“Do you have the ingredient this time?” One of them asked.
“Oh yeah,” Eric said as if he’d already forgotten.
“Have you been taking the drug already today?” A second man asked. “We told you that it was for after our business was done.”
Eric grinned. “I know. But it’s too good, man. I need it. I know a guy who wants some.”
“What?” the first man asked sharply, stepping toward Eric, who was only nodding placidly.
“Yeah, he wants in. He’s over there with his woman. They’re the ones who brought the ingredient. They could--”
Those were Eric’s last words. The orange eyed Seeban drew his sharp, curved sword, and Eric’s head rolled across the bricks at their feet.
Kyla didn’t move quickly enough to catch Danny as he drew his gun and rushed at them, telling her to call for backup.
“Danny, no!”
The Seeban general sneered at Kyla and stepped back, closer to the vortex. “Take him alive,” he called to the others. “She’ll come for him. This night is turning out better than we’d planned.”
Kyla raised her gun and fired at the soldier closing in on Danny’s left. His snarl of pain was satisfying, but there wasn’t anything she could do to help her partner. They dragged him through the vortex, leaving her alone in the alley with Eric’s head still grinning up at her.
******
The vortex vanished and Kyla pulled the device out of her pocket with trembling fingers. She had to warn Nameer. She had to find Danny. She was already calculating how long it would take her to get from the long stretch of sand to the castle when she pushed the button and fell into another world.
Her feet landed on hard stone, not shifting sand. She rubbed her forehead, trying to get her bearings and quell the dizziness. There was a sense of familiarity about the place, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Suddenly, strong arms wrapped around her and threw her down. A soft surface met her back, but a heavy strength held her still. She struggled, trying to get her arms free.
“Let me go, you son of bitch!”
The person over her went still. “Kyla?”
“Nameer?”
The crushing grip vanished from her arms and his hands were cupping her face. Her eyes had adjusted somewhat to the darkness and she could see his eyes. They were wide with surprise. His hands shook slightly. Then his mouth covered hers in desperate kiss.
“Where the hell have you been?” he snarled against her lips. “Do you know what I’ve been through?”
She caught her breath, but he didn’t let her answer. She didn’t particularly want to anyway. It was an extreme reaction for only a few days lateness, but Nameer specialized in those. A few kisses later, she remembered what she was there for.
“Nameer,” she moaned, turning her head away from his lips.
His questing mouth moved down her neck instead. His breathing was ragged and he seemed to be drawing her scent in deep with each inhale. Arousal pulsed straight down her spine and settled between her legs. She’d give anything to feel him deep inside her. But they didn’t have much time.
Kyla twisted her fingers in his hair and pulled sharply. He growled, one of his hands cupping her pussy over her pants.
“You would deny me after so long?” he grated. “Gods, woman, do you know how I’ve ached for you?”
“I’m only three days late,” she said, arching against his touch in spite of herself. She could feel his cock, hard as steel, and she wanted him so much.
“Three days?” Nameer demanded, stopping so suddenly that it left her gasping. “Three days?!”
Kyla propped onto her elbows, looking at him in surprise. “Yes?”
“It has been nearly a year,” Nameer said. “Nearly a year of me thinking that you would to come the next day, or the next, or the next. I have begged the gods for your return.”
She stared at him. “Nameer...I swear, it’s only been a little more than a week!”
He shook his head, pulling her to his balcony. “The seasons have changed. They are soon to change again.” Under the moonlight, he touched her almost reverently, his fingers combing through her tangled hair. “I thought that I had lost you.”
Kyla rubbed her forehead. “I got back home just a few minutes after I’d left...time must go more slowly on Earth. It’s really been almost a year?”
“It has,” Nameer confirmed. He stepped forward, backing her up against the balcony railing. “I have spent nearly a year dreaming of your taste, your scent, the way you come for me...”
Her knees went weak at the intent in his eyes. He wanted to take her back into his room and take her all night long. God help her, she wanted it too.
“The Seebans took my partner,” she blurted out before she could lose track of what she was there for.
Nameer blinked at her in confusion. “What?”
Kyla perched on the balcony railing and told him the story. When she was done, Nameer rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.
“The treaties are a lie then,” he said in a low voice. When Kyla gave him a questioning look, he said, “They have sent delegates, offering capitulation after last year’s insurgency. Many of our people are hopeful.”
“But they’re planning to exterminate you instead,” Kyla agreed. “Danny first, then the rest. Will you call for the guard?”
“Of course. I’ll get your uniform. Put your hair up.”
“Wait!” she said as he started away. “Why?”
“I’ll have to say that Bidani came back.”
“Why?” she demanded again. “I thought that things were going to change!”
Nameer paused in the doorway, but he didn’t look back at her. “Change takes time.”
“You’ve had a year!”
He rounded on her now, his eyes blazing and his voice rough. “And you were gone!”
“You weren’t changing for me! You were changing because it was right!”
“We’re wasting time,” Nameer said. “Get ready. I’ll call the guard.”
******
“Bidani,” Khaza said. “It is good to see you back in the city.”
Kyla smiled and held her hand out. Khaza, at least, hadn’t changed. Or maybe he had. There were new lines around his eyes and his friendly smile was a bit strained.
“Where should we start?” she asked.
“I couldn’t say,” Khaza answered. “I am no longer in charge of the new recruits or the recon missions.”
“Moving on up, huh?” She teased.
“Not exactly,” Darabin’s thin voice drawled as he entered the room. “Get back to your training, Khaza. I’ll tell you if you’re needed.”
“Yes sir.” Khaza left without looking back.
Kyla glanced at Darabin. “Why was he demoted?”
“Why do you think that you have any right to question me? I am only dealing with you because the king has ordered it.”
“Rest assured, I feel the same way,” she said.
It was only Nameer’s arrival in the room that stopped Darabin from cuffing Kyla across the side of the head.
“There’s no time for that,” Nameer said briskly. “We need to work on getting our man. Bidani, brief the rest of the guard.”
“Before I do, my lord, I’d like to request that Khaza be allowed to be part of this. I was very impressed with him during my time here before.”
“Of course,” Nameer said. “I don’t know why he wouldn’t be here anyway.”
It was only professionalism that kept Kyla from sticking out her tongue at Darabin.
“My lord,” Darabin said. “He is no longer in a position powerful enough to deserve this job. It is within my rights as guard captain to--”
“And my rights as king to override you,” Nameer said dismissively. “I’m sure you have your reasons, and he can go back to his old position when the man we seek has been found.”
Darabin’s cold eyes went colder, but he didn’t speak again.
Kyla had just begun to speak when
a messenger ran in. He was clutching a deep wound in his side and he slipped a little in his own blood as he said, “My king, I have...a message...from the Seebans.”
Kyla grabbed it. “Get this man some medical attention,” she barked. Her tone was so authoritative that they were halfway over before they glanced at the King. Nameer waved them on quickly and yanked the note away from Kyla.
“We will return the man you seek if the soldier known as Bidani will meet us with full regiment of guards and the king at sunset.”
“This doesn’t make any sense,” Nameer muttered.
“Unless they want to trade me for him,” Kyla pointed out.
“Then why wouldn’t they have ordered you to come alone?” Nameer countered.
Kyla shrugged helplessly. “I really don’t know. Do you think that they’re just trying to get everyone away so that they can attack?”
“It could be...but they must know that we have more than one regiment of guards. Ever since last year’s attack, I’ve been building up our military and guard. It would be much harder for Seeba to find us undefended now.”
“That was smart.”
“I do have some good ideas.” He grinned down at her and then rearranged his features when he noticed Darabin and some of the other guard staring at him. He cleared his throat. “All right. Get ready to march. We don’t have much time.”
Kyla couldn’t march with the king and the walk seemed to take forever. Some of the other guards had noticed the way she and Nameer had been speaking. He had a habit of leaning more closely to her than he did with anyone else. Would they assume she was a woman, or would they assume he was gay? Either one of them had the potential to be the death of her and possibly the end of his power. Kings in Khaytab could be deposed if there was a strong ruler ready to take their place and if the people felt that the current king couldn’t protect them adequately.
She glanced around. No one seemed powerful enough to usurp Nameer’s throne, but she wasn’t exactly up on politics in Khaytab. Her nervousness increased with every step she took.
It was nearly an hour later when she heard a new voice.
“Stop right there,” it said. “We have what you want.”
She pushed to the front to see Danny. He was supported by two Seeban soldiers. His head was hanging, his dark blonde hair glinting in the dying light. His shoulders rose and fell slowly with each labored breath. Kyla clenched her fists. He was shirtless and his chest was a mass of bruises and cuts. Blood had soaked the waistband of his pants.
“What did you do to him?” she demanded.
The orange eyed soldier smiled. “And you have what we want,” he said, ignoring her question. “Come here, Bidani.”
“Not until you let him go!”
At a look from the other soldier, the two holding Danny flung him forward. He landed face up, but obviously unconscious.
“What do you mean to do with my soldier?” Nameer demanded.
The orange eyed soldier laughed. “Your soldier?” he repeated. Before she could move, he’d grabbed her, yanking her close. With a quick tug, he pulled off her hat while two others jerked open her shirt. There was a shocked rush of speech from the guards accompanying Nameer. They threw her to the ground beside Danny. “Or your whore?”
Nameer caught his breath, but the Seeban army gave him no chance to speak. “This is the man you depend on to protect you?” The orange eyed soldier asked. “Ask yourself, did he even know she was a woman before he bedded her? And how long has he kept her crime a secret?”
As one, the Seeban army turned and began to march away. Kyla clasped her ripped shirt closed. “Go after them! They have a poison, a toxin that could kill you all!”
None of the soldiers moved. “What’s wrong with you?” Kyla shouted. “Don’t you care that they’ll kill you?”
Darabin stepped forward. “We will not be ordered around by a woman.” He started to yank her to her feet, but Khaza pushed forward.
“I’ll take her.”
“I’m sure you’d love to,” Darabin sneered. “We know how you enjoy taking orders from women.” He gripped her arms, twisting them behind her back, letting her shirt billow open as he tied her firmly.
Some of the guard had surrounded Danny as well and were binding him and lifting him up. Nameer stood still, his eyes blazing. He didn’t speak. Kyla wanted to scream at him, but she was horribly close to tears as well. They choked her throat.
“The king will have to be proven guilty by his own court,” Khaza whispered quickly when Darabin turned. “Do not be angry, rather, pray he remains silent. It’s the only chance he has to get you out of this.”
******
Danny stirred and groaned, clutching his head in his hands as he sat up gingerly. “God damn,” he muttered, his southern drawl rough as gravel. “I was hoping to wake up somewhere a little nicer than this.”
“Sorry,” Kyla said.
Danny squinted at her out of the eye that wasn’t swollen shut. “What the hell are you wearing?”
“This is what women in Khaytab wear,” she said gesturing down at the dress. “I’m feeling a little like Joan of Arc, to tell the truth.”
“Thought we were in Seeba. That’s what those guys kept saying.”
“No, Seeba is the neighboring country.”
“Let me guess...they don’t like Khaytab.”
“On the contrary,” Kyla said. “They like it enough to want to rule it.”
“How the hell did you get tied up in all this?”
She took a deep breath and told him everything. Danny pushed his hands through his hair and said, “I won’t say it doesn’t make me feel better to know we’ll get back to basically the same time we left. If we live.”
“We will,” Kyla said. “It’s everyone else who’ll die. They’re shapeshifters. That’s why Seeba needed something that would kill cats.”
“Say what?”
She had to run it by him twice more before Danny believed it, but eventually he was on her side. “Well then,” he said. “It’s a good thing I stole these from Razkah. He’s the nutjob with the orange eyes.”
He pulled two vials out of his pocket. They glowed with virulent green liquid.
“You got them!” Kyla exclaimed in amazement.
“Yeah, these guys aren’t the best at searching people. I got two of them. They’ve only managed to develop one more but they’re not worried. They’re hoping they’ve stirred enough shit by the getting the country worked up about King Nameer and Bidani...whatever that means.”
“I’m Bidani,” Kyla said. “And--”
“I have every right to interrogate a suspect!” A voice down the hall bellowed. “Am I not still your king?”
“And that’s King Nameer,” she finished with a slight smile in spite of her anger.
She was waiting at the door when Nameer yanked it open. She grudgingly allowed herself to be chained and escorted to the interrogation room by a full complement of guards.
“I’ll speak with her alone,” Nameer said, his tone brooking no argument before he slammed the door in their faces.
“What was all of that about?” Kyla asked as she paced the small interrogation room.
“Should I not wish to see you?”
“I don’t know why you would. Clearly you don’t have much respect for my ideas.”
Nameer growled. “What would you have me do? Turn the country upside down? I have made some changes!”
“Oh, and what would those be? Can women now pick out their own clothes?” She waited with sarcastic open mouthed interest.
“They can go to market alone.”
Kyla waited and then rolled her eyes. “Wow. Way to enact meaningful social change.”
“You were the one who said I should change it!”
“I think you should change every damn thing,” she burst out. “Namely, the fact that I’m in jail for being a woman who dared to be capable! Maybe if you’d done something back then, we wouldn't be here now!”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Nameer roared. “I want to protect you, and I’m not sure I can! How do you think that feels?”
He grabbed her by the throat, pushing her against the wall. It was firm, but it didn’t hurt. “You are the most gods damned stubborn person I have ever met!” He stared down at her, his green eyes alight with anger. “There were nights I cursed the day we met, Kylaherine Dean!”
Her heart skipped, but she tried to be casual. “Is this your way of breaking up with me?”
“Breaking up...” It took him a minute to figure out what she meant. “When all I can think of is how you feel around me, under me, on top of me? I need you.”
His voice was raw and the look in his eyes was naked. She tilted her chin and felt the pressure on her throat ease to a caress.
“I need you too. I want to feel you buried deep.”
He groaned and kissed her, his tongue demanding and delicious. “Don’t say such things now.”
Kyla met his eyes boldly. “Why not? Are you not the king?”
His breath hitched. “Here?”
She reached down and ran her palm down the front of his pants. He was stiff and hot and she hadn’t been lying when she said she needed him. “Here,” she confirmed. “Fuck me like you wanted to all those nights I was gone.”
He didn’t move and she could tell he was struggling for control. “I was not gentle with you on those nights.”
“Good. I won’t be gentle with you either.”
His mouth crashed down onto hers again and she met it with force as she gripped his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his waist, grinding her aching pussy against his cock. His hand tightened on her throat as he thrust against her.
“I can feel how wet you are already,” he rasped against her. “Ah, Kyla, you did miss me.”
She yanked at the bottom of his shirt and he shrugged it off. The sight of his thick chest, damp with sweat and heaving with desire as she writhed against his cock nearly sent her over the edge.
“You have new scars,” she said, tracing them with one finger. “It’s a good look on you, Nameer.”
His head fell back. “Ah, I’ve missed your touch.”
Realm Shifters Page 6
