Angel Burn (Book 1 Of Angel Trilogy)

Chapter 26| Staying Together...

Chapter 26| Staying Together... 

Lucy's POV

We came to a rest stop about an hour after we got back onto the state highway— a brown-painted building with vending machines on its porch and a few empty picnic tables scattered about. Natsu pulled over behind the building, out of sight from the road.

In the ladies' room, I swapped my T-shirt for a fresh one and stood at the sink, splashing water on my face. Some of it got on my hurt arm, turning streaks of dried blood a pale, runny red.

The mirror was one of those metallic ones that you can hardly see yourself in, but I could see enough to realize that I looked like something out of a horror film, the way my hurt arm had red snaking down it. I smiled faintly as I imagined Levy: Oh, my God, it's Lucy Meets the Zombies! Somebody get Steven Spielberg on the phone! Then my smile faded.

What would she say if she knew the truth about what I was? Trying not to think about it, I wiped the blood off with a moistened paper towel, working around the square of Natsu's T-shirt. Then I dug my hairbrush out of my bag and combed my hair back, tying it up into a knot.

"Hey," said Natsu's voice. I glanced up; he was standing in the doorway holding a small first-aid kit. "Can I come in? We should probably get your arm fixed up."

I could hardly meet his eyes. "Yeah, sure."

He had pulled on a blue T-shirt and looked like he'd splashed water on himself, too; his arms and neck were slightly wet. So was his hair, as if he'd stuck it under the tap. The urge to touch the dampness of it where it lay against his neck was almost overwhelming. I glanced away.

Coming over to the sinks, Natsu gently took my arm; I winced as he unwrapped the strip of T-shirt. Once it was washed off, the wound didn't look that bad, though it was sort of deep. Natsu cleaned it with a tube of antiseptic from the first-aid kit and wrapped gauze around it. His hands were skillful, efficient.

"You really know what you're doing," I said.

He shrugged, his spiky pink hair falling across his forehead. "We had to do everything for ourselves at the camp. There wasn't a doctor for miles." He secured the gauze with tape, firming it in place with a finger. The finger lingered for a moment, and then he let his hand drop. "OK, I think you'll live."

I touched the bandage. "So. . . what now?"

Natsu shook his head as he started to pack up the first-aid kit. "I don't know," he said. "It sounds like there aren't any AKs left now, apart from me. Even if there are, I don't have any way to find them. Gray—" He stopped, pain creasing his face. "Gray was the one person I thought I could trust," he said finally.

I didn't want to ask, but I had to know. "Natsu, do you still. . . do you want to stay together? You don't have to, if you'd rather not. I could go off on my own, or something."

His head jerked up. "What are you talking about?" I can't lose her... I don't want to, Natsu thought to himself.

"You're in so much danger with me, and—" I looked away, hugging myself. "And after what you saw today, I wouldn't blame you. I mean, I know you've seen my angel before, but not like that. It must have been—" My mouth tightened; I couldn't continue.

"Lucy." His voice was very soft. "What I saw was your angel protecting me. When I was in trouble, she protected me even before she protected you." He leaned against the sink, not taking his gaze from my face. "Did you know she was doing it? Or was she something separate from you?"

I didn't want to answer this; it felt too exposing, too raw. But to lie about it would be to deny everything I felt about him. "No, it wasn't separate," I whispered. "I didn't know it was going to happen, but once it did. . . I was the angel. I— I didn't want anything to hurt you."