Runner's Moon Trilogy Megabook Series (17 page)

Carl kept his cast-enclosed hand against his chest. The son of a bitch hurt like hell after Hannah kicked it and smashed it up against the foot of the bed. The bitch would pay for that.

Rounding the side of the cabin, he paused long enough for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. There, right ahead, he could see where there was a small irregular opening in the bushes. Plain as day, even for an inexperienced hunter like himself. Trying to keep as quiet as possible, he plunged into the thicket to follow after her.

He couldn't believe his good fortune. Because the judge had been in a hurry to get her docket cleared as much as possible before she headed off on vacation, she had given him a stern warning, threw a fifty dollar fine in his face, then let him go with his promise to leave Tumbril Harbor within the hour and never return. As they processed him, some woman from the courthouse had dropped off a copy of the restraining order Hannah had signed. After a quick ride to the impound lot to claim his truck, good old Deputy Fife had escorted him to the outskirts of town.

Fuming, Carl had driven over to the little gas station and fried chicken joint at Five Corners, and waited there until he felt it was safe enough to venture back into town. Fuck 'em.

Order or no order, Hannah belonged to him, and he was damned if he would go all the way back to Laughlin without her.

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Imagine his shock when he had driven back to the motel where Hannah had holed up and seen a blue pickup parked in front of the little cabin at the farthest end of the lot. Right up next to the woods. Absolutely perfect. Less chance of someone seeing them unless they drove around to the back like he'd done.

The only thing he had to avoid was coming across that boyfriend of hers, so he had parked his truck out of sight, then hidden himself behind some brush and waited. Waited for Mr. Dildo to leave, or for a sign he had already vacated the premises. At one point Hannah had emerged carrying an empty laundry basket. She'd gone over to the motel office, then come back a minute later with the basket full. He had ground his teeth together when he'd seen the jeans in the basket. Jeans he knew weren't Hannah's. She was doing the fucker's laundry, for crissakes!

When it had started to get dark, Carl knew he couldn't stay put much longer. If the guy wasn't going to leave, then maybe he could talk his way inside. Sweet-talk Hannah into letting him in.

Yeah. That would work. She had never been able to resist him when he spun sugar out of his mouth. Sweet-talk his way into the cabin and try to sound contrite.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. There was the big chance Mr. Dildo was inside with her. And an even bigger chance he wouldn't let Carl get one foot in the door. But it was a risk he had to take.

At least he knew if he couldn't get his hands on Hannah this time, there would be other times when he could try.

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For a second he debated on whether to wait until tomorrow morning after the guy left for work, or to go ahead and try now. It was a big risk to try again so soon after that fiasco this afternoon, but Carl figured, What the hell? They would never expect him to strike now. They would never anticipate him staying in town after Hannah had gone through all the trouble to have a restraining order placed on him. Hell, the guy had even parked his truck right in front of their place!

No. Right now was perfect. Just after dark. They'd probably had a good supper and were relaxing in front of the TV with their shoes off and their belts undone so their meal could settle. Now was the right time to see if he couldn't catch them off-guard. And hopefully mellow enough to let him in to have his say. The anticipation was sweet enough to make him clench the muscles in his neck when he grinned.

Imagine his shock when he'd knocked on the door and Hannah had said, "Jeb? Are you trying to be funny?"

The fucker wasn't there.

And then the little bitch had opened the door.

The bushes and limbs tugged on his clothes. By keeping his wounded hand and arm in front of his face, he finally found a good use for the cast. It kept the brambles and all from scratching him.

Up ahead he could hear all kinds of swishing and crackling sounds. Hannah was leading him right to her with all the noise she made, plowing through the growth like a runaway bulldozer. She also made it a lot easier for him to track her because she cleared the way for him to follow. It was slow 225

going for her, but it would take him half the time to reach her. And once he did, she would have hell to pay.

She left a trail a ninety-year-old blind man could follow.

Carl stepped through the broken twigs, his dark grin still pasted on his face. He had thought long and hard about what he would do to her once he had her back in his possession.

He had to make her pay for running off like she did. She had to learn that once a man laid claim to her, she was his to do with as he pleased, no matter what the fucking courts said.

And no other man better try to say differently.

He'd rented a movie once where this guy had tied up his girlfriend and dominated her with a whip while he alternated between screwing her and making her please him. Hannah hadn't wanted to watch it, but he'd gotten quite a kick from it. And later, when he had tied her up and wanted do some of the same stuff to see if it was as exciting as it appeared in the movie, she had cried and tried to fight him. Of course he'd ended up winning that argument. He always won arguments.

But thinking back on the fact Hannah had hated him keeping her a virtual prisoner in their bed for those few days gave Carl an idea. If she detested it that much, he wondered how she would feel after a week or so.

Damn. His mouth watered just thinking about her all tied up and naked to where he could do anything he wanted.

Better yet, belt marks usually faded after three or four days, even on her pearly white skin.

The thrashing sound up ahead was growing louder. Every so often it was punctuated with a soft sob.

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Suddenly it stopped. Carl halted abruptly and strained his ears to listen. Hannah couldn't be that much farther ahead.

Ten, maybe a dozen yards, if that much. Moving slowly he began to inch his way through the brush.

She had collapsed in a tiny open area. Her head was bent over, her back to him, as she fought her fear and exhaustion.

Her breathing was loud and ragged, and every so often he could hear her whimpering, calling for Jeb.

Fierce, black anger crawled through him and reflected in his eyes. With a growl Carl pushed through the thin wall of leaves separating them. Hannah glanced up to see him lunging toward her. She screamed and pedaled backwards on her hands and feet.

His free hand managed to clutch the front of her blouse.

Without thinking, he swung his cast-covered hand around. It clipped her right above the eye. Hannah jerked back soundlessly, exposing her chin and throat. Carl brought the fiberglass cast down again, and this time it solidly connected with her jaw and ear. Her struggling ceased almost immediately. She was dazed but not unconscious.

Lifting her up onto his good shoulder, Carl began to carry her back to the motel. He could feel her fists beating futilely against his back, but she couldn't hurt him. Up ahead through the trees he could make out the row of cabins, and just beyond them the neon sign of the Harvest Moon Lodge.

Stupid bitch couldn't even run in a straight line. She had taken a semi-circular route away from the cabins, but inevitably she would have emerged from the woods near the highway leading in and out of town.

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"Carl ... please don't." Her plea was barely audible.

"Shut up."

"Carl—"

"I said shut up!" he barked, adding a sharp slap to her rear. She jerked and squealed at the impact. He felt her struggle, but he had a good grip on her. She wasn't getting away from him. Not this time. Not anymore.

To be on the safe side he continued in the same direction Hannah had been taking, circumventing the motel just in case that boyfriend of hers decided to return before they could reach the truck. This time he had the work of clearing the way for the both of them, but the cast came in handy again, blocking most of the thorns and brambles. Over his shoulder he could hear Hannah sobbing.

"Jeb."

The sound of her crying out her boyfriend's name was the last straw. Carl landed another heavy-handed slap to her bottom in anger, hard enough to bruise. "Zip your fucking mouth, Hannah. Say that prick's name again, and I swear to God I'll—"

"Jeb! Jeb!" Her struggling suddenly became more intense.

Hannah began to fight him with every ounce of strength she had left, using her fingernails to claw at his back. Digging into the skin through his thin cotton t-shirt.

They were feet away from the motel's gravel parking lot. If he didn't shut her up, she would rouse the whole damn town.

Grunting with anger, Carl pushed past the tangle of blackberry bushes. As soon as he was clear, he threw Hannah onto the pitted tarmac. She landed heavily on her side with a 228

little cry and tried to crawl away from him. The distant glare from the neon sign glistened wetly on the side of her face.

Carl stared at her incredulously. This was becoming ridiculous. The woman just didn't know when to give up!

What do I have to do? Tie her up now?

"Oh, Hannah, Hannah, Hannah," he crooned. "You know that every time you fight me it's just gonna be that much harder on you." There was a length of good rope in the bed of his truck, but there was no way he would take the chance of getting it and expect her to still be here when he returned.

Sighing loudly, Carl undid his thick leather belt and slid it free from the loops on his jeans. He took two steps toward her when she realized he was coming after her. Her head snapped up. The expression on her blood-drained face was dead. She would fight him until there was nothing left of her.

Until there was nothing left of her for him to have.

Smiling at the challenge, Carl hefted the belt with its huge embossed buckle advertising his favorite beer. He took another step toward her when Hannah's eyes widened almost explosively and she screamed.

Screamed a name.

"Jeb!"

At the same moment the sound of a deep growl sounded behind him from the depths of the forest. It was a dark sound. A menacing snarl filled with hate so intense it vibrated in the air around them. And it sounded like nothing he had ever heard before in his life.

Carl whirled around, holding onto the belt. As the creature emerged from the wood, its dark-colored skin reflected black 229

in the pale light. It was an immense monster with two rows of teeth that looked as if they had been filed into points. It smiled at him, and then it growled again.

"Go away, Carl. Go away and never come back."

Sweet Jesus! It sounded human!

Carl knew he had never been the kind of man who thought things through before he acted. He didn't this time, either.

Giving a yell of rage and frustration, he twirled the weighted belt above his head like a weapon and started running toward the monster waiting at the edge of the forest.

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Jeb stared at the man coming at him twirling his belt over his head. Calmly he stood his ground until Carl was upon him.

As the heavy metal buckle arced downward, he ducked and nimbly took a step sideways. The buckle sliced air, and Carl went yelling past him.

Quickly he ventured a glance over to where Hannah lay on the tarmac. There was blood running from her scalp above her ear down to her neck. The sight and smell of her pain and worry was enough to make his blood boil with outrage.

How dare the man come back after he had been served and think he could still take her away! Uttering a loud growl, Jeb waited until the man charged him a second time. When Carl was within reach, he grabbed the front of the man's shirt and tugged, literally ripping it from his body.

Carl screamed shrilly, dropping the belt as he threw his arms up in front of his face for protection. Jeb lifted him until the man's nose was even with his, and hissed, "Go back to Laughlin and live. Come back here and touch Hannah again, and I will rip your extremities from your body, starting with your dick. Are you listening to me?"

The man's head bobbled up and down like a doll's. The fetid stench of urine filled the air as Carl's bladder emphasized his fear. Wrinkling his nose in disgust, Jeb tossed him away and turned back to Hannah who was struggling to get to her feet.

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He had no idea how far away he had been when the first sharp knives of her terror sliced through his body. He didn't need to hear her screams or smell the acrid, burnt scent of her fright to know something was terribly, terribly wrong.

He had been running for miles, cleansing his mind of everything but Hannah. As the fragrant woods flowed past him, his heart had sung her name, and for the first time, he had allowed himself to dream of what their future might hold.

Of the possibility of children, and that thought alone had brought a joy he could barely contain racing through his whole being.

With each passing hour and every passing day she was becoming more and more like a Ruinos female in manner and ability. The scarring on her psyche was fading under the balm of his devotion and patience. She was growing more in tune with him, and he with her. The truest bonding. The years would only see their melding blossom further and flourish.

Already she could sense things within him without him having to say them aloud.

When her panic slammed into him, he could feel its metallic bitterness eat at his gut. As his feet pounded over the earth, Jeb tried to read the flurry of conflicting waves flooding his mind. Yet above them all was the pain. It was Carl doing things to her. Carl had returned, despite the restraining order, and he was seeking revenge upon Hannah.

If Jeb managed not to kill him, that in itself would be a miracle.

Dropping to one knee, he reached out and grabbed her arms to help her to her feet. She was wobbly and out of 232

breath, but an overriding scent of anger still hung in the air.

To his amazement her face was dry. She hadn't cried. Not yet, anyway. The time for tears would come later, when they could console each other with their bodies and gentle words.

For the moment they spoke to each other in silence. Their eyes met, and Hannah reached up to caress his cheek. Her smile of relief mirrored his own.

The sound of a siren pierced the air a split-second before the familiar red and blue flashing lights bounced off their bodies. Carl's attempted kidnapping had been heard by others. Someone had called the authorities. Already they could see someone running toward them with the patrol car right behind.

"Go, Jeb. Hurry," Hannah whispered. He nodded.

"I won't be gone long. I promise." He had no choice but to leave her. If he morphed into his human form, he would still be as naked as he was when he turned Ruinos. On this planet, the sight of bare flesh in public was taboo. He would only be away from her long enough to find a pair of pants. A glance over where Carl remained dazed and unmoving gave him small comfort, but the sheriff would be here in a few seconds to take Carl away. Maybe this time for good.

"Jeb! Go!"

He chanced an extra second to brush her hair away from the streak of blood down the side of her face.

"I'll be all right," Hannah insisted, giving him a little shove.

The lights were close enough to reflect off of his forest green hide.

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Jeb gave her a nod and got to his feet. He turned to vanish back into the forest when Hannah's blood-curdling scream tried to warn him. He barely managed to dodge the first blast from the nerve gun, but the second one caught him in the hip. Jeb's body went into full rigor as molten fire scorched every cell in his body, and he fell heavily onto his side on the roadway.

He was alive but unable to move, and it was as if time had ceased to exist. He heard Hannah scream his name. He couldn't look at her; his eyes were fixed straight ahead. No sound could pass his lips although he was still able to drag air into his lungs. A coldness he never knew he could feel clamped down over him as the two formless shapes of the Arra emerged from the edge of the treeline.

"Go away! Go away and leave him be!"

The sound of Hannah's voice pleading with the continually changing creatures would have been ironic if circumstances had been different. He wanted to tell her there was no pleading with the Arra. No pleading. No begging. No hope.

The Arra remained standing side by side, close to where Jeb lay paralyzed and unable to speak. One of them held the little neuro gun in its ever-flowing arm. The other held a short rod with a pointed tip. At the sight of the second weapon, Jeb felt his mind go blank with fear.

Behind him came the sound of footsteps and a car screeching to a stop, the tires crunching on the gravel, then the slam of a car door.

"Hannah!" It was Mrs. Newburg. Jeb could just make out the woman running over to grab Hannah and pull her away 234

from the scene. From the green monstrosity lying at her feet, and the two pus appearing forms hovering nearby.

"Hannah! Come here. Come with me, girl. Oh, dear God, what are those things?"

"Step back, Wendy. I don't know what's going on, but I want you to take Hannah back to the office with you and call emergency. Have them send me some backup. Now go!"

Sheriff Klotsky ordered.

Jeb gave a soft sigh of relief. They would take care of his Hannah. If the Arra had wanted her, they would have made their move by now. No, they had come for him, and at any moment they would take him with them. They didn't know he had bonded with the woman. How could they know? What had occurred between him and Hannah was unheard of.

Because of their bonding, when the Arra took him away, he would die without her.

But Hannah would be safe. And maybe, just maybe, she would manage to survive. She was not Ruinos. Perhaps that difference would be enough to save her life.

"No!" Hannah backed away from them, fighting Mrs.

Newburg's insistent urging to leave. To Jeb's amazement and terror, she draped herself over him as if she could further protect him with her body.

She pointed toward Carl. "That son of a bitch tried to kidnap me. Look at me. He tore out my hair, and he struck me with that cast on his hand. I want him arrested. I want you to take him away and let him rot in jail."

"Hannah, listen." Klotsky had his gun out, aiming it at Jeb.

He gave her a little "come here" gesture with his free hand.

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"Come with me. Move slowly. We'll help you get away from that thing."

"That thing is the man I love," she spat at them. "It's Jeb.

Can't you tell? Look at him! Look into his eyes." She pointed a finger at the two whitish forms nearby. "If you're going to shoot, shoot them! They're here to take Jeb away. Oh my God, people. Listen to me!"

The Arra loved drama. Whenever there was a fight among the species they collected, they would stand patiently nearby and let every bloody scene unfold, never interfering, until it had played itself out. That was why they enjoyed trying to mate the Ruinos with species from other worlds. Too many times the results were too horrendous for words. But then, the Arra thrived on suffering.

A tingling ran up his spine. The nerve neutralizer was starting to wear off. Jeb knew he had to be careful. If he made his move too quickly, the Arra would shoot him again, and maybe take out Hannah at the same time. There was no telling how brutal the effects of the neutralizer would be on her weaker system. Species had been known to die because the gun had shut down their ability to breathe.

Above everything else, he had to keep her out of path of the adjac the other Arra held. If the tip of that weapon touched her delicate skin, it wouldn't stop until it had melted a hole all the way through her body. The pain alone would kill her.

Hannah continued to try and protect him as she argued with the sheriff and Mrs. Newburg.

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"He's from another world. Those things over there, they're Arra. They capture races from other worlds and sell them for slave labor. Or they eat them! Jeb's people ... they're almost all gone now. There's so few of them left. They escaped those bastards and found their way here to Earth. They went into hiding."

"You're delirious, Hannah," Mrs. Newburg's voice soothingly told her. "Come with me. Let me take you over to the office, and I'll fix us some tea. It'll calm your nerves."

"I don't want any tea. I'm staying here with Jeb. Listen to me!" She was crying now. Crying tears of frustration, along with her fear.

"He looks nothing like Jeb," Mrs. Newburg tried to argue.

"That's because he's Ruinos. They can shape-shift. During the day they're stuck in whatever form they take, but at night they can shed their outer skin." She ran a hand down Jeb's cheek and neck. A warm teardrop fell above his ear.

Keep talking, Hannah. Keep the Arra occupied. He was almost there. Almost to the point where he could move again.

Move so he could try to escape and take her with him deep into the forest. Maybe ... just maybe they could escape.

Was it possible to hope?

"They're all alone on our world. They're frightened and so far away from their home. Can't you see how much a miracle it's been for them to survive here?" She stroked him again, and this time he could feel the warmth of her hand.

Soon...

"I didn't know he was Ruinos when I fell in love with him,"

Hannah admitted, wiping the tears from her face with the 237

back of her hand. She sniffed loudly. "He's been kinder and gentler and more loving to me than any man I've ever known.

He took me away after Carl beat me to a pulp. He brought me here to heal. He took care of me. He fed me. He gave me back my dignity and self-respect. And hope. How could I not love a man who was that caring ... no matter what he looked like?"

There was a slight movement in the corner of his eye.

When the sheriff finally responded, Jeb knew the man no longer had the gun aimed in his direction.

"So you're telling us those two things over there are here to take Jeb away?"

"Yeah. They're called the Arra."

"What about him?" Klotsky gave a nod in Carl's direction.

"He tried to kidnap me again. Jeb stopped him and was about to take me home when they showed up. And you."

He could smell her worry, pungent like overripe apples.

The gravel underneath him irritated his skin. Jeb could feel again. His neurons were back to normal. He could concentrate, which meant he could leap up from where he was and run. From a dead stop to over seventy miles per hour in less than three seconds.

Quickly he took inventory of where his hands were, and knew exactly where to grab Hannah so he could take her with him. All he needed now—

The blaring roar of a motorcycle racing down the road distracted them when the vehicle slid across the parking lot in front of the motel office and began bearing down on where 238

they were standing at the other end. The engine gunned, and both black-clad rider and machine grew closer.

At the last second before the half ton of man and bike plowed into their midst, Jeb grabbed Hannah around the waist and jumped.

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