Page 50 of Catching Camila

John thought about what it would mean for super-powered beings to crash land on earth. The humans would have no choice but to comply. Yet, if all of the beings were as peaceful as he felt, it would be against their nature to harm humans. Nomad, however, didn’t seem to share his love for humanity. His thoughts raced to the other creature who had crash-landed on earth. He could see its red slitted eyes in the dark even now.

John stiffened. “What about the thing in the woods? The beast. Is that one of ours, too?”

“That was,” Nomad paused and swallowed, “a mistake. We didn’t mean for him to end up here.”

John got the distinct impression that Nomad was hiding something from him. “Yeah, but you sure aren’t doing much to stop it, are you?”

“We haven’t had time to get the extraction team here yet, but we will. Don't worry. In forty-eight hours everything will change, anyway. Now, just chill out.” The smile had fallen off Nomad’s face. “By Turin’s claw, you’re nothing like the guy I knew on Carth.”

The thing in the woods was still out there and Nomad had no intention of stopping it. It had been lurking around Camila's work; it had killed only miles from her home. What was he doing here taking in the sights? He had to get back. John pushed off the bridge into the air, wobbling a little. The wind battered him, but he managed to keep his eyes locked on Nomad. “I have to go.”

From the bridge railing, Nomad's hair billowed around his head like an angry rain cloud. “Go? You can't just go. The higher-ups want you taken in. Fixed. You have to come with me. We gotta get your brain back.”

John shook his head, bobbing down in the air. “I'm not going to be fixed.”

Nomad frowned. “You think they don’t know where you are and what you're doing? They won't be happy campers when they find out you're trying to put the bone to some human girl. And if she finds out what you are, they'll take care of her.”

John tightened his fists at his side. “What do you mean?”

“You've seen what that thing can do, right? How it rips them from here,” Nomad touched underneath one ear, “to here.” He drew his finger across his throat, down his neck to his collarbone. “You don't want that to happen to her.”

An image of Camila, bloody and shredded, flashed into John's head before he could stop it. He shuddered, the wind stinging his face. He couldn't think straight. He needed to get back. Why had he left?

Nomad pushed off the bridge and bobbed in the air before John. “So, I've got to report our coordinates and then we can catch a ride up. They'll know what to do about your brain wipe. Maybe it was the landing?” He pushed his hand through his rippling hair. “They'll probably send some—”

John turned and shot away from Nomad into the moonlit sky. He pushed through the air, eyes streaming, clothes slapping against his chest. Faster. A hand cinched around his ankle and pulled. John whirled in a circle, the landscape spinning into a blur. The pines below became a smear of dark green as he spun end over end.

Nomad clutched John’s leg with both hands. “What're you doing? We have to go back!” he shouted over the wind.

John shook his head. Back to where they would change him, manipulate him, and make him forget? No, he couldn't go back.

John drew both legs to his body and kicked hard with his free leg. His foot connected with Nomad's chest and the force sent him whirling like a trapeze artist. Nomad smashed into a tall pine below them, a spray of needles filling the air. He scrambled out of the branches and flew up. Now his glare was angry. “You shouldn't have done that,” he shouted.

“You shouldn't have threatened her!” John shouted. “Tell whoever they are that I plan on protecting that girl and everyone around her with my life.” John flexed his arms. He could feel power surging through his body. “I'll kill you if I have to.”

Nomad, picking pine needles from his clothes, shook his head. “It's not me you have to worry about.”

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