Free Metal Deep 2: Something Beautiful by G. X. Knight Page B

with me. My head bobbed while I fought the fatigue I thought would never leave. The door to the outside creaked open slowly, which yanked me to alertness, as my eyes adjusted to the painful jabs of morning orange that surrounded Maeve as she entered our room. Her lithe form came into focus, and I wished I could have been a camera to record what I had seen. She had gone from Anime-Xena to Girl-Next-Door.
     
    Her fire red hair was in a simple pony tail that swung from shoulder to shoulder as she walked through the room checking to see that we had gotten everything. She had found a small white and brown plaid western-style button down, and her jeans were tucked into brown knee high boots that had killer spikes for heels. There was nothing about her that said, “Hey, I have supernatural armor that flies, and I can filet you with swords.”
     
    I asked if she wanted any of the remaining burgers, but she said something about having eaten a salad down in the car. She lost my interest at “salad,” and I became disinterested in whatever she was doing while I happily finished the bag off as we prepared to leave.
     
    Where did she get a car? I had no idea. It was like she had a little secret team of invisible people doing her bidding collecting food, clothes, and automobiles. I looked around for signs, curious if every stray thought now had merit. These were now the days where anything was possible.
     
    We went to leave but she stopped in the doorway and turned around and put a hand to my chest before I ran into her. Apparently her invisible little people nabbed some body spray as she was getting ready, because the soft rolling scent of wild cherry flowers tickled my nose and tightened my breath. She let a grin slip in before pointing to the gloves and glasses in my hand. “Put those on.”
     
    “It’s seventy degrees out there and the sun’s not even up all the way?” I shook the gloves at her. “No.”
     
    Maeve folded her arms appearing quite resolute with the demand. I believed she might turn back into the knight woman and throw me around, again, not in the good way, so I did what I was told. After a quick look to see if anyone was around she waved me to follow her once it was clear. She trekked swiftly across the lot to a waiting old school GTO. I tried to keep up as best I could while she was waving for me keep up. For whatever reason, she seemed really worried about us being spotted by anybody .
     
    The ruby red GTO grumbled out of the parking lot like a beast ready to chew up some pavement, and Maeve floored it letting the beast eat all it wanted. I managed to make it for thirty minutes before the silence had been too much. There was nothing to look at but sand and oil pumps. I was bored and going stir crazy.
     
    “Thanks for the new clothes.” I said. “You have great taste.”
     
    “I know.” She replied casually in a cute Celtic twinge. She looked me over. I could tell she was proud of herself. False humility had always been a turn-off anyway.
     
    “So do you think I could get a little bit of an explanation about what else has been happening?”
     
    She poked an eye brow up and totally ignored my question with her response. “Look into that mirror. What do you see?”
     
    Again she asked me about what I saw. I took down the visor, and studied my face for a hint of what could be wrong. It was as it always had been, devilishly handsome. “I see me,” I said. “…nothing more, nothing less.”
     
    She didn’t answer right away, and I didn’t press her. I knew she was holding back; it seemed like she wanted to let me in on what she was hiding. I’m not just referring to me either. It was just a feeling, but it felt like she was running from something, besides the Street Vipers she had waylaid back in Colorado. I felt like my new mantra was going to be: Best not to dwell on it. So I moved on.
     
    I turned the old fashioned radio dial on, and a Drew Hale song flowed like a smooth river from the