Recruits (Keeper of the Water Book 2) (22 page)

“You
know
this guy?” Amelia asks.

I nod, still unable to vocalize the thoughts racing through my mind. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. John is paler than before, his face spotted with dirt and grime, several days’ worth of facial hair growth. But his weary eyes still burn with passion, even more so when he looks at me. His lips remain curled in a smile but it’s not the playful grin I’ve grown so accustomed to see from him. Instead, he appears to be as relieved as I feel.

“You’re dead,” I whisper.

“Reality seems to indicate otherwise,” he says. “And I assure you that I’m no ghost.”

I reach out and grab his arm – run my finger against the long scar there – to make certain that he’s indeed real.

“How?” I finally ask.

“I
did
feel life slipping away from my body as Cassie’s mother rowed me upriver. She wasn’t exactly supportive of me staying alive, not that I could blame her for wanting a thorn in her side gone forever,” John says. “But I refused to give in to death, refused to leave this world after learning what living is
truly
like with someone like you in my life. Finally understanding the meaning of love is what kept me hanging on… not to mention the little bit of diluted water you were able to get to me.”

I am
so
not the crying or romantic type – corny chick flicks and cute puppies don’t exactly do it for me. And had I heard some other guy give the ‘power of love’ explanation to another girl, it would have made me gag. But finding my mother safe and seeing John alive pushes me into emotional overdrive and a few tears trickle from the corners of my eyes. I hear Amelia snicker beside me and I quickly wipe away the tears. I hope she’s not too disappointed to see her tough mentor crumble like this because of a
mere
man.

Now that I remember more about being an Amazon, it dawns on me that a relationship with
any
man would be frowned upon. I try not to gaze upon John’s face so lovingly with my recruit close by but I can’t help it.

“Then what happened?”

“She stopped along the river and dragged me toward a small spring a few hundred meters into the forest. The water there was a bit bluer than usual, a bit colder. She explained that it had once been a source for the special water – ”

“He knows about our water?” Amelia interrupts.

If she was suspicious about John before, she’s downright hostile toward him now. He clearly means us no harm but that doesn’t stop me from making sure Amelia doesn’t make any threatening moves in his direction.

“I’ll explain later,” I tell her, trying to sound reassuring though I don’t think I quite succeed. I turn back to John. “Go ahead.”

“It was the same small spring from the ‘Adventure Tour’ we went on; I’m sure you remember that the water still has some residual healing effects,” John says. “Celeste took me all the way there but wouldn’t give me the water to heal my wounds until I promised her one thing.”

“To stay away from me,” I say, finishing his thought.

I’m convinced of this before he nods his head in agreement. A burst of anger explodes in my chest at the thought of Celeste causing me so much grief, though I can’t say I’m surprised by her decision. At least she didn’t just let John die…

“Not just you. More specifically Cassie,” he says. “Staying away from Cassie would be the easy part so I agreed. She gave me just enough water to save my life and slowly heal my stab wound, not that she stayed around long enough to make sure I was okay. As soon as I drank some water, she turned and left me.

“The healing process was slow and painful and I eventually passed out due to sheer exhaustion. When I woke up next to the spring, hours had passed and there was no sign of the raft. I was still alive but very weak and had no plan for what I was going to do next: I know I promised Celeste that I would stay away but the thought of dying sounded better than never seeing you again.

“I couldn’t let you think I died. I knew Celeste might kill me for coming back but that was a chance I was willing to take. I stumbled my way downriver until I reached your house. But the garage was burned down and your houses were empty – I was panicked. I didn’t know what happened to you though I figured Celeste took you and Cassie far away. I was determined to find you – it wouldn’t be the first time in the past that I had to track you down – and I spotted a fresh path cutting through the woods. I knew it was too obvious for you or Cassie or her mother to have made but I followed it anyway and found fresh tire marks from the Adventure Tour jeep. I never thought I’d find the jeep but was surprised to track it to a place nearby. I knew your mother was by herself so I waited around the motel in the hopes that you would come get her.

“And then you showed up.”

His voice cracks when he says the last few words and I can tell his concern for me is genuine. Regardless of Amelia watching, I throw my arms around John’s neck and kiss him, once again losing control of my emotions. I never expected to feel his lips pressed against mine. For a moment, I forget the craziness of the last few days – of my
entire life
for that matter – and become lost in his embrace. There’s still the pesky thought of avoiding the police and starting a new life somewhere but I have John back and my mother safe. In hindsight, I suppose she was never really in danger.

Danger. The word sends a tingle of warning shivering across my body. Cassie automatically pops into my mind. Even though I don’t know what’s happening to her, I sense she’s in serious trouble. The overwhelming relief I felt just moments ago instantly evaporates and fills my insides with dread. I don’t care about Cassie nearly as much as I do my mother or John, but I can’t deny the intense physical effects I feel right now from worrying about her: sweaty palms, flushed cheeks, a burst of energy that courses through my legs, which makes me want to run more than ever.

“We have to get back to them,” I say.

The smile disappears from John’s face. Once again I show an utter inability to say the right thing at the right time.

“Back to who?” he asks. By the frown on his face, I can tell he already knows the answer.

“You
know
,” I tell him. “Cassie.”

He slowly shakes his head. “She does nothing but bring drama to your life – to
both
of our lives. We can be much happier without her. I’ve never been so ready to leave the past in the past, as long as you’re by my side when I do it.”

“He’s right,” a tiny voice says from the corner. My mother still hasn’t budged an inch – and still looks just as frightened at the sight of John – but it’s not surprising that she agrees on this subject. “We don’t need to go back to Celeste and Cassie. Your father…” She chokes up at the mention of him – glares at John in the process – but her voice is stronger when she speaks again. “… he was the one that wanted us all to remain together for their business. Celeste needed to stay with us.”

Amelia is about to say something but I shoot her a look. She knows my look means for her to stay quiet. Mom obviously knows more about me and Cassie and the Amazons than any normal human would, but she still doesn’t know Dad’s true identity, doesn’t know why he was really with us. For that matter,
I
don’t know the whole story behind my father’s true motives.

And I
never
will, a fact that makes it difficult for me keep control of my emotions. All I know is that I’ll forever honor my father’s final wish and not let Mom find out who he really was.

I’d be lying if I say I don’t consider what John suggests, what Mom wants to do. Cassie has already taken so much from me and from the memories I’ve had of my past life, it’s clear that we’ve
never
liked each other. I could live free from danger with my mother. I could have John all to myself and not have to worry about the strange pull that Cassie has on him. The thought of escaping the drama and starting my life anew
is
very tempting. But I don’t even need to look at Amelia to know what my recruit is thinking and ultimately I feel the same way, even if I may not like it.

“I can’t just abandon them,” I say. “No matter how much I want to.”

Mom and John don’t know what it’s like to be an Amazon, don’t know the feeling of loyalty I have for my fellow sisters of the water. I’m sure Amelia feels just as strongly as I do, if not more considering
she
still has all of her memories. My mother frowns but nods – I think she knew what my decision would be all along. John remains stone-faced, though it’s hard to miss his clenched jaw muscles.

“Then what’s next?” he yawns.

My mother and he look equally exhausted. The intensity of the tingling has eased so I’m able to think a bit more clearly. We have a long journey ahead of us and everyone will need strength for it.

“Next is rest,” I say. “We’ve all had a lot of stress to deal with and could use a good night’s sleep.”

My mother finally stands from the corner and crawls into the first of the room’s two single beds, curling up while turning her back to us. It doesn’t take long before we hear her quietly crying; it still seems hard to believe that my dad was killed only yesterday. Amelia says she isn’t tired and excuses herself to stand guard outside. I suspect she’s starting to feel how cramped the motel room is, especially with so much drama and tension squeezed into such a small space.

Mom is sleeping within minutes, leaving John and me with a bit of privacy. He sits on the second bed and pats the spot beside him.

“You should get some sleep, too,” I say.

“I’m not that tired,” he answers. “And I want to hear about everything that happened since the last time we saw each other.”

I still remember standing on the edge of the river, watching Celeste row away as John barely clung to life, wondering if it would be the last time I ever saw him. My worst nightmare had come true and though it was only short-lived, so much has happened in that small amount of time, so much of my past and who I really am has been unlocked in my mind. I wish I could go back to how I felt about John but that no longer seems possible. Something is different about me, whether I want it to be or not.

“Nothing happened that I couldn’t handle,” I tell him, hesitant to give too many details. “I should wait outside so you can sleep.”

I start to stand but he grabs my arm, his grip firm but not rough.

“Please, don’t go far,” he says. When I nod, he finally lets go of my arm and lies down. “I don’t know what it is you have to accomplish but I meant what I said: I really hope we can be together one day, carefree. Finding you was the only reason I wanted to stay alive.” He lets out a long yawn. “But you’re right about one thing: I didn’t sleep at all since I followed your mother here. I was afraid she would leave or you would show up and I’d miss you.”

I don’t quite know what to say. The initial shock of finding him alive is wearing off so I’m able to corral my emotions. A big part of me still wants to be with him but I… I just don’t know, I don’t know what I want, I don’t know what to think. All I
do
know is that the more memories come back to me, the more wary John makes me, a feeling I can’t exactly explain.
Celeste
would certainly know the answers to my questions, though the thought of her enrages me at the moment. She lied to me
and
Cassie about John’s death, though I’m sure that was more for her daughter’s benefit.

Why is she so desperate to keep the two of them apart? I’m about to ask him but his eyes are already closing. Instead, I glance at his arm and decide to inquire about another mystery, one that should be much easier for him to answer.

“How did you get that scar?”

Though his eyes are shut, one of his trademark grins crosses his lips. But this time it seems sneaky rather than playful, though maybe that’s because my guard is raised.

“Got into a fight with the wrong person,” he says.

He offers no further explanation and is soon snoring. I watch him sleep for several minutes, still amazed to see him breathing, though even more curious to figure out why he suddenly makes me so worried. I finally stand from the bed and head toward the door when another voice stops me.

“Don’t leave me alone with him,” my mother whispers.

“If you still don’t trust him, why did you convince Celeste to save him?” I ask, recalling Mom’s surprising decision yesterday when John was dying.

“He didn’t deserve to die but that doesn’t make him trustworthy,” she says, the same thought I’m afraid to be having. “It might seem like he’s a better person now but a tiger doesn’t change its stripes.”

And John has certainly had some bad stripes in the past. As well-known explorer Juan Ponce de Leon, he joined a list of conquistadors who committed heinous atrocities for the sake of opening up unknown parts of the globe. That doesn’t even include what the history books
don’t
know about Ponce de Leon’s earliest encounter with the Amazon tribe. But my mother was never part of the Amazons and has had such limited interaction with them that I question the source of her fear for him.

“What did he do that was so bad?”