by Lily Graison
“Perhaps she lacked the proper incentive to use it.” Allok nodded his head and once again, Jorrick saw a flash of golden skin out of the corner of his eye. He didn’t have to wonder this time who it was as they were pulled to a stop beside Allok.
Seeing Aris was still a shock. The hard look on Aris’s face told him to do what he had to, even if it meant getting him killed. Jorrick looked at his arm. The crude bandage wrapped around his wrist made his gut twist, memories of finding his hand and thinking he was dead still fresh in his mind. He’d known Allok sending him Aris’s hand had been an attempt to get him here. If he had to guess, he’d say it was, so he’d gather his men to confront him and leave Mar-see at camp unprotected for his men to take her. It hadn’t been Aris’s hand that led to her capture, though. It had been nothing more than a pointless hunting trip. A reason to distance himself from her before the others realized how much closer they were growing.
He clenched his jaw. Berating himself over things already done was useless. He’d failed Mar-see and Aris both. There was nothing he could do to change that but he could make it right. “Let them go, Allok.”
“And why would I do that?”
“Because I will kill you slowly if you do not.”
Allok glanced at one of his men and a moment later, a blade longer than his arm was pressed against Mar-see’s neck, another placed against Aris’s. “Not before I slit the throat of one of these. Which will it be?”
Aris lifted his chin and leaned forward, the blade at his throat biting into his flesh enough a small trickle of blood ran down his neck. “Take her and run, Jorrick.”
For the first time in ages, he wasn’t sure what to do. Taking Mar-see was his first thought but could he leave Aris behind? Choosing between them was impossible.
“Or perhaps you’ll exchange your life for theirs.” Allok smiled, his red eyes glowing with delight. “Bow before me, Jorrick. Surrender, and I’ll free them both.”
“Lies.”
Allok’s smile widened. “Do you have much choice?” he looked at Mar-see and Aris in turn before meeting his gaze again. “You alone cannot save them both.”
“I’m not alone.”
“But you are.” Commotion by the trees drew Jorrick’s attention. The men who had come with him all walked into camp, their jaws clenched tight, their movements jerky, as if every step was forced. “They cannot help you now so what will it be?”
He was a fool. He should have waited longer. Slipped inside Allok’s hut once darkness fell and killed him while he slept. His traitorous heart had betrayed him once again and forced him to act before thinking.
Mar-see shifted on her feet. Jorrick met her gaze, held her stare and knew he’d do it all again. “I love you.” She gasped softly, the words shocking even him. He wasn’t sure he’d ever said them out loud to anyone, not even Zasra. An emotion as strong as love was dangerous. Proof of that was staring him in the face now. His love for revenge and for this tiny slip of a human had brought all this upon them. She was the ruin of him, just as he’d always known she would be. His camp was gone, his men dead. Even if he bowed before Allok and chose between Mar-see and Aris, he knew Allok wouldn’t keep his word. He’d force Mar-see to perform whatever magic’s he thought she could do and use him and Aris as a means to try and get it. He’d be better off killing them both himself and save them both the torture Allok was sure to dole out to them.
He wrapped his fist around the handle of his blade and looked at Mar-see and Aris both. Could he end them to save them from pain? He pulled the blade free of its scabbard. Yes. Yes, he could.
He loved her. Marcy fought to get enough air in her lungs to breathe but the slightest move tugged at the blade against her throat. She smiled instead, hopefully that one small gesture would be enough to—what, exactly?
She’d tried analyzing her feelings for Jorrick and for every check mark in the, ‘this is a fucking stupid idea,’ category she found a reason why it wasn’t. Him showing up with nothing more than his bandolier of knives strapped to his chest and a handful of men being one of them. Not only had he come for her when the odds were stacked against him, he’d done so without regret. The look on his face, and those three little words that were still whispering through her head all the proof she needed.
Her body ached from the abuse she’d suffered the night before. She’d run from camp not knowing where she was going but it hadn’t taken her long to know where she’d been running to. As much as she wanted to see Sara again, she’d wanted to see Jorrick more. Out of all the bad shit this horrible place had to offer, she felt safe with him. Had for a long time. And that feeling of safety had slowly morphed into curiosity, then longing, and as she stood there, her arms aching from being stretched for so long over her head, she knew without a doubt she loved him too. The joy she’d felt the moment she saw him walk into camp told her she did.
Jorrick pulled his long blade from the scabbard. Her pulse raced at the sight. There were so many men here. So many Allok controlled. She had no doubt Jorrick could take on any of them and win but if they all attacked at once?
Don’t think about it. He’s here. That’s all that matters.
She glanced at Aris. She didn’t know how he was even standing. He’d been beaten in front of her as punishment for her running. The blows he’d received were more brutal when she looked away and she was surprised Aris survived it. Whatever species Jorrick and Aris were, they were made of sterner stuff than most. Their size alone suggested it. She was glad to see looks weren’t deceiving when it came to them.
Jorrick’s fist was clenching around the handle of his long blade. He was strong and ruthless but Marcy knew he’d never survive a fight. Not here. Not with Allok’s men. There were too many of them and every one she saw had a weapon in hand. All of them watching. All of them waiting for Allok to tell them to attack.
Her pulse started racing. They were going to kill Jorrick and make her watch and just the thought of it made it hard to breathe. Allok was power hungry and nothing short of giving him what he wanted would ever satisfy him.
She stiffened when a thought popped into her head. “I’ll do it!”
“Mar-see!”
She ignored Jorrick when he yelled her name. She locked eyes with Allok and lifted her chin as much as she dared. “Jorrick and all those you took from his camp in exchange for what you asked for.”
That brain-numbing pressure she felt when Allok tried to get inside her head was sharp enough to drag a quick breath from her lungs. She squinted against the pain and sucked in a quick breath when it disappeared.
“How do I know you speak the truth, witch?”
She glanced at Jorrick. “Because I know you’ll kill them if I’m lying. Let them go. When they’re all away from camp, I’ll give you what you want.”
“Mar-see.”
It was nothing more than her name but the inflection behind it made goosebumps pimple her skin. It was a warning, the deep baritone of Jorrick’s voice harsh enough that small growl she heard rumble from his throat on occasion followed behind it.
“It’s all right.” She gave him a tiny smile. “My life for all of those he’s captured is a small price to pay.”
Jorrick’s face went red. “It is a price you will not pay!” He pulled one of the knives from his bandolier with his free hand, gripping it and the long blade before turning to Allok. “Let her go or I’ll kill you where you stand.”
“The moment you let those blades fly, I will slaughter every person in this camp you called your own, starting with the witch.”
Not a single person moved as Jorrick and Allok stared at one another. This was going to end badly. Marcy felt it in the pit of her stomach. No one was going to win.
Panic made her shout his name. The red-skinned alien didn’t so much as glance her. Think, think, think, Marcy. He wanted a spell. He wanted his enemies vanquished. She straightened when a thought popped into her head. He wanted magic? Then she’d give it to him. “Allok, I’ll rain
fire upon your head if you don’t let them go!” As she suspected, he never flinched.
She’d sucked at foreign languages in school. She’d tried to learn French and Spanish and never could grasp them but she remembered a few things. With a mix-mash of both, she started speaking both languages together, pacing the words as if they were a chant, the volume in which she spoke getting louder until Allok finally looked her way. She had no idea if his translator was making any sense out of the words or not but it was too late to worry about it now. The way she was butchering both languages, even if the translator did work for foreign languages, it would probably make no sense to him anyway. “This is your final warning,” she said. When he did nothing but stand there, she said every Spanish and French word she could think of and even made up a few just to be safe, her eyes locked with his own as she shouted the words. When she stopped talking, she narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips.
And the very ground beneath them shook.
Someone gasped before quiet mumbles filled the air. The trees around camp began to sway and a moment later, a fireball lit the sky, singeing the treetops. Marcy flinched and stared wide-eyed into the sky. What the hell?
Allok’s men screamed and ran for cover. The man holding the blade to her throat stumbled back, the knife falling uselessly to his side. A roar loud enough to rumble inside her chest filled the air a moment later, followed by a longer spray of fire. Allok stared slack-jawed into the sky, his eyes widening. Marcy blinked dumbly at the sight, then looked at Jorrick. He was looking at her, his eyes wide with disbelief. Did he really think she’d done this? Well, you did just promise to rain fire upon all their heads.
The treetops swayed again, more fire lighting the sky before the trees behind Jorrick swayed, then broke at their bases as if they were nothing but small sticks. They were pushed out of the way and a huge dragon’s head came into view a moment later. Marcy grinned, relief so profound filling her body she sagged against the binds holding her. She’d seen this dragon before. It had swooped out of the sky and snatched her friend from the air before flying away with her.
Toren lowered his head and snarled, his pointed teeth longer than any man standing there was tall. His eyes narrowed, his hot breath blown from his nostrils warming the air around them. Allok staggered back a step, then turned wide eyes toward her. For the first time since being dragged to his camp, Marcy felt bold. “Untie me. Now.”
It only took a moment before one of his men stepped toward her and cut her loose. She hit the ground with a thud and looked up in time to see Jorrick grab the spear that had been thrown at him. He pulled it from the ground and hurled it across camp. Allok’s body flew backwards, the spear sticking from his throat, his shocked gasp audible enough to hear.
Blood poured down his chest. He grabbed the spear with both hands and looked up at them, his red eyes wide with disbelief. He swayed, his mouth opening as if he were going to say something, then fell to his knees.
Jorrick was kneeling beside her before she could even try to pick herself up, his arms wrapping around her and lifting her to his lap as Allok hit the ground. “Are you injured?”
His hands roamed her body, and she shook her head. “No. Just bruised, mostly.” He pushed her hair away from her face, then pulled her tighter against his chest, lowering his head until their foreheads touched. “I thought I’d lost you.”
Marcy sighed and snuggled closer to him. “And I didn’t think you’d come for me.”
“I would have killed every living being on Prison Moon One to get to you. You are my mate, Mar-see. There is nothing I will not do for you.”
Had they been somewhere other than the middle of Allok’s camp surrounded by more bodies than she could count, she would have shown him her gratitude by riding him until he was unconscious. She wrapped her arms around his neck instead and pulled him in for a kiss, licking inside his mouth without a care of who may be watching. When she pulled away, he smiled and stood with her cradled in his arms.
“Where is he keeping the others?” he asked.
Marcy told him where the pits were. The men who had come with him were no longer under Allok’s influence. They hurried across camp to free the others. A dragon roared and a dark shadow darkened the sky. Marcy looked up at it, her eyes widening when she realized it wasn’t Toren. There really was more than one dragon.
Sara had told her when she and Toren had been found outside Jorrick’s camp and captured that Toren was searching for his people to see if others had survived. Seeing a dragon soar across the sky while she looked at Toren told her there were. “Is Sara here?”
The dragon’s big head shifted from side to side. No, of course she wasn’t. She doubted Toren would have let her come, especially if he didn’t know what the outcome would be which was silly. The outcome should have been obvious. She’d seen nothing on this world more powerful than a dragon.
Krista, Celestia, and the others were led to where they stood. They had been sorely used, but they were whole. Once they healed from what they’d suffered, she’d do whatever it took to make up to them everything that had been done. Their pain and suffering had been her fault, and she’d see them avenged if it was the last thing she did.
Chapter Twenty-Five
He was loathed to put her down. Jorrick would never be able to repay the dragons for what they’d done, and he’d told them as much. They’d shrugged at his gratitude. Had it not been for Toren’s mate, neither dragon would have come to their aid and more than likely, they’d all be dead right now.
His camp was still smoldering when they made it back. He wasn’t even sure why they were there other than the most injured among them had been left in the care of Jityria. Those that had been taken by Allok filled into camp and stopped, staring at the destruction with blank faces. What little they’d owned was now gone.
“What will we do now?”
Marcy was staring up at him, small lines of worry creasing her forehead. “We will do as we always have. Live.” It just wouldn't be here.
“You can put me down, you know?”
“I like holding you.”
She gave him one of those smiles that made his heart thump hard enough to make his breath catch. “And I enjoy you holding me but in case it's escaped your notice, I’m wearing nothing but an oversized shirt and I’m sure my ass is visible to anyone looking.”
“And my men know I will kill any of them caught doing so.”
He set her feet on the ground anyway and held on to her until she’d caught her balance. Voices in camp grew as those that had been taken slowly made their way toward the injured. He cupped Mar-see’s face in his hands and kissed her, not lingering long due to watchful eyes and smiled as he pulled away. “The moment we’re alone, I’ll give you a proper kiss.”
“I can hardly wait.” He watched as she walked to where the other females stood. Several of them were weeping. He could only imagine what Allok’s men had done to them and left Mar-see to deal with their recovery as she saw fit. He knew nothing about consoling a distraught female.
He stared toward the remains of his hut. It was mostly ash now. There wasn’t anything to salvage which meant there was nothing here worth staying for. The men who had followed him were no longer his concern and more importantly, he didn’t want to be responsible for them. They were free to go their own way as he intended to do. He’d take Mar-see and Aris and head deeper into the forest. He’d find them shelter and build a new life for them far away from here. Far enough he’d never have to hear about the other warlords or see the announcements for The Chase or the Arena Games.
Watching Mar-see embrace the human with short dark hair, he wondered if she’d leave without them. He didn’t want to look after anyone besides her and Aris and he wondered what his mate would think about leaving them behind when they left, not that it really mattered. He may not be a warlord now but his word was still law and like it or not, his little mate would have to live with it.
The litter Aris was being carried on wa
s set down near the tree line and Jorrick hurried to his brothers side. “You look like something chewed you up and spit you back out.”
“It feels like something did as well.” The corner of Aris’s mouth tilted as he sighed. “I didn’t think I’d see you again.”
Jorrick grabbed his hand, squeezing hard. “And I thought I’d spend the rest of my life mourning your loss. Do not ever disobey me again.”
Aris laughed. “Not likely, brother.”
Jorrick squeezed his hand again, relief at having him back so immense, his eyes burned and his chest ached. He’d not lose him again. Him or Mar-see. He glanced at her and sucked in a relieved breath before looking down at Aris. They were both battered and bruised but they were alive and safe and once they were well enough to travel, he’d take them from this place and never look back.
They were safe. For now.
It took the better part of the day to calm everyone down. The things Allok’s men had done to Krista, and the others was going to give her nightmares and Marcy knew it would take a while for them to be able to live with what had happened. Knowing something was inevitable and having to live it were two very different things.
Jorrick was across camp talking with Aris and a few of the other men when Marcy saw a flash of green out of the corner of her eye. Jityria had entered the camp from the trail that led to the pond. The instant Marcy saw her, heat exploded in her veins and traveled the length of her body in such a rush, beads of sweat popped out on her forehead.
Jityria was headed straight for Jorrick, a beaming smile plastered on her face. Every step she took made Marcy’s blood run hotter. She was crossing camp before she even knew what she was going to say to her.
When Jityria reached Jorrick, she threw herself at him hard enough he staggered back a step, his arms going around Jityria’s waist to keep them from falling. It was an innocent embrace but the sight of it made Marcy’s heart pound, blood racing through her veins fast enough she was dizzy by the time she reached them. She didn’t say a word, just grabbed Jityria by the hair and yanked her back. Then she balled her fist and swung.
