MARKED (Hunter Awakened) (12 page)

“That Christmas morning, I did not expect to
see anything under the tree with my name, but there it was. A small
package. Inside, was a horse very much like this one. It was the
greatest gift I have ever been given, and one of my happiest
memories.” He set the horse down. “I have not thought of that day
for a very long time.” He didn't look at me, but I felt the change.
“Please excuse me.”

As he stepped outside to, I assumed, regain
his composure, I quickly purchased the horse and hid it in the bag
of fudge I was carrying. By the time I went back outside, Elias
looked like nothing had happened. He didn't mention his story and
neither did I. Instead, he took all of the bags and we headed back
to the car. The ride back to my house was a silent one, which
wasn't entirely unusual, but there was a difference to this
silence, a weight to it, as if Elias hadn't completely shaken
seeing that toy.

When we pulled up to the house, I'd made a
decision that I was going to give him his gift tonight. If I didn't
let him help me unpack the bags, he'd know that I'd bought him
something, and since the only time we'd been separated the entire
night had been in the toy store, he'd guess what I got him and it
would completely ruin it. Besides, something inside me told me that
this was the right time. So, before he could open the door, I put
my hand on his arm.

“Wait,” I said. I reached down into the bag
at my feet and withdrew the brown paper bag from the toy store.
“I'd like to give you your Christmas gift now.” I held up a hand
before he could protest. “No arguments. We don't have time since I
have to be on set in thirty minutes. Just accept it.”

For a moment, I thought he was going to
argue, but when he took the package without a word, I knew he'd do
as I asked. I watched him as he opened the bag and reached inside.
The moment he withdrew the horse, I saw all of his defenses melt
away. Everything that I'd been feeling for him, both admitted and
denied, was suddenly laid bare and I knew, without a doubt, that
what I felt for this man was deeper than anything I'd felt before
or would ever feel again. I didn't know if I could call it love
yet, but I knew that soon, I would.

“Teal.”

I'd never realized how full my name could
sound until now. Elias looked up and his eyes were dark, shining.
He leaned towards me and a thrill went through me. Finally!

Just before his lips touched mine, Harrison's
ringtone cut through the air. I really didn't want to answer it,
but it would've been a little difficult focusing on a kiss with the
theme song to a show about zombies played in the background. I saw
my frustration mirrored on Elias's face as he sat back and I dug in
my pocket for my phone. I knew Harrison wouldn't have called me
this late if it hadn't been important, but it still sucked.

“Yeah?” I knew it was rude, but I couldn't
help it. Pretty soon, this sexual tension building up inside me was
going to result in an explosion of some kind.

“Are you okay?”

The concern in Harrison's voice drove away
most of my annoyance. The fact that he hadn't commented on my
less-than-polite greeting and immediately inquired after my
well-being said that something had happened. “I'm fine. Elias and I
just did a little Christmas shopping.”

“Damnit, Teal! I didn't think you were going
to go anywhere public.”

“Harrison, calm down. Elias was with me and
we went to this little village of shops. There were, like, twenty
people in the entire place.” I was getting worried now and I could
feel Elias's eyes on me. “What's going on?”

“Rufus Dietz was released from the hospital a
few hours ago.”

Chapter Thirteen

“Teal, Bryson, set up for the two shot.” A PA
walked by, apparently on a mission that hadn't ended with
delivering the instructions.

“Ready, Teal?” Bryson smiled at me as he set
his phone aside. He usually spent our breaks texting his boyfriend,
and this one had been no different. The two of them were
sickeningly sweet together and I loved it.

I nodded absently, my head still stuck in the
events of the past two days. Harrison had gotten a restraining
order against Rufus and it seemed to be working since I hadn't seen
or heard from him since he'd been released. Pretty much everyone
I'd talked to had been livid, but there wasn't really anything we
could do unless there was proof that he'd violated the restraining
order. Once a trial date was set for his attack on me, things could
change, but his injuries were going to make things difficult.

It was because he'd been assaulted, Harrison
had said, that the judge had allowed him to be released.
Apparently, the hospital stay, combined with the fact that the
bruises on my face had faded, and that I'd kicked him in the crotch
the day before made him a bit more sympathetic than me. I wasn't
worried about it. Even he wasn't stupid enough to come after me
again, especially with Elias and Paul on twenty-four hour
alert.

“Teal?”

I pulled my thoughts from the past. I needed
to focus. If Bryson and I nailed it in the first take, our
coverage, and close up shots would be that much easier. I didn't
know if it worked that way for other actors, but it did for us.
Besides the time factor, this was also a very important scene. We
were shooting episode fourteen, the one all of the fans were
already clamoring for because it was the scene where angsty
star-crossed lovers Kiana and Mason were finally going to have
their romantic moment. Of course, in true story telling fashion,
all hell would break loose shortly after it happened, but we'd
filmed the chaotic aftermath on the first day. Right now, it was
all about the love.

I'd heard rumors that people were betting
that Bryson and I's chemistry would fizzle as soon as the scenes
became physical, that there was no way we'd get a believable
performance. Bryson and I were determined to prove them wrong.
Unbeknownst to anyone on the cast or crew, we'd actually spent the
first two months we were shooting practicing for this exact moment.
Yes, it was exactly what it sounded like.

Bryson and I had spent hours making out,
working on logistics about how to move to allow for good angles,
the best gestures and caresses. Sometimes Bryson's boyfriend had
given us pointers. That actually wasn't as weird as it sounded,
believe it or not. I think they'd both just appreciated that I
hadn't acted weird about kissing Bryson. Some straight girls looked
at kissing gay guys as a chance to 'turn' them. Me, it was just
like anything else I did in front of the camera, fake.

Bryson and I headed out of the tent and into
the chilly night air. We could have shot this scene inside, but
show's creator and executive producer, Doug Wylie, had insisted
that as much be filmed naturally as possible, something that our
show was now known for. So a scene like this, that was supposed to
take place out on the front porch of a cabin in the woods, rather
than using a built exterior on a sound stage, was being shot in
front of the cabin that had actually been built for my character.
There were definite drawbacks to this style of work, but no one
could deny how beautiful it was.

I stood at the porch railing and looked up at
the moon. I felt the character of Kiana slip over me as Bryson
stepped inside the cabin. The crew quieted and I closed my eyes,
letting everything else fade away. It was Kiana and Mason who were
here, their emotions raw from scenes we hadn't yet shot, ones that
would elaborate on plot twists that would leave the audience
gasping.

I heard my cue and opened my eyes. The cabin
door opened, then closed behind me. I could feel Bryson standing
behind me.

“How could you just walk away like that?”

His voice was perfectly pitched. Not too
loud, not too soft. It was just right and I matched it.

“You do not understand,” I said. “What is at
risk here is greater than me, than you, than any of us.”

“So I'm just supposed to walk away?”

I could see his expression in my mind's eye,
the combination of pain and anger. “If you will not, then I
shall.”

I moved as if to go down the steps and his
hand closed on my upper arm.

“How can you just leave? I thought that this
meant something to you.” He paused, then let the pain seep into his
next sentence. “I thought I meant something to you.”

I could feel tears burning in my eyes and
blinked once to send them sliding down my cheeks. “I cannot allow
what I want, who I want, to sway me from my destiny.”

I took a step and felt Bryson's hand tighten.
It was time for his line and then the kiss.

“Screw destiny.”

He moved as he pulled me towards him, angling
us both towards the camera so that neither one of us was blocked.
Bryson's bright blue eyes were shining as he bent his head towards
me. I closed my eyes and let my body remember the feel of his
mouth, how to move my arms so that they weren't in the way.

It was weird, how I could feel the energy
humming between us, but there was zero sexual tension in either of
our bodies. I'd always found romantic scenes strange and awkward to
film, as if there was always the possibility that one of us was
enjoying it more than the other. That was one of the things I loved
about this relationship. Neither Bryson nor I felt any pressure as
we kissed. It was the memory of another's mouth on mine that made
my stomach tighten.

“And, cut!” the director called out.

The crew started clapping immediately, some
whistling. I grinned at Bryson, but he was staring off of set, a
strange expression on his face, almost one of concern. I followed
his gaze and found Elias in the shadows. His lips were pressed
tightly together, his eyes unreadable. And there was one of the
issues actors had while dating. A doctor's spouse might complain
about the schedule, a cop's spouse about the danger, but acting was
the only job where watching your significant other making out with
someone else was a common occurrence.

Sometimes, the chemistry on-screen translated
to real life, but jealousy wasn't limited to those instances. I
just didn't see what Elias had to be jealous about. While he and I
hadn't talked about Bryson being gay, I would've thought that
either he would've figured it out by now or that he would've
realized how much these last few weeks had meant to me.

“Reset for Teal's coverage!” the director
shouted. “Ready in fifteen.”

It wasn't until everyone around me started
bustling and moving that I realized I'd forgotten my energy drink
back in my trailer. I really hadn't been sleeping well since Rufus
had gotten out on bail two days ago. I was halfway there before I
thought that I could've just asked Elias to go. Or, better yet, I
could have asked him to walk with me. Besides the fact that it
hadn't been a good idea at all to leave the set without telling
anyone where I was going or how long I'd be, it could've been a
nice opportunity to sneak a little alone time with him.

We still hadn't discussed when and how we
wanted to take things public. I considered turning back, but it was
pointless to do so. I was over halfway now, so heading back would
take longer than continuing on. I had an emergency phone in my
trailer. I could use it to call Elias and ask him to come by so he
could walk me back. It would be embarrassing, but it would ease my
anxiety, and after what I'd been through, most people wouldn't even
think twice about it.

I quickened my pace, my heart racing as I
struggled to keep from breaking into a run. It was too much like
that night. No one around. Strange shadows moving in ways that they
shouldn't be able to move. I could taste the fear, sharp and
metallic, on the back of my tongue. Then I saw it, the familiar
shape and color of my trailer. I almost cried in relief as I opened
the door and went inside.

The show didn't have a huge budget this
season, so the trailers were small, but right now, they were better
than any vast domain. I was safe. That's what mattered.

I sat down on the loveseat that was the
closest piece of furniture to the door. I cradled my head in my
hands, my breathing ragged as I tried to slow my pulse. I was safe,
I repeated to myself. No one was going to hurt me. The man who had
done it before was under a restraining order, and even Rufus wasn't
stupid enough to violate it. Besides the fact that he'd get his ass
thrown in jail if he tried, I liked to think that he'd be at least
a little wary considering what had happened to him the last time
he'd come after me. That thought calmed me a little more and I
started to be able to breathe.

I wasn't sure how much time had passed and I
knew I needed to start back soon. I didn't want to hold things up
or lose momentum with Bryson. I opened my eyes and that was when I
saw it.

On the small table against the opposite wall,
propped up by a stack of books I'd left there a couple of weeks
ago, was an envelope with my name on it. It hadn't been there when
I'd been in my trailer last, just a couple of hours ago, and now
that I thought about it, I'd locked my trailer on my way out, but I
hadn't needed a key to get back in.

Someone had been in my trailer.

Chapter Fourteen

I was frozen to the spot, my ears straining
for any sound that would indicate I wasn't alone.

“Teal?”

I let out a surprised squeak and spun around.
I wasn't entirely sure what I was planning on doing once I was
facing the intruder, but I was tensing up for some sort of
confrontation when my brain finally caught up to my eyes.

Elias was standing in front of me, an
expression of concern on his face. His gaze dropped to the envelope
in my hand, and his eyes narrowed.

“Stay there.”