Demon Chord - A MaxTul Supernatural Thriller

Chapter 24 - Bonding

Chapter Twenty-Four

Bonding

Arriving at the hot springs the men stripped off their clothes and threw them into a pile. "Burn those" Tul instructed.

As the three men settled into the natural hot spring, the water felt almost cool compared to the heat of the desert air. "This is what I'm talking about" said Knox as he dropped his head below the surface of the water to wet his hair.

Max splashed water on his face to remove the muck left behind from the reapers while surreptitiously looking at Tul's unmarked face. Tul caught him staring and smiled thinly. To cover his embarrassment at getting caught, Max touched his own face and asked, "Did it hurt?"

"Like hell" replied Tul.

Nodding at the wound on Max's lower arm, he asked, "Does that hurt?"

Max smiled and answered, "like hell."

Both men started to laugh just as Knox surfaced, "what did I miss?" he asked.

Saint answered, "They are comparing war wounds. I think it is a tie."

Never one to miss out on wound wars, Knox immediately began inspecting his own body for signs of injury. Finding a few small scratches that he most likely got from a cactus while treating Ronan's snake bite, he held up his arm and smiled in triumph.

"New winner" laughed Saint pointing to Knox who took a sitting half bow.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence as the three soaked away the grime and the aches, Max asked," How much farther until we reach Laird?"

Knox squeezed his eyes shut as he ran the mental map in his head and replied, "tomorrow night- tops."

"We should stay here for the rest of the day and rest" advised Tul, "we will leave as soon as the sun sets. You two should get some food and then sleep. Saint and I will keep watch in the case the Reapers come back."

"They won't be coming back anytime soon" countered Max, "I am sure they already retreated to the underworld to lick their wounds and their pride."

Knox began to climb out of the pool, "where are you going?" questioned Tul.

"Getting the gear out of the cats" he answered, "I'll set up camp here."

"You stay and soak. I will take care of it. Consider it your prize for winning this round of wound wars" Tul joked as he climbed from the pool and began putting on clean clothes.

"I'll help" offered Max as he deftly climbed from the pool and began pulling clean clothes out of his back pack.

Tul cocked his head in acknowledgment and then bent swiftly to pull on his boots to hide the smile that he couldn't keep from spreading across his face. Straightening, he said, "we will check in with Kate and Ronan too."

A puzzled look passed swiftly over Max's face – almost as if he had forgotten that his partner had been admitted to the hospital. "Right. Let's do that" he answered.

As the two men walked shoulder to shoulder towards the cats, Knox looked at Saint, raised an eyebrow and asked, "what just happened?"

Saint smiled cryptically and answered, "so it begins."

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As the sun was starting to set, the three men broke down the camp, waved good-by to Saint and climbed into the sand cats. In the lead cat, Knox keyed his head set and said, "let's try to make up a little lost time and cut through the arroyo. Tul – keep an ear open for rushing water. Flash floods are normal this time of year and if we get caught out in the open – we'd have to make a run for it."

"10-4" answered Tul as he motioned for Max to don his head set as he removed his own to facilitate listening for potential flooding – effectively cutting off further conversation with Max until they reached the other side of the arroyo.

₹ ₺ ₻ ₼ ₽ ₾

The desert at night is dark and the only light source was the headlight beams from the two cats, which cast eerie shadows across the landscape. Following the red taillights of Knox's cat across the flat bed of the arroyo, occasionally Max would catch sight of a large jack rabbit or two as they sat up on their haunches to investigate the cats as they drove by. As harsh as the desert was, Max had to admit that he was almost enjoying himself. He rarely ventured outside of Thailand, and the American desert was like an alien planet - vastly different from his homeland - which piqued his curiosity and spirit of adventure.

Glancing over at Tul who had his head reclined back on the seat with his eyes closed, most likely to concentrate on night sounds – Max found himself strangely affected by the Wamphyri. He knew he should be disgusted – maybe even fearful at what he had witnessed when Tul stepped into the horde of Reapers, but instead he found himself intrigued – maybe - even attracted to him. Even more surprising, he thought that Tul sensed his newfound interest and possibly even reciprocated, and Max found that idea....enticing...and dangerous.

Just then a straggly dog looking animal darted between the two cats, followed close by two more - Max applied the brakes and swerved hard to keep from hitting the animals.

Tul suddenly sat up and grabbed for his headset. Quickly adjusting the fit, he keyed the mic and said calmly while looking back over this shoulder "get us out here Knox."