Child, page 39
part #6 of Sam and Sam Series
He waited and she looked at him again, frowning.
“Aspen Carter? That’s his real name.”
“Huh.”
He looked back out at the light trying to make it be dawn. Sad. She sighed and he smiled.
“So what do we do next? Just the next one thing?”
“I have a plan,” she said. “It hasn’t really changed. I just have to be brave, now.”
He nodded.
“Then we’re all set.”
She laughed.
“I love the faith you have in me.”
“Haven’t let us down yet.”
She snorted.
“I’ll let you believe that.”
“You think Maryann will find Ash?”
“Honestly? They didn’t get him. I expect he’ll find us before she finds him.”
Jason nodded.
“Seems like a good kid.”
“Yeah.”
He waited, letting her pick her timing. She sighed and pushed herself back up onto her feet.
“We should get Carter home. He needs to eat.”
“Sometimes I swear that’s all he does.”
“Cut him some slack. He worked hard today.”
Jason grunted and stood.
“Don’t expect me to be nice to him.”
“No,” she said. “But you will be, anyway.”
He felt a surge of fake resentment, but he didn’t give it any voice. She went and got into the back seat and he pulled the driver’s side door open as he flipped the keys around his finger and caught them in his palm. It felt good to be doing their thing again, though he had an instinct that it was fleeting.
Things were changing and they weren’t going to go back.
<><><>
Carter rubbed his hands together over his plate, then looked at her, leaning out to sit with his elbows on his knees.
“All right, what’s this about?”
She took a deep breath, her heart racing. Sam sent her confidence from down in the garage where he was waiting with Jason. This moment was private, just for now.
“I want Lindsay’s region.”
“Okay.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
She blinked. That had been too easy. Years of negotiating with demons kicked in and she got suspicious.
“And don’t try to pawn Staten Island off on me. I’m not taking it.”
“Why not?”
“You know the crazies over there. I’d spend the first year just trying to prove to them that I’m as good as you.”
“You’re not as good as me.”
She flicked an eyebrow up at him.
“I may not be as strong as you, but I am as good as you, if not better.”
He held her eyes for a moment, traces of humor escaping at the corners of his eyes.
“You willing to back that up?”
She swallowed. She was better than him. At the things that mattered. Keeping track of the details, knowing who was doing what where with who. Sure, she’d been gone for a long time, and she didn’t have the most up to date information, but while she’d been here…
“I am.”
He blinked, then looked down at his hands, pressing his fingertips against each other.
“You want free of me.”
“I think it’s time.”
“I never marked you.”
It was an olive branch of sorts, reminding her that he’d never forced her to pledge to him indelibly. The truth was, though, he’d never wanted someone attached to him that he couldn’t get rid of, and they both knew it.
“You could never take it back,” she said, mocking him gently. He twisted his mouth and dropped his head further over his steepled hands.
“It’s a lie.”
She waited. Had no clue which part he was talking about.
“What?”
He looked up at her without moving his head. If she hadn’t known better, she would have sworn that was his mischievous face.
“It’s a lie to keep the minions down. I offered to let Abby go, but she said no.”
Bits of her world shattered. Things she’d always assumed were true… She recalibrated quickly. She’d lost control of the conversation, but she had more pressing interests right this second.
“You have to teach me how.”
He laughed, just a breath.
“You’re not hurting him. You love him, he loves you. You couldn’t use it to hurt him if you tried.”
She was stunned he’d guessed so near the truth. She and Sam had agreed to let each other make whatever mistakes they wanted to, during that period of true crazy while they’d thought Jason was dead, but marking Sam had haunted her ever since. It infringed on his freewill more than she could ever believe was okay, and she’d regretted it from the first time she’d really thought about it after Jason got back.
“Still,” she said, shaking her head, adamant mentally.
“It keeps him safer, Sam. If you’d actually explain to him. Really explain it. He’d agree with me.”
She frowned, seeing it for the first time.
“What happened to you?”
His head came up, his eyes seeking the light streaming in through the windows. The shutters were open. Why were the shutters open?
“It’s like spring finally came,” he said softly, breathing for a moment. He closed his eyes and his face softened. She leaned back in her chair, not knowing what to do with this Carter. He opened his eyes and smiled. “You did good.”
What?
What?
She shook her head, trying to regain some idea of how the world was supposed to work. He watched her with a curiosity, then put his hands out on either side of her face and kissed her, just pressing his mouth against hers.
She blinked.
Stunned.
Stunned speechless.
“Aspen…”
He laughed, the strangest, truly happy smile breaking across his face. He looked boyish.
“I’ve wanted to do that since the first time I saw you. I just didn’t know it’s what I wanted.”
She was blinking in quick little bursts. Maybe this was what it felt like to discover you were insane.
At the last minute, she realized Sam was charging up the stairs and she pushed him away, hard. She was okay. Nothing was wrong. It was just… none of it was right. Where was Carter?
“Don’t take it the wrong way,” he said, sitting back a fraction in his chair. “I’m not in love with you. I haven’t remembered how to do that yet. You’re just…” He frowned, his expression searching for words, for an idea that seemed to escape him. “You’re a remarkable creature, Samantha. For everything I did to you, I never could beat it out of you.”
She opened her mouth and closed it. Found herself staring at the floor just beyond her right knee because she couldn’t look at Carter. He laughed.
“Where’s your Neanderthal boyfriend? I figured he’d be here by now.”
“Standing outside the door,” she said absently. Carter laughed again.
“Nick of time, then.”
<><><>
They stood at the edge of the vast property. Jason, Sam, Kelly, Maryann, Ash, Samantha. You couldn’t see the house from here. It really wasn’t a house, Jason had said. It was more like a castle. Sam called it a manor. The original house had burnt down a quarter century before, and Carter had ordered the construction of a new building two years before. It had taken up until just recently to finish it. Kelly said it looked like Machu Picchu. Samantha wondered how he knew that.
Two years ago, Carter had known that she would ask for her own region, and that it would be Lindsay’s. She hated him a little bit for that.
She had a lot of work to do to turn it into a true fortress, but two solid feet of rough-cut granite was a good start. She looked at Ash.
“I’m going to make sure you’re safe, here,” she said. He glanced at her with an easy nod.
“I trust you.”
And there it was. Faith of a child, entrusted to her. A burden she’d never conceived of. An honor she couldn’t have imagined. She nodded. He trusted her.
<><><>
She sat on the grass of the hillside that overlooked the stream, the pond, the trees. There was a soft breeze and just a touch of birdsong today. She was alone today. She’d needed the time. She looked at the old man standing next to her.
“I’m afraid,” she said.
“I know,” he told her. The words were calming and she nodded.
“I don’t know if I can keep them away from him.”
He nodded again.
“I know.”
She sighed, nodding with him. If she’d known she could do it, it wouldn’t have been hard. It wouldn’t have been important. Nothing important was ever guaranteed. The wrinkled old man looked at her with kind eyes and smiled.
“Save Ashley.”
She nodded, mostly for her own benefit.
“Yeah.”
END OF BOOK SIX
Thank you for reading Child, book six of the Sam and Sam series by Chloe Garner. The next book in the series, Gorgon, should be out soon, if it isn’t already.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chloe Garner is, a wanderer with a host of identities in her head fighting each other to get out. Chloe writes about the things that go bump in the night, the future, and all things fantastical. Find her on Twitter as BlenderFiction, on Goodreads and Facebook as Chloe Garner, or at blenderfiction.wordpress.com.
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Chloe Garner, Child
