Runner's Moon Trilogy Megabook Series (18 page)

The big Harley gunned straight toward the Arra. The exact second it was between Jeb and Hannah, he grabbed her and launched them out of the way. The motorcycle slammed into the nearest pus-filled creature with the sound of something being sucked into a sea of mud. There were slurping noises as the bike's engines roared. The spinning tires bit into the Arra, dragging its inner organs into the undersides of the cycle, literally shredding the being into soft, foamy pieces.

Someone screamed. Mrs. Newburg.

Quickly Jeb pulled Hannah into the relative safety of the forest's edge as the commotion and confusion continued yards away. "Stay here," he hissed, pushing her down behind a prickly pyracantha bush.

"Jeb!"

"If I don't destroy the Arra now, they'll return with more of them. Trust me, Hannah." He gave her shoulder a squeeze, then ran back to the scene as Sheriff Klotsky popped three bullets into the second Arra advancing toward him.

Mrs. Newburg shrieked and ran to hide behind the patrol car. The wounded Arra directed its attention toward the man with the gun and lifted the neutralizer in Klotsky's direction.

"Duck!"

A split-second after Jeb's warning a bright blue ray of light hit the pavement where the sheriff had stood.

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"Use the car door as a shield!" Jeb called to the man. A few feet away the cyclist remained on the bike grinding the remains of the first Arra into a pasty white sludge. On the ground the adjac glittered in the moonlight. He swooped down to scoop it up.

There were two more pops as the sheriff fired at the remaining Arra who continued to move toward him. The neuro gun hummed, but the ray glanced harmlessly off the car door.

Without hesitation Jeb raced around to the back of the Arra and aimed himself directly at the creature. He felt his body hit the whitish boil, and he brought the adjac down into the monster with both hands. The point of the torture device sliced into the thin membrane of the Arra's skin. Upon contact the device turned black. Instantly the nauseating stench of boiling pus filled the air, and Jeb gagged. But he continued to drag the adjac through the thing with all the strength he could muster.

A spark of panic went incandescent in his brain. It was Hannah reacting to something. Jeb refused to let go of the adjac, applying more pressure to the insatiable device eating its way through the Arra. If he let go or removed the weapon before the creature was dead, there was a very real chance it would manage to get back to its ship and call for reinforcements.

The Arra had no central nervous system. To kill one, it had to be thoroughly disintegrated until it was nothing more than a wet spot on the ground.

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Vaguely he could hear his name being called out. A male voice. The sheriff.

"Jeb! Are you all right? Jeb!"

The Arra was slowly beginning to melt. It had been hurt when Klotsky had put five bullets in it. The adjac was burning away the rest of its life force. But the neuro gun was still a danger.

"Get the neutralizer!" he shouted, hoping the officer would hear him. "Take it away so it can't be used against us!"

The creature had ceased firing at the officer when Jeb attacked its back. Rolling steam was rising around them as the Arra boiled and bubbled under the force of the adjac. The smell of the monster cooking was worse than anything he had ever encountered. Jeb fought his rising gorge and pushed down harder, keeping the pressure constant. Already he could hear a shrill whine coming from within the creature. It was dying, and it knew it. But it wouldn't give up. Not yet. Not until it realized it no longer had a chance.

Through the whitish steam he saw Klotsky approach the front of the Arra. The man had his arm thrown over his nose and mouth, but tears poured down his face at the unbelievable stench. Hesitatingly he stretched out with his other hand until he could reach the little round disk. With a backward flick of his fingers, he knocked it out of the thing's grasp. The neuro gun skittered across the tarmac, coming to rest near the car.

The Arra was melting. Dying. Liquefying. Suddenly it popped, releasing a geyser of fluids and gas. Klotsky jumped backwards out of the way. Jeb let go of the adjac and leaped 242

to the side to keep from being coated with the Arra's scalding remains. The thin, wet sheet of tissue that was left slowly sank to the pavement where every so often a little bubble of air would form underneath the pieces of membrane.

Somewhere in the background he could hear Hannah calling out for him. Her fear remained bright and metallic, piercing his tongue with its harsh scent.

By now the motorcycle had finished its grisly business with the first Arra. The rider gunned the engine one last time before letting it splutter to a soggy-sounding halt. Below the Harley the creature resembled a wet, whitish pool of slime.

"Are there any more?" Klotsky called out.

Jeb's answer was interrupted by Mrs. Newburg pointing a finger toward him and shrieking, "Ohmigod!"

Getting off of the bike, the rider had dragged the pus-covered helmet off his head. Jeb turned around to see his brother in his human guise grinning at him. A moment later, Simolif dropped his skin to reveal his Ruinos self, prompting the woman's cry.

"Are there any more of those things?" the sheriff yelled again, and gave Mrs. Newburg a little shove to hush up her whimpering.

"If there were, they would have all been together," Simolif answered. Giving Jeb a little nod in their direction, he asked,

"Friends of yours?"

"Allies." Already his eyes were scanning the brush where he had left Hannah, but he could neither see nor feel her.

Bad. Very bad.

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And then he remembered her chilling fear. Jeb whipped around to where Carl had been cowering on the ground. The pavement was bare. Which meant the man had taken advantage of their fight with the Arra to run away. And he had taken Hannah with him. That was why Jeb had felt her terror and the reason she was no longer hiding behind the bushes where he'd left her.

"Where's Hannah?" Simolif growled, already sensing what his brother just discovered. He had shed the rest of his slime-coated clothing until he stood fully naked in his true form.

"That son of a bitch has her," Jeb replied. He didn't have to ask Simolif to help rescue her. It was a given. It was the reason his brother had come to Tumbril Harbor in the first place.

He glanced over to see the sheriff speaking into his mic.

"Carl has Hannah. We're going after him."

"What can we do to help?"

Pointing at the neuro gun and the adjac now pulsing on the ground, he instructed, "Don't touch those. When we get back, we'll dispose of them so they won't hurt anyone."

"A-are you sure there aren't any more of those ... things?"

Mrs. Newburg stammered.

Simolif nodded. "If there were just two of them, that means they're a scouting party." He gave Jeb a look that spoke volumes. "First Hannah. Then we'll go after the ship."

"Where would the ship be?" Klotsky asked. "Back in those woods?"

"Yeah. Shouldn't be too far. The Arra aren't known for roaming."

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"What does it look like?" The man was reloading his pistol.

He would help hunt for the ship.

"Trust me. You'll know it when you see it," Jeb stated flatly. He could still feel Hannah's panic, but now it was muted and less horrific. She wasn't being hurt, but she continued to be held against her will.

Knowing instinctively which way to go, Jeb sprinted toward the road with Simolif beside him.

* * * *

He couldn't get the engine to turn over. Hannah stared as Carl continued to pump the accelerator as he cursed the pickup, banging his undamaged hand against the steering wheel. She hadn't seen him come up behind her. While she watched Jeb tangle with the one Arra, the unknown motorcyclist continued to grind the other monstrosity underneath the bike's wheels. When he had grabbed her, she had fought him, struggling and screaming for Jeb as she raked her nails over the man's bare chest and face. But he was still bigger and stronger than she was despite his tangle with Jeb. Before she was aware of what he was doing, Carl had twisted her arms behind her back and wrapped her tightly with his belt. Even now she could feel her fingers tingling as her circulation was being cut off.

Throwing her over his shoulder again like she was nothing more than a sack of feed, he had hurried away from the motel parking lot. Hannah had screamed for Jeb again. She 245

tried to see the outcome of the fight, but she soon lost sight of it when Carl cut through the edge of the woods.

A minute or so later they emerged from the treeline to where Carl had parked the truck at a little roadside rest stop.

In the distance Hannah could make out the muted roar of the cycle and the pop of a gun being fired. There was a shriek, and she gritted her teeth in fury.

"Let me go, goddamn you!"

"No way, woman! I've been through hell to get you back, and I'm not about to leave this place without you."

He opened the passenger side door and dumped her into the seat. Hannah had to shut her eyes against the glare of the interior light. By the time Carl stomped over to the driver's side and opened it, she could open her eyes to glare at him.

God, he was a mess. His face and upper body were covered in bruises and bloody cuts and scratches. He stank of urine. It served him right. Hannah felt no pity for this man she had once thought she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. The once-handsome face no longer looked attractive.

Carl Jamison was as heartless a human being as they came.

Another thought went through Hannah's mind as she watched the man try to start the engine. She smiled at the comparison.

He was an Arra in human guise.

Silently she stared at the man sitting less than three feet away from her. Carl no longer frightened her. Yes, he still had the ability to hurt her. Beat her senseless and violate her. It didn't matter anymore. Somehow deep within herself she 246

knew Jeb would win against those oily white creatures. And when he was finished with them, he would come and finish up what Carl had started.

Simply and positively without any doubt.

Suddenly the motor coughed, then roared to life. Carl gunned it with a heavy foot on the accelerator. Twisting around to glance out the back window, he threw the gear into reverse and began to back up when the truck refused to budge.

"What the..."

Hannah craned her neck to peer out the back window. In the glare of the backup lights, she could see the enormous dark-skinned creature holding the vehicle at bay as it clutched the bumper. It grinned at her, and she could see the rows of gleaming spiked teeth. She grinned back.

Suddenly the truck lurched violently, tossing them in the cab, and the shearing sound of metal on metal raked over her nerves with an ear-splitting intensity. Carl screamed, his eyes riveted on what he saw taking place in the rearview mirror.

"He pulled the wheel off! The fucker pulled the goddamn wheel off the axle!"

They landed awkwardly at an angle as Jeb released the truck, and the vehicle settled lopsidedly on the bared spoke.

Before Hannah could grasp the mental image of Jeb tearing the wheel off the truck, he was at her side. A click of the handle told him the door was locked, and Hannah wasn't able to unlock it with her hands tied behind her back. She struggled briefly to show him she was helpless. He gave a shrug and jerked on the handle. The piece of metal popped 247

off in his hand. He stared at the handle, then tossed it away and motioned for her to move back.

She turned her back to the window as his fist plowed through the glass. Bits of safety glass sprinkled them like loose diamonds. Grabbing both sides of the inner frame, he pulled. The door protested for all of two seconds. With a loud grunt and snap, the truck door tore away from the cab, and the creature tossed it to the side as casually as if it had been a piece of paper.

Leaning toward the opening, she waited for him to pull her from the truck so she could bury her nose in the curve of his neck. He was breathing heavily but he was alive. They had both survived. Overcome with relief, she pressed a kiss to his throat.

"I knew you would come for me. I knew you would defeat the Arra." Cuddling closer, she could feel his arms tightening around her as a chuckle rumbled in his chest. Hannah nuzzled him where she could breathe in his seductive, piney scent.

Except he didn't smell piney.

In fact, he smelled...

...like mint.

Hannah jerked her head back with a little gasp. Her eyes sought the face of the creature who continued to cradle her against his broad chest as more laughter resonated above her head. In the truck's cab light she could tell the Ruinos male holding her had blue eyes. Blue eyes with little greenish flecks.

Not brown.

Not Jeb.

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Her eyes grew round as she realized who was holding her.

"You're Simon!"

"I liked it better when you thought differently." He smiled.

Okay, so he looked almost identical to Jeb, but his voice was definitely different as well.

Hannah tried to look over her shoulder to see if she could spot her mate. She found him standing on the other side of the truck next to the driver's side door as he replied, "Careful, brother. Is she okay?"

"I have her, Jebaral. Do what you must to the grackfen who insists on taking her away from you," Simolif said. He took several steps back, but kept Hannah turned so she could watch.

Imitating his brother's method, Jeb punched a fist through the window and twisted the door off the frame. He started to reach in for Carl when the man threw his hands above his head and gave up.

"All right! I'm done! I'm done, you shit-faced bastard!"

Sliding out of the seat, Carl kept his hands up. Jeb gave him a sad shake of his head. "Pity. I was really looking forward to tearing you apart at the waist." To add a bit more fear to his threat, he bared his teeth and hissed. The man trembled.

Hannah watched in dismay as Simolif lowered her to her feet and began to undo the belt that tied her wrists together.

"You're not gonna let him go again, are you? I mean, what if he comes back again? How are you gonna stop him if he comes back while you're at work, or away?"

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"Obviously a restraining order means nothing to you, does it?" Jeb growled softly.

Carl took a step backwards. The man was cowed but still showed defiance. He just would not give up. Not completely.

Simolif spoke up. "She has a point. What's to stop him from leaving and telling everybody he meets about us? He's a danger we don't need."

"Should I go ahead and kill him, Sheriff?" Jeb turned around to address the man and woman emerging from the trees.

Feeling her arms free from the bindings, Hannah rubbed her wrists to help with the circulation and walked over to join her mate. Simolif followed.

Klotsky stopped to look at the young man giving him a challenging stare. "I found the ship those things came in."

Giving a wave toward the forest, he told them, "About a hundred feet in that direction. Not far. You were right. It wasn't hard to find." His eyes slid back to Carl. "As for this pup, I think there's about another six or seven laws he's broken since Judge Mays released him. Mmm, mmm, mmm.

She sure isn't gonna be happy to see your boyish good looks back behind bars."

"How long did she say she'd be on vacation?" Mrs.

Newburg inquired with a mischievous grin.

"Oh, at least two weeks." Klotsky crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm sure by that time, there'll be a good dozen or so cases ahead of yours, son. So add another two to three weeks waiting for your arraignment. On top of that, you'll have to tack on the time you'll serve as a guest of Russup 250

County. If you're lucky, son, you might get out by your fortieth birthday." He bent over to bring his point home. "Or

... then again ... maybe not. Not if you keep up that ass-chewing attitude."

Straightening, Klotsky glanced over to the two greenish aliens and the steel-hard blonde standing possessively between them. "What are you gonna do about that ship?"

"I'll go get the weapons and meet you there," Simolif told his brother and vanished into the thicket.

"We're going to destroy the ship and hope it'll be a long, long time before the Arra send another scout to hunt for us."

Laying a hand on Hannah's shoulder, he said, "It's over, t'korra. Go back to the cabin, and I'll be there as soon as I can."

"No." Hannah shook her head as she clutched his arm.

"I'm going with you. We faced this together. Now I want to end this together."

"I wouldn't mind watching as well," Klotsky admitted.

"What about the boy?" Mrs. Newburg asked.

The sheriff answered her by removing his handcuffs from the pouch on his belt and snapping them on Carl's wrists—

after threading them through the broken window on one of the separated doors. "If he tries to run, he's gonna have a helluva time dragging that door with him." He smiled.

"Come on. It's time the final credits rolled on this movie."

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