Beth melted into the scenery around her, a particularly easy skill for someone like her. She hadn’t told Stefan, and she hadn’t wanted Hunter to even know, but wrapping in the energy of those around her let Beth hide almost indefinitely. But the thing about being hunted was that Beth had learned how to become safe as prey too. She knew what the hunter would do to find her, so she could counteract that somewhat.
As she leaned against the tree, letting her energy camouflage with the tree itself, she studied the surroundings, while doing a self-assessment. Her body’s energy was at about 50 percent, the wound at 80 percent. She rubbed a hand over it gently, feeling the sore muscles and the puckered skin beneath her fingertips. A ball of healing energy added to the sensation.
“It’s much better,” she murmured out loud in surprise. She rotated her shoulders and her neck, even as she mentally called out to the bits and pieces of her energy to return. She just needed to get that 50 percent boosted much higher. She had a long way to go, even though she had no destination in mind. She had to get away from here, before her presence brought problems to Stefan.
Now to search for a new destination and to not do anything stupid. And definitely not get caught.
If she could utilize her system properly, she could pull more energy from Mother Earth around her. There was never any shortage of energy, but there was a shortage of energy she could use. Being so statically charged, she had to warm up the energy and then bring it into her system in a different way. As her body was still healing, that slowed down the process. Which is why, when she’d been injured, she couldn’t do it at all. So, instead of her energy recharging, it had faded quickly.
She moved out of the trees, wondering where to get a set of wheels so she could travel faster. Money was another thing she didn’t want to locate on her own. If she hit an ATM or a bank, they could track her. She had credit cards and cash on her, just not enough. It was never enough if you needed to disappear. She hadn’t set up safe deposits anywhere, nor stashed cash at various locations. She hadn’t had time, since she’d been on the run forever and, of course, obtaining cash was a whole different issue. As she took two more steps forward, a voice called out to her.
“You don’t have to be alone, you know.”
She froze and turned to look at Hunter, glaring at him. “Why can’t you let me leave?”
“Because you’re hurt and you’re heading toward certain death.”
Her eyebrows shot up at that. “Certain death is something we all have to face.”
He nodded slowly. “And you’ve had a rougher time of it than most. But I don’t want you to disappear right now. Not alone at least.”
“I want to go alone,” she said.
“I have wheels,” he offered.
She froze, as she studied him carefully. “And?”
“If you have a destination in mind, I can help you get there.”
She thought about it, wondering what the payoff would be and what he would want in return. “There’s always a price,” she said boldly. “What is yours?”
It was his turn to raise his eyebrows. “In this case, the joy of doing a good deed.”
She snorted at that. “People in my world don’t do things like that.”
“Because you haven’t had the right people in your world.”
It was hard to argue with that. She’d had assholes and bastards around her for a very long time.
“Who’s hunting you?”
“My captors.” She shouldn’t be telling him even that much.
“Someone in particular?”
“Lizzy,” she said faintly as if giving voice to the name would give it more power.
“This Lizzy girl, will she be hunting you?”
“I didn’t think she would bother me anymore,” she said quickly, “but I no longer know.”
“And would you blame her, if she is?”
“I don’t blame her for anything she might do to stay alive and to stay sane,” she said, “and nobody should.”
“I get it,” he said, holding up his hands in front of him. “I’m not accusing anybody. I do know what it’s like to be alone and to have the world against you.”
“You do, huh?” She studied him for a moment, seeing him nod.
“Different than your case, for sure,” he said, “but we all have stories to tell. Most of us don’t like telling them.”
“Isn’t that the truth. I do have a cabin I can go to,” she said quietly.
“In that case, I’m happy to drive you.”
She shook her head. “It’s too far away, but, if you can get me where I can connect to a bus, that would be great.”
“Where is it you want to go?”
“I was thinking up by the Canadian border.”
He frowned at that. “Are you planning on crossing?”
“No plans at all yet,” she said easily.
“A lot of land is between here and there,” he said quietly, “not all of it easy.”
“None of it’s easy,” she said simply. “I’m just looking for a way to get through this and to get somewhere I can hole up to heal more.”
“So, the cabin would be temporary?”
“Very,” she said, “every place will always be temporary.”
“You can’t spend your life on the run forever.”
“Sure, I can,” she said, with a half laugh. “It’s all I know.”
“You’ve never had a safe place to rest, have you?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Well, how about, instead of your cabin, you go to my cabin?”
She looked at him. “Where is your cabin?”
“Well, that’s what makes it special,” he said. “Whoever is hunting you doesn’t know where it is. Whatever connection you have, they’ll pry at, until they can get it out of you or whoever might know you.”
“Nobody knows me,” she said.
“But they tracked you here.”
“Yes,” she said, hesitating and looking back in the direction of Stefan’s house. “I’ll feel terrible if they get a hold of him. I needed his healing, or I’d be dead by now.”
“Stefan can handle himself.”
“You seem confident in that.”
“Well, you knew him before, right?” Hunter asked easily, not taking a step forward but keeping his distance. “What was he like?”
“Tormented, like the rest of us, and driven to get out of there. Driven to succeed in a way that would ensure he’d never become a victim again.”
“Well, in that case, he succeeded in a big way.”
“Maybe, but everybody can still become a victim. You don’t know how easy it is to get that mind-set all screwed up again, until you are one.”
“Very true,” he said quietly.
“And I don’t intend on being one ever again either.”
“Good. You should also know I have helped put away a lot of criminals.”
“That’s just making you cocky,” she challenged. “How many of them have had abilities?”
“Some,” he said. “Either way, I’m not prepared to back down from the challenge.”