by Tana Stone
“Thank you for saving me,” she finally said, not looking up at him.
He was too upset to speak, the fear of almost losing her causing his own hands to shake and the blood to pound so loudly in his ears he could hear little else. Once he’d determined that she was unharmed, aside from being scared, tired, and wet, Rukken picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she shrieked.
“Taking you back and making sure you do not run off and almost get yourself killed again.”
She slapped at his bare back. “I can walk, you know.”
“I know. You walked very far away from me and right into a pool of lightning sand.”
“How was I supposed to know there’s—what did you call it?— lightning sand out here?”
“You are not, but you are also not supposed to run off by yourself.”
“Yeah?” She pounded his back with her fists. “Well, you’re not supposed to kidnap women.”
He ignored her as he trudged up and down the sand, not bothering to go quickly this time, or to soften his steps as he walked, Caro bouncing hard over his shoulder with each footfall. He needed the time to cool off, although he didn’t know if he would ever lose the feeling of terror he’d felt when he’d seen her sinking in the deadly pool of sand.
Even at his plodding pace, they reached his camp while the moons were still shining. The fire had burned out and only glowing embers remained, evidence of his hasty retreat. He stalked past it and into the tent, flipping her down onto the ground more roughly that he’d intended.
“Ow.” She put a hand to her backside. “That hurt. You don’t have to throw me around like a sack of Grendelian tubers.”
He did not know what those were, but he didn’t care. “You ran from me.”
She glared up at him. “What did you expect? You abducted me from my friends. Did you think I was just going to hang out and play house with you?” She glanced around. “Or, in this case, tent?”
He unwound a length of rope from the center pole of the tent. She was right. He should have known she’d run. “Give me your hands.”
She eyed him. “Why? What are you going to do?”
He snatched one of her wrists before she could pull it away. “What do you think, female? I’m going to tie you up so you cannot run away again.”
She attempted to snatch her hand away, but he quickly pinned her back to the pole and then bent her arm behind it, binding it with the rope. As she slapped and kicked at him, he deftly dodged her blows and secured her other wrist next to the first, tying them both firmly to the tent pole behind her.
“You can’t keep me tied up.” She jerked and tugged against the rope. “When I get out of here, I’m going to kill you.”
He knelt in front of her as she glared at him, her dark eyes flashing with fury. As upset as he was, he couldn’t help thinking how appealing she looked when she wanted to kill him. He leaned close enough to whisper into her ear. “I will keep you tied up until I know that you will not run away and risk your life again. Or until you realize that you are mine.”
Ten
Bexli let out an impatient breath and fought the urge to jab the jebel with her heels.
“I would not do that,” the Dothvek sitting behind her on the camel-horse creature said, his voice low but gentle. “Jebels are trained to walk in a line. He will not go faster than the animal in front of us.”
She leaned to one side to see the line of jebels cresting a dune and silhouetted against the night sky, led by K’alvek and Danica at the front. They were moving steadily across the desert, but the pace was more plodding, than anything. Then she twisted her head to look up at the Dothvek warrior behind her, the blanket wrapped around her shoulders falling back. How had he known she wanted to make the animal move faster? Had he noticed her foot flinch?
Tommel was as tall and broad as the other warriors, with an impressive expanse of bared chest muscles and a washboard stomach, but his long, dark hair was flecked with silver. Scruff grizzled the warrior’s cheeks, and the tribal markings curling across his chest had faded from black to henna-brown.
He didn’t look old—especially not with his muscled physique—but he did come across as less impulsive than the other Dothveks. Maybe that was why K’alvek had assigned her to ride with him. He’d known that her eagerness to find Caro would make her antsy. One of the younger barbarians might have shared her desire to pound across the desert and leave everyone else behind. Not that she would actually do that, but she liked thinking about it.
The only reason she hadn’t shifted and run ahead was because she needed the Dothvek trackers to lead the way. Otherwise, she would have morphed into a sand creature and left them all in the dust.
One side of Tommel’s mouth quirked up. “Patience, female. We will find your friend soon enough.”
Patience was not one of her skills. They’d already been on the sands an entire day and now they were riding into the night, partly because she’d insisted they not stop. She glanced back at the hanging saddlebag and saw the puff of Pog’s head poking out of the top as he slept. At least he wasn’t minding the journey.
The procession of jebels paused, and Bexli sighed as T’Kar and Holly trotted up to the front of the line. What was going on now?
Tommel laughed, and the rumble reverberated into her body. “T’Kar is telling K’alvek that we need to alter our course.”
Again? They’d been adjusting their course all day, which was why the search was taking so long.
She didn’t look up at Tommel, but her cheeks warmed. “Did I ask?”
“Not out loud,” he said, the amusement clear in his tone.
She knew that her captain and K’alvek could read each other’s minds, as could Max and Kush and now Holly and T’Kar, but they were couples. She was not thrilled about just any Dothvek dipping into her mind. “You’re going to have to stop doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“You know what.” She dropped her voice as she saw one of the twin warriors ahead of them turn around and cock an eyebrow. “Reading my mind.”
Tommel was quiet for a moment. “I am not trying to, but your feelings are very strong. Stronger than those of the other humans.”
“Maybe that’s because I’m not human.”
Curiosity pulsed from him. “You are not the same species?”
Bexli tried to remember if Tommel had seen her shape shift. Maybe he hadn’t, or maybe he didn’t know that humans couldn’t shift forms, as well. For the Dothveks, everything about the bounty-hunting crew must seem unusual. “Nope. I’m Lycithian. We look a lot like humans. At least in our natural form.”
Tommel didn’t ask any more questions since the caravan of jebels started moving again. He tugged her a little closer to him as their animal shifted underneath them, but Bexli knew it was to keep her from slipping off.
She ignored the heat of his broad body and the firmness of his thick legs pressed up against hers. Focus on Caro, she reminded herself. Do not get distracted by the fact that the Dothvek warrior behind you is exactly the type of silver fox who would normally make you do a double take.
Her friends could have the young, brash warriors. She’d always been drawn to older males. The ones who were strong and steady, and anything but impulsive. Ones who took control and knew their way around a female’s body.
Tommel growled low in his throat, and Bexli’s thoughts jerked back to reality.
Shit, had he heard her? Her face heated, but she looked straight ahead. She would need to do a better job of masking her thoughts, if they were as loud as Tommel claimed. Not that he should be listening in, anyway, but she’d already figured out that the sand barbarians had a very different concept of privacy. One that was almost nonexistent. She guessed that made sense, considering they were fucking empaths. Not much privacy when you knew what everyone around you felt all the time.
Well, they’re not going to know what I’m thinking, she told
herself, squaring her shoulders and gazing across the waves of sand stretching far into the distance and glowing under the light of the moons.
T’Kar and Holly rode to one side of K’alvek and Danica, the jebels ambling up a gentle dune and disappearing down the other side. When the rest of the caravan joined them at the bottom of the slope, Kush and Max’s jebel trotted forward, the Dothvek tracker sliding off the back of his beast and bending down low to the sand.
He tilted his head and his dark braid swung forward. “Scarab markings.”
T’Kar jumped down and joined Kush. “This must have been where the swarm chased me.”
Swarm? Bexli instinctively glanced at the smooth, powdery sand below them. Were there really bugs living underground? Enough to chase a warrior?
“How long had you walked when the scarabs found you?” K’alvek asked.
T’Kar closed his eyes briefly, as if he were trying to think back. “At least half a day from Rukken’s camp. Maybe more. I was already feeling the effects of exhaustion by that time.”
Kush twisted his head to look at K’alvek, pointing to a spot on the horizon. “They came from that direction.”
“Only half a day,” Bexli said, more to herself than to Tommel. “That’s not much.”
He did not reply, but he nudged their jebel to get back in line as they started moving in the new direction. K’alvek and T’Kar increased the pace of their jebels, and the caravan followed suit, sand kicking up behind them as they trotted up and down dunes.
Bexli was glad they were going faster, but the increased speed only highlighted the jebel’s lack of grace. Even though she’d originally complained about having to ride with a Dothvek warrior, she was now grateful to have him to lean into as their animal practically stumbled down the steep slopes of sand. She was glad to have his strong arms to hold her steady when the beast rocked jerkily from side to side, as it lifted its knobby knees higher to crest the steep peaks. If it hadn’t been for Tommel, she would have face planted in the sand many times already.
“You are well?” he asked, after they’d been trotting for a while.
She clenched her teeth to keep them from rattling out of her head, nodding, but not speaking for fear she’d bite her tongue off in the process.
As they reached the top of yet another mountain of sand, Bexli’s mouth fell open. At the bottom of the dune was a line of creatures she recognized as sand scavengers, like the ones who’d returned Holly to the Dothvek camp.
Since they were covered in layers of dusty-colored clothes, she couldn’t tell if it was actually the same scavengers. They did ride identical giant centipedes, the creatures slithering from side to side as their riders jerked at their harnesses.
Bexli swallowed down her almost instant revulsion at the creatures, and it was replaced just as quickly with anger. If these were the same scavengers, they’d tied up her friend and left T’Kar for dead. “What do these assholes want?”
Tommel was silent, but his entire body tensed behind her, and she couldn’t help shifting closer to him. “We will see, but it is rarely good.”
K’alvek rode forward, calling out to the creatures in their language, which sounded sharp and choppy to her ears. Even though she had a permanent universal translator implant, it did not decipher every language. Especially ones from planets that were rarely visited and from creatures like these sand scavengers, who did not interact with outsiders.
The apparent leader of the scavengers rode forward to talk with K’alvek, gesturing behind him with one doughy hand that emerged from the sleeve of his brown robe. His voice rose and fell as he waved his arm.
After a few moments of this, K’alvek jerked his head up and made the clicking noise that Bexli had come to learn meant “hell, no” in their language. The scavenger waved some more, his pasty hand pointing down the row of jebels until it came to rest on her and Tommel. After another hard jerk of his head, K’alvek waved his own arm, and the scavenger leader returned to his kind, their mounts scuttling off in the opposite direction.
“What the fuck was all that about?” she asked after they started moving again, this time not quite as quickly.
“The scavengers claimed to have seen your friend with the exile,” Tommel said.
“Really?” Bexli spun her head around. “Did they say where?”
“They would not give any more information than that. Not without getting something in return.” His expression darkened. “They do nothing without demanding something in return.”
“Wait.” She twisted around him to see where the creatures had gone, their long procession growing smaller in the night. “If they know where Caro is, we have to make them tell us. We can’t just let them walk away.”
“We do not know for sure they are telling the truth. They could be telling us what we wish to hear.”
“Then that’s a chance we have to take. Let’s give them something and make them tell us where they saw Caro.”
Tommel’s gaze flicked to her, then away. “The price was too high.”
“What did they want?” Bexli knew the Dothveks didn’t use currency, but she was sure they had something the scavengers would value—water, food, something.
“They wanted us to give them a female. They wanted you.”
Bexli’s stomach sank for a moment, then she shook off the momentary fear. She was a shapeshifter. Even if they took her prisoner, she could morph into another form and escape. “Then let’s do that. I’ll go with them, if they’ll tell you how to find Caro.”
Tommel tilted his head at her and something flickered behind his eyes before he looked up. She wasn’t an empath, but she thought she’d seen fear. “No.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off. “The decision has been made. We will find your friend without the help of the sand scavengers.”
Bexli knew one thing from her short time living in the Dothvek village. They were as stubborn as they were brave. She fumed as they rode forward, wondering why Tommel seemed just as angry as she was. It wasn’t his friend who’d been kidnapped. It wasn’t his fault Caro was being held captive by a violent criminal.
One fact was for certain, though. If even one hair on Caro’s head was hurt, she was going to kick every single Dothvek in their rescue party square in the balls. Tommel squirmed slightly behind her, even as he adjusted the blanket around her shoulders to keep her warm.
Starting with him, she thought.
Eleven
Caro strained against the bindings until the rope dug into her flesh. Shit. He’d tied her tightly. No way was she going to be able to pull her way out.
Leaning back against the tent pole at her back, she let out a breath of frustration. So much for getting back to her friends tonight, or anytime soon.
It was still dark outside, but she could see the hint of light teasing the horizon through the open tent flap. A warm glow was barely peeking over the dune in front of the camp, but she was glad for the light and the impending heat.
Rukken had decided to keep the tent open so he could watch her more closely, and the chill of the night air had made her flesh pucker with goosebumps. She shivered, but pressed her teeth together to keep from chattering. She refused to admit she was cold, or ask him for anything. Actually, she refused to talk to him or even look at him. Not after he’d tied her up like some kind of animal.
From the corner of her eye, she watched him stoke the new fire outside the tent and dart glances back at her. Glances she made sure to ignore, or return with murderous scowls. Maybe she should be more grateful that he saved her from sinking under the quicksand—or lightning sand, or whatever he’d called it—but in her mind, he’d wiped away that good deed by treating her like a piece of property—his property, which she most definitely was not.
The scent of smoke carried into the tent as the kindling caught and the flames crackled. Rukken crouched beside it, heating the strange tea he liked to drink. Her mouth watered, more from general thirst than any desire to drink the unusua
l herb blend.
When he poured a cup and stood, she turned her head away so he wouldn’t know she’d been watching him. He stepped into the tent, lowering his head so as not to hit it on the ceiling. He knelt in front of her and extended the cup to her lips. “You should drink. It will replenish you after last night.”
She pursed her lips and shook her head, moving it away from him.
He let out an exasperated sound. “We are back to this again? You will make me force you to eat?”
She swung her head to him, glaring. “Yeah, we’re back to this again. You’ve fucking tied me up.”
“Because you ran.” He raised his voice and returned her frown. “You almost died out there. I tied you up to keep you safe.”
Caro let out a snort of laughter. “Safe? If you really cared about me being safe you’d return me to my friends.”
His face darkened. “Your friends who are in the Dothvek village, which is led by the coward Zatvar? No. That is the most dangerous place you could be. I will never let you return there.”
“You’re crazy. The Dothvek village is a hell of a lot safer than here. I’m sorry that guy betrayed you. He seems like a total dick, but he’s done nothing bad to me, or any of the other humans.” She gestured to her bound hands. “He never tied any of us up.”
Rukken flinched, his eyes lowering. “I do not want to tie you up, but I must keep you safe. You do not understand the dangers.”
“The only danger to me here is you,” she spat out.
His gaze flew to her face, a pained expression contorting it for a moment. “I would never hurt you. I am protecting you.”
Caro shook her head, turning it away from him. “Then we don’t have anything to talk about.”
Rukken dragged a hand down both sides of his face, his fingers scraping through his short beard. Then he abruptly stood and stalked out of the tent, throwing the cup of tea into the sand and disappearing from her view.
