Chapter Twenty-One
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ARKAS FOUND WEAPONS when he searched the house while Oaklie was carrying boxes of food to the truck. He took two rifles and spare boxes of ammo. The cambion was sitting behind the steering wheel, adjusting her seat when he left the house. “We need to make a stop at the blue house,” he requested.
“No problem,” Oaklie agreed, then started the engine. The truck was a bit cramped for someone of his size. Patches of rust were beginning to set in here and there, marring the faded red paint. It ran fine when his companion reversed and turned onto the road.
Keeping a watch for insane humans, Arkas worked out how to use the rifles, but didn’t fire off any shots. “I hope we don’t have to use these, but it might pay to be prepared,” he figured.
“I’ve never fired a gun before,” Oaklie said, flicking the weapons a mistrustful look.
“I thought you hunted animals for food,” he said with a frown.
“I do,” she confirmed. “I use wood as my weapons.”
“You spear the animals with branches you coax from trees?” he guessed, having witnessed the wounds she’d left on her assailants’ corpses.
“Among other things,” she replied vaguely. She drove the short distance to his base and pulled into the driveway. “I’ll wait here,” she said, turning the truck around to face the road again.
“I won’t be long,” the knight said and climbed out.
He hurried over to the house and let himself in, then climbed the stairs to the attic.
Grabbing the tools and the figurine he’d carved, he shoved them into a backpack and hunted for more clothes.
He loped back outside, closing the door behind him.
He wasn’t sorry to be leaving the place and he couldn’t wait to find his brothers.
“We’ll stay at my place tonight and leave early in the morning,” Oaklie said, cocking an eyebrow at him to see what his reaction would be.
“Sounds like a plan,” he agreed amiably.
He had to slouch down in his seat so his head didn’t brush the roof as she drove them both to her home.
Proving she was as intelligent as she was beautiful, she avoided the town.
It wouldn’t be wise to be spotted driving around in the truck.
Someone might decide to follow them and try to steal it.
They made it to her property and Oaklie drove right up to the wide gate. The logs swung open, leaving enough room for her to drive the vehicle through. “It should be safe enough to leave it out here overnight,” she figured. “But we’d better put the tarp over the back.”
Rain was beginning to splatter on the windshield again.
They climbed out and she helped Arkas tie the tarp she’d found in the barn over the bed of the truck.
Leaving the boxes of food on the back seat of the vehicle, they hurried over to the house.
Oaklie unlocked the door with her magic and they entered just as another storm struck.
It was almost dark by now and it would have been treacherous driving in weather like this. “What now?” Arkas asked, already bored.
“Now I want to see the carving you did of me,” Oaklie demanded, holding her hand out for it.
Arkas froze for a moment, feeling bashful. “I’m just an amateur,” he hedged. “I’m not a master artist like you.”
“Hand it over, Arkas,” she commanded, opening and closing her fingers impatiently. “Don’t make me take it from you by force.”
He smiled at the playful tone in her voice, then reluctantly opened his backpack. “Don’t laugh,” he requested, then took the figurine out and handed it to her.
Oaklie took it from him, then it was her turn to freeze when she saw her own face staring back at her. “Oh, my,” she said in wonder, tracing a finger down the long locks that fell to the female figurine’s waist. “It looks exactly like me.”
“I know,” he said with a hint of smugness. “It’s my best work,” he added shyly.
“It’s amazing,” the cambion said with genuine awe. “It’s mine now,” she added and turned to walk away.
“What?” he exclaimed in dismay. “I made that! It’s mine!”
“You claimed my stag,” she reminded him smugly. “I’m claiming this.”
Arkas was torn with indecision. He didn’t want to give up either of the carvings.
Then reason returned to him when he remembered why he existed.
“Fine,” he grumbled. “Keep it,” he added.
He would only be able to keep the stag until they either won or lost their war.
Then Fate would send him back to the Void to slumber in stasis for another five-thousand years.
“I’m going to take a shower,” Oaklie said. “I’ll sense it if you leave this floor.”
“What do you think I’m going to do?” he asked sourly. “Turn into Eli and try to accost you?”
“Maybe,” the cambion said with a pointed look at his groin. He’d gone hard as soon as he’d pictured her wet and naked. “Men are capable of all sorts of horrible things,” she said glumly, then headed upstairs.
“Damn it,” Arkas said softly, looking down at his wayward erection.
What was it about this female that got him worked up so easily?
A thought occurred to him and he chuckled silently.
“I want to do a perimeter check!” he called out.
“Can you unlock a door for me?” Her response was to make the front door swing open.
“Thanks!” he said, then strode outside into the rain.
Arkas kept up the pretense and began walking the perimeter of the property, following the fence.
Once he was sure the cambion was in the shower, he raced over to the barn.
Grabbing the statue of himself, he carried it to the truck and stashed it in the bed on a tarp.
He tucked some old blankets he’d found in the barn around it to stop it from rolling around and making any noise.
“My female is going to be furious when she finds out I’ve stolen the statue,” he whispered, then snickered, casting a furtive look at the house over his shoulder. She wasn’t peering at him through any of the windows, so he figured he’d gotten away with his thievery.
Resuming his patrol, he was having trouble seeing through the downpour.
His other senses were fully operational and he didn’t feel any intruders in the area.
Oaklie was in the living room, setting the logs in the fireplace aflame when he returned.
She’d wrapped a towel around her hair, but still looked stunning to him.
“You’re soaked,” she said in amusement when she glanced at him. “Wait there and I’ll get you a towel so you don’t drip water everywhere.”
Arkas was glad he’d gained control over his libido again. She was wearing a bulky sweater and sweatpants that hid her figure. He obediently stayed put until she returned with a fluffy white towel. “Thanks,” he said, then he began to strip.
Oaklie spun around to put her back to him. “I’ll wring your clothes out in the sink and hang them up by the fire,” she said in a slightly husky tone.
“Why are you so shy, female?” he asked slyly. “You’ve already seen me naked.”
“Only in statue form,” she retorted, steadfastly looking away. “If you flash your meat and potatoes at me, I’ll make you regret it.”
Arkas burst into laughter and she giggled in reaction. “Humans have become so strange,” he said, wrapping the towel around his waist. Her husky voice had made him hard again. He was glad her back was still to him.
“Are you done?” she asked.
“I’m naked,” he replied. “Except for the towel,” he added when her back stiffened.
She reached one hand behind herself and he handed her his sodden clothing. “Leave your shoes next to the door,” she requested, then hurried into the kitchen.
Arkas had dried himself with the towel, but his hair was still wet.
He crossed to the fireplace and sank down onto the thick brown rug.
Raising one knee effectively hid his stiff shaft from her as she snuck glances at him.
He had a feeling it was going to be sweet torture trapped in the rusty old truck with his beautiful female during their long journey ahead.