” he ordered.

“
No,” I held on tighter. It was childish, but I didn’t care.

“
Claudia.” He put one hand on my closed ones. “Let me see.”

I sniffed, stubbornly keeping hold of my leg. “I’m fine.”

“
You’re not fine. I can tell that it’s bleeding.”

“
How do you know?”

“
I see the blood through your fingers.”

Very slowly, I lifted my hands to reveal a long gash that was seeping blood. I gasped when I saw all the blood that was on my hands. “Ow,” I squealed again.

I heard Marcus swear softly. I looked up to catch his dark glare. “I’m sorry,” he apologized through tight lips.

“
It wasn’t your fault. I should have run faster.”

“
You…” he almost laughed. He stalked a few steps away and put his hands on his hips. I couldn’t see his face, but I could tell he was very angry.

“
I’ll try to do better,” I said in a small voice. I had tried to keep up with him, but there just wasn’t enough air in my lungs to keep me going.

“
You did fine,” he said after a long moment of dark silence. “I should have listened to you when you asked me to slow down.”

“
I’m fine,” I repeated. I attempted to stand up to prove how fine I was, but I fell back down to the ground. “I’m just…tired,” I breathed.

His scowl was almost as dark as the night around us. “Come on, then,” he reached down to me.

“
What…what do you mean?” I stammered when I realized that he meant to carry me. “I’ll be able to go again in just a minute,” I promised. “Just let me catch my breath first.”

“
I won’t chance you falling again for one thing,” he growled, “and for another, we don’t have time to wait,” he pulled me forcefully to my feet, “and third, I can’t have you bleeding a path straight to us.”

“
It’s almost done bleeding,” I mumbled.

“
No, it’s not.” In a swift movement, he put his hand behind my knee and knocked me off my feet. My tiny squeal was cut short by his glare. He already had me in his arms before I could protest any further.

His heart beat out a steady rhythm as he stared down at me. I raised wide eyes to his dark ones. “I hardly think this is appropriate,” I breathed.

He shook his head slowly from side to side. “I’m going to carry you.” His words left no room for any type of argument.

I stayed tense in his arms while the trees went by at a frightening pace. I couldn’t understand how he was able to know where we were going or how he could run so fast without hitting any trees. A few times, I had to close my eyes out of fear.

“
Do you know where we are going?” I asked him as we ran.

He didn’t even slow down to answer me. “I’ll know when I get there.”

We didn’t run much further before the trees began to thin. Marcus finally began to slow down. He came to a stop just a few yards from an old building that may have once been a barn.

“
He’s gone,” Marcus said in a strangely flat voice. “You’re safe now.” He put me gently on my feet, but didn’t let go of my waist.

I stumbled twice, but still tried to create a much-needed distance between our bodies. “He’s gone?” He nodded, still watching me in case I fell. “He just gave up?”

“
Not likely.” He let go of me and walked off a few feet. He ran his hand roughly through his hair and smacked a tall tree with a bit too much force.

“
Marcus?”

“
We’ll sleep here tonight,” he called without looking at me.

“
On the ground?”

“
In the barn,” he growled. He turned once to glare at me, then he began walking at a brisk pace to the old barn.

Surprised that he wasn’t waiting, I hobbled after him as quickly as I could only to fall to my knees. I got back up before he could realize I had fallen again. When I looked up, he was watching me with his lips pulled into a thin line and his dark eyes almost black.

I swallowed over the lump in my throat. “Are you sure we’re allowed in there?” I asked when I caught up to him.

“
No one is here.”

“
It must belong to someone,” I reasoned.

“
No one has been here in a very long time.”

I peered around his broad shoulder at the darkened entryway. It didn’t look very inviting in there. It seemed like a better idea to me to just sleep outside and start a fire like we had before.

“
The fire is what attracted Ryan to us.”

Once again, it startled me that Marcus seemed to know just what I was thinking. “Oh,” I nodded.

“
We’ll be safe in here tonight, but we won’t run for much longer.” I saw the muscles at his jaw and temple clenching and unclenching.

“
You can’t think to fight him.” His jaw tightened, but he didn’t look at me. “Marcus, you can’t. Did you see what he did to my arm?” I held my arm out so he could see the long scratches there, but then realized he wouldn’t be able to see them in the dark, so I pulled the jacket back over them and pulled my arm close to my body.

“
I’ll see you safely home first.”

Did he think I was worried about my own safety? Before I had a chance to correct him, he was pulling the door open wider.

“
Come on,” he called gruffly.

“
How long are you going to stay in such a bad mood?” I called out to him even as I followed behind him.

“
I’m not in a bad mood.”

“
You could have fooled me.”

The shadows were darker inside the old barn, even less inviting than the entryway had suggested. I couldn’t even think of what Aunt Dora would say. I swallowed loudly, the sound seeming to echo in the vast emptiness.

“
Are you…?”

“
Yes, Claudia, I’m sure,” Marcus called. He was further away than I expected him to be.