chapter 20
It was late afternoon before they finally emerged from the bedroom. “It’s about time you guys got up!” Kathleen cried. “I was beginning to think that we would never see you again!”
Sera blinked against the sunlight as she stepped into the snow. The giant snowman had been assembled. He was sporting a carrot, black button eyes, a gray ski hat, and a cigarette dangled from where his mouth was supposed to be. “Yours?” she asked Mike with a lift of her eyebrow.
“But of course, and if we don’t get out of here soon Frosty’s going to be parting with his mouth.”
Sera was suddenly hesitant to meet his gaze, to meet any of their gazes. “The electric’s back on,” Danielle said. “And the phone lines are working. We called the town and they said that they should have the roads plowed out tomorrow.”
“Thank God,” Jack groaned.
“Being snowed in wasn’t such a bad thing!” Kathleen protested. “I was thinking, since it’s almost the weekend, we might as well stay and check out the ski resort.”
Jack and Doug groaned. “I agree,” David commented as he clapped snow from his hands.
“What?” Mike demanded.
Liam wrapped his arm around Sera’s waist. She glanced up at him, but his face was dark and impassive. “I think we should abandon ship before it starts snowing again,” Doug said.
“I’m with him,” Jack agreed.
“I trekked ten miles through the snow to get here. I think I deserve a little relaxation and fun,” David argued.
“Why did you do that?” Danielle asked.
Jack rolled his eyes and walked away. “Damn idiots can’t keep their mouths shut, we can’t keep changing their memories,” he muttered as he walked to stand beside Liam.
David shrugged as Mike and Doug scowled at him. “Felt like some skiing,” he muttered.
“See!” Kathleen cried. “We should stay. It’s not fair to expect David to come out here for nothing!”
“Why don’t we talk about this later,” Mike suggested.
“I think that’s a good idea,” Liam said quietly.
Sera glanced back up at him. His face was still hard and cold, but there was a flicker behind his eyes that told her he was troubled about something. Sera bumped his hip lightly. She frowned at him questioningly, but he shook his head and kissed her forehead lightly.
Sera cast a sidelong glance at Jack. His hazel eyes were bright and knowing as he grinned at her. Sera felt a blush creep up her cheeks as she lowered her gaze again. She chanced a glance at Mike, Doug, and David to find them all eyeing her with that same knowing gleam in their eyes, and identical goofy grins. She focused her gaze on her boots.
Liam’s arm tightened around her waist as he shot the four of them an angry scowl. Their grins grew brighter, and Liam gave up trying to intimidate them. “Well, come on!” Kathleen cried. “I’m starting to freeze. Not all of us have been in bed all day!”
She nudged Sera as she bounced through the snow to the house. Sera shook her head as she turned to follow her back to the cabin. “So, how are you feeling?” Mike asked as he appeared at her side.
“Fine,” she muttered.
“Mike,” Liam growled warningly.
Mike laughed as he slapped Liam lightly on the back. “I can see that your good humor has been restored.”
Liam couldn’t help but smile as Mike grinned. He pulled Sera tighter against him. He could feel her chagrin, but he couldn’t stop the pleasure that swept him. She really was his now, and he was hers. He pushed the backdoor open and stepped aside to let her enter. Everyone filed into the tiny space, bumping and jostling as they tried to remove their snow gear. Doug bumped into Sera and instantly jumped back as he shot Liam a worried glance. She looked up, her brow furrowed with apprehension as she turned to Liam too. For a moment, he had felt a spark of anger when Doug had touched her, but it had faded almost instantly. He smiled reassuringly at her as he pulled his jacket off. Her frown vanished as she returned his smile with a carefree air he hadn’t seen in awhile.
“Thank God,” Doug muttered.
Sera silently agreed as she pulled her scarf off and hung it on the hook. It was so much nicer to have this Liam back with her. Until that moment, she hadn’t realized just how much she had missed his smiles, laughter, and easygoing demeanor. He had changed so quickly, and so fast, that she hadn’t had time to recall what he had been. She had been frightened by the new alterations in her, and the world, but she knew now that she wouldn’t have changed a thing, and she would do it all over again just to have him with her once more.
Love burst so brightly through her that she couldn’t keep herself from running over and throwing her arms around him. He grunted slightly and wrapped his arms tightly around her. “I missed you,” she whispered.
He closed his eyes as he clung to her. He hadn’t realized just how bad he’d been until that moment, just how close he’d come to being something that he’d never wanted to be. But everything was all right now, he was all right now. She made him complete. He glanced over his head at Mike, Doug, David, and Jack. They were no longer grinning stupidly but staring at them in a mixture of surprise and amazement.
“Oh, for crying out loud, you guys have been in bed all day, could you please stop pawing each other!” Kathleen cried.
Sera pulled her head out of Liam’s shoulder; she smiled brightly at him and kissed him quickly. He grinned as he released her. Kathleen grabbed her arm and pulled her quickly out of the mudroom. “Now that we’ve got you for a few minutes I’m not letting go!” she declared as she shot a pointed glance over her shoulder.
Liam finished pulling his jacket off and hung it on the hook. “It’s good to have you back,” Jack said.
“Yeah,” he mumbled.
“So, are we going to stay or not?” David asked.
Sera, Danielle, and Kathleen were gone as he entered the kitchen, but he could hear their voices drifting in from the living room. “If we get the chance to get out of here, I say we take it,” Doug said.
“I agree,” Jack muttered.
“Beth is still out there, she will come back,” Mike said as he cast a worried glance at Liam.
“What are we going to do when we go back? She found us here, and she’s already found us at the college,” David said. “It will be harder to protect them at the school. They’ll be more open.”
Liam shifted as he crossed his legs before him and folded his arms over his chest. He could feel his anger steadily growing. Instantly his mind sought Sera. He could feel her happiness, her joy as she laughed and talked with Kathleen and Danielle. He took a deep breath as her presence helped to soothe him.
“So what are you suggesting we do?” Mike demanded.
David shrugged as he glanced warily at Liam. “Honestly, I think the two of you should leave.”
Liam stiffened as he stood away from the counter. “And go where?”
“Somewhere, anywhere.”
“She’ll find them,” Mike said. “She’ll track him through her blood, and she’ll find them. Leaving isn’t going to do them any good.”
“And what about Kathleen and Danielle?” Jack asked.
“I think Beth will leave them be, if Liam and Sera are no longer around,” David answered.
“But you can’t be sure,” Liam said coldly. “And I can’t leave them unprotected.”
“We would still be here.”
“Leaving isn’t going to solve anything,” Liam replied. “Only one thing will.”
“We already tried to find Beth.”
“She can track us through our blood, we could probably do the same thing,” Doug said. “We’ve never tried it, because we never wanted to find her. What if we try it now?”
“I did try,” Liam told him. “When Jack and I went looking for her. I couldn’t sense anything. She is stronger than us, if she wants to keep us blocked out, then I’m sure that she can.”
“Then you could probably do the same thing.”
Liam shrugged as he unfolded his arms. “Maybe, but Sera couldn’t.”
“But... oh,” Jack said dully.
Liam’s jaw clenched as he glanced out the doorway of the kitchen. Beth would be able to find Sera through his blood and Sera was far too new to understand her abilities. “Until Beth is dead, there will be no peace,” he said softly. “When we get back to the college, Sera will stay with me.”
“Kathleen and Danielle?” Mike asked.
Liam closed his eyes and shook his head. “I don’t know. I’d like to say that Beth would leave them alone, but I know she won’t. She’d kill them, or turn them, just to hurt Sera.”
“Maybe it would be better if we did stay. At least we’re all together, and if the ski resort opens tomorrow, we won’t have to worry about food.”
“Beth can come in here anytime she wants,” Jack remarked.
“But with all of us here, she can’t get to them. Not if we stay aware, and awake,” David said.
“So, for now, we stay,” Liam confirmed.