The Forbidden Trilogy(170)

Susie stood by my door when I looked up. "Darren said you needed help?"

I filled her in on what I'd seen, and she nodded and took the baby monitor. "I'll take care of her, and I'll let Father Patrick and Bernard know what's going on. You two get going and keep us informed. I have my cell phone on."

She hugged me and her calm filled me even as the panic fought to hold on. "If anything happened to him, I'll never forgive myself."

She stroked my face in much the same way I had just done to Ana. "Whatever happens, it's not your fault, and you're not alone in this."

Darren arrived, and I squeezed Susie's hand, then followed Darren out of the mansion and into the night.





Chapter 80 – Lucy



More walking through the jungle. How fun.

At least now Lucy had something more interesting than bug bites and Luke's mopey attitude to distract her. Hunter walked a few feet ahead of the group, his long muscular legs never tiring. Hers felt like gelatin molds, but from all the walking or from the sexy agent, she couldn't tell.

Agent Simmons joined Lucy as they walked. "Well, how'd it go with Hunter last night?"

Are we seriously having girl talk? "It went okay. It was short. We had to get some rest for today. He seemed... nice." Nice. Such a lame word.

She didn't really know if he was nice—only that he was nice looking. She refused to be one of those girls who fell for a pretty face that just white-washed a total jack-ass underneath. She could ogle, but she would not fall until she knew he deserved her.

The bright sun beat down on them, and Lucy once again thanked her genetic pool that she hadn't been born as pale as Sam. She'd be a lobster by now.

Simmons nodded with understanding then called out to Hunter. "Agent Riley, scout ahead with Lucy. Make sure we don't run into anything unexpected."

Hunter nodded, and Lucy smiled and mouthed 'thank you' to Simmons before taking her place by Hunter. It seemed so long ago that Lucy sat with her coconut and gun and considered whether she was capable of shooting Simmons. Beleth had been wrong. That wasn't the only way to save the kids, and Simmons didn't deserve to die.

Lucy walked with Hunter and tried to match his long footsteps, but her shorter legs couldn't keep up without going into splits.

He noticed her dilemma and slowed down slightly, allowing her to catch up. "Sorry. I walk too fast for most."

She didn't want him to cater to her; she could walk just as fast as he could. To prove it, she picked up the pace and moved faster to make up for the difference.

He laughed, but in a friendly way, and shifted his pack to sit more centered on his back. What looked like the hilt of a sword stuck out of the unzipped corner.

"Do you have a sword in your backpack?" Because that's what all the girls used for pick-up lines these days. At least the sword wasn't in his pants. That would have been a much more awkward conversation for sure!

He grinned. "Yes, I do. They can be useful in certain situations."

Lucy's heart skipped a beat at his charming grin. Then another image broke through, one that made her heart race for all the wrong reasons: Beleth's hand turning into a sword, slicing the hand off Agent Morrison. Lucy was all too familiar with the advantages of a sword, especially if it grew from your body.

Hunter stopped. "You okay? You look pale. Don't like swords?"

"Not that. Just, how Agent Morrison's hand...."

"Right, sorry. I forgot. I know that sounds horrible but...."

"Not at all. It's not burned into your memory the same way as mine. But no, actually I love swords. I'm trained in them myself. I had a really cool one, back at my old dorm. Not sure what happened to it after we left." She assumed they would get a chance to recover some of their belongings after escaping Rent-A-Kid, but IPI had confiscated everything for an unspecified period of time.

"Would you like to hold my sword?" He asked the question with a gleam in his eyes.

Lucy burst out laughing. At least she didn't giggle again. "You did not just say that. But, um, yeah, I'd like to hold your sword, Agent Riley."

Hunter grinned and unzipped his backpack, pulling out something surprisingly small. He held it out to her, and noticed the disappointed look on her face. "Expecting something bigger?"

She smirked at his continued play on words. She had a lifetime of training in verbal and physical sparring; he was no match for her. "They say size doesn't matter, but I disagree."

Hunter, who apparently hadn't expected her response, choked on his own comeback and unsheathed the sword, then placed it in her hand. "You have to stroke it a certain way to make it bigger."

Oh my God. She wrapped her hands around the black hilt and admired the gleam of silver that reflected the sun. Strange hieroglyphics or symbols of some kind were carved into the blade. She'd never seen any metal like this. It looked incredibly sharp, and the tip wasn't diamond-shaped like many swords. It was more like a katana, but with a straight edge instead of curved. And it was surprisingly light.