“She’s an alicorn,” Trent said. “And she hasn’t learned how to shift into her human form yet.”
Zina sucked in a quick, shocked breath. “Analicorn?” She had to admit she was amazed. Alicorns were the rarest of the rare – everyone assumed they’d been extinct for centuries now. “How –”
“It’s a pretty long story,” Trent said. “But coincidentally – or maybe not so coincidentally – it has to do with Hargreaves. Hec was on the trail of a bikie gang – that’s like a biker gang – who were trying to sell a mysterious egg to our good friends there. Myrtle accidentally got in the middle of the deal, Hector had to pull her bacon out of the fire, and the rest as they say is history. But once the egg Myrtle had rescued hatched, out came Ruby.”
Zina shook her head. “No wonder you weren’t so surprised when I showed you the eggs and told you what they were. You’ve seen it all already. You already knew about what Hargreaves has been up to!”
“I didn’t know they’d made so much progress finding other eggs, though,” Trent said. “Or what they’re up to with their opal mining operations. They’ve keptthatnice and quiet, that’s for sure. But the point is, Tahnee’s sanctuary is somewhere the eggs will be safe. I know Tahnee, and I know she’ll guard them with her life. And when they hatch, they’ll have a safe place to grow up.”
Zina looked down, nodding, forcing herself to swallow past the lump in her throat. She knew Trent was right – the sanctuary was the safest place for them to take the eggs. But it was so hard to give them up. She’d risked so much, and she’d become kind of attached to them. In some corner of her heart, she’d been hoping she’d get to meet what – or rather, who – would come out of them.
“I think we should do it,” she said, before she had time for second thoughts. “You’re right – if Hargreaves catch us sniffing around their mining operation, then the eggs will go straight back to where they came from. It’d be better to drop them off first and make sure they’re safe before we head out to Jackson’s Ridge.”
Trent nodded. “Good. We’ll do it that way, then.” He reached out for the cup of coffee he’d ordered with his breakfast, taking a big gulp. “Well, now that that’s decided, how about we get our supplies, and then get on our way?”
Zina couldn’t argue with that, and they quickly found their way to a nearby drugstore, where, just as Trent said they would, they found hats, sunglasses and hair dye for sale, along with a few casual t-shirts and shorts. Zina bought some makeup – she knew how easily she could change her look with just a few different shades of lipstick and eyeshadow – and some cheap, flashy jewelry, which would be good for catching people’s eye and drawing their focus, so they’d pay less attention to her face.
Back at the motel they packed their new purchases away, changing into a set of clean clothes.
“So… do you wanna do this now or later?” Zina asked Trent, holding up the packet of hair dye. The men’s hair products were mainly aimed at subtly covering up gray, so instead, she’d chosen a dye that’d turn his hair from a light reddish-brown to a bleached blond. It was another tactic to keep people from looking at his face – and since they couldn’t do anything else about the way Trent looked, if all they noticed was his hair, they’d be less likely to be able to tell anyone anything else about his appearance except that he was tall.
“Let’s get it over with,” Trent said. “The quicker it’s done the quicker we can get moving again. Chuck it here.”
“You know how to use this stuff?” Zina asked, as she tossed the packet across the room to him. He caught it one-handed.
“Yeah – I’ve got a sister who was kind of a punk in high school,” Trent laughed. “Weekend chores were helping her dye her hair every color of the rainbow, even though it drove my parents bananas.”
“Well, dyeing your own hair is pretty different from dyeing someone else’s,” Zina said. “You gotta make sure you get coverage, or you’re gonna look like a nightmare. Getting the back of your head can be tough. Plus, you want to be careful not to get that strong bleaching stuff on your scalp for too long.”
“Hmm. Maybe you’re right,” Trent mused, looking down at the packet. “And this is a pretty drastic change. I wanna make sure Ilikethe new me. No point in an image change if it makes me feel worse about myself, right?”
“Oh, come here,” Zina said, rolling her eyes. She marched across the room to him, grabbing the packet out of his hand. “I’ll help you – I wouldn’t want your self-esteem to be crushed or anything like that.”
Trent laughed lightly, but Zina could see he looked a little uncomfortable. He licked his lips, eyes slipping away from her face.
“It’s really fine, Zina, I swear I can –”
“It’ll be quicker this way, too,” Zina said. She walked into the bathroom, pulling up a stool that sat by the wall. “C’mon – sit. I’m a seasoned pro. No fear of burns or it turning yellow, I promise.”
“Um. Sure. Okay.” Despite his obvious unease, Trent came and sat himself down on the stool in front of her, facing the mirror.
“Better take that shirt off too,” Zina said absently as she ripped open the box, shaking out the plastic gloves that came in the kit. “We don’t want to –”
She hadn’t really been thinking as she’d spoken, focused as she was on the task ahead. But as soon as the words were out of her mouth she realized just what a huge,hugemistake she’d made.
And it’s too late to take them back now,she thought frantically, as Trent, after glancing at her briefly in the mirror, slowly started unbuttoning the front of his shirt.If I tell him to stop, he’ll know I don’t want to see him shirtless – or, well, actually, Idowant to see him shirtless, but that’s the whole problem… no, I can’t, I’ll just have to pretend it’s not happening, just ignore it, it means nothing at all…
Zina shook her head, trying to halt the whirl of her thoughts. What the hell was wrong with her?! She was calm, cool, level-headed. Hot guys didn’t faze her. She didn’t have a love life, for very good reasons, and she didn’t particularly want one. Meeting Trent wasreallystarting to mess with her self-image.
Still, she bit her lower lip, swallowing heavily as Trent’s shirt slowly… came off, sliding over his shoulders to reveal the tanned skin beneath – and the tattoo that snaked over his shoulder and down his right arm in a complicated swirl of ink.
I didn’t notice that before…she thought – though that was obvious, since Trent had always been wearing a few more clothes in the past than he was now.
Zina breathed a brief sigh of relief when she saw he was wearing a white tank top underneath, but then, after a moment, she realized that somehow made things evenworse:the white cotton of the tank top only emphasized how taut and tanned his skin was; the armholes just made the lines of his collarbones and the bulge of his bicepsthatmuch more enticing. And the fact his pecs and abs were still hidden –barely– beneath the stretched-tight fabric just made her even more aware of them. They werethere, just waiting to be uncovered –
Zina coughed loudly, forcing herself to turn away.
Focus, you idiot!
