I walked fast, knowing that being out in the open was not safe. As we had driven all over the map, Niko had spent some of those endless hours lecturing. He'd talked about history, about science and math, about English. And he'd talked about safety. About the importance of being fit, of keeping your eye on the target and your back to the wall. About staying out of elevators (steel boxes of death, he'd casually called them) and why a good knife or sword was superior to a gun in most situations. "(I'll teach you how to use both soon, Cal," he'd said.) About how to track someone, and how to avoid being tracked. That was the knowledge I was trying to use now. It was harder to do than I'd thought, especially considering I'd never had a chance to practice it before. And I was trying to move fast.

Keeping to the pebbles along the side of the highway kept my footprints to a minimum, but every car that drove by illuminated me in its headlights. I would have taken the Jeep, but I'd never driven before, considering that up until a couple months ago, I'd been fourteen. Niko was practical, but he was also as law-abiding as Sophia's "lifestyle" allowed him to be. He hadn't seen reason to teach a kid barely fourteen to drive yet.

Reluctantly, I dropped back down into the ditch, letting the sparse trees on the side of the highway hide me some. Better to leave some tracks but be mostly hidden from plain sight than to be seen by everyone driving by, right? Niko would be relieved I was gone once he let himself be, but he'd make an attempt to find me, and he had the Jeep. I couldn't let him find me, for his own safety. Because if he found me, he'd feel obliged to take me back. He was a good brother like that.

Neither the trees nor the pebbles would keep the Grendels from finding me, of course, but I couldn't think about that. Thinking about that would only send me screaming. So I shoved it down as far as it could go in the back of my head and slogged on through the darkness.

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I jammed my feet into my boots and ran out into the parking lot, hoping I was wrong and Cal had only stepped outside for a minute. Why he'd do that, I didn't know, but I didn't understand why he would leave a few twenties and his hotel key behind and go either. Then again, Cal hadn't spoken in two months. Who knew what was going on in his head?

The parking lot wasn't well lit, but even so, it was obvious that Cal wasn't there. I chose a direction and started to run, looking for any evidence of his passing. Bent grass, or footprints left in the dirt that made up the parking area. Anything.

Honestly, what would possess him? Was he trying to get himself killed? Or taken again? I'd dealt with him being stolen from me once. Another time would probably kill me. He'd better have a good explanation for this, or I was going to murder him myself! I shook my head. The damn kid didn't even talk. How the hell was I going to get him to explain himself?

What if they had taken him again? What if the money and the keys were some kind of feint by the Grendels themselves? They could have my little brother in their murderous, clawed grip right now. What if I was wasting my time looking for Cal, and he was gone again, to a place where I couldn't go, couldn't save him? I squelched the panic building in my chest. I couldn't think like that. I just couldn't.

There! The dirt was misplaced, shoved to the side, as though a booted foot had slipped. I'd talked to Cal about rudimentary tracking, but who knew how much of that he had absorbed? It was hard to tell when he mostly sat in the passenger seat curled in a ball and staring off into the distance. Hopefully, he hadn't caught too much of it. The footprint said he hadn't. Because that was, without a doubt, a mark from his combat boots. I recognized them; they used to be mine. And they were too big on him still, which was probably why he slipped.

I started off in that direction, eyes scanning for any more sign of him. At least now I had proof that he wasn't spirited away by the Grendels this time.

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About twenty minutes after I'd begun my hasty trip through the woods, I felt a droplet of water hit my head. Then another. A quick glance up into the blackness of the sky got me a third one straight in my eyeball. Great. It was going to rain. Of course it was.

I started to move faster, because the rain would make tracking me even easier. Once Niko gave up searching in the car, he was going to try going on foot. Niko did everything thoroughly. He wouldn't give up on finding me until he'd given it his best shot.

I broke into a jog, grunting a little at the exertion. I had always been lazy, and even though I had no idea where I'd been when they took me, my body told me that I hadn't exactly been doing a lot of exercise there. I quickly squashed that thought in the back of my mind and continued to pick my way through the trees, which seemed to be getting sparser as I became more aware of my foot starting to throb and my increasing inability to catch my breath.

And then, up far ahead, I saw something. Lights. Which meant a town. Probably a small one, like one of the many tiny places that Niko and I had traveled through with Sophia as children. But it was technically civilization, and there might be a place to hide and wait Nik out. Small town people didn't always lock their doors. That was a lesson I'd learned from Sophia.

Suddenly, the sky above me opened in a deluge. I put on an extra burst of speed, ignoring the stitch in my side and the throbbing of my feet.

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I jogged as fast as I could through the woods, following the clear trail Cal had left. I could see that he'd tried to keep me from tracking him, going up along the highway at first, but he'd obviously realized that everyone who drove by could see him in their headlights, and returned to the line of trees along the ditch. Fortunately, it was easier to see where he'd been there. He may as well have left a trail of stones like Hansel and Gretel.

The rain started then, and I found myself swearing under my breath, speeding up so I wouldn't lose the trail. Rain was a mixed blessing and curse-it would make new tracks easier to see, but it also might wash away any older tracks that he'd left. I didn't want to just assume he'd continued down a highway in a straight line, even if that appeared to be what he'd done. That was a terrible strategy for trying to lose a tracker. Then again, Cal obviously hadn't been thinking straight. Why would he run off like this anyway?

He'd been so afraid of everything-bolting off into the woods seemed out of character considering that the kid was usually terrified whenever I wasn't in his direct line of sight. And the last few days had been so strange. In some ways, he seemed like he was doing better. He wasn't waking up screaming as often, and he managed to answer my yes or no questions with a shake of his head, something that he hadn't bothered to acknowledge in the prior months. But he was also twitchy, jumpy in a different way than he'd been before. I didn't really know what to make of it; it had been part of the reason I'd taken such a long shower. I'd been trying to understand the puzzle that was Cal, and not really getting anywhere with it.

And then, up ahead, I saw it. Barely visible in the dark, lit only by the moon overhead and the lights from the small town in the distance, was a person. Running awkwardly, holding his side, somewhat hobbled by combat boots that I knew were too big for his feet. Cal.

"Cal!" I yelled.

Cal's head whipped around, but he was too far ahead for me to see his expression. I pushed myself, running as fast as I could. I could see him trying to pick up the pace, but the kid was obviously lagging. I'd have to remedy that, I thought absently as I gained on him.

"Stop!" I hollered after him, gaining on him quickly. But Cal kept trying to run, even though at this point it was really closer to a sad, limping crawl. He was weighed down by layers of wet clothes, too big for him too. It wasn't a fair race.

I was fine with that.

"Damn it Cal, stop!" I yelled, right in his ear since I was practically on top of him. I grabbed his arms, jerking him to a stop.

I didn't expect him to struggle like he did. He was silent, panting, fighting like a wild animal. He kicked and scratched at me ineffectually, baring his teeth. The overall effect was like watching a wet, angry kitten fight a bulldog. He was trying, even making an attempt to kick me in the groin, but his technique was non-existent and he was plainly exhausted.

Suddenly he let his legs go boneless. I hadn't been expecting that, and I let him drop. He rolled away from me and struggled to his feet in time for me to grab him again. I sighed. He was going to hurt himself if we kept this up.

"Enough, Cal," I said, grabbing him around the waist and swinging him over my shoulder in a fireman's carry. He continued to struggle, pummeling my back with his fists, wiggling, and kicking. There was enough fight in him for it to hurt, but not enough to bruise, and so I let him wear himself out. He wasn't going anywhere but back to the hotel with me.

Suddenly, a sharp pain made me jerk. Holy Buddha, that little asshole had bit me! I brought my hand down sharply on the skinny, wet backside slung over my shoulder. "Knock it off!" I warned him. He jerked at the swat and paused for a moment, then continued with his pitiful struggles to get free. He didn't bite again though.

I sighed and kept walking as the rain came down.

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I was so pissed I could barely even contain my rage. Fear too. How had he found me, and so quickly too? I thought I'd had a decent head start, but he'd somehow caught up with me and no matter how hard I hit and kicked, he seemed barely to notice, like I was nothing more than an irritating gnat. Except when I bit his back. He noticed that, but only enough to swat me like a fly. And that fucking hurt, so I didn't try that again. I had some sense of self-preservation after all.

As Niko continued to carry me, rain still coming down hard on us both, I could feel myself slowing. I was tired. All this not-sleeping was catching up with me. Even rage wasn't enough to keep me going now.

I stopped kicking first, then stopped my pretty lame and feeble punching next. Nik paid no more notice to their absence than he had to their presence. That hurt my pride, somewhere deep inside.

I didn't remember when exhaustion turned into a doze, but I came to as I was falling through the air and onto the rickety motel bed. I flailed, too late. Niko locked both the bolt and the chain on the door, then turned back to face me.

"What was that?"

His voice was flat. There was nothing to read in it. I pushed myself up into a sitting position despite wanting nothing more than to be swallowed whole by the mattress.

He took a few steps towards me, and it struck me suddenly how menacing he could look. Usually, that look wasn't for me though. I wasn't a fan.

My teeth were chattering audibly. Niko grabbed at me and started pulling off the wet sweatshirt and tee-shirt. I tried to push him off, hoping that if I could make him mad enough, he'd decide I wasn't worth the trouble and he'd give me a little money and let me go.

Instead he gave me a shake that rattled my already chattering teeth. "Stop fighting me, or so help me Cal-" He cut himself off and grabbed my ankle, yanking the knot loose from the laces and pulling the boot off my foot. He tossed it behind him and it landed on the floor with a thud and a squish. The sock came off afterwards, hitting the wall behind him with a wet slapping noise.

We both stared at my foot. The skin had worn off the back of my heel, and it was raw and weeping.

Niko grabbed my other ankle. I kicked at him, trying to keep him back, but he ignored it, turning sideways so my foot glanced off his thigh rather than catching him square in the junk. He ripped that boot and sock off too. The side of that foot had bubbled up with a blister. No wonder running had felt like torture.

He grabbed at the waistband of my jeans then. I started kicking at him again, my hands scrabbling at his, not wanting him to finish undressing me. I wasn't a child, for Christ's sake. I could undress myself!

Niko apparently didn't agree though, because he made a very un-zen growling noise deep in his throat as he yanked my soaking wet jeans down my legs and flipped me onto my stomach on the bed. His hand came down hard again, three loud blows on my freezing, wet, boxer-clad ass. And it fucking burned like dry ice. Holy shit, I was not prepared for how much that hurt! I struggled again, trying to get away.

"You're already in for a serious paddling, Cal," Niko said quietly, his hand on my back to keep me in place. "You keep this up, and I'm going to dig out my belt too. Do you understand me?"

I froze. Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

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Cal understood all right, because he stopped struggling. I pulled him up, yanked his wet boxers off and pushed him into the bathroom, turning the shower on to lukewarm while he stood there shivering. "In," I told him.

He stepped into the somewhat moldy-looking tub and pulled the curtain closed. I sat on the counter. At this point, I didn't trust Cal as far as I could throw him. I hadn't had a clue that he was planning this. Who knew what else he might be thinking? And why?

The bathroom was eerily silent except for the water cascading down. I gave Cal ten minutes, just long enough so I wouldn't worry he'd catch pneumonia. "Rinse off," I warned him.

I heard the water shut off, and I shoved a towel behind the shower curtain. Cal emerged with the towel wrapped around sharply indented hips. At least he wasn't shivering now.

Even Cal wasn't fool enough to try to run outside wounded with bare feet dressed in nothing but a towel. That didn't stop me from hanging onto his wrist while I dug for the last pair of clean sweats. I stood in front of the door as he hastily dressed himself. Then he squared off across from me, his arms crossed over his chest exactly like mine.

"Don't even try to give me attitude, Cal," I warned him. He hunched a little, arms falling to his sides. "Sit your butt down on that bed while you still can."

Cal bit at his lip for a second before sitting on the edge of the bed. He watched me warily.

"What the hell were you thinking? Why would you do that? Run off like that? You could have died, Cal!"

Cal didn't move, his grey eyes watching me.

"Do you understand that? What if the Grendels had found you out there?"

That got a twitch from him, but his mouth was still a hard line. He was afraid of the Grendels still, which I knew, but he wasn't sorry about this whole thing. I knew my brother. He wasn't sorry at all. The glint in his eye told me that. I stepped closer, just out of arm's reach.

"My heart nearly stopped when I realized what you'd done, Cal. What if I couldn't find you? Or what if they found you first?"

He continued to stare at me, steely-eyed and blank. Like he didn't care that he'd nearly caused me to have a stroke in this dirty motel room. Like he didn't care that if the Grendels found him again, they'd probably kill him.

"You know what? Fine. I get it, you don't talk. I'm done talking too." I grabbed his arm and pulled him up, planting one foot on the bed before bending him double over my knee. He struggled silently, trying to pull away, but I twisted his arm up between his shoulder blades and brought my hand down on his butt with a resounding CRACK!

The room was strangely silent except for my hand landing hard against Cal's too-skinny butt. This wasn't anywhere near the first time I'd had to paddle him over the years, and usually Cal had a tendency to whine and protest before finally breaking down into tears. He'd been that way since he was a little tot. Of course, the last time I'd spanked him had been Before. There'd been no reason since he'd returned from the Grendels. And I didn't know a damn thing about what had happened there, but I did know one thing for sure: it was many magnitudes worse than a spanking.

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Ow. Ow, ow! Shit! Fuck! OW! No doubt, Nik was pissed.

The thing about Niko was that he really only spanked me when I'd done something exceptionally stupid, or dangerous, or both. And he made it fucking count. And holy shit, he was making it count!

I wanted to yell at him, to tell him to stop. Hell, I'd even apologize, if I could get the words out. I wouldn't mean it, of course, but it was to protect him. And to protect my ass, literally.

It seemed really fucking unfair that he was beating my ass when I'd only done it for his sake anyway. FUCK! That fucking HURT!

But every time I tried to open my mouth, nothing came out. It was so unfair! He'd never hit me so hard before, not even the time I'd accidentally set Sophia's curtains on fire playing with matches. Then again, I'd been six. He'd only been eleven. A sixth grader only had so much arm strength.

Suddenly, the loud slaps stopped, leaving us in silence, and Nik pushed me off his knee and onto the bed. I breathed a sigh of relief and reached back to rub at my seriously sore ass. I was pretty sure I understood now why it was referred to as "wearing somebody's ass out" down in the South.

"Don't!" Niko commanded sharply. "We aren't done."

I swiveled my head to look at him. He was still watching me, digging in his duffel bag with one hand.

He pulled his hand free and I felt myself blanch. In his fist, he was holding his belt.

(((((((((((((((

Cal's already pale skin went paper-white when I pulled out my belt, and I felt sick despite myself. Was I really going to traumatize him further? He'd already been through hell…and I wasn't talking about the spanking.

He'd run away, I reminded myself. Beating his ass wouldn't make him stay, but it might impress on him how serious this was. It might make running away seem too risky to attempt if he knew I'd belt him for it if I caught him. Cal was the sort of kid who seemed to learn everything the hard way. He was impossible to ground, and anyway there just weren't any privileges to revoke.

His eyes were huge and watery, staring at the belt in my hand. I'd never used it on him before; the worst thing he'd ever had to deal with from me was a wooden spoon when he was six and I'd found him with matches in hand, staring as flames consumed Sophia's kitchen curtains. But he wasn't six now.

I took the few steps towards him and he scrambled back, shaking his head back and forth. His eyes were begging me not to do it. I didn't want to.

Sophia had used a belt. Not on me very often, unless I got in the way, but I knew she'd used it on Cal before. And I'd decided long ago that if Sophia did anything, I should think long and hard before I did it myself.

I grabbed Cal's arm again. He fought, more desperately than he had when I'd grabbed him out in the rain. I sat on the bed and dropped the belt on the mattress so I could use both hands to wrangle him over my lap. He started making a strangled noise in the back of his throat as I pushed him down, and I felt tears springing up in my own eyes. I held him there, grasping blindly for the belt with my other hand. Just a few swats, I decided. To drive my point home. Not like Sophia. I looped the belt in half and held the buckle in my palm so I wouldn't cut him. My stomach lurched. It was one thing to threaten him. Could I really do this?

"Nik!" he gasped. "Nik! No!"