The Last Marine Read online

  Yes. She imagined if he focused all his passion and sense of responsibility on a family, as opposed to his mission, he’d be wonderful. Supportive and protective. He’d fill them up with laughter and love until they were ready to burst. Yes, he’d make a good family man. They’d have a little place—big enough for a family of three or four—close to his brother. On holidays and birthdays they’d all get together and eat and laugh. They’d be happy.

  Oh, yes, she could imagine it all. If only he could.

  Chapter 21

  Griffin woke to soft lips nuzzling his chin.

  “Mm.” He stretched, wincing at the tug on his wounds. “Must be your turn to catch some zs.”

  “No, sir.” She nipped his chin. “It’s time to go.”

  Griffin came fully awake with a curse. His gaze shot around the cave before landing on Prudence. Dark circles smudged beneath her eyes. She looked worn out. He sighed, pulling her close and pressing his forehead to hers. “Angel, you were supposed to wake me.”

  “I want to live, Warrior. That means I need you at your best.”

  He cupped her face and kissed her. “All right. Tonight, no matter what, I’m making sure you sleep.” His gaze slipped to his hands and he shook his head. “My fingers are so wrinkled, they look like they belong to an old man.”

  “Yes, but the swelling and redness is gone from around those cuts.”

  He hopped out of the water and held his hand down to help her up. “What time is it?”

  She shrugged. “I’m not sure without seeing the sky, but I’m starting to hear noises out there.”

  “Let’s get going, then. Quietly.”

  They got dressed and Griffin strode around the cavern, picking up loose chunks of luminescent stone. Prudence made a bed for the rocks in the top of each of their packs and then piled in stones until a beam thick of light shot out the tops.

  He helped Prudence shoulder one, adjusting the waist strap around her middle to help distribute the weight. “If they come near us, open the flap. Can you reach?” She showed him she could and he handed her a couple more to hold onto. “Keep these close to your body, hide the light unless we need it.” He knelt down in front of her and pulled her socks up over her pant legs.

  “What’s out there? On the floor?”

  He shook his head. If he had his way, she’d never need to know. “Never mind that. Nothing harmful. You keep your eyes on me.”

  Once he had his pack on, he picked up the Lockheed Martin and they headed out.

  The Scarecrows were back in full residence, hanging from their feet with their wings wrapped tight to their bodies. Griffin lead the way across the cave. They had to move more slowly this time to keep their shoes from making sucking noises as they walked through the muck. Something slithered up his pant leg and it was all he could do not to react. Damn it, he should’ve pulled his socks up, too. They were almost across the cavern when something dropped from above, splattering next to him.

  Prudence gasped.

  The quick, indrawn breath was quiet, but one of the creatures above them shifted.

  “Run.” He grabbed hold of Prudence’s hand and bolted, reaching back to flip the top off his pack. Light lit the cave and a second later it got a lot brighter when Prudence uncovered her pack.

  One of the scarecrows screamed.

  The sound of fluttering wings filled the cave.

  They were a few steps from sunlight.

  Beating wings came closer.

  Griffin yanked on Prudence’s arm, throwing her past the line of sunlight streaming past the cave entrance. He leapt out of the cave behind her, rolled, and came up with his weapon ready to fire.

  Seven Scarecrows flew straight for them.

  One by one they entered the sunlight.

  And, as they crossed the line of light, one by one, they imploded, their bodies collapsing inward until there was nothing left.

  Prudence threw herself into his arms. “You’re brilliant.” She kissed him with a resounding smack. “The stones would’ve worked even better if we had something see-through to carry them in. The flap on our packs kept falling back over the openings. But your plan worked!”

  Griffin still stared at the cave entrance. He’d never seen anything quite like that before. There wasn’t anything left of the creatures, not even dust. “Did you see that?”

  “See what?” She looked up toward the cave.

  He started to point, but then shook his head. “Never mind.”

  Prudence got to her feet and helped him up. “Do you think we can make it over the mountain today? I do not want to go through all that again.”

  “Maybe.” There was no way in hell. From what he could see they’d have at least one more night in the mountains. He didn’t want her to worry, though. “Let’s get going.”

  “Yes, sir.” She shot off a sassy salute and headed up the mountain.

  Griffin followed behind, a little worried about her burst of energy. He had a feeling before too long she’d be struggling to keep one foot in front of the other. Sure enough, two hours later, she was dragging. “Come on. Let’s have some breakfast.” He reached up into one of the nearby trees and pulled down a couple of the brown fruit they’d had yesterday. Hopefully, the sugar would give her a boost.

  She rolled the fruit between her palms. “You know what I want more than anything right now?”

  He snorted. “A big, soft bed with feather pillows.”

  She laughed. “Besides that. I would love some coffee.”

  “Oh, Christ. Don’t get me started.” He’d been trying not to think of all the things they were going without. Now, his mind fixated on the idea of a thick, steamy cup of joe. “Whenever I could get my hands on some, I loved to put a dollop of frosting in it.”

  “Ooh, that sounds good.” She took a big bite of her berriegranate.

  Juice dripped down her chin and he leaned forward and licked the sweetness off her skin. “Not half as good as that.”

  She grinned, kissing him.

  Griffin leaned back on his elbow. “Or how about a hover-car?”

  “Oh, my feet hurt so badly.” Her eyes rolled back in a blissful expression. “A ride in a hover-car would be divine.”

  He popped up a brow. “You never say anything.”

  “And what would you do if I complained? We’re both tired and sore. We have to keep going.”

  “You got brass, Angel.” And God, did he like that.

  “You know, I’ve never quite been able to tell where you were raised.”

  “Everywhere, USA. I’m a tried and true military brat. We moved from state to state on a regular basis. Dad would come home, help us settle in, report to his new C.O., then he’d be off again. Back then, seemed like as soon as one war ended, another started.”

  “I can’t imagine if the moving part was rough or fun.”

  “Lucan hated moving.” He finished his first berrigranate and tossed the pit into the bushes. “He’s an introvert and he’d just start making friends when it was time to pack up. Me, I didn’t mind so much. Kept me from being labeled as a troublemaker. About the time I got in deep shit, it was time to move on and start over fresh.”

  She grinned, shaking her head. “I can’t see you as a bad seed.”

  He shrugged. “Not that, really. I was always busy, though.”

  “Now that I can believe. Until last night, I was starting to wonder if you had an off button.”

  “Yeah, well, if there’s trouble around, it tends to find me.” He tossed her the liquor bottle full of water. “Drink up.”

  Prudence stopped with the bottle halfway up. “Oh, wow. Look.”

  Griffin swung around and came face-to face with a wide, fuzzy head big as a mega-hologram projection. A long, pink tongue lolled out of the creature’s mouth and swiped up his arm and head.

  Prudence giggled.

  He scrambled out of reach. “What the hell is it?”

  “I think it’s a velocepillar.” She stood up and walked closer
, reaching her hand out. “Look in the book; I know I’ve seen pictures. If I remember right, it’s a pack animal.”

  He was torn between pulling her back away from the creature and having the chance to get a closer look at the book. The creature’s moniker brought to mind toothy dinosaurs. “Weren’t veloceraptors dangerous?”

  “The raptor part of the name notes the danger. Veloce means quick.” She scrubbed her hand through its long, airy fur. “It looks kind of like a spray mum, don’t you think? The way its fur sticks out in all directions.” The creature closed its big, inky eyes and let his tongue loll.

  Whatever it was, it didn’t appear dangerous. He pulled the container out of her pack and opened it to get at her book. The hardback cover almost had the texture of cloth and was velvety to the touch. He flipped open the book and found a section on animals. “Do you remember how far into the chapter it was?”

  “No.”

  He paged through, noting some creatures they’d seen and many they hadn’t. On the twelfth page in, he found a picture resembling the creature. “You were right. They are pack animals. Says they’re vegetarians.” He pulled her pack into his lap and stood up. “You still have more of those roots?”

  “Gah. Yes. I held onto them, though I’m hoping we don’t have to resort to eating them anymore.”

  “Not for us.” He kissed her nose. “For him.” He found the veggies and packed her book away. “Grab one of those dead branches over there—a long one.”

  She wandered over to where a fallen log lay over the path and wrestled a branch from the trunk while he took off his long-sleeved shirt and tied one of the sleeves around the veggies. When she brought him the branch, he tied the other sleeve over it. The creature had already scented the veggies. It nudged him back, almost knocking him over as he tried to get to the treat. “All right, big dude, we’re gonna see how fast velocepillars are.” He thrust his chin to the creature. “Climb on up there, Angel. I’ll hand you the packs.”

  The creature was relentless in his pursuit of the roots. Griffin had to shove him back several times. “You up there yet? He’s getting impatient.”

  She sounded out of breath when she answered. “Yes. I’m up. Give me the packs.”

  He handed them up, one by one, then handed her the branch. “How the hell did you get up there?”

  “I jumped from the tree.”

  Griffin climbed up the tree she motioned to, needing to pull himself up a couple branches before he could jump onto the velocepillar’s broad back. “Well, let’s see if this works.” Taking the branch from her, he lowered it down until the veggies fell within the creature’s line of vision.

  They lurched into motion.

  “Wait, that way.” Prudence pointed to their left.

  “On it.” He aimed the branch over to their left, bit by bit until the creature headed in the correct direction. “Look there, Angel. You wished for a ride, and here we are. Maybe next time you could wish us into a comfy bed, in a large, well-stocked house, huh?”

  Prudence laughed. “I don’t know, he’s big enough and soft enough to make a comfy bed.” She twisted around and looked behind him. “He’s moving fast. I bet we’ll make it out of the mountains tonight. We won’t have to worry about the Scarecrows again.”

  She was right. The velocepillar raced along, winding through the trees on its tiny feet. The wide, flat segments of the creature’s back stayed level even when the creature ambled along on rough terrain. Griffin gathered Prudence’s hair in his free hand to keep the silky stuff out of his face. “Lean back on me and get some sleep.”

  Prudence kissed his chin and lay her head on his shoulder.

  Never had he met anyone who was so affectionate. Now that they were intimate, she often touched or petted him, kissed or nipped him. He enjoyed her playful tenderness. He enjoyed her.

  But now that they had a ride, their time together grew short. If the field guide she had was correct, they would reach the spaceport within the next couple of days. And when they arrived, he’d have to leave. Griffin tightened his arms around her. Why did they have to meet now? He’d never fallen so hard for a woman, never been the recipient of more than passing sexual curiosity. Lord knew, he had tried not to love her. Caring for his enemy’s widow felt like a betrayal to the men he’d lost.

  But then, he had no honor.

  The closer he came to finding Lucan, the worse he felt. What the hell could he say to his brother? How could he explain that when he’d left Lucan alone he’d thought he was going to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves, but what he’d done was hurt those people? How the hell was he going to look his brother in the eye and explain all the horrendous crimes he’d committed?

  Just being with Prudence, finding pleasure and joy with her, made him feel like the lowliest sociopath on the planet. Most nights he couldn’t even sleep anymore, the nightmares were so bad. The kids. The explosion. The fire.

  His crimes were eating him alive and if he ever wanted a future, he had to make up for the things he’d done.

  He couldn’t live until he’d buried the dead.

  *****

  Prudence had slept the day away and woke feeling more rested than she had since arriving in Asteria. The velocepillar’s body and airy fur made a cushy bed and the thick trees in the mountains kept her shaded and cool. Griffin sat with his back to the velocepillar’s neck with his legs on either side of hers to keep her from falling should she have rolled over in her sleep. His trusty Lockheed Martin rested on his thigh. He scanned the trees as they passed, searching for threats.

  She couldn’t comprehend how he could stand to be on all the time. In their time together, he’d rarely let his guard down, much less slept. She was grateful for his watchful caution, but she was starting to worry about him.

  “Griff?”

  He didn’t even glance her way.

  Were they in danger?

  Sitting up, she scanned the surrounding trees and, seeing nothing, looked back over her shoulder. They had made amazing progress through the day, having crossed the span of the mountains and reached the safety of the foothills beyond. She doubted the Scarecrows would come out this far, but as a precaution, he had laid out several of the glow stones, surrounding them in a cocoon of light. He’d also created a brace, using his backpack strung between the velocepillar’s antennas, to hold the branch with the veggies steady in the creature’s sights.

  Prudence refocused her attention on Griffin. He held his whole body tense and his finger kept stroking across the trigger of his gun. He didn’t appear upset so much as really alert. Getting to her hands and knees, she crawled the short distance between them. “Griffin?” He didn’t seem to see her, didn’t react when she placed her palm on his face. “Baby?” What was this? He almost appeared as though he’d checked out of his body. It was eerie. How long had he been like this? Her heart sped up in her chest, she shifted her eyes to the gun in his lap, and she had the overwhelming urge to take the weapon from him. She sat back on her calves and placed one hand over his wrist and the other over the gun, trying to ease the weapon away.

  He looked at her, but his dilated eyes stared straight through her.

  She inhaled a shaky breath. “I need you to give me the gun.”

  He pulled his arm away, letting the gun hang down his side out of reach. “I need it.” He shook his head and his brows drew together. “Go back to base, being out here is against regs.”

  Base? The hairs on her nape and arms lifted. Oh, goddess help them both. Did he think he was back on Earth? Back in the Marines? He must. There was no base here. Prudence swallowed past the lump of fear forming in her throat and wet her lips. “I can’t. My . . . orders are to bring that Lockheed Martin back with me.”

  He shook his head. “That’s not right.”

  “Yes, sir.” She slid her hand over his thigh toward the gun. “You don’t want me in trouble with the commanding officer, do you?” Leaning over him, her hand wrapped around his wrist. She glanced dow
n to see the ground speeding past as the velocepillar raced through the foothills. If he chose to, he could toss her right to the ground while he was out of it. He could shoot her dead. “Give me the gun, Chief.”

  “No. I have to be punished.”

  His face crumple into grief and she realized she wasn’t in any danger whatsoever. He was the one in peril. “Why? Why would you say that?”

  “I killed them.” His raised his hands to cover his face.

  Prudence slipped the gun from his hand and pulled him into her arms. “You didn’t have a choice. You did what you had to.”

  “I didn’t know.”

  The sound of his grief brought tears to her eyes and she held him tighter, stroking her fingers through his hair. “I know, baby. You wouldn’t have, if you’d known.” She had no idea what she was saying or if her words made sense to him. “It’s all over now. You’re safe. It’s all over.”

  His arms came around her and his wet face pressed to her chest. “Ah, Christ, I didn’t mean to. I didn’t—”

  “Sh. You’re going to be fine, baby. Hold on to me and let it all out.” Whatever this was, it couldn’t be about the shootout between his and his CO’s units. Not unless he hadn’t told her the whole story. Had he discovered after the fact that the kids in the school were infected from the water? The thought sent a shudder through her. Maybe he’d found out after his CO and the others were dead. Maybe those kids had attacked his unit and he had had to kill them after all. Or maybe they had attacked someone else.

  But wouldn’t she have heard about such a catastrophe in the States had the water supply overseas been compromised? Wouldn’t she have at least heard Alfred and Randolph talking about it at some point? When Griffin had first told her his story, she’d assumed the UN’s people had lied to the soldiers about the water. Now she didn’t know what to think. She wanted to ask, but not while he was like this. Right now, he needed to rest and recover from this fugue.

  “Come lie down with me.”