Blood Moons (21 page)

They were looking at each other, gazes locked, but not seeing. In that place of darkness and blind shapes, brilliant green grass grew beneath them, cushioning and soft. The landscape formed as if painted by an artist stroke by stroke; hills and valleys, meadows filled with flowers, clumps of trees here and there, their branches heavy with leaves and fruits until they nearly touched the ground.

A forest in the distance appeared to her from a bird's eye view, dark and ominous looking, but it didn't frighten her. The beast she clutched looked out at that forest and sighed almost with longing, and she knew it was his home. The blackness above her gave way to a sky bright with the sun, and clouds vaguely shaped like pictures from a storybook floating across it on a mild breeze.

187

Blood Moons

by Alianne Donnelly

It wasn't only Tristan's doing. Both of their minds simply decided to add elements of what was missing and somehow they blended together to form one cohesive world. Dara knew it was complete now, and would hold even when she wasn't there. They'd created a sort of hideaway, like a secret universe only the two of them would ever know about and be able to reach. And they'd created it in that dark corner Dara vaguely remembered from before. There were no more shadows here now, only sunlight and warmth and safety.

The door opened, admitting the administrator and the two of them finally broke their stares. "Sorry about that," the man said, adjusting his glasses as he read from a paper file. When he looked up and saw Tristan by the window, he half frowned, but hid his unease well.

Tristan casually turned his face up to the sun and his shoulders rose and fell with a heavy sigh of contentment.

Dara could feel the warmth of it on her skin, as if it was her standing there.

"Enjoying the sun?" the administrator queried, making his way to his desk.

"I am," Tristan replied, making no move to return to his seat, deliberately making the man uncomfortable to have a convict at his back.

"Well then, let's get this over with." He spread the file on his desk, next to an already opened one and made a great show of checking both against the computer screen readout.

"I see here that you two have been cellmates in Wolf block.

Given the circumstances, that must have been very traumatic for you, Miss Frost."

188

Blood Moons

by Alianne Donnelly

"Not at all," she replied. When both Tristan and the administrator raised a skeptical eyebrow at her, she shrugged.
Not about to remember.

"Well, in any case," the administrator continued, "rest assured that every effort will be made in making you comfortable here." In his mind, she saw what he meant. It was like watching a promotional video for an exotic vacation destination.

There were no cells, only picturesque bungalows with all amenities in an almost idyllic environment. The only restriction was a sort of curfew when all prisoners had to be

"at home" for lights out, and the bungalows locked down for the night. The only way off this planet was a launch pad, which was locked and guarded day and night, making
it
the most heavily guarded thing around, not the prisoners themselves.

There was no comparison between here and where she'd just come from.

"Thank you." she said when the administrator seemed to expect some sort of reply. She wasn't really sure what to say.

He inclined his head graciously and started typing something. "As for you, Mr. Hunt," he said, then looked over his shoulder to find him still standing there. "Excuse me, but the protocol is me sitting here and you over there. I really must insist on it."

Tristan moved, but he took his time about it. When he sat—covertly moving his chair the slightest bit toward Dara's—the administrator straightened in his seat, finally comfortable behind his desk. He even smiled. After some 189

Blood Moons

by Alianne Donnelly

more typing, he continued, "As for you, Mr. Hunt, Dr. Chase has requested your presence in the med camp. You will be under her supervision and care. I hope that agrees with you."

"It doesn't," Tristan said flat out, surprising both Dara and the administrator.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," the suit said.

Of course he didn't. Tristan already had the layout of this place in his mind. The suit had as good as provided him with a map. He now knew that not only was the men's camp separated from the women's, the med camp was even farther removed from both. As far as days went, prisoners were free to socialize any way they wished, but at night it was solitary confinement. He liked none of this.

The suit had it in his mind that Tristan would be a lab rat rarely, if ever, leaving med camp to interfere with the

"rehabilitation" of the other prisoners. If that was what Amelia expected from him, she had another think coming. "Is Dr.

Chase aware of this arrangement?" he asked the suit.

The man checked his files and his computer screen again.

"As far as I am aware, she was the one who made them."

Lie.

"Have you been apprised of her research?"

"Not of the details, no. My knowledge does not extend very far beyond you being the main subject of it, but I believe it has something to do with your genetic makeup. Therefore, observation is necessary."

"Close," he said, knowing it would placate the guy to think he knew something that wasn't necessarily his to know. "It 190

Blood Moons

by Alianne Donnelly

has to do with genetics, as they pertain to behavior. Social behavior, to be more exact."

The suit frowned and checked his files again.

"What are you doing?"
Dara asked. She had that look on her face that said she didn't understand but was doing her damnedest to figure it out. It meant she was finally returning to her old self again. The relief he felt made him want to kiss her.

The suit cleared his throat. "This is something I would of course have to check with Dr. Chase."

"Of course," he agreed.

"What about me?" Dara chimed in. "Dr. Chase is my doctor too."

"Ah, yes, well, unless you are also part of her research, I have been instructed to set you up on the south side of the women's camp. The area borders a lovely lake."

Tristan leaned forward in his chair and caught the man's gaze. "Are you sure that is a good place for her?" he asked, adding as gentle a push as he was capable of to get him thinking and talking.

The suit nodded, as if hypnotized. "It is the closest to the med lab, which should be convenient for Miss Frost should she need medical care." Just across the lake. A ten-minute swim, as opposed to a twenty-five-minute run from where Tristan would have been placed at the outside border of the men's camp. If the med camp was as lavish and untended as the rest of this colony, then perhaps this arrangement was good enough.

"She's not really a prisoner, you know."

191

Blood Moons

by Alianne Donnelly

Still not moving of his own accord, the suit nodded again.

His voice, at least, sounded normal. The only anomaly in his behavior was that he was unable to look away from Tristan.

"Yes, of course. The usual security procedures will not apply to her. The house she's being assigned to will remain unlocked unless she chooses to lock it."

And Tristan could talk to Amelia about his own confinement.
Perfect.
"Then I suppose that will have to do.

You can go on and finish what you were doing."

As he sat back, the suit shook his head to clear it and frowned at the computer screen, typing commands in rapid progression while they waited in silence.

"What was that all about?"
Dara asked.

"Just making sure everything is as it should be."

"Meaning...?"

He gave her a smile in answer.

"I saw some woods as we were landing," Dara said. She couldn't have seen anything, having been unconscious, but it was a nice cover.

"Yes," the suit said. "Around the med camp. What about them?"

"Are there animals in them?"

"The usual variety, I should think. Rodents and small mammals, some birds perhaps. Are you a zoology enthusiast, Miss Frost?"

"I just want to be sure I don't get devoured on my way to see Dr. Chase."

The way she'd said it brought all kinds of images to Tristan's mind. He reciprocated by sending them all back at 192

Blood Moons

by Alianne Donnelly

her. He could hear her breath catch the slightest bit and her heartbeat speed up. Her scent grew stronger where the heat of her blush intensified it and he had to focus on not crushing the armrests he clutched.

"I can assure you that has never been reported to happen."

"Not yet,"
Tristan added.

"That is ... r-reassuring." When the suit gave her a look at her odd tone, she cleared her throat. "How much longer?"

The suit consulted his computer screen. "We're done, actually." He closed both files and set them neatly aside, then pushed to his feet. "I can escort you both to the supply dorms to get everything you'll need and then to your new homes. If you'll follow me."

No guards fell into step in front or behind them. It was a little unnerving after years of constantly being watched. As prisons went, this one was a luxurious resort, not a correctional facility. And as long as the government was willing to fund it, Tristan was not going to complain.

They took a winding, graveled path to the supply dorms, a grouping of buildings with signs over doors advertising what they held: Apparel, Groceries, and Supplies. After visiting them, he and Dara each received two large boxes of clothing and a basket of fresh and frozen foods, neatly packed as if from a department store. They were each given a trolley as well—a hovering platform with a handle—to carry everything to their bungalows. They were told that these three dorms were open five days a week in case they needed anything, 193

Blood Moons

by Alianne Donnelly

and then the suit led them down another garden path to the women's camp.

Tristan could already tell the men's camp wouldn't look anywhere near this good. Here, the women had planted colorful flowers; some even had vegetable gardens. There were clotheslines hung with freshly washed clothes—which he couldn't understand since there was a laundering system set up for the entire camp—and lounge areas both in the sun and under the shade of trees.

"It's calming," Dara told him.

"What is?"

"Washing clothes by hand."

"You mean you've done it?"

She smiled in that bright, innocent way, making his chest contract around his heart. Sunlight suited her. "Once or twice when I was a girl, at my grandmother's house." She showed him images of a place much like this one, with children running around, chasing each other between curtains of drying bed sheets. "It takes your mind off other things. And it makes the clothes smell nice when they dry in the sun."

He believed her.

"Here we are," the suit said, stopping in front of a bungalow at the end of the path. Beyond it was a stretch of green grass, and then the lake with a beach and a small wooden pier. "Welcome home, Miss Frost."

Her smile faded and she hesitated, looking to Tristan.

He couldn't think of anything to say. Not wanting the silence to stretch on too long, he settled for, "I'll see you in a bit."

194

Blood Moons

by Alianne Donnelly

"At Dr. Chase's discretion, of course," the suit added with a ready smile. Tristan nearly punched him.

"Watch that temper,"
Dara told him.
"And let me know as
soon as you get there, okay?"

"Will you miss me, little Dara?"

She blushed prettily.
"I'll get by."

It wasn't the answer he wanted to hear. It bothered him more than it should have.

"See you soon," she said for the suit's benefit.

"Tonight,"
he promised. With a tight nod, he turned to follow the suit around the lake, schooling himself not to look back. Instead, he closed his eyes and looked through Dara's as she fumbled with the doorknob and entered her bungalow.

Her vision was blurred, but she squeezed her eyes shut a moment, and when she opened them, the tears were gone.

"It seems the two of you have gotten quite close," the suit remarked, distracting him. From his tone, he didn't seem enthusiastic about the notion of
close
.

"Given a choice," Tristan said, focusing on making his voice even, "who would you rather
get close
to, a woman like Dara, or the psychopathic serial killer next door?"

The suit opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again, changing his mind. He didn't need to say anything.

Didn't need to look over his shoulder at the now empty doorway of Dara's bungalow. Tristan could see inside the man's mind and knew he harbored romantic notions about Dara.

Romantic, because they were so different from the sickening thoughts he'd seen in the minds of men who'd seen 195

Blood Moons

by Alianne Donnelly

her in Wolf block. But no less disturbing. "I suppose you have a point," the man finally said.

Though Tristan knew the suit was too timid to act on what he was thinking, it still pissed him off and he tightened his grip on the trolley's handle, nearly crushing it. The rest of the way he spent watching the ground he walked on, memorizing the route so he could find his way back. With her scent, he could find her anywhere, reach her over any terrain. It was heartening to know he'd be able to find her so easily.

With that thought in mind, he opened all his senses to the landscape and let it tell him stories of what secret treasures it held. When they reached the med camp, it was an almost happy Tristan who met Dr. Chase at the doorstep of his new living quarters. The beast in him had found a playground.

But as soon as they reached her, Tristan knew something was wrong. It put him on guard, his good mood diminishing rapidly.