Mayan Afterglow (5 page)

“Aileen, you don’t have to…”

She licked him from base to the broad head along the vein
and then she smiled up at him. “This is pleasure, Ian. I want to share it with
you.”

Her mouth closed around him and his head rolled back. Eyes
closed, he groaned with the ecstasy of her sweet mouth. Her hands caressed him
and her lips brought him so near to the edge that he pulled away and quickly
buried himself inside her.

She cried out and met each thrust with one of her own. His
climax was building and he was helpless to control it. Reaching between them he
pressed his thumb against her clit and rubbed that sensitive bud. When he felt
her tighten around him he thrust one last time, filling her.

He rose on his elbows. She was smiling like a cat that had
just finished a big bowl of cream. He smiled, too.

“Hungry?” he asked.

“Famished.”

Slowly he slid out of her. She moaned and closed her eyes.
Kissing her nose, he got up and buttoned his jeans. “I’m afraid it’s stew
again. This place must not have had a cook on the staff. The pantry is stocked
full of canned beef stew.”

She laughed. “It’s better than starving.”

Nodding he made his way toward the kitchen.

Chapter Six

Ian was already outside when Aileen made her way through the
snow to where he was standing.

He had disconnected the bike trailer and now shook his head
inspecting the destruction the werewolves caused.

“Sorry about your bike,” she said.

He shrugged still looking at the gash across the fuel tank
and the twisted rear wheel.

“Did the Ford start?” she asked.

“No. I’m going to swap the batteries and see if it will turn
over. Then we’ll see what other issues we need to deal with.”

He went back to their truck and said, “I have something for
you.”

“Oh?” She watched him rummage through the supplies in the
extra large cab. She had expected a gun or knife to add to her already heavy
pack.

When he returned he dropped a dark blue velvet pouch into
her hand. “What is this? You don’t need to give me anything.”

“Open it. It’s not really a gift. It’s yours.”

Most gifts were given with joy but it was not joy she saw in
Ian’s face. His eyes were downcast and his skin red. He looked ashamed.

She loosened a delicate gold cord that secured the pouch and
plucked gently on the top of the bag. She looked down at the treasures inside.
“Oh God,” she cried dropping to her knees.

He was beside her in an instant. “I didn’t know you, Aileen.
Please try to understand. It’s what I do. It’s how I’ve survived.”

She drew a string of pearls out of the pouch. Her mind
flooded with memories of her mother dressing for an evening and her father
clipping the pearls around her slim neck. He would always kiss her shoulder
after performing the ritual. Aileen closed her eyes against her tears.

Diamond earrings, a ruby brooch and several other treasures
brought back similar memories.

Finally she turned toward him. She touched his cheek. “They
were my mother’s. Thank you, Ian.”

His eyes opened with surprise. “You’re thanking me for
stealing your mother’s jewelry?”

“If you hadn’t it would be lost to me.” She beamed as tears
continued to roll down her face.

“Women are very strange,” he said helping her to her feet.

Drying her eyes on her sleeve, she agreed before tucking her
treasures away.

* * * * *

The melting snow presented a new problem. Even with the Ford
running, the weight of the dense snow made it harder to plow. Every hundred
feet or so Ian had to push it to the side of the road and then reverse the
truck and start again. It was late afternoon by the time they made their way
back to the gas station in town.

Like the lodge, everything was decorated for a Christmas
that never came. She thought about the people of the little hamlet. Had they
felt pain at the end or was it just over in an instant and they felt nothing?
Had they gone to Heaven or Hell? Were they at peace somewhere, or like her and
Ian, struggling to find a life after the end? She suspected it was the latter.
“As above, so below,” she muttered.

“What?” Ian asked, stopping the truck about fifty feet past
the pumps.

“Nothing. It’s just one of those crazy prophesies we heard
before December.”

He scowled and the frown lines around his mouth deepened.
“Most of those turned out to be true,” he said.

She was nodding when she repeated, “As above, so below.”

He lifted one brow. “What does it mean?”

“I’m not sure,” she said. “Either that the heavens and earth
will reflect each other or Earth and Hell will be the same. A lot of people
speculated on that before December.”

“What do you think?” he asked, his eyes not leaving hers.

“I think it will depend on what happens in Mexico. After the
final battle, the answer will come from the result.” She opened the truck’s
door and hopped out into the snow.

She heard his door slam and followed Ian to a small rise in
the concrete. He kicked at the snow making a hole with his foot.

Something caught her eye. She saw movement at the back of
the building.

“Ian?”

“I saw it.” He moved slowly back to the truck and took the
rifle out of the backseat. “Get in the truck, Aileen.”

He ran toward the side of the building. She watched him
disappear behind the white service station. She had tucked a pistol into her
jacket pocket when they loaded the truck. Wrapping her hand around the cold
metal she followed Ian’s footprints behind the building. As she rounded the
corner she slid the long knife from her boot.

Something jumped down from the roof. It was a blur of
movement just before it landed on top of her. The gun fired wildly. Her
assailant screamed and rolled away.

Ian was running toward them.

The attacker examined a small hole in the arm of his
enormous down jacket.

“You could have killed me,” the man yelled.

Aileen took a good look at him. He couldn’t have been more
than twenty-two. He was wearing a lot of clothes but she could tell he was
thin. No stench of rotting flesh assailed her nostrils. She put up a hand to
stop Ian from firing the rifle.

His brown hair barely poked out from at least three layers
of head coverings. He had the scraggly beard of a boy who had no business
growing facial hair yet.

His eyes were round and his mouth hung open when he looked
up at her.

“What’s your name?” she asked as Ian joined her.

“A half inch to the right and I could have been killed,” he
ranted.

She smiled.

“It’s not funny.”

“You did jump me from the roof.”

He surveyed the roof as if just remembering his own actions.
His face grew red and he grinned shyly. “Yeah, well, that one was chasing me,
and I thought to put one of you out of commission long enough to get some
fuel.”

“Do you have a name?” she asked again.

“Asher Dove.”

Pleased, she said, “That’s a fine name.”

Asher’s wide eyes drew together. “Who are you?”

“I am Aileen and this is Ian.”

Ian frowned. “What are you doing here?”

Asher looked from one to the other and then at the guns each
was holding. “I just need enough fuel to get my plane in the air and then I’ll
be on my way. You’ll never hear of Asher Dove again.”

“Why did you attack me?” Aileen asked.

Glancing from left to right he said in a near whisper, “There
are things out here that aren’t human. Those big dogs nearly ripped my leg off.
I’m just trying to get out of the snow.” He paused. “You have a plow. You could
clear the runway for me.”

Ian took a step forward. Asher stepped back.

“What do you have to trade?” Ian asked.

The boy thought for a moment. “I have food, water, clothes
and a few meds.”

Ian shook his head. “Never tell the whole of it, Kid. Always
save something to bargain with later.”

Asher scowled. “Maybe I am,” he said.

“No. You gave it all away. I can read you like a book.” He
turned back to look at her. She nodded. “Tell you what, Kid. If that plane of
yours can hold three and some gear I’ll plow the runway and you can keep your
goods.”

“Where do you want to go?”

“Mexico.”

The boy was shaking his head. “It’s a small plane. I don’t
know if it will make it that far.”

“As far south as you can take us then,” Aileen said.

The boy studied her face and the corners of his mouth tipped
up slightly. He looked at Ian and scowled. Turning away for a moment he shook
his head. Everything Asher Dove thought could be read directly in his
expression. He was not dangerous, that much was obvious. He was scared. There
was no telling how long this boy had been alone.

Finally he said, “I’ll fly you out of the snow. I don’t
promise no more than that.”

Ian held out his hand. “Good.”

Asher took the hand and they shook. “The air strip is about
a mile to the east.”

Ian nodded and started back toward the truck with their new
companion beside him. Aileen followed behind.

“Is the woman…”

He never got to finish the sentence. Ian turned so fast that
the boy lost his footing and landed in the snow staring up at the larger man.

“Okay, I get it. She’s yours. I was just asking,” he said
holding both hands up in front of him for defense.

Aileen laughed and got in the truck. She glanced at Ian, but
he was not amused as he and their new companion filled gas cans and the truck
with fuel. When they were done, Asher climbed into the backseat of the club cab
and whistled.

“Look at all this stuff. I don’t think it will all fit in
the plane. It’s only got four seats.”

“We’ll pare down,” Ian said shutting the door against the
cold wind. “You can fly the thing, right?”

“Have a little faith. I wouldn’t have said I could
otherwise. I can fly it. Flew it here from Michigan but I needed fuel. Then the
snow came and I’ve been stuck in this town for almost a week.” His voice was
petulant.

He’s just a kid
. “How old are you, Asher?”

“Twenty. No, twenty-one. Had a birthday in August. Nearly
forgot.”

“You look a little older,” she said softly.

He made a scoffing sound. “Yeah, well, it’s been a rough
year.”

Asher tapped Ian’s shoulder and pointed east. “Follow this
road. It runs into the air strip.”

It was slow moving through the heavy, wet snow.

“Have you seen many people?” Aileen asked.

The boy leaned forward between the two front seats like a
child on a long vacation trip. “I saw some. Mostly crazies but some not.”

“Why didn’t you stay with any of the not crazy ones?” Ian
asked backing away from a mound of snow he’d pushed to the side of the road.

“They moved south a long time ago. I had to wait.”

“Wait?” Aileen asked. “What were you waiting for?”

“I don’t know. It seems stupid now. I could have missed all
this snow, but I waited and then I got stuck.”

Ian glanced over at Aileen. Their eyes locked for an
instant.

Had he waited for them? Was this all some master plan? Who
was pulling the strings in this crazy orchestration? Could they be worse than
Mictlan? All these things shot through her head and she glanced at Ian. The
same questions were mirrored in Ian’s eyes.

Asher had removed his head-coverings in the heat of the
truck revealing a mass of poker-straight brown hair. Giddy with excitement as
they arrived at the airstrip, he bounced up and down. His hair flapping like
wings, he seemed no more than eight years old.

“There. It’s over there,” he called.

Ian followed the pointing finger thrust between the two
front seats. He whistled in appreciation. “That’s a nice little plane you’ve
got there, Kid.”

“Yeah,” he said dreamily. “I used to borrow an old Cessna
Skylane from a guy I knew. After everyone was gone, I figured, why not upgrade
to a Corvalis?” he said the last word like a prayer.

Aileen smiled. It was not what she’d expected. Somehow
looking at Asher, she’d thought the plane would be run-down and beat-up.
However, this craft was pristine. He’d even cleared the snow off the white
fuselage. The details were painted red and the signature Cessna swoosh flowed
across in bright yellow as were the large digits N4OCA painted near the tail.
“Can you put regular gas in that?”

He shrugged. “Shouldn’t but there’s no hundred octane here.
The tank exploded before I arrived,” he said pointing to a demolished building
off to the left.

“Will it fly with automobile fuel?” she asked.

“Not as well. Doesn’t burn as hot,” he said as if it didn’t
matter.

Ian was frowning. “How far does it go on a tank?”

“’Bout twelve hundred miles.” His youthful excitement was
contagious.

Even Ian was amused. “By the time we reach Tennessee we
should be out of the snow. At least I hope so. We can try to find a small
airport and drain the bad fuel. How much runway do you need?”

The boy looked down the snow covered stretch of blacktop and
frowned. “At least a couple of thousand feet. I guess it can be done in less
but I don’t want to risk going nose first into a bank of snow with a full tank
of gas.”

Ian cringed. “Nice thought,” he said sarcastically.

* * * * *

Hours later, Aileen watched the pickup in the distance and
thought of the man behind the wheel. He was harsh and worn but also tender and
loving. How can all those contradictions exist in one man?
A thief,
she
thought and chuckled to herself.

Her eyes caught sight of something in the distance. The gray
and red clouds masked the movement but she could still see something coming.

“What is that?” Asher asked from behind her.

It was moving toward the truck. It flew roughly up and down
but getting lower all the time. The wings were strangely shaped and uneven. “Oh
God, crows,” she screamed. “Ian.” He was too far away to hear her calling out.

Half of the flock dived at the truck but the rest headed
straight for her. She turned away from them. “Asher, run!”

She ran toward a steel building but the snow and ice were
thick and she slipped, falling face first like a ragdoll. Then Asher’s weight
was on top of her. The crows screamed and dropped toward them. She could just
make out pieces of feathers falling around her.
They will kill the boy,
she thought.

An engine approached and guns fired and then it was quiet.

Asher moved off her.

“Aileen.”

She could hear Ian’s voice over the truck engine and the
cries of the ascending crows. His feet pounded across the snow. Rolling to one
side she could feel all the places she was freshly bruised.

Ian slid down into the snow next to her.

“I’m fine. Check Asher.”

He looked into her eyes as if searching for the truth of her
statement. Satisfied, he turned to the boy.

He took him by the shoulders. “Are you hurt?”

Dazed, Asher shook his head and tried to focus on Ian. “I don’t
know. I don’t think so,” he said grabbing awkwardly around to the back of his
enormous coat to see the damage.