Dark Guardian - Moonlight Part 3

"Who put him in charge?" Mason groused.

"The park rangers, I think. He's supposed to be really good. I heard he found a family that got lost last summer when no one else could."

"Really? How'd he manage that?"

"Followed their tracks or something. You'll have to ask him."

"Yeah, like he'd tell me anything."

"Did you get into it with him or something?"

"Not yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if we do. Something about the guy seems off."

Mason didn't strike me as a fighter. Lucas would obviously kick his a.s.s, but I didn't think Mason would appreciate my a.s.sessment of his fighting skills. Apparently I wasn't the only one feeling animalistic today.

"He's not really worth the bother," I said.

Mason snapped his head around and gave me a strange smile. "You don't think I can beat him."

"He's got the whole working-out thing going."

"Don't let my love of academics fool you. I can hold my own in a fight."

"I've no doubt." It was the only thing I could say. I didn't think a fight was in the best interest of our goal. "Anyway, I'd better go." He touched my hand just for a second. "Uh, I've got something for you." He reached into his pocket, brought out a small package, and extended it toward me. "Happy birthday."

I looked at him with surprise. "How did you know?"

His cheeks turned red. "Last night, I couldn't sleep. I was out walking. Saw the party."

Had he been following us? Was he what I'd heard? "Why didn't you say something, join us?"

"I'm not a party crasher. Open it."

I did. Inside was a braided leather bracelet. "Oh, thanks. I like it." I beamed at him.

He appeared even more embarra.s.sed. "There's not much to choose from in the stores around here.

Most of it is camping stuff and cheap souvenirs."

"It's awesome," I rea.s.sured him, just before I slipped it onto my wrist.

"So maybe we can get together later," he said.

It wasn't like we'd get together later and go on a date. We were pretty much limited to group outings,

but still we could have some fun. "Yeah, definitely." Then I went to catch up with Lucas. Day one and I was already confused about a lot of things: my attraction to Lucas and my interest in Mason. Mason was definitely the safer of the two. The question was: Did I want safe?

THREE.

I caught up with Lucas a couple of minutes later. I didn't show him the gift from Mason, and part of me hoped he wouldn't notice it. I didn't know why, but I didn't think he'd approve.

"Mason was out in the woods last night," I told him. "I think he's who I heard."

"I know he was in the woods. I smelled him."

"Excuse me?"

"That soap he uses-strong stuff. Anyway, I don't think he's who I felt watching us."

"But he told me that he watched." "

Maybe it was him, then."

I knew a brush-off when I heard it. "You don't sound convinced."

"I just think we need to stay alert."

I nodded. "Okay."

"Let's go!" he called out to our group.

When Lucas said that we'd take the lead, apparently he'd meanthe would take the lead and I would follow closely behind. I told myself that we had no choice except to go single file because the trail was narrow. Today we were following a path that others had taken enough times so it was clearly marked and the brush didn't encroach, but I knew at some point we'd diverge into an area no one else had explored. That was my favorite part of backwoods hiking-going where no one had gone before. It was always an adventure, with a surprise around every corner. And right now, the biggest surprise was Lucas and how much I enjoyed watching his movements. He was confident and sure-footed.

I knew he was attending a university somewhere and had just returned to work for the summer, but that was about it. What I knew about him wasn't enough to cover the needle of my compa.s.s.

I did know he was in amazing shape. He was barely breathing, while my breaths-to my complete mortification-were taking on a labored quality. The path was at an incline and the rugged forest terrain was mountainous. Traveling over it was a workout. I'd thought I was in shape.Ha!

"Just a little farther," Lucas finally said.

I was mortified that he not only heard me gasping, but felt obligated to let me know that he noticed me struggling. While no one had made me feel like I was an outsider, I knew the truth: I was. "I'm fine."

He glanced back without altering his stride. "But the prof and his students are suffering."

I thought of his apparent dislike for Mason-or Mason's for him. "Are you trying to prove something to them?"

"If I were, I wouldn't stop at all."

Yeah, he could probably go all day without taking a break. I felt a strange mixture of admiration and jealousy. I had no idea why I cared, but I wanted to be his equal, wanted him to be impressed with my stamina. Wanted him to be impressed withme .

The path widened just a bit. He slowed his stride until we were walking side by side.

"So how long have you been a sherpa?" I asked.

He shifted his silver gaze over to me. "Four years."

"Is that the reason they put me on your team? Because you're so experienced?"

He seemed to study me in that still way he had, before he said, "I requested you."

My jaw dropped, but I didn't think he had time to notice, because at the same time I tripped over my own feet. Lucas moved with a swiftness that astounded me, catching me and steadying me before I fell beneath the weight of my pack. His large, warm hands gripped my arms.

I should have been mortified by my clumsiness, but I wasn't really thinking about it. I was intrigued by what he'd said.

"Why?" I asked. "Why request me?"

"Because I didn't think anyone else could protect you as well as I could."

"So you're what? Supersherpa? And you think I'm not capable of taking care of myself?"

"I'm not the one who just tripped."

I decided it would sound stupid to argue that I'd tripped because of his words, that my clumsiness was somehow his fault.

"Are we stopping here?" Lindsey asked, as she approached and gave me an odd look.

"Yeah," Lucas said. He released his hold on me, stepped away, and shucked off his backpack with the ease of someone removing a jacket. He leaned it up against a tree. I worked my way out of mine and did the same.

"We'll take fifteen. Be sure to hydrate," Lucas said when everyone else had caught up with us. "I'm going to scout the area ahead."

Before anyone could respond, he disappeared between two trees.

Okay, Mr. I-can-leave-you-all-in-the-dust, I thought.Be that way. Prove you're not human, that you don't need to rest.

"Doesn't that guy ever get tired?" Mason asked grumpily as he dropped to the ground after removing his backpack.

"They say he's the best," Dr. Keane said. His hair was dark, peppered with white. Even in his hiking clothes he looked distinguished, as though at any moment he'd break into a lecture. He didn't seem the type to have an Indiana Jones mode. He strolled over to two of his students-Tyler and Ethan-who were carrying a large wooden crate on a litter, huffing heavily and sweating profusely. He helped them get the crate safely to the ground.

"What is that stuff, Professor?" Connor asked.

"Just some equipment we'll use to collect samples once we get farther into the wilderness."

"You must be planning to collect a lot of samples."

Dr. Keane smiled in a way that reminded me of my therapist when he was letting me know that he knew things my feeble mind would never dream of. "I intend to get my money's worth out of this trip. And I only brought students with avid curiosities, so I'm sure there is much out here that they'll want to examine closely."

So Mason wasn't the only one with resentment issues. I had no idea what the park charged for the use of sherpas. I only knew that I was paid minimum wage. The thought was that our real reward was being able to spend our summer in the wilds. We wouldn't be here if we didn't love what we were doing.

The other grad students-David, Jon, and Monique- sat together in a cl.u.s.ter, while the sherpas mingled together. David and Jon seemed a little old to be grad students. I wondered if they'd decided later in life what they wanted to do. I thought they were probably close to thirty. Monique was supermodel-lithe and lovely. She was tall with milk-chocolate skin and a flawless complexion.

Considering Dr. Keane's att.i.tude about getting his money's worth, I didn't think it was a good idea for us to separate ourselves into separate camps: sherpas versus grad students. I dug a water bottle out of my backpack and sat beside Mason. He was picking at his thumbnail.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Oh, chipped it when we were packing supplies this morning. It keeps catching on things."

"I have a nail file you can use." I unzipped the pocket on my backpack.

"You brought a file?" He was truly astounded.

"Sure. No girl with any respect for her manicure travels in the wilds without a nail file."

Laughing, he took my offering and smoothed out his nail before handing the file back to me. I put it back into my pack.

"You need to be drinking," I reminded him.

"Oh yeah, right." He grabbed a bottle from his backpack and guzzled for a few seconds. Then he peered over at me. "What do you know about that guy?"

"What guy?"

"The guy who thinks he's in charge."

"If you're referring to Lucas, heis in charge. Has papers and everything to prove it." I wasn't sure why I was defending his superior behavior.

"Whatever. Is he from around here?"

"Yeah. I mean, I think he goes to college somewhere else but he grew up around here."

"Weird hair. I mean, who has hair that's all different colors?"

I sort of liked it, but I didn't defend it because I didn't want anyone thinking I had a thing for Lucas. I wasn't quite sure how to define what I felt for him. On the one hand, he was incredibly hot. On the other hand, he was older and seemed way more experienced than I was. The truth was, he intimidated me a little.

"So what about you?" Mason asked, interrupting my strange musings. "I overheard you say you were from Dallas. This place is practically near Canada. What made you decide to work so far from home?"

My gut said to give a flippant answer, but the whole key to effective therapy was facing my past and not hiding from it. Besides, I was still having some residual creepy feelings from the nightmare. Maybe I needed to unburden, and Mason seemed like a nice guy, someone who was interested in me anyway. I touched the braided leather he'd given me and said as quietly as I could, "My shrink recommended it."

"You go to a shrink?"

I couldn't tell if he was impressed or appalled. The kids at my school tended to think if anyone went to a psychiatrist, she was on the verge of going on a killing spree, so I never talked about it with anyone. At home I was much more closed off within myself than I was here in the wild. I felt more at home here than I did in Dallas. Given a choice between living in the city or in the forest, I'd choose the forest every time. Suddenly I felt a need to connect with someone on a level I never had reached before. I nodded at Mason and admitted, "Yeah."

"So what-you're bipolar or something?"

Okay, there it was-the negative connotation all wrapped up with a little bow. "Let's just say I have issues." And because he'd hit a sore spot, I continued tartly, "My parents were killed in these woods.

My therapist says I need to embrace this forest in order to get past them dying here." "Wow, that's some heavy s.h.i.t." Obviously he had a problem discussing emotional matters, and whatever connection I thought I'd felt with him earlier had been totally misguided. Already I regretted opening up to him. "Yeah. I don't usually tell people that. Forget I mentioned it. I don't know why I told you." "No, hey, my bad. I've never known anyone whose parents were killed. I mean, I just wasn't expecting that. How were they killed? Wild animals?"