by Tenaya Jayne
He yelled out in pain and hung back from the group, holding his hand over the bleeding gash. The rest were too close for the whip now. She dropped it and parried a sloppy strike with her katana. She felt Asher’s back press against hers. Only three of them were fighting now. Silhon wasn’t the only one keeping his distance. His henchman, Gareth, also wasn’t engaging.
She caught her opponent with an upswing, knocking his sword from his hands. Her blade slid into his chest. It was the first time she’d killed anyone, but she didn’t have time to contemplate it. Before she could push his body off her sword, the bastard behind him struck out at her. She ducked, but caught his sword with her forearm. The blade cut through her muscles and tendons down to the bone. She heard the sound of a knife as it flew through the air, but she never saw it. All she knew was she was now alone, fighting.
They’d gotten Asher. Rage and agony blinded her. She couldn’t feel the pain as she cut the one in front of her from collarbone to groin. Just three left.
The one she fought now was more skilled than the others, and Gareth was coming forward now, while Silhon still hesitated.
“Don’t kill her!” Silhon shouted. “She’s mine.”
A blast threw her backward, her sword flew from her hand as she hit the ground. She looked up. Shreve came out of nowhere. The one she’d been fighting struck at him. He grabbed his arm and took his sword from his hand as if he had no more strength than a baby. Shreve cut his head off quickly.
She scrambled to get up and get her sword. When she turned back around, Silhon slammed into her, knocking her back on the ground and pinning her under him. “You’ve done better than I thought you would. Let’s finish this.”
He hauled her up, spun her around so she was facing away from him, and held a knife to her throat.
Shreve and Gareth were circling each other.
“Hey!” Silhon yelled.
****
Shreve looked over at Sabra and her captor for a split second, gaging the danger of the situation, and turned his attention back to Gareth. She could handle the bastard holding her without his help. Gareth had to be neutralized in the shortest order. He didn’t have time to screw around with him.
Gareth moved first, and damn if he wasn’t fast. Shreve focused on pulling from his ogre blood, knowing the split second distraction would cost him. Shreve’s hand transformed as Gareth’s sword plunged into his stomach and up. The blade slid up through him until the tip pierced his heart. Shreve put his hand flat on Gareth’s chest and opened a portal. His heart and lungs were sucked straight out of him, leaving a huge empty hole in his torso. Gareth and Shreve fell to the ground together.
“NO!” Sabra’s scream filled his ears.
He heard her scuffle with Silhon and opened his eyes in time to see him fall. The blade he’d held to her throat now hilt-deep in his eye. Then she was leaning over Shreve, pulling Gareth’s sword out. Damn, that burned.
She grabbed at his wound and tried to hold it together. “No, please, please, please, no.”
He put his hands over hers to still them. Her eyes were unfathomable as she looked down at him. She didn’t want him to die. That knowledge alone gave him the strength to use the power of his wizard blood to heal himself.
Her mouth fell open as the wound sealed up, not even leaving a scar. His heart labored under the use of magic. Knowing he’d just knocked more hours, or days even, off of his life, he sat up.
“Are you hurt?” he asked.
“Am I hurt?”
Shreve looked over the bodies, his eyes landing on Asher. “No.” His voice came out weak. He scrambled up and ran over to Asher, falling on his knees next to him. He shook him and felt for a pulse. He was dead. Shreve pulled the knife out of his chest, his vision blurring with tears.
Shreve hung his head and wept. Sabra came up behind him and put her hands on his shaking shoulders for a moment, then she was on her knees next to him, crying also. For a while they just stayed like that, grieving in silence, side by side.
She reached over and closed Asher’s eyes. “I swore I’d never cry again. I swore to Sophie, the day after she died. This is the second time I’ve broken that oath…I also swore I’d never see you again.”
Shreve swallowed and nodded. “I’ll leave as quickly as I can.”
She grabbed his hand and shook her head. “That’s not what I meant.”
He pulled her hand up, looking at the wound on her arm. “Hold your arm straight.”
She obeyed. He pulled his blood-stained, ripped shirt over his head and tore the fabric into a strip. He wrapped it tight around her arm and tied a knot. “How long will it take you to heal from that?”
“It’s really deep. A full day, maybe longer. Not sure.”
It hurt so much for him to be so close to her. He stood and walked away from the mess of bodies. “What is this going to mean for you? All this death?”
She followed him. “I don’t know… This wouldn’t have happened, or probably wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t run away last night.”
He faced her. “What do you mean?”
She scrubbed a hand over her face and blew out a breath. “I decided to leave the Lair. Live life on my own terms. My brother was kicking me out of our home, trying to force me to move in with Gahu…I…I just had enough of being pushed around and beaten…I thought maybe I could lay low until the tournament, but I didn’t realize…” She looked back at the carnage and shivered as though cold.
Shreve didn’t know what to say. He just stared at her desperately, wishing he could hold her.
She laughed darkly. “I never knew how desirable I was. I had no idea Silhon wanted me that badly.” Then she was crying again. “And now Asher’s dead, and it’s my fault.”
He took a step toward her, and then stopped. She looked at him, wiped the tears on her cheeks, and stepped into his space. She laid her head against his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist. He held her back, resting his cheek on the top of her head. Comfort and grief mixed together and flowed from her into him and then back again.
He looked up at the Lair. “Don’t go back there, Sabra. They’ll blame you for this, call you a murderer.”
“I know. You saved my life for no reason. They are going to kill me anyway.”
His hands tightened on her arms. “Come with me.”
She pulled away from him, shaking her head. “I have to honor Asher.”
“Honor him with your life, not your death. Honor him by staying alive and fulfilling your destiny as pack leader. It’s what he was striving to help you achieve. Honor him with winning the tournament.”
She looked back at where Asher lay, her eyes tunneling.
“Please, Sabra…”Emotion threatened to crush him. “Don’t choose death. Come with me.”
The whole world came crashing down around him as she walked away.
She moved through the dead, picked up her sword and whip from the ground, and ducked into one of the houses. She came back out a second later, a pack on her back. Across the distance, their eyes met. She looked lost. For a minute she stood still, just staring at him. Then she slowly walked directly back to him.
“Okay. Where are we going?”
“Let’s just get out of the open for a while and figure out what’s the best move. The place I’ve been staying in the Wood is well hidden and not far away.”
“Okay,” she said again, flatly. Her eyes still looked tunneled.
He wanted to take her hand but resisted the urge. The only reason she was going with him was she had no other alternative at the moment, he reminded himself. So he walked on, and she followed a step behind. He glanced at her often.
The whole situation was terrible. For so many reasons, he wished what just happened, hadn’t. She was injured, probably in shock, and they both had just lost their friend. He’d come to tell her goodbye, and he would, but it was going to take longer than he thought. He would see her through this and make sure she was safe. He hated the hollow l
ook in her eyes.
When they crossed into the Wood, she roused a little from her blankness and looked around. He didn’t give any thought to keeping on a trail. He didn’t think about protecting her from the shadow sand until it was too late.
She stopped walking and leaned against a tree.
“Sabra?”
She sort of looked at him; her eyes were dilated and practically spinning. “It’s your fault,” she pointed at him drunkenly.
“What is?”
“I couldn’t have sex with Gahu. And he’s pretty hot. Not hot like you. No one’s as hot as you. Ugh…” She shivered. “You ruined me. His touch felt nasty after yours. I wanted you, not him.” She giggled. “You called me brazen. I like that. It’s true… Typical wolf men…Silhon…my brother beat me…I have to help the women…”
He couldn’t follow what she was saying. “Sabra, we have to keep going. We’re almost there. You’re just tripping on the sand.”
She plunked down on her butt. “Why are you here?”
“I came to say goodbye.”
She shook her head and giggled again. “Nope. Lies all lies!” She pointed at his chest. “You’re in love with me.”
He sighed, came forward, and picked her up. He’d have to carry her the rest of the way. She clung around his neck. Her head slumped on his shoulder. She began running her fingers lightly along his collarbone.
“I like your skin, Shreve… Why did you take your shirt off?”
“To make a bandage for you.”
“Oh…I got it wrong.”
He tried to ignore her touch as he carried her. Tried and failed.
“Got what wrong?” he knew he shouldn’t ask.
“In my fantasies of you. I got your chest wrong. It’s much nicer in real life.”
“Fantasies?”
“Oh, yeah…” She drew the words out slowly and seductively. “The things you do to me…then I feel guilty, ’cause of Sophie.” Her fingers began moving in little circles.
His breathing grew ragged. When she pressed her lips against his neck, he swore. “Stop that.”
She laughed. “Bossy male. Typical.”
“I am not typical.”
“Oh, really?”
He had nowhere to shelter from her, except behind anger. “Yeah, really. If I was typical, I’d take you right now. You’re intoxicated and asking for it. And yes, I really want to give it to you. It would be so easy. But then what? You wouldn’t remember it, or if you did, you’d hate me for it.”
Her silliness vanished, and she began crying, making him swear again.
“I hate you! It doesn’t matter what you do, I hate you so much! Know why?”
“I know why.” His voice was quiet.
“Oh? You know I hate you because you made me love you? You know that?”
He stopped walking and stared at her. “Sabra…”
She lifted her head off his shoulder and tried to look him in the eye. She blinked a few times, slowly. She put her head back down and closed her eyes. “Where are we?” Her voice went sleepy. “My arm hurts. Did you kidnap me?”
He blew out a breath and kept walking. “I stole you.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Thief…beautiful…beautiful thief.”
He couldn’t help but feel relief when she fell asleep. She was killing him with her inebriated talking. He took her through the hidden doorway and laid her down face-up on the mat on the floor. He gently straightened her injured arm out. He placed her pack and weapons across the room and walked back outside.
Everything she’d said since they’d entered the Wood was now chiseled permanently in his brain. He’d thought she put his body on edge before, but he realized that was nothing compared to what she’d just done. He looked up at the morning sky and took a few deep breaths, striving for his system to ease back.
Shreve paced, the morning breeze chilling his bare chest. Dried blood covered his hands. He looked in the direction of the river and began walking toward it. When he reached the bank, he dove in. The water was cold, shocked all the heat from his body, and washed the blood away. He stroked to the surface, her voice in his head.
You know I hate you because you made me love you? You know that?
He pulled himself up on a boulder and sat, his feet hanging in the water. Did she love him? Was that the truth? But she’d said she hated him. He knew that was the truth. Was it possible to hate someone and love them at the same time? That made no sense to him. Maybe it was a capacity only women had.
I hate you because you made me love you.
Shreve couldn’t help grinning like a fool. She wouldn’t remember saying it, and that was probably for the best. But the words were his now, and he’d hold on to them for the rest of his life.
Behind the boulder, a shallow place pooled away from the current. He glanced down and saw his reflection. His mouth parted as he gaped at it. This must be the face Sabra saw. He touched his cheek as he recognized parts of this face. The eyes—they matched Forest’s. The cheekbones were sharp like Rahaxeris’. His hair was black and wavy at the ends just above his shoulders, and there was a cleft in his chin. Was this his face? Had he found it? It held a family resemblance.
“I think I may have found myself,” he said quietly to his reflection. “I think I might know who I am.”
He jumped down and began walking back to his hiding place, water sloshing in his boots. Sabra was still out and would probably stay that way for a while yet. He changed into dry clothes and sat down in the chair, thinking about the fight they’d just been in. It wouldn’t be long before the bodies were found. He had an idea.
He rummaged around until he found a scrap of paper and a pen.
Sabra,
Don’t be alarmed if you wake up and don’t remember how you got here, or even where you are. You got high on the sand, coming into the Wood. You’re safe. Please don’t leave. I’ve gone back to the Lair to learn what the reaction is when the bodies are discovered. We need information. I’ll be back before dark. Please, please don’t leave.
-Shreve
He laid the note on her chest and backed away, staring openly at her.
“You were right,” he whispered. “I am in love with you. Very soon, I’m going to have to tell you that where you can hear me.”
He pulled his elf blood forward and became invisible as he began walking back to the Lair. No one had discovered the bodies yet. He walked into the midst of the dead and examined the evidence of the scene. He carefully kept his eyes away from Asher’s body.
He needed to confuse the scene and make sure there was no trace that would lead someone to Sabra. He moved a few of the bodies, so that it looked like they had turned on each other. He broke a branch off a tree and swept his and Sabra’s footprints away. He carefully positioned himself and made a new set of footprints heading off in the other direction. He walked around in a large circle and then headed straight into the suburbs of the Lair.
Shreve slowed his pace, so as to not bump into anyone, and went to the public square. Sabra was all the talk with the men and women. The women had many ideas about what had happened to her.
“Do you really believe she ran away?”
“Do you think they killed her?” one whispered. “Her brother, or Gahu…or maybe it was Silhon, he saw her as a threat.”
“I hope she’s okay. Has anyone checked the underground?”
“I was there this morning—my sister’s mate locked her up down there again. I was checking on her. I didn’t see Sabra in any of the other cells.”
“You don’t think she’d abandon us, do you? We need her.”
The oldest woman in the group spoke up. “If she is found or not, she was right. Things have to change. We have to make them change, no matter who our next leader is. Find your courage, girls. It’s going to take all of us. We have to stand together and let the men know enough is enough.”
Shreve moved away from them and was making his way over to a group of men, when Sabra’s brot
her emerged from the mountain and climbed up on a huge boulder. Shreve knew it was her brother because he looked just like her. Another man came and stood next to the boulder, looking out on the crowd. He didn’t know why, but something about the guy bothered him. Shreve hated him on sight.
“Listen to me!” her brother shouted. “You have all heard the rumors that my sister ran away last night. Gahu and I are forming a search party for her. We welcome any men who want to join us.”
Ah ha. Shreve thought. No wonder I hate him, that’s Gahu.
Four men came forward, but as they did, a boy ran into the square shouting at the top of his lungs. “Silhon is dead!” He pointed in the direction of the shifter colony. “There are bodies all over out there!”
Everyone began rushing toward the shifter colony.
“STOP!” A voice roared over the heads of the crowd.
They all stopped and turned back around. An old wolf was up on the boulder now.
“Everyone will stay here! I will investigate this.”
The old man jumped down lithely and strode quickly out of the square. Murmurs erupted as soon as he was gone. Shreve moved over toward Gahu and Sabra’s brother.
“What do you think?” Gahu asked quietly.
“I don’t know. I can’t imagine she could take out his entire gang. But perhaps Silhon is really dead. He wanted her, badly. She hated him… The way she attacked me last night… She could have killed me. I didn’t know she had so much strength, or skill.”
“I don’t want you getting in my way when we find her,” Gahu said. “I’m going to lock her in the underground and keep her there until I break her. It’s too personal now. I’d walk away from her, but the damage she’s done to my reputation…I can’t let that pass.”
“I understand,” her brother said. “I won’t stand in your way. She’s yours to do with what you will.”
Shreve moved away so he didn’t give in to temptation and kill them both right there. He couldn’t think of a reason why he shouldn’t, so he retreated. He wanted to go back to Sabra, but he needed to wait to see what happened when the old wolf came back.
