The gushing sound grew louder as they wove through the trees, their shoes scrunching on dead leaves. Overhead, a green parrot flitted from branch to branch. A loud screech from higher up spurred her to walk faster.
She stopped at the water’s edge, spray from the waterfall wetting her face. The pool’s surface glistened in the dappled sunlight. A pleasant nutmeg-like scent pervaded the air.
Paz aimed his device at the water, fiddled with the controls, and smiled triumphantly. “It’s clean. We can drink.”
After quenching their thirst, they headed toward a cluster of life signs on his device. It led them toward the east and away from their landing site.
Vines dangled in front of her nose. She brushed them aside, wary of cobwebs. Overhanging branches made her pulse quicken. She feared spiders or snakes dropping on her head.
A shudder racked her shoulders. She’d never been a nature fan and didn’t intend to start now. The sooner they reached civilization, the better.
All this talk of rifts and Trolleks confused her. Fatigue seeped into her bones, discouraging any further inquiries.
Her heart leapt when they emerged at the jungle’s edge where a small village hugged the coastline. A dirt road ran through the main street lined by pastel-colored houses on stilts. Chickens strutted in the yards where laundry was strung out to dry. Boats of varied sizes bobbed on the water. Likely the villagers made their living from fishing.
Paz held up a cautionary hand. “Let me do the talking.”
He approached a couple of women repairing a long net. They had weathered faces and wore simple, loose-fitting clothes. Jen followed in Paz’s wake, deferring to his expertise.
If he had so many skills as a Drift Lord, why wasn’t he doing more than repairing telecom equipment? Even if he dealt with advanced communications systems, it wouldn’t explain his complacency.
Every nugget he revealed about himself led to a greater mystery. Did he really want a job as a male model, or had he used that as an excuse to tag along? Her lips thinned. Sooner or later, she’d coax him to talk.
Right now, he engaged in conversation with the citizens of this peaceful village. They spoke in a foreign tongue incomprehensible to Jen.
Residents converged on the newcomers, staring with overt curiosity. Aware of how disheveled she and Paz must appear, Jen felt her face heat under their scrutiny.
Paz’s mouth turned down as he translated for her. “They don’t have any phones or radios here, but there’s a larger town to the north where we may be able to access a line to the mainland. We can rent a ride in one of their trucks to get there along the coastal route.”
“That’s a good idea. These shoes aren’t made for hiking.” She stooped to brush sand from between her toes. The abrasive grains irritated her skin. Blisters would form if she didn’t wash her feet and get decent footwear.
One of the women, missing a couple of teeth, rattled off a series of sentences. Paz’s response came back laced with anger.
“What is it?” Jen plucked at her skirt, hoping the air would cool with the descending sun. The smell of dead fish brewed in the heat.
“A group of men stopped by here earlier asking about us. They’d spotted our aircraft and were headed toward our landing site.” He paused. “They had guns.”
“Oh.” She swallowed. “Trolleks?”
He shook his head. “Sons of these folks. Lord Morar of Shirajo Manor pressed them into service.”
“Pressed them? You mean, he forced them to work?”
His jaw tightened. “The Trolleks turned them into mind slaves. The men do whatever they’re told, and they were ordered to intercept us and bring us to their master.”
“Did this warlord send those goons to disable our jet? Does this mean we’ve landed right in his lair?” Her pitch rose as she realized their jeopardy.
Paz’s expression hardened. “I believe so.”
“Then let’s hire a boat and get out of here.”
“These are local fishing boats. If we want to hire a seaworthy vessel, we’ll have to go to Kamaji, the town on the north coast.”
She swept her arm in a semicircle while the breeze whipped hair into her face. “This island has only two towns plus an enemy fortress?”
Paz made an inquiry to the residents. A gaunt man in a tattered shirt muttered something in response. The Drift Lord gave a resigned sigh before speaking in English to Jen.
“This guy claims the interior is too mountainous to traverse and has a volcano that rumbles whenever the gods get angry. The south coast is rocky with cliffs, so they can’t fish off that side. Plus a deadly sea serpent lives there and swallows boats whole.”
Jen rolled her eyes. “This just keeps getting better. Then we’ll hitch a ride in a truck, go to the larger village, and hire a boat to take us off this damn island.”
Paz’s intense gaze bored into hers. “I’m not leaving yet. It’s my job to determine the source of the cors particles, locate the rift, and shut it down. Unfortunately, I believe the Trollek stronghold is where we’ll find our answers.”
“No, thanks.” She slung her purse strap over her other shoulder. “I’ll take these people up on their kind offer for transportation, and you can do your hero thing.”
Paz gave a snort of laughter. “Do you really think you’d get far without me?”
She lifted her nose. “I can try.”
“You’ll end up getting yourself killed. The Trolleks are onto you now, and they’ll take you any way they can—dead or alive. If you want a chance at survival, you’ll have to stick with me.”
Jen glared at him while her blood chilled at the truth of his statement. She couldn’t even understand these people without his help. But to head straight into the lion’s den? What did he hope to accomplish?
She asked him after they garnered a ride to Kamaji on the dirt road paralleling the coast. They rode on the flatbed of a pickup truck amid a tangle of tools and a closed metal box. The ride was a series of bumps that jostled them against each other.
“Are you thinking of breaking into the Trollek compound?” Her nose clogged from the dust kicked up in their wake. “We could be walking into a trap.”
“They’ll be expecting us to escape the island.” His eyes glimmered in the late afternoon sunlight. “Look, even if I locate the rift, I don’t know how they’re keeping it open. We have to shut down these portals to stop their invasion. That’s our team’s main objective, but we need more intelligence. How are they keeping these rifts open against the pressure from the cors particles?”
“It must take a lot of energy.”
“Exactly. I can’t pass up this opportunity to learn more about their technology.”
“How many inter-dimensional rifts are there?”
“We don’t know. The Trolleks activated a jamming device that blinded our sensors. We spent several weeks trying to locate their signal. Finally, we found it in a warehouse near Drift World.”
“The adult role-playing theme park in Orlando?”
“Correct.” He nodded, a lock of hair falling into his face. With an impatient gesture, he thrust it back. “Our last mission was meant to destroy the jammer. I am unaware of the ultimate outcome.”
He glanced away, but not before she caught the flicker of pain in his eyes.
“Who else is on your team?”
“We started out as seven, but we lost three men.” He drew a deep breath. “Rayne got killed, Kaj went missing, and Dal was poisoned. A traitor among us worked for Zohar’s political opponents from home and betrayed us to the Trolleks. Zohar Thorald is our captain,” he explained.
“That’s only six, including you.”
Paz nodded, his gaze distant. “Yaron is our medic and the seventh team member. At the last count, only three of us were left. This doesn’t include Lord Magnor, a Tsuran swordsman who joined our team unofficially as did Nira Larsen.”
“Tell me about this woman.”
Paz focused on the shrubbery bordering the road
. “She’s an expert on Norse mythology and one of the principles in the prophecy. All of us were captured during this last mission. A Trollek pushed me into a pit housing the power source for the jamming device. I hit my head. That’s the last I remember before waking up on the film set.”
They hit a pothole, and the truck shook and rattled.
Jen’s eyes widened. “Do you mean to tell me you started out in Orlando and ended up in Tokyo? Naked? How is that possible?”
“The generator mechanism had sharp edges and moving parts. It tore my clothing as I fell. The ocean ran below. I must have been sucked into a spontaneous tear in the space-time fabric when I hit the water.”
“Well, that would explain your confusion and bruises.”
He touched the purplish wound on his head. He’d ripped off the bandage on the airplane. “As for why I landed in your location, that was Fate. I knew it as soon as I saw your watch.” His gaze swung to her wrist. “Hmm, I wonder. Where would you be if you could wish yourself there?”
“Home, of course.”
Paz gripped her hand, the heat from his palm radiating up her arm. “Go ahead. Visualize the place.”
She gaped at him. “What are you saying? That I can whisk us there like magic?”
“It’s worth a try.”
“Huh. The sun must be baking your brain.” Nonetheless, she squeezed her eyes shut and pictured her family’s two-story white columned house in Palm Beach. When they hit another rut in the road, her eyes flew open. “We’re still here.”
“I guess so. Apparently, you’re not ready to wield your power.”
She withdrew her hand, confused by his words. Her dress rumpled under her legs, and she smoothed it out. Maybe she could get a change of clothes in the next village.
Idly she scratched at a bug bite on her shoulder, pondering their conversation. What wasn’t he telling her?
Her toes ached, the skin between them scraped raw. A glimpse of sparkling sea to their right made her yearn to dip her body into the cool water. She wasn’t cut out to be Nature Girl. Discomfited, she adjusted her position.
Paz’s amused glance followed her movements. She had a momentary mental image of him massaging her feet. Her face heated again, or maybe it was just the humidity getting to her.
“Why did the Trolleks attack us? Were they after you?” She asked the question foremost on her mind.
“At first I thought the beasts had vectored in to capture me.” He raised his voice to be heard over the truck’s engine noise. “But I think my presence surprised them. One guy came at me with an axe, while the other riff grabbed you. If you hadn’t been immune to their spell, he’d have taken you. I believe that was their prime objective.”
“To capture me?” Jen’s pulse accelerated. “How would they even know I was there?”
His eyes narrowed. “Your wristwatch allows them to track you. I suspect its special functions activated when we met. It has properties similar to the transport units the beasts wear on their armbands. We don’t know how it works.”
“Oh, that’s just great.”
“I do know one thing—kissing you saved me from being confounded. Zohar learned this from Nira. Our mingling transfers your immunity to me.” He sidled closer, his gaze darkening. “In fact, we’d better do it again for safety’s sake.”
“What? You must be addled in the attic.”
“Attic? I do not understand.”
She circled her finger around her ear. “You know, nuts.”
“Ah.” He leaned closer until she could smell the scent of the jungle on him. “I am serious. Normally we polarize ourselves against the Trollek touch. It has to be done every twenty-four hours. My margin has long since passed.”
“So I have to kiss you to protect you.” Her tone dripped with sarcasm.
“At the very least. The more intimate we are, the longer the protection lasts.”
His mouth prevented her next question from forming as his head descended. She tasted the tang of salt as he brushed her lips with the slightest pressure.
The nerve of the man for making up such a story. And yet it held a kernel of truth. Just in case it had merit, she allowed him to plunder her mouth. He didn't go deep, just tantalizing her enough to want more.
And oh, did she want more.
The horror and stress of the last few hours returned with full force along with the realization that this man had saved her life.
Her arms wrapped around him of their own volition. She parted her lips and pressed her body closer. Her breasts ached as they encountered his broad chest. A vision of them naked together made her breath come short.
His strong arms hugged her against him while she relished his strength and power. The man might be confident, cocky, and arrogant to boot, but he sure could kiss. His mouth changed angles and hungrily devoured her.
They started to slide downward, and so did his hands. She felt a low ache in her belly, a surging need as he found her breasts. This might be the wrong time and place, but she couldn't help herself. Lust consumed her.
His thumbs brushed her nipples, and she moaned.
Paz kissed her once more and then withdrew. “I’d like to continue this, leera, but not now. We have a mission to accomplish.” He helped her to sit upright.
Jen straightened her dress. “I just did that to protect you. Don’t think I’m easy.”
“A lady like you? Never.” His smirk told her he thought otherwise. “Although, if the Fates are to be believed, you and I are meant to be together.”
“Is that so?” Was that another excuse for him to kiss her? She tilted her head. “Why didn’t any of this happen earlier, like at my showroom in New York? The Trolleks could have jumped in and grabbed me then.”
“As I said, it was the confluence of our being together that raised their alarms. You can always ask those guys.”
His deeper tone alerted her even as the truck slowed. A roadblock of angry armed Trolleks waited for them ahead.
Chapter Six
Paz would have preferred to enter Shirajo Manor on his own terms. Being escorted there by a squadron of Trolleks didn’t bode well for their prospects. At least, he hoped they’d be taken to the base commandant and not summarily executed.
Jen trembled next to him as they stood by the road, with their hands raised, along with the pickup truck driver. Her face pinched and her forehead beaded with sweat.
A large, beefy Trollek wearing military gear inspected them one-by-one. When he reached the driver, he drew out his disruptor and shot the man point blank in the chest.
“Oh, my God.” Jen’s voice edged on hysteria.
“Search them, Menig Gwarp,” the officer snapped.
“Yes, Leytnant.” A Trollek with a missing front tooth approached Jen and leered at her.
“Don’t resist,” Paz warned her from the corner of his mouth. It might go in their favor if they appeared docile.
The stocky one called Gwarp took his time feeling Jen up while she focused forward and clenched her jaw. Paz curled his fists and reined in his impulse to punch the brawny riff. This was only a small humiliation compared to what was coming.
Menig was the lowest enlisted rank in the Trollek military force. Paz wondered at the size of their garrison and how they’d gotten here. Had they opened a rift on the island near where one naturally occurred when the dimensional plates shifted? If so, what was the advantage of this remote location?
He stared straight ahead, his mouth taut, as Gwarp patted him down. He’d find the answers in their command center.
“I just found one weapon, Min Drott,” the enlisted rank told his officer. He displayed Jen’s handbag, Paz’s PIP that looked like a bulky cell phone, and their Swiss Army knife.
A quick search inside Jen’s bag by the leytnant brought a sneer to his lips. “These items are worthless. The woman can keep them for now.” He held onto the knife but tossed Jen back her handbag along with Paz’s PIP. She stuck it inside her purse.
At the o
fficer’s signal, the guards herded them into the back of a small transport. Gwarp kept his disruptor trained on them as they sat in silence.
Jen bit her lower lip, her face white. He wanted to offer comfort but not while they were so keenly observed.
They drove across the island over a bumpy road that inhibited progress. An hour or so later, their vehicle halted at the base of a hill.
Forced out at gunpoint, Paz and Jen exited the ground transport and started up the slope—armed sentries flanking them.
Tall, shady trees lined the packed dirt road. A sweet scent entered his nostrils but it was far from pleasant. It reminded him of dead people and the cloying odor that lingered after death. Massive stone lanterns stood at intervals along the way.
At the summit, they stood before an arched gate. Ancient wood doors were set inside the structure that had a peaked tile roof. As they approached, the doors flung open. Two armed humans regarded them impassively as they marched through. The men’s eyes had the glassy look of confounded souls.
They entered the outer sanctum of the citadel. Stone walls surrounded the compound. Passing a grassy expanse of what might have been a moat in the old days, they followed a gravel path. Clearly the Trolleks had confiscated someone’s property, perhaps a retreat for Japanese nobility.
In the distance rose the five-tower structure that housed the main keep. It had a stone foundation, blue tile roof, and whitewashed walls. Multiple towers surrounded it, making for a huge complex.
He tried to keep note of their route but an array of twisting paths, gates, baileys, and stairs challenged his sense of direction. The compound must have been designed on purpose to befuddle intruders and allow for ambushes along the way.
Confuse and Conquer: A brilliant strategy.
He grasped Jen’s hand as they trudged up another hill, a stone wall on one side and a white building rising on the other. After a switchback, they reached another gate nestled into a structure that looked as though it housed residences. The doors remained closed at their approach.
The leytnant yanked on a cord that rang a bell. He leapt back as the doors opened outwardly. More guards waved them through.
Warrior Rogue (The Drift Lords Series) Page 6
