by Hope Hart
“Don’t even think about it.”
I scowl at his back, and he turns, raising one eyebrow as he gestures for me to come closer.
I hold up my hand and give him a gesture of my own, and he narrows his eyes.
“I am bigger than you and stronger than you. I can haul you back to camp tied like a prisoner. Don’t. Push. Me.”
My scowl deepens at the reminder of how much bigger he is than me. He knows just how to push all my buttons.
I hold up the material in my hand, and his dark gaze follows it.
“You know what this is?”
“What?”
“It’s a piece of material that Ivy managed to rip off her pajamas. Granted, they were basically rags anyway, but the point remains. The other women didn’t go the way you thought they did. Your warriors have been searching the wrong area.”
His gaze shifts from the scrap of material back to my face. He’s silent for a long moment, and I seize my chance.
“Look, Rakiz, I don’t deny that your warriors are strong and fearsome. I’m sure they could find the other women if they knew where they were. But this just proves that they don’t.”
He nods. “I will send more warriors to this spot.”
I grind my teeth. “We’ll just lose more time.”
“We can check the surrounding area while we’re here.”
I hate the way he says it, like he’s doing me a favor by allowing me to search. But I nod anyway, turning around as I look for any sign of the women passing through here.
“They would’ve been struggling,” I say. I curse as I scan our surroundings. If I made my way back here sooner, maybe there would be some fresh tracks to follow.
“The Voildi will have had to carry them the whole way, which would’ve slowed them down and made any tracks deeper,” I continue.
Rakiz nods and moves toward me, pointing toward the east. “Look,” he says, and I step forward.
It’s not much, just a rock that’s been overturned. But it’s darker on the exposed side, and I can see the impression where it used to rest.
I nod. “Okay, they came up the hill and waited until we were gone. Then they went that way.”
I move toward the rock, and Rakiz catches my arm. I whirl impatiently.
“What are you doing?” he asks.
“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m following the obvious tracks that your men missed.”
Rakiz shakes his head, and I pull my arm out of his grip. I hate that I only succeed because he lets me go.
“If you take me back to that camp, I will hate you. I will never stop trying to escape, and I will never forgive you for preventing me from helping my friends. Do you understand?”
Rakiz looks at me thoughtfully for a long moment.
“I’m beginning to.” He sighs, running a hand over his face. For the first time since I’ve known him, he looks tired. “Perhaps we can bargain.”
I sigh. Ellie told me all about Terex’s “bargains,” and obviously Rakiz is cut from the same cloth.
“What?”
“Once at least one of these women are found, you will swear on your honor that you will not leave camp again without my permission. And you won’t be allowed out of my sight until I feel I can trust you.”
I grind my teeth. “You’re a real dick sometimes, you know that?”
He simply waits me out.
I tilt my head. “You don’t think Beth, Ivy, and Zoey will be together?”
He shrugs. “Like you, I hope this is so. But we don’t know if they have been separated. If I had the women, I would send each to a different area within my territory in case we were attacked.”
I eye him. I’m guessing that statements like that are why he’s known as such a good ruler. He’s always considering the angles.
“If I find one or more of them and they know where the others are, we’ll go after them and then return to camp. If they don’t, we’ll come back, and you can send warriors after them. Deal?”
“Fine. You may look for the other females.”
Relief steals my breath, and I tilt my head at him. “Seriously?”
He nods.
“Okay, then. Well, I’ll see you when I’m back at camp.”
“You misunderstand. I’m not leaving you.”
I glower at him and then turn away and kick a rock, watching it roll down the small hill. It’s always something with this guy. “Look, Rakiz.”
“Don’t even try it.”
“Are you even allowed to be away from the camp? Do your babysitters know where you are?”
A muscle ticks in his jaw at my question, and I hold back a grin. His council members will be losing their minds.
I admire his control as he lets out a breath, his eyes narrowing on me. Yep, I know how to push his buttons too.
“I am the king,” he says softly. “I’m allowing this foolishness even though we are hopelessly outnumbered in the event that we come across any Voildi. Do not push me.”
“Look, you should go back and send more warriors here. We may need backup.”
“And leave you alone? No.”
I sigh. Is it a dumb move for the tribe king to come with me? Sure. But I need to find my friends. “It’s on your head.”
He just sends me a patronizing look and gestures toward the rock. I roll my eyes but move forward.
There’s a narrow path between the trees, and I glance back at the mishua. If we travel single file, we can make it. “Let’s follow it for a little bit and then come back for the mishua.”
Rakiz nods, and I step between the trees. I shiver, still creeped out by their long white branches. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they suddenly whipped out, wrapping around my waist and pulling me—
“Are you okay?”
I glance back at Rakiz, raising my eyebrows.
“You’re breathing faster.”
“Stay focused, big guy.”
Around ten minutes later, the trees clear slightly, and we can go either left or right. The Voildi either were arrogant enough to think we wouldn’t track them or didn’t have time to cover up their tracks.
My guess? It’s a bit of both. I note a broken branch that leads us to the right, and we move silently until we get to another fork. One way crosses over another stream, and the other leads deeper into the trees.
I grin. “Ivy, you genius.” She’s left another scrap of material, like a tiny pink flag, stuck between the branches of one of the trees.
Rakiz examines it. “How did the Voildi not notice?”
“My guess? They would’ve carried the women over their shoulders. If Ivy was at the back, she could’ve reached up as she went past.”
In my mind’s eye, I can see her desperately slapping out her hand, hoping to God that the scrap of cotton isn’t blown away or used as part of a nest by an enterprising bird.
“It just brings it home, you know? How much they’re depending on us.” I turn to Rakiz, who studies me with dark eyes. “Let’s get the mishua,” I say. “They went across the stream.”
Rakiz
Nevada is not pleased when I order her onto the mishua I rode here and tie the beast to Racia.
“You know I rode one perfectly fine by myself on the way here, right?”
“Yes, and the fact that I found you alive will surprise me until the day I die.”
“You’re such a drama king. Me and Racia are like this.” She holds up her hand, two fingers crossed, and Racia snorts.
“Regardless, it’s not happening now. Get on the mishua.”
She rolls her eyes but doesn’t argue, desperate to get to her friends.
Guilt hits me again. If my warriors had been better prepared, perhaps they would have found the females before now. As their king, their failure is my failure. If the females are dead or injured…the fault lies with me.
I watch as Nevada hauls herself onto the mishua. She is incredibly strong for her size, and I almost groan as I imagine tumbling her. All that strengt
h and stamina, that smart mouth and those emerald eyes—
“Are you ready to go or what?”
Nevada eyes me, almost as if she knows exactly where my mind was. My gaze drops to her lips, but I turn the mishua, and we head back the way we came.
Once we reach the stream, we can travel side by side, and I wait until Nevada pulls forward.
“What’s this mishua’s name?”
“Kazi.”
Nevada smiles, and I have to look away. When we are together, this female is all scowls and frowns, glowers and eye rolls. Oh, I’ve seen her laughing when I’ve caught her with her friends or watched her training with Asroz. My mood turns dark at the thought of the warrior training Nevada, but I push it away.
I am glad this female doesn’t know the power of her smile. If she were to smile up at me…I would likely give her anything she wanted.
I frown at the thought, and Nevada glances at me as we make our way out of the water. There is only one path between the trees, and we follow it, looking for signs of the human females.
It has been a long time since I’ve been in the wilderness like this without being surrounded by guards. Here, I can hear myself think. I can enjoy the fresh air. I can pretend that I’m just a male enjoying a ride with a beautiful female.
I frown. “There,” I say, pointing.
Nevada narrows her eyes. “They took the time to leave decoys, hoping we’d go in circles. They obviously figured they had more time once they got this far away.”
I nod. They couldn’t have completely erased their tracks while carrying three human females. So they’ve attempted to lead anyone who tracks them in circles.
Nevada opens her mouth, and I glare at her.
“No.”
“You don’t even know what I—”
“You want to separate. No.”
Surprisingly, she doesn’t argue, although I can hear her muttering as we head to the left.
“Bossy bastard,” she says, and I can’t help but grin.
“Tracks,” I say, and she jumps off the mishua.
I dismount as well. “What are you doing?”
“Suddenly there are tracks while there were none before? I don’t believe it for a second.” She crouches, angling her head. “Yeah, look. They had to press deep for the footprints to last this long. And look at the way the soil scatters here. They walked backwards. Do they think we’re idiots?”
I sigh. “For Braxians, Voildi stink. We are used to simply following our noses. Usually that is all we need to do to find any packs we are hunting. But this pack is smarter and more organized than any we have hunted before. My warriors would not have been expecting this type of thinking from them.”
Nevada nods and pulls herself back onto the mishua. “Makes sense.”
Her tone has no blame, but I think about this situation on the way back to the right path. The intelligent human female—Ivy, I remember—was unable to leave any trace of the direction of their travel at this point.
“Yeah,” Nevada says when I voice my thoughts. “I’m hoping that it was just because their order of travel was changed and maybe she couldn’t risk it without them figuring out what she was doing.”
Neither of us mention the other possibility—that she was unconscious or her hands were tied and we will have to focus solely on reading the Voildi tracks.
I clear my throat, and Nevada glances at me.
“When we return to camp,” I say, ignoring her frown at my words, “would you consider teaching some of my warriors about tracking without relying on their noses?”
She tilts her head, but the ghost of a smile plays around her lips. “Really?”
I nod. “Of course. This is a skill you are excellent at. This trip proves that this pack of Voildi can outmaneuver my warriors. If one pack can do this, it is only a matter of time before they can all do it.”
Nevada grins at me, and her smile drops as I stare. She turns her attention back to the forest.
“What?” she mutters.
“You are a beautiful female.”
She snorts as if she doesn’t believe me, and I frown, opening my mouth, but then she points.
“Check that out.”
I examine the tiny pink cloth, which has been shoved inside a fallen log.
“They got tired.” Nevada’s voice is triumphant. “And they dumped the women on the ground. Idiots. Look at all these tracks. I can just imagine Ivy sitting here, pushing that material in that log. And look—one of the other women sat here and ripped up a handful of grass.”
Nevada glances at me, face hard, eyes shining with determination. “They’re fighters, all of them. They must have been terrified, but they knew we’d come for them.” She smiles. “You know, we’d only known each other a couple of days. But they knew we wouldn’t leave them behind.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, and Nevada’s gaze meets mine. “I failed you and the other females. I should have listened and should have allowed you to return.”
Nevada looks at me for a long moment, and then she nods, the corner of her mouth kicking up, and I want nothing more than to pull her close and kiss her again.
“It’s okay,” she says, turning back to the log. “You’re here now.”
Chapter Seven
Nevada
We travel all day, but eventually it’s too dark to see the path in front of us.
Rakiz scans our surroundings as we set up camp. I’m feeding the mishua while he pulls a piece of material similar to canvas out of one of his packs.
“We cannot afford to light a fire this deep in the forest,” he says, and I nod. It’ll be cold, but it’s not like it’s going to snow.
We refilled our waterskins earlier, and I turn to gulp at some water before pulling out my rations.
Rakiz stares at me for a moment and then reaches into his own bag. My mouth waters at the sight of the sweet cakes I love. I have a huge sweet tooth, and Rakiz’s sudden grin tells me he knows it.
I scowl at him. That smile should be illegal.
His grin widens. “Tell me how you snuck out of my camp, and I will give you a sweet cake.”
“Are you kidding me? That’s worth at least three sweet cakes.”
He laughs, and I stare, mesmerized. Since we’ve been away from camp, it’s like a weight has fallen off Rakiz’s shoulders. Even though we spent all day working to find the women, his brow is no longer constantly creased in a frown. His eyes are quicker to light with amusement, and he’s the most relaxed I’ve ever seen him.
“Two,” he bargains. “And one in the morning.”
“I can live with that. But…no one who helped me can get into any trouble.”
Rakiz’s face hardens. “They disobeyed me.”
“They did it because they either understood why I needed to go, they saw me as a threat to you—and therefore, the camp—or they were just naive and easily manipulated.” I leave out the seamstress, who just wanted me gone so her daughter could flirt with Rakiz.
He studies my face, and a muscle ticks in his jaw as he nods.
“Okay.” I sigh. “First…your warriors were the easiest to trick.”
Rakiz narrows his eyes at me, and I throw up my hands.
“You wanted the truth! It’s like with the Voildi. None of them have been smart enough to cover their tracks before, so your men didn’t expect it. The same thing happened at camp. No woman had ever lied to their faces the way I did, so they didn’t expect it. Tell me, if another warrior had come up to Lariz and told him that Terex wanted to see him right at that moment, would he have left his post?”
Rakiz turns his head, staring into the distance, and I give him a moment to think, ripping into the dried meat I brought with me. I offer him the cloth bag, and he takes a few pieces. Both of us munch until he returns his attention to me.
“I do not believe he would have.”
I nod. “The same thing happened with the weapons. All I had to do was drop Terex’s name, and I was free.” Rakiz’s face har
dens again, and I sigh. “Look, your warriors are well trained; they just need a few reminders. It’s a good thing that all I wanted to do was sneak out. What if I’d really been trying to let someone else in?”
I grab some more dried meat and grimace at the chewiness. It’s protein and calories, both of which I need after such a long day, but the meat is definitely a lot better when fresh.
No one likes to hear that they have massive holes in their security, but to Rakiz’s credit, he seems to be taking me seriously. “What do you suggest?”
“Well, your instinct would be to publicly shame the people who let me out, right?”
“Shame is a strong word, but they should be punished, yes.”
I shake my head. “Wrong tactic to take. All that’s going to do is create resentment. Especially against the human women. I can take it, but it’s not fair if the others are treated differently.”
“So what do you suggest?”
I eye him, but he’s truly interested, and I shift on the mishua blanket I’m using to protect my pants from the slightly damp grass.
“Make it a game. Get the Braxian females involved. Keep it a secret at first until all of the guards and sentries have been tested. Then you can reveal that you were testing them. Sure, they’ll all be a bit embarrassed at first, but I can guarantee there will be more of them fooled than those who aren’t. And then you can give them a wake-up call. Where I come from, if a soldier leaves their post…” I shake my head, and Rakiz leans forward.
“They are punished, aren’t they? And yet you’re suggesting that those who allowed you to leave the camp shouldn’t be punished?”
I sigh. “It’s different.”
“How?”
“Well, first, it’s always going to be easier to get out of a camp than to get in, so I had that going for me. Second, I’m sneakier than most.” I grin at him, but he leans forward, catching my chin.
His hand tightens as I attempt to yank my head away, so I coolly raise one eyebrow.
“Anything could have happened, Nevada. A pack of Voildi could have torn you to pieces, or that mishua could have thrown you at the first opportunity, leaving you with only that sword and no food or supplies. You seem to think that you’re invincible or that your life doesn’t matter. Why is this?”
