Defender (New World Book 7) (20 page)

Daylight should be shining but it was a grey day. Rain began to spatter his body. His shield fell. Taz slumped. He couldn’t leave them alone any longer. He could feel Macey’s worry. Willfully he called his shield up. He clawed his way into the cavern, and dragged Macy onto his lap as his partial shield fell.

“Taz?”

Taz was finding it hard to breathe. His chin rested on her head. His chest heaved.

“I can’t shield you. I don’t have the strength, but I’ll get you all out.”

“Leave us, Taz. Find the sun.”

“After.”

Taz hauled her into his arms and stumbled from the cavern. He couldn’t seal it; he would need to return quickly. Macey struggled down from his embrace and helped him walk. His arm was around her shoulder. The rain was harder and beat at his tortured flesh. He was cold. His shield had nothing left to give him. With a mighty pull Taz yanked back the door to the new cave and his gaze never left Macey as he pulled it closed. He placed his palms on the door frame much in the same manner Macey had after battling the shed door. He rested his forehead on the wood.

Taz went back to the cave for Haven. He changed his mind. Survival instinct was strong and Taz worried if he left Jinx for last he might not go back. He became responsible for her when he saved her and brought her to this place. He swung her into his arms, her head bobbed back and he settled her against his chest and dragged his way back to Macey.

It was harder to reclose the cave barrier, Macey struggled to help him but the door was designed not to let anything in but a Tonan warrior. He stood with his hand pressed against the wood for a moment, his hand was shaking. He finally understood Macey’s expression: ‘fueled on love.’ Only his emotions were keeping his exhausted body in motion.

When Taz reached the girls, he knew it was his last trip. He stared at both girls. Haven was his baby. Skylar his big girl. He could leave neither. Not knowing if he could return for any he left behind would kill him.

Taz placed a hand on each forehead. “I’m back like I promised. I will try to always keep my promises. And so right now, right here, I promise if it’s in my power I will get you to safety.”

He pulled them each over a shoulder and made his way on the last leg of his journey. Stumbling through the jungle he moved back over his tracks. The foliage was beaten down where he moved. Muck clung to his bare feet. Taz wondered if this was as close to feeling human as a warrior could get.

The girls and he were drenched. The rain was bitterly cold and he could hear Haven’s raspy breathing. Taz’s heart ached, his shield would be sobbing if it could, he knew. He could feel each time the shield tried to go up to keep the children safe, each time it faltered and tried and faltered. He was close when his knees buckled. The mud splashed up the sides of his thighs, he could see the cave; he could see Macey peering at him through small cracks, he could hear her calling him. She loved him, her fingers wiggled through the cracks reaching for him.

Both girls lay over his back and he crawled to the door. He shifted each onto the sodden ground and bellowing a roar with the last of his strength he yanked the door open less than two feet. He collapsed face first into the wet dirt. Macey screamed and was at his side.

“Can you help get them in?” Taz whispered.

Macey picked up Haven and put her next to the others. She did the same with Skylar. Finally she grabbed him under an arm and pulled, straining and yelling with her intense emotions. Once Taz was through the door, he struggled to pull it closed.

“No. Taz,” Macey cried out. “Find sunlight.”

“I can’t. Macey. After I bite them to wake them I’ll be done. I’ll have nothing left. You need to change their clothes and dry them off.”

The door crept closed inch by inch as Taz struggled to close it. Taz went to the others and one by one bit them all. When done he rolled into a corner and began shaking. Macey grabbed a blanket and began to dry him off. He told her to take care of the girls but she wouldn’t leave him.

“You can fix them when you heal,” she said.

“Change their clothes.”

“I will after I’m done,” she insisted.

Macey removed his pants and dressed him. She tucked a warm blanket up to his shoulders. She left for a few moments to change the girls and came back and cuddled beside him. Taz closed his eyes and wondered if they would ever open again.

“I love you, Macey.”

“This isn’t our cave,” Jinx said looking around. “I mean it’s not the one you first brought me to.”

“No not our old one, but this is our cave now,” Taz said.

Macey could see Taz struggling. He couldn’t lie. His words were barely above a whisper, he was shaking intermittently as though his body was too tired to move.

“It was late and there was a storm,” Macey began to concoct a story. “We needed to get away from the old cave quickly. It was filling with gas and Taz had to get us all out. Must have been an underground thing. We were lucky Taz is so strong.”

“You moved us all?” Haven asked.

“Yes.”

“No wonder you look so tired,” Skylar said.

Tired didn’t begin to describe the way Taz looked. He seemed half dead. Outside, a rain storm pelted the ground and Taz couldn’t regenerate. Macey crouched in front of him filled with concern.

“What do I do?” she whispered.

“I need food. I’m sorry. Without the sun only food will help, and only a little. If I eat everything and die anyway the others will starve to death. You will watch them all starve to death and be trapped in here with us all.”

The idea sent shivers up her spine, but if there was any chance. Macey grabbed the duffle bag they had. She held up a few cans of meat and vegetables and one tin of fruit. She sent a direct glance to each teen and Haven and her aunt.

“Taz needs our help. He needs this food. He has always made certain we don’t go without, some days he eats nothing. Jinx I know you don’t know us well, but Taz is a good person. He saved you and might need to again at some point. He has to have all of this,” Macey said.

“Of course he should,” Greta said. “I’m not hungry.

“Me either,” Haven said.

“I don’t need anything,” Skylar said.

“He did save my life; I thought for certain I was dying, my family is all gone. But at least I’m not alone,” Jinx said. She went to the cave opening and tried to pull the door back, she couldn’t budge it. She peeked through the few cracks in the solid door. “It’s all jungle out there, that’s so weird. What happened to the city that was in the distance?”

“Every area is different,” Taz said. It wasn’t a lie, his tone was strained.

“I know, but one moment there’s concrete not far from us and the next it looks like a different continent.”

“You know how odd the weather is,” Greta said. She took a can of spam and opened it. She handed the contents to Taz.

He was weak and Macey helped him eat, handing him chunks his trembling fingers took to his lips. It took effort to chew and Macey tried to mush the meat between her fingers as best as she could so he wouldn’t need to move his jaw. Macey kept her emotions calm and did her best not to touch him. She knew his secretions would strive to settle her; it would take more of his energy.

The day dragged tediously slow. The effects of the drug Taz gave them made all sleepy and since there was nowhere to go they all retired for the night.

All through the long night, Macey kept watch over Taz. His skin color turned a disturbing grey. He was dying right before her eyes. She couldn’t stand not touching him; she wished he could take strength from her. Macey wrapped her arms around him. He was limp, almost lifeless. Her brave, powerful warrior had been through and was going through a terrible ordeal. Macey was terrified for him. Their baby was strangely silent and unmoving.

“I can’t make you feel safe,” he whispered, his teeth clacked together, stopped, clacked, he was hunched as if his chest pained. His beautiful brown eyes were surrounded in a sickly yellow color. His fingernails were grey, his skin shriveling. She kissed his blue lips with tenderness.

“I want to make you feel safe, my love. Please don’t die. We need you. I love you.”

The first hints of sunlight filtered through the cracks in the double thick make shift doors. Macey helped him crawl over; he was too heavy to drag. His motor skills were spent before he reached their goal. The others were curled together in a heap sleeping. Macey wanted to scream her frustration. The sun was out, they were trapped; Taz was going to die if she didn’t do something.

“
Fuck,”
Macey snarled.

Taz lay prone on the ground only a foot from the mouth of the cave; he was too weak to push the door back. Too weak to move at all. Macey knew even if she woke the others they would never move it. She took Taz’s hand and guided it out a small hole near the bottom of the cave, working each finger through. The sun rose higher; the shadows of night slipped away inch by inch. The sun touched his finger tips and Taz twitched. He opened his palm into the rays and groaned.

Hand splayed, fingers danced to accept the sun light. He turned his wrist and dug his fingers into the ground pulling more of his bare flesh into the sunshine. Macey was stunned with the strength as his feet left marks on the dirt where they dragged as he moved. Soon his entire arm was engulfed. Macey crept before him, her hand to his face and he smiled with his eyes closed. Using his arm he pushed his weight further through the small opening. Macey began to rip at the wood. Using every ounce of strength she possessed, she yanked and tugged and further opened the hole, piece by tedious piece. Taz struggled his way closer to the rays. Macey pushed on his ass, groaning.

His face now in the sun’s rays, Taz shoved at the door and moved it farther back. He slipped through to the other side where Macey followed. She ripped open his shirt, buttons flying. He wore no shoes or socks. His jeans were undone. Taz rolled onto his belly. Macey slipped his jeans over his hips and Taz arched his back when the heat touched his ass and thighs. With a heave he got to his knees. He staggered to his feet, clenching and unclenching his fists.

The grey of his skin faded before her eyes. He was so beautiful.

“Taz?” Macey whispered.

He outstretched his arms and spun in a slow circle. Head, back, face to the skies. When he stopped he gazed at Macey and winked. The gorgeous brown eyes were brilliant surrounded in a healthy white. He grabbed her to his chest where his shield squealed its way over him inch by inch regenerating with every drop of light. Taz lowered his head and claimed her lips in a breathless kiss. When the kiss broke, Macey was shaking.

“I’m back,” he said.

He stripped Macey of her clothing. His shield enveloped her and Taz began to run. He moved against the larger trees with ease. Macey’s face was buried in his throat; his skin was the only scenery she craved.

* * * *

Macey stood next to Taz, pressed to his side. They had been living in their new cave home for four months. Her due date was close, she sensed it. She was in no danger. Not even a bull elephant could penetrate her baby shield. Everywhere she looked, as far as the eyes could see, were different animals. Elephants, giraffes, bears. Ostriches, lions, camels. At the lake swam alligators, crocodiles, anacondas and other creatures. Macey was overwhelmed. Taz brought her in his shield which adjusted to fit her in his arms sideways.

“Taz, where did these animals come from?” her awed tone was quiet. “You brought me here last month and there were a few, but this is overwhelming.”

“They migrated, like us, or perhaps escaped during the storms from places you called zoos.”

Two zebra played while being watched by a lazy hyena. Gazelle munched grass. Ducks, loons, swans paddled in a tiny pond near the lake. Macey thought it looked strangely like a picture from a child’s Bible. Harmony. A bear cub played with a lion cub.

“We’ll be all right here, won’t we?” Macey asked. “The skies seem quieter. I haven’t seen a spaceship for a while. It gets cold at night, but it’s mostly the rain season that’s annoying.”

It was an understatement. They ended up sealed in their cave for a few weeks when the rains wouldn’t let up. Macey worried over Taz, but he said his shield was fine. He was able to leave and travel a great distance to where the sun was shining. He made certain the others had food and the door was closed. He was never gone for more than a few hours. He returned after those trips haggard, but said nothing.

Taz hesitated then, with obviously guarded words answered. “For now we’re safe. Time will tell.”

His tail didn’t grow; he promised he would never lie to her. Macey settled her back against his chest wanting his comfort. The baby kicked inside her and she felt a small smile tug at the corners of her mouth.

“I think this is the best place to have our baby, Taz.”

Taz turned her within his embrace with great tenderness. “Now?”

Macey nodded. “It’s all right. I’m in no pain at all. I know she’s coming. I don’t know how I know, but I do. I also think you may have to watch from the sidelines. This baby shield is telling me even fathers need to keep their distance.”

Macey broke free from his arms and went to sit under a huge tree. She stripped while sitting. Taz crouched a few feet away.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I feel fine. There’s only a slight ripple against my belly telling me to push. There’s nothing else.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Macey gripped her knees and pushed. She wished Taz could hold her hand but every fiber of her being told her nothing male was allowed near. Taz was smiling, he picked up a tiny pebble and tossed it near her hip, it was rifled back at him.

“I thought so,” he said. “Your shield is up.”

“I know.”

She thought it stemmed from an ancient time. A time when a female went off to have her babe in peace. Macey watched in wonder as the head emerged followed by a shoulder. Macey had her daughter in her arms seconds later.

“Well, hello, little one. So you’re who’s been pummeling my insides. Nice to meet you.”

“Macey?”