"Or maybe, since we're not actually agents, they don't tell us everything. Why would they?"
He continued talking as though she hadn't spoken. "Think about it. IPI. International Paranormal Investigations. What paranormals? Us? If they've known about us for a while, why didn't they do anything?"
"Maybe they couldn't. Most of the kids at Rent-A-Kid would have died to defend it a year ago—you among them."
"Or maybe IPI isn't so different from Rent-A-Kid."
"What?"
He sounded like Beleth with talk of experiments and hidden agendas. She wondered if she should tell Luke more about that night.
No, not now. He's already too agitated. "They haven't done anything to make me doubt them. And Hunter's done nothing but help us."
"Oh, well, I know you like him."
"No... well, yeah, maybe, but it's not just that. He saved me, Luke. If it wasn't for Hunter, I'd be dead."
Luke swallowed and nodded, clearly thinking about life without Lucy.
A shrub rustled and.... Speak of the devil. Lucy's heart did a little dance as Hunter emerged from the forest, and she slid off the mushroom, trying to look less excited than she felt.
Hunter didn't notice her, though. He walked straight toward Mr. K.
She caught up with him and grabbed his arm. "Did you find a way out?"
Hunter shrugged her off, the heat of his anger practically burning a hole in her hand. "There is no way out. Cliffs surround this entire goddamned area!" He plodded into the enclave to yell at Mr. K. "Liar! You didn't want to tell us the way out, because there is none."
The bark of the tree peeled open to reveal Mr. K's eyes. "I didn't want to tell you the way out because you wouldn't be able to manage it, boy. I felt you kill that lizard, felt the earth shudder as a life slipped away. You had no consideration, no prayer for the creature before you. You were just a machine doing its work, a switch going off, an instinct taking over—your instinct to kill."
Hunter's muscles tensed and his face turned to stone. Lucy stepped forward, prepared to calm him if he snapped, but he relaxed his shoulder, turned away and nodded to Lucy. "If I'm a killer, then why's she alive?"
He turned and stormed off.
Mr. K's bark face could register little emotion, but it did look angry in that moment, and his branches jerked and slapped around like live wires. "Stupid boy!" He locked eyes with Lucy. "Be careful around him. I've felt his rage. He burns it like fuel."
Hunter? Really? She'd never seen him angry before. Sure, he made an art of deflecting, but that didn't translate to rage. Lucy left the enclave, and found Hunter on the shore staring at the moon.
She rested a hand on his arm. "You want to talk?"
"You have anything new to tell me?"
"Well, no." She dropped her hand and stepped away from him.
"You know a way out?"
"No. I just want to talk. You don't have to be so angry."
His body shuddered, but he didn't turn to look at her. "No? Then what am I supposed to be? Happy? Happy that for every day I spend in this valley, hundreds of children suffer out there? Happy that I get to spend all of my time with you, talking to you, falling in—" He paused. "I am happy here. I don't want to leave, but there are people out there who need me. All I can think of is spending another minute with you. Why can't I think about anything else?" His face fell in sorrow and confusion, and he shook his head as if clearing his mind.
She pulled him around to face her. "I understand. I feel this pull to stay as well. I don't know whether it's... this," she waved her arm between them, "or something in this valley." On impulse, and because she needed to, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him.
He stiffened, then relaxed into her and rested his chin on her head. "We've spent nine days in this valley."
Nine already? Lucy had lost track of time during her recovery. Beleth had said the kids only had a month to live. One month, and we're stuck in a valley with no exit. What can I do? This is just too much. All of it. She tightened her arms around Hunter, comforted by his strength and nearness.
His hands ran up her back, careful to avoid her injuries, and his lips moved against her forehead as he spoke. "And each day, I've thought of kissing you."
Her breath caught in her throat. He'd spoken her own thoughts. She leaned back to look him in the eyes. With all the horrible events that had taken place, all the bad that had happened, Hunter had been the only good.
More than good. "Then what are you waiting for?"
She wanted to protest the departing warmth as his hands moved off her back. But then he cupped her face and leaned in. The mint of his breath mixed with hers, and all else fell away as their lips touched.
Chapter 94 – Lucy