With a furrowed brow, Tristan looked at Gabriel. “What happened?”
Gabriel explained, “An Ashman stabbed me with a knife that my body couldn’t heal from.” He lifted the edge of his shirt, revealing a large bandage. “It’s fine, but it hurts like hell.”
Scarlet’s face dropped. “Oh my—” She looked at the bandage in horror. “You couldn’t heal?” Gabriel dropped the hem of his shirt. “Are you sure it was a Bluestone knife?”
Gabriel nodded.
Scarlet’s heart began to hammer. “But that means….” She could barely get the words out. “That means Laura has an arsenal of weapons that can kill you guys. And she bought them just a few months ago. Laura…Laura wants to kill you guys?”
Tristan looked angry as he started for the cabin’s back door. “Well, that’s not going to happen. This Ash freak must die. Laura, too. I need knives, arrows, axes—”
“Wait.” Nate held up a hand, stopping Tristan before he reached the door. “It’s awesome that you’re all Rambo about this, but you can’t just go gallivanting in the forest hoping to run into our intruder. You have to have a plan, Tristan.”
“My plan is to kill any and all Ash-people.”
“Ashmen,” Heather corrected.
Tristan raised a brow at her.
Nate shook his head. “That’s not good enough. I stabbed the Ashman and it barely slowed him down. We don’t know how to kill these creatures. We don’t know where they’re coming from, or if Laura is even controlling them. We don’t know anything. “ He paused. “What we need to do is figure out where the fountain is, figure out how to kill these Ashmen, and stick together.” He looked at Scarlet. “So no more solo forest journeys, got it?”
Scarlet nodded.
“But first things first.” Nate clasped his hands together. “Let’s fix the window in the living room and remember to never, ever trust a tarp to keep us safe again, okay?”
Scarlet tried not to panic as she followed everyone inside the cabin.
Laura was trying to hurt Tristan and Gabriel. She was trying to steal Scarlet’s memories.
Laura was her enemy.
Gabriel unwrapped the new windowpane that had come that morning and carried it over to the empty frame in the living room. His wound ached terribly, but it was healing fast.
With Tristan’s help, Gabriel began installing the window.
“So where did you go?” Gabriel asked, his eyes on the window edges as he slid them into place.
Tristan steadied the glass. “I tried to leave town, but I couldn’t physically manage the distance.” He moved his hand to get better balance. “So I stayed on our property.”
Gabriel glanced at him with a raised brow.
“There’s an old shack less than a mile from here,” Tristan explained. “I fixed it up, made it livable.”
Gabriel nodded and started working on the next edge.
“How’s your stab wound?” Tristan switched places with Gabriel, keeping the windowpane secure against his hands.
Gabriel shrugged. “Sore. But shallow. It’s healing more quickly than a mortal’s wound would, so I guess my immortality wasn’t completely jeopardized. So that’s good news.”
Tristan nodded.
A few minutes later, Gabriel finished with the window and carefully stepped back. Tristan released his hold and stepped back as well, both of them looking at the new, secure window.
A moment passed.
Gabriel dusted off his hands. “I’m glad you’re back. Fighting off bad guys with Nate isn’t as fun as it sounds.”
“And it does sound fun.” Tristan smirked. “What did Nate use to protect himself? A light saber?”
Gabriel smiled. “A Zelda sword.”
Tristan shook his head. “Whatever works.” He paused. “I’m glad you didn’t…die or anything.”
Gabriel gave a quick nod. “Me too.” He moved toward the kitchen as Tristan started walking down the hallway.
It was good to have Tristan home.
58
Gabriel saw Scarlet sitting on the sill of the open window overlooking the backfield. Her long hair fell down her back to her waist, and her face was pale and bland. Tristan had been dead for a month.
It had been a month filled with sorrow and mourning. It had been a month of hell.
He and Scarlet had not spoken since Tristan’s death was announced. It seemed easier that way; to pass her by and mourn in private; to stay away from someone Tristan had loved.
Gabriel almost passed her by again. He was nearly beyond the window when he paused. Sitting in the window was a girl Tristan had entrusted to Gabriel.
A girl Gabriel had promised to care for.
He slowly walked over and stood behind her. She did not move, did not acknowledge him.
Carefully and quietly, Gabriel climbed into the large window frame and took a seat beside her, his legs hanging down the open side of the frame facing the field.
Scarlet had her legs tucked under her chin, but when Gabriel sat down, she let her legs fall over the sill as he had.
They sat in silence, both looking out at the great field, staring at the unending forest and the dipping sun on the horizon.
It was beautiful.
And it meant nothing.
Gabriel thought back to a time when he and Tristan were young and thought they could race to the sun. They had run and run, and still they could never reach the giant ball of light.
And now they never would.
Taking a heavy breath, Gabriel tried to control the aching in his chest. But some aches could not be controlled. They simply had to…be.
Without a word, Gabriel reached his arm around the girl Tristan had loved. Gabriel wanted her to know he felt her pain. He wanted her to know he cared that Tristan was gone too.
But his voice was broken.
So he sat without speaking.
For a moment, Scarlet did nothing but keep her eyes on the trees.
And then, slowly, she leaned into him and a single tear escaped her eye. Gabriel wrapped his other arm around her and embraced her fully. He gently set his head on top if hers and watched the horizon swallow the sun.
The sun he could never reach.
59
Tristan saw Scarlet enter the living room after changing. She no longer wore his leather jacket or satin shorts, so Tristan was able to breathe again.
Nate called out, “Team Meeting!” and pointed a finger in the air.
When he had everyone’s attention, Nate cleared his throat. “There are a few Team Awesome things we need to discuss.”
Tristan leaned over to Gabriel. “What’s Team Awesome?”
“It’s our team name,” Heather smiled.
“We’re not a team,” Gabriel said.
“We are a team,” Nate corrected. “We’re Team Awesome and I’m team captain.” He looked at Tristan. “You can call me Captain. Or Captain America, if you’d like. I’m even willing to settle for Captain Jack.”