10-04-2018, 03:17 PM
Excitement fluttered a rapid pulse. Skin burned. Flared to life by the graze of a musician’s touch. He found himself shuddering beneath her tease. But the shudders pulled lips to wide smiles smothered with hers at the very same time. Jay wanted to laugh. Delight burst like sunshine breaching stormclouds. Where Natalie led he followed blindly, glimpsing only the halo of golden hair for a guide. How could something so perfect existed after so much was broken? Neither of them were the model of faultlessness. But somehow, the broken pieces of each soul fit with the shards of the other until something beautiful was created in the combination. Strangers apart, scattered and searching. The flickering light drawing each nearer. The night was less frightening. Less lonely. That need drew Jay’s hands around Natalie, pulling close. Yet not close enough. Her gasps and breaths darted like shooting stars; sparking the need to seal the meager distance all the more fiercely. Designs formed in his head. Heedless of all rationality. Remembering nothing about the present; but remembering everything about forever.
Her laughter sparkled like golden treasure. Jewels to be hoarded, chased down until the next one glimmered in random light. He laughed just as much. Glancing ever so slightly toward their witnesses. Grins curled lopsided, but the weight of his head after so much weightlessness was unbearable. He sank his face into her shoulder, drowning in a golden blanket of silk. She smelled like the forest flanking a wayward trail home. He’d plunge reckless into that thick tangle of the future so long as he knew she waited within. He’d never stop searching; even if he walked in circles until dust he returned.
The joy piqued. Jay trailed a finger around her face. The muss of her hair apparently tossled by his own ardent desires. From chiseled perfection at the ball. A sculpture of a woman carved from ice and marble, to one flashing with warmth and desire, the constant flickering of her two sides made him possessive of the fact he glimpsed both.
Yet they were both a long ways from where they needed to be. Need and duty eventually drove Natalie back to reason. A dream of a moment burst. But no less real for the moments it existed. He could sustain on that memory alone for the rest of his life if necessary. Hopefully that life stretched out longer than the next few days.
He caged her hand in his, trailing the smooth palms with his own rough fingertips. Her nails shone, but it was the well-healed scars on her wrists that Jay yearned to cover like a heavy blanket. Skin patched together, but wounds remained. Such delineation of healing was a concept he quite astutely appreciated.
Zacarias’ name haunted him like a ghost that would never leave. Thing was, how did a man exorcise a haunting beyond his control? If he killed Zacarias, another spirit would likely rise from the grave. Dismantling an entire cartel took the work of governments, special forces and SEAL teams. Jay was but one man. Maybe he held more weapons than ever before, but thing was, even slamming the cartel with everything they had once before only drove the beast back into the den. It licked its wounds and emerged angry. Zacarias was a figure: a flesh and blood enemy. But out there somewhere another amorphous devil commanded the horde.
His shoulders sank despite the ally in Natalie. He’d wanted to shield her from all this, but the war within to tell her was at bloody stalemate.
He looked at her with a longing so deep that he was sure she’d read his mind.
“You have to know. I couldn’t tell anyone.” Images flashed like lightning, burning the back of retinas already red and blistering. A dark beach. Water flowing. Jungles and humidity. Excitement twisted in the gut until there was no room for anything except brute motor function. Action, calculated, but robotic. Analyzing every moment. Poised to react to a million different outcomes. Yet small things burst in his memory. The sound of a bird breaking the silent humidity like thunder. Boot catching on an unexpected rock. The color of that little girl’s shirt as she huddled against Andres, the man threatening the kid like a dirty hostage.
“Guess it’s not like my oaths to the Constitution mean much anymore, though.”
Most people, foreign and domestic, assumed the military served the federal government. Maybe the President directly. In wartime, the President acted as head of the military once Congress delegated such power to him; an authority Congress could reverse at any time. Such was the balance of powers between the arms of the government. But it wasn’t true; not exactly. The armed forces served the Constitution; not any one man. Not a body of men. The Constitution. The first line of Jay’s oaths were writ on his bones. I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. Admitting their loss was like ripping his skeleton from his skin. Not exactly a pleasant thing to endure.
Head hung, hands still. Natalie’s felt heavier now, but to them he clung. Just like he clung to the vow of blood binding him to Cayli. Oaths, vows, blood and allegiance. They all twisted to tangles unrecognizable. He licked his lips. Throat wanting to deny what his heart yearned to utter. But he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t tell her everything. Not yet. To do so meant those oaths were dust blown away by the winds of a torrential life. Jay couldn’t let them crumble yet. He could tell her one thing, though.
“Zacarias is right to want his revenge.”
Shame stirred like the tornadoes of his stormy life kicked that dust skyward. Hopefully Natalie wasn’t too frightened by the prospect. Images likely formed in her own head then. Brutality satiated within the man she kissed so passionately, but it was only a matter of time before blood in the water drew the beast to the surface. She’d read the file; she already knew. Why didn’t shame veil her eyes when she looked at him? They veiled his.
Texas bought time, she was right. But they needed that time. Each day helped. “I am trying to find the one that ordered the strike in the first place. There’s something going on that ties us all together, but I don’t know what it is, or who to seek. We’ve stumbled upon something that stretches higher than I’ve ever considered. This is governments, Natalie. Zacarias was at the ball. He walked in the shadow of Ascendancy. The Pentagon, maybe Congress is involved. The White House? I don’t know.” His words dribbled forth like raindrops once the cloud finally broke. All he knew spilled forth.
“Cayli’s doctor is somehow woven in as well. He’s not what he claims to be; he’s chasing channelers; Sickness survivors. And he’s also from Washington. So that bodes well.” He dug around inside a jacket pocket a moment and retrieved a badge. Showed it to Natalie. It was Diaz’s NIH security credentials. “I might have done a little breaking and entering,” an unapologetic smirk crossed his lips. Hard to feel guilty over the bastard. Dark, perhaps. But sometimes a little darkness showed the light.
“Does the name Roswell Jenkins mean anything to you?”
Her laughter sparkled like golden treasure. Jewels to be hoarded, chased down until the next one glimmered in random light. He laughed just as much. Glancing ever so slightly toward their witnesses. Grins curled lopsided, but the weight of his head after so much weightlessness was unbearable. He sank his face into her shoulder, drowning in a golden blanket of silk. She smelled like the forest flanking a wayward trail home. He’d plunge reckless into that thick tangle of the future so long as he knew she waited within. He’d never stop searching; even if he walked in circles until dust he returned.
The joy piqued. Jay trailed a finger around her face. The muss of her hair apparently tossled by his own ardent desires. From chiseled perfection at the ball. A sculpture of a woman carved from ice and marble, to one flashing with warmth and desire, the constant flickering of her two sides made him possessive of the fact he glimpsed both.
Yet they were both a long ways from where they needed to be. Need and duty eventually drove Natalie back to reason. A dream of a moment burst. But no less real for the moments it existed. He could sustain on that memory alone for the rest of his life if necessary. Hopefully that life stretched out longer than the next few days.
He caged her hand in his, trailing the smooth palms with his own rough fingertips. Her nails shone, but it was the well-healed scars on her wrists that Jay yearned to cover like a heavy blanket. Skin patched together, but wounds remained. Such delineation of healing was a concept he quite astutely appreciated.
Zacarias’ name haunted him like a ghost that would never leave. Thing was, how did a man exorcise a haunting beyond his control? If he killed Zacarias, another spirit would likely rise from the grave. Dismantling an entire cartel took the work of governments, special forces and SEAL teams. Jay was but one man. Maybe he held more weapons than ever before, but thing was, even slamming the cartel with everything they had once before only drove the beast back into the den. It licked its wounds and emerged angry. Zacarias was a figure: a flesh and blood enemy. But out there somewhere another amorphous devil commanded the horde.
His shoulders sank despite the ally in Natalie. He’d wanted to shield her from all this, but the war within to tell her was at bloody stalemate.
He looked at her with a longing so deep that he was sure she’d read his mind.
“You have to know. I couldn’t tell anyone.” Images flashed like lightning, burning the back of retinas already red and blistering. A dark beach. Water flowing. Jungles and humidity. Excitement twisted in the gut until there was no room for anything except brute motor function. Action, calculated, but robotic. Analyzing every moment. Poised to react to a million different outcomes. Yet small things burst in his memory. The sound of a bird breaking the silent humidity like thunder. Boot catching on an unexpected rock. The color of that little girl’s shirt as she huddled against Andres, the man threatening the kid like a dirty hostage.
“Guess it’s not like my oaths to the Constitution mean much anymore, though.”
Most people, foreign and domestic, assumed the military served the federal government. Maybe the President directly. In wartime, the President acted as head of the military once Congress delegated such power to him; an authority Congress could reverse at any time. Such was the balance of powers between the arms of the government. But it wasn’t true; not exactly. The armed forces served the Constitution; not any one man. Not a body of men. The Constitution. The first line of Jay’s oaths were writ on his bones. I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. Admitting their loss was like ripping his skeleton from his skin. Not exactly a pleasant thing to endure.
Head hung, hands still. Natalie’s felt heavier now, but to them he clung. Just like he clung to the vow of blood binding him to Cayli. Oaths, vows, blood and allegiance. They all twisted to tangles unrecognizable. He licked his lips. Throat wanting to deny what his heart yearned to utter. But he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t tell her everything. Not yet. To do so meant those oaths were dust blown away by the winds of a torrential life. Jay couldn’t let them crumble yet. He could tell her one thing, though.
“Zacarias is right to want his revenge.”
Shame stirred like the tornadoes of his stormy life kicked that dust skyward. Hopefully Natalie wasn’t too frightened by the prospect. Images likely formed in her own head then. Brutality satiated within the man she kissed so passionately, but it was only a matter of time before blood in the water drew the beast to the surface. She’d read the file; she already knew. Why didn’t shame veil her eyes when she looked at him? They veiled his.
Texas bought time, she was right. But they needed that time. Each day helped. “I am trying to find the one that ordered the strike in the first place. There’s something going on that ties us all together, but I don’t know what it is, or who to seek. We’ve stumbled upon something that stretches higher than I’ve ever considered. This is governments, Natalie. Zacarias was at the ball. He walked in the shadow of Ascendancy. The Pentagon, maybe Congress is involved. The White House? I don’t know.” His words dribbled forth like raindrops once the cloud finally broke. All he knew spilled forth.
“Cayli’s doctor is somehow woven in as well. He’s not what he claims to be; he’s chasing channelers; Sickness survivors. And he’s also from Washington. So that bodes well.” He dug around inside a jacket pocket a moment and retrieved a badge. Showed it to Natalie. It was Diaz’s NIH security credentials. “I might have done a little breaking and entering,” an unapologetic smirk crossed his lips. Hard to feel guilty over the bastard. Dark, perhaps. But sometimes a little darkness showed the light.
“Does the name Roswell Jenkins mean anything to you?”
Only darkness shows you the light.