Amber Eyes (Wild 2)

Chapter Twenty-One

Kaya stared dully out the window over the newly reawakened earth. The snows had melted and in their wake, green burst from the ground and the trees.

And still Hunter and Jericho hadn’t returned.

She folded her hands over the swell of her belly, reassured by the steady kick of her daughter.

Her supplies were exhausted and with the ability to shift gone until her baby was born, she had no way to feed her or her child.

Left behind.

Abandoned.

All the feelings of her childhood bubbled up, only these were sharper. They cut. They made her bleed.

She dropped her head and closed her eyes. Why hadn’t they kept their promise? The days had turned to weeks, and the weeks into months. Winter had given up its stranglehold on the mountains, and wildlife was on the move all around her.

Her belly had swelled as the life within her grew. How she’d longed to share these moments with Hunter and Jericho, but they hadn’t come back, and now she was forced to face the uncomfortable truth.

They weren’t going to.

She would have to venture down to the town below. The idea terrified her. While she’d walked among humans, she’d never had to try and play by their rules. She needed food and clothing, and she had no idea how to go about getting either. All she knew was that she couldn’t get it here.

Knowing she was only putting off the inevitable, she moved from her position at the window. She took special care in her appearance, or as much as she could manage. She used the men’s brush and worked the tangles from her hair until it sparkled and shone.

The sweatpants fit her a little better now that her belly had grown larger, and the flannel shirt hit her at mid-thigh instead of falling to her knees. She looked somewhat normal.

Then she looked down at her bare feet. She had the boots that Jericho had made her wear, but they were far too large for her and would look ridiculous if she tromped into town with them. Maybe she could find shoes later. For now she would make do.

She let herself out of the cabin and looked sadly back at the place she’d considered her home if only for a short period of time. She wouldn’t be back. There was nothing here for her any longer

“Help me, Maker,” she whispered. “I’m so afraid.”

Jericho opened his eyes and blinked when everything stayed blurry. His head ached like a bitch. Then he realized that he couldn’t feel much more than the vile ache at the base of his skull and the burning of his eyes.

He looked down, trying to see the rest of him. His arms, his legs, something.

“Ahh, you’re finally awake. You had us worried, Mr. Hartley.”

He turned blindly in the direction of the voice. “Jericho. No one calls me Mr. Hartley.”

“Okay, Jericho.”

“Who are you? Where are you? I can’t see you. Where am I?”

“One question at a time.” The voice was soothing. Feminine. “My name is Susan. I’m the nurse assigned to your care. Give yourself a few minutes to orient yourself. Your vision should clear soon.”

“Hunter,” he croaked. “Where’s Hunter?”

“Your friend is alive.”

That didn’t say a whole lot. What the hell had happened? He strained to remember, but all he could summon was an image of fire. An explosion so loud it had split his ears. And then nothing.

“Oh, look, someone is here to see you.”

Jericho turned again, blinking, furious that he couldn’t make out more than a fuzzy shape moving toward the bed.

“Hey, man. God am I glad to see your ass awake. I was sure you’d decided to take a permanent vacation on us.”

“K-man.”

“Yeah, in the flesh. Can you see me?”

“Move closer.”

The blur came into sharper focus, and some of the burning in his eyes eased. He could make out K-man’s face. See his eyes even. They looked worried.

“How long have I been here?” he asked. “What about Hunter? The others.”

“Several months, dude. You’ve been out of it for a long while. We weren’t sure you were going to make it.”

Months.

Panic kicked him in the gut and crawled up his throat until his chest felt like it was going to explode.

“Months? Months? Tell me you’re joking, K-man. Don’t bullshit me. This is too important. I need to know exactly how long I’ve been here.”

K-man touched him on the shoulder. “I wouldn’t lie about this. We brought you in four months ago. You’d just about bled out, had enough shrapnel in you to build a missile, and you had more broken bones than bruises.”

“Kaya,” he whispered. Dear God, what was Kaya thinking? They’d told her they’d be a few weeks. They’d left her alone with only enough food for a few months.

“I’ve got to get out of here,” he said as he sat forward.

Immediately, pain speared through his chest, leaving him gasping for air. He tried to swing his legs over the edge of the bed, but they didn’t cooperate.

“Whoa, man, chill out. Are you trying to kill yourself?”

Jericho found himself held down on both sides. He struggled against the constraints. “I have to go. You don’t understand. I’ve got to get back.”

K-man got in his face, his eyes blacker than night. “What I understand is that I’ll sit on you if I have to. Lay back and keep your ass in bed, or I’ll have you physically restrained. You got me?”

“Kaya. She’s alone. You’ve got to let me go, K. This is important.”

“I can’t do that, Jericho. Not until the doc clears you. You almost died. I doubt you could walk out of here if you wanted.”

Frustration beat painfully at his temples. His jaw clenched until his teeth ached. “I’m only going to ask this once, K. And you better be straight with me.”

“You know I will.”

K-man relaxed his hold on Jericho and nodded at the nurse, who also let go. She backed away. “I’ll be outside if you need me,” she said quietly.

“I need to know exactly what’s wrong with me, and I want to know what happened to Hunter.”

“You’re pretty busted up. Ribs. Left leg. Dislocated shoulder. Concussion. Numerous cuts, burns and bruises. They

put you in a drug-induced coma for a long time until the swelling in your brain went down.”

“And Hunter?”

“Pretty much the same. He was paralyzed for a while. We worried it would be permanent, but they removed a piece of shrapnel from his spine and when the swelling went down, he regained feeling in his legs. He’s been out of it. He keeps calling Kaya’s name. Interesting that you mentioned her as well.”

Jericho’s lips pressed together in a tight line. “I need to see him.”

K-man shook his head.

“Don’t tell me no,” Jericho said fiercely. “I don’t care how it happens. I have to see him. Get me a wheelchair or help me out of bed. Just get me in there.”

“I think it’d be easier to have him come here,” K-man said dryly. “At least he can walk.”

“Get him. I don’t care how it happens. And then we’re getting out of here.”

K-man stared hard back at Jericho. “What’s going on here, Jericho? What’s so important that you’d risk leaving when you’re not even close to being ready? We’re a team. You know if you need something, you only have to ask. We’ll take care of it.”

Jericho closed his eyes. What K said was true. If it were anything else, he wouldn’t hesitate to ask K-man to take care of it. But he couldn’t ask him to go to the cabin and get Kaya. It was too risky. He’d given his word that he’d never share her secret with anyone. He wouldn’t risk her that way. He had to talk to Hunter, and they had to get the hell back to Colorado.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Kaya stood outside the small general store, her heart pounding thunderously. Her palms were damp, and her stomach rolled and heaved. How silly that the thought of going inside terrified her so. She belonged in this world just like everyone else did.

But humans had a history of letting her down.

She jumped when a man came out of the shop in front of her. He stood there, holding the door open as he looked at her. It took her a moment to realize he was waiting for her to go in.

“Thank you,” she murmured as she hurried by.

She was immediately assaulted by a barrage of smells. Meats, so many different kinds. Her first priority had to be food. Clothing could wait. She had