Hot tears warmed her face. He was resigned to his death.
If you know what you’re doing, one human can last quite a long time. Keldar’s voice rang in her ears. Before she acknowledged the movement, she’d reached down into her boot and retrieved the knife. With care, she moved Jaden’s head to her lap. That he didn’t fight her scared her more than she wanted to admit. The cut on her upper arm would be difficult for him to reach. Tearing away the remnants of sleeve still attached to her blouse, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, opened them and ran the blade diagonally across her forearm. Fresh blood dripped down to her hand.
When her blood darkened Jaden’s lips, he struggled. Selia held him tight, placing the wound over his mouth. After a few moments, instinct must have kicked in because his mouth tugged gently against her skin. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if this was what a mother felt nursing her baby before recoiling from the image.
Soon the pain chased away all thought. Jaden was no baby, and his hungry mouth against her raw flesh hurt like hell.
He curled around her arm into a fetal position.
He’ll drain me. She almost pulled the arm away, afraid that if she did Jaden wouldn’t let her go. Also afraid she’d pull away too soon. When was enough? Nausea rolled through her stomach. He needed her.
Selia forced her arm still. His hold grew stronger. Her vision darkened. I’m going to die anyway. At least I can die saving Jaden.
With a sudden movement he rolled away, crouching across the tent and staring as though he couldn’t see her. His lips were red with her blood. Fear froze her to the spot. He was the hunter and she his prey. Then he hung his head. When he brought it back up, his eyes were filled with tears and his lips clean.
“You…” His voice broke.
Selia crawled across the tent then knelt before him, touching his face with her fingertips. She placed a palm on either side of his face and lifted gently until his eyes met hers. “Was it enough?”
Jaden stared into her eyes. His gaze was deep, reaching into her soul. He took her hands in his and kissed each palm before wrapping the remnants of her sleeve around the wound. “We have to get you to safety.” He struggled to his feet then knelt again, taking deep breaths, his eyes closed. “I don’t think you understand your danger. If I didn’t…if I had left you alone, they would have finished the job, and Keldar can be very cruel.”
“Yeah, I noticed.”
Jaden opened his eyes and examined her wounds and her torn shirt. “He hurt you? Keldar did this?”
He sounded dangerous, feral. She’d never heard that tone in Jaden’s voice. She nodded.
His nostrils flared, and his eyes burned like liquid gold when he brought them back to meet her gaze.
Selia knew what he was scenting. She shook her head.
He nodded once. “The Svistra don’t have to kill their victim right way. A human’s body is amazing in its healing power, and they would take other liberties as well.”
Keldar had hinted at the same. “He saved me for you.”
“If I refused to kill you then I would have died, and my death would prove I betrayed my people. If I killed you I would have redeemed myself.”
“And then what?”
“Either I could challenge Keldar or accept his leadership.”
“If you challenged?”
“I’m still weak.” Jaden hung his head. The light of his eyes dimmed. “I’m sorry, Selia.”
She reached out and touched his face. He covered her hand with his and met her gaze. She smiled. “What a mess.”
Jaden nodded.
“But they’d never expect…”
“That you would feed me of your own will? No. And even if you had, Keldar would assume I wouldn’t have had the willpower to stop.”
He collapsed into her.
“Jaden!”
“I’m okay. It will…it will take a bit for me to recover.”
“Do you need more?”
“No!” Jaden’s voice felt like a whip. “No,” he repeated softly. “I wouldn’t do that to either of us again.”
She held Jaden in her lap, stroking the hair away from his face. It was as soft as it looked. For a moment she forgot the Svistra just outside the walls.
Jaden struggled to sit up. “We need a plan. We don’t have much time.”
“Didn’t you say Keldar would assume you didn’t have the willpower to stop?” Selia suggested.
“Yes.”
“So if you’re alive, I must be dead?”
“Something like that.”
“So I’m dead.”
A small smile played on his mouth. “Should I knock you out again, or are you any good at playing a corpse?”
“Better to play one than be one.” She narrowed her eyes. “You’re still weak. How are we going to pull this off?”
“We have no other choice. I’ll manage.” He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them some of the strength she remembered had returned. “How much have you bled?” He inspected the wound.
Selia shrugged.
“Are you dizzy?”
“Yes, but not any more than I was before.”
He gently unwrapped the blood-dampened sleeve. “I would bind the wounds, but that would be suspicious. As soon as you get to safety—”
She nodded. “I’ll bind them.”
He stepped nearer and ran a finger from her brow to her jaw. “I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me. Your blood now flows in my veins. If we were not joined before, we are now.”
She smiled away the tears that pricked her eyes. “Then let’s get this over with. It’s your turn to save my life.”
Jaden moved to his pack and handed her a crumpled paper. “Keep this. You may have need of it.”
“Do you want your knife?”
He took the blade, held it in his hand for a moment then returned it to Selia. “It’s yours now.”
“Thank you.”
“When you get the chance, run. I’ll find you. I promise.”
“Jaden.” She waited until he looked down at her. “If we don’t make it, promise you’ll kill me.”
“You can’t—” Jaden stared down at her, his gaze inscrutable.
She again felt the glance of the Svistra who’d carried her through the woods, heard the malice in Keldar’s voice, saw the broken bodies. She shuddered. “I know what I’m asking. I’ve…I’ve seen what they do. Please.”
Selia slid the paper and the knife down the side of her boot without a word. Jaden scooped her up in his arms. “Relax.” He murmured into her ear. “You’re supposed to be dead, remember?”
She let her body go limp, trying not to think of the army of Svistra waiting outside the tent flaps or the slight trembling in Jaden’s arms.
He stepped out into the blinding sunshine. It took every ounce of control not to squint as the sunlight pierced through her eyelids.
“Keldar!” Jaden called at the top of his lungs.
A murmur, then the chink of mail as slow footsteps approached.
“You know, I half expected to burn your body today, Jaden.”
Selia recognized Keldar’s voice and stilled the shiver threatening to race through her.
“Perhaps you’ll still get your chance, brother.”
Keldar’s laugh echoed cruelly. “Will you challenge me?”
Jaden sniffed. “Where’s your garbage heap?”
“I think there’s still some left of that one. Her heart is still beating—won’t you share?”
“She’ll be dead soon enough. Have you sunk so low as to feed off a carcass?”
From the way Jaden tensed she thought Keldar was about to charge, but he relaxed and began walking.
“You turn your back on me?” A note of fear crept into Keldar’s voice.
“Oh, did I forget to thank you for the offering?” Jaden’s pace didn’t slow.
“Coward. Father was right, you’re nothing but a human-loving coward.”
Jaden whispere
d, “I’m sorry.” Then she flew through the air, only barely managing to keep her body limp as she landed. The putrid smell of excrement surrounded her. She chanced opening her eyes. She’d landed near an open trough. A rocky slope ended at a shallow river where tall trees stood along its banks. Behind her small bushes blocked her view of the clearing. She closed her eyes, listening.
“That’s an interesting comment coming from the bastard son of a throwaway whore. I think you’ve forgotten your place, Keldar.”
A roar of rage filled the air seconds before the thud of two bodies clashing. What was Jaden thinking? He was in no condition…Then it struck her, this was his plan. He was creating a diversion so she could get away. A diversion that would kill him. The Svistra wouldn’t think to watch her. She was garbage. They’d be watching the brothers fight. I’ll find you, I promise. He’d lied. She couldn’t let him sacrifice himself for her, but what could she do?
Run.
Tears pouring down her face, she realized the only thing left to do was to make sure his sacrifice wasn’t in vain. Crouching low, she glanced over the bushes into the clearing. The Svistra stood in a circle, cheering and yelling encouragement. She couldn’t see Jaden.
Keeping low, her vision edged in black, she ran for the river. Blood ran freely down her arm, soaking into her tunic. She wouldn’t make it far if she didn’t stop the flow but there was no time. Selia had almost reached the coolness of the forest when she heard a yell and the staccato of running feet behind her.
Chapter Twenty-four
Selia glanced over her shoulder. In that fleeting look, a Svistra rounded the bushes and started down the slope, closing the distance between them. Fast. His face wasn’t painted but that didn’t make him any more welcome, or any less frightening. She scanned the area as she ran, looking for something she could use as a weapon—a branch, a rock, anything.
The rhythm of her pursuer’s feet echoed the pounding of her heart in her ears. Her vision darkened. Not a good time to faint. She couldn’t outrun him. Any moment she would feel his hand on her, pulling her back. She tried and failed to quicken her pace. Then she saw the rock.
Resolved, she stopped, scooped up the rock and curled her fingers around it, gratified by the weight in her hand. She might not be able to kill him, but she’d at least give the damn thing a headache he’d never forget before he killed her. The Svistra closed quickly now that she’d stopped. His eyes gleamed with victory. Her heart thundered in her ears. At least Jaden would never know his sacrifice was in vain.
She’d always been a good aim but she’d never had to hit a target running toward her with death in his eyes. The Svistra froze midstep, his eyes widening. Time slowed as Selia glanced down in confusion at the rock in her hands, then back at the Svistra as her would-be attacker fell forward. Arrows protruded from his back. Simultaneously she heard the thunder of horses galloping into the Svistra camp and understood the pounding wasn’t just in her ears.
The camp echoed with the sound of clashing metal. Nathan. He’d made it. How? It didn’t matter. She had a chance.
The rock fell to the ground with a hollow thud, and Selia almost joined it. The relief faded. Oh gods, Jaden. They’d kill him.
Hunched over, she ran toward the fallen Svistra. He was still alive and choking on his own blood. She should have kept the rock to finish him off. The Svistra’s sheath was empty. Had he been holding his sword? All she could clearly remember was his eyes. After a quick glance around she spotted the sword a short distance from one of his hands. Still keeping low, she scrabbled for it and pulled it out of the dirt, using its length to help her stand.
The Svistra’s eyes, the same that once brought terror, followed her movements. She recognized a warrior’s request. Selia pulled his head up by the hair and sliced his throat with his own sword.
The distance back to the camp seemed to double. Any minute she expected a Svistra to appear brandishing a sword, or one of Nathan’s men to shoot first and ask questions later. If Jaden survived the confrontation with his brother, Nathan’s men would kill him. He was just a Svistra in their eyes like all the rest. She moved toward the sound of men and Svistra dying, her desire for speed tempered by an anxious, mind-numbing caution.
The camp was a melee, a daylight version of the attack at Eagle Rock. Nathan’s soldiers outnumbered the Svistra two to one. A horse ran past her, its rider hanging lifeless from the saddle. She didn’t look to see if she knew the man.
How do I find Jaden?
A Svistra ran toward her, recognition in his eyes. Selia parried each of his blows but the force of his attack took her breath away and jarred her aching muscles. She refused to die this close to her goal. Finding an opening, she sliced through his midsection and paused to catch her breath. Damn it. I’m in no condition for this.
A tent on one side of the camp collapsed. Soldiers ran in and out of another and pulled that one down too. Were they looking for something? Yes, me. How did she let them know she was here without also becoming a target?
Oren stepped out of one of the Svistra tents. All other thoughts left her mind. Covered in blood, a sword in one hand and with a fierceness that didn’t belong on his face, he was almost unrecognizable. Why had Nathan let him come? The commander wouldn’t have been able to keep Oren away. Oh gods, this is my fault. Suddenly Oren froze. Something in the melee caught his attention. He bellowed and charged. She lost sight of him in the mass of fighting bodies.
Jaden. It had to be.
She guessed Oren’s destination, took a deep breath and joined the battle, slowly fighting her way to where Oren fought. She thanked any gods who might be listening for her teachers as she blindly parried or sidestepped any blow directed her way. Even then she knew she owed the Trickster an offering. I’ll pay it, I swear—just let me get to Oren and Jaden.
In a moment that stretched into eternity she glimpsed Oren fighting off Svistra, standing in the middle of the battle and refusing to move. Under him a shape lay on the ground. Jaden. Oren’s protecting Jaden.
With renewed vigor, she fought to reach his side.
Oren’s eyes met hers. There was shock and relief in his gaze. A smile formed on his grime-stained face then just as quickly disappeared, crumpling into a grimace. He didn’t look away but slowly fell to a knee. His body sagged forward, a three-pronged Svistra blade embedded in his back.
Selia screamed. The battle still raged around her but muted now, far away. The action had slowed while her heart sped beyond what her chest could contain.
And then Oren was in her arms.
She placed her hands on his shoulders, trying to keep him upright. “It’s okay,” she said automatically as her eyes fixed on the blades embedded in his back. With care she tore away his blood-stained shirt. He wasn’t even wearing armor. None would fit him. Sometimes she hated that inner voice. The middle blade had almost traversed his body. The outside blades were curved. If she tried to remove them she’d cause twice the damage. “We’ll get you out of here.” She swallowed the lie. “Then we’ll get you well.”
“Like the bobcat?”
Selia nodded. Still holding Oren’s shoulders she lowered him to his side, next to Jaden. “Like the bobcat.”
“I found you.”
“You did.”
“Just like you found me?”
Tears pricked her eyes. “Yes.” Bodies still clashed around her but the action had drifted away, or perhaps there were fewer people fighting.
Oren reached up and grasped her hand. “Jaden.”
She glanced toward the Svistra. He was curled into a ball but his back moved in then out. “He’s alive. Don’t move.”
Oren reached up to touch her face. “You’re crying.”
Warm tears spilled down Selia’s face, but she shook her head. “I’m okay, Oren.”
“I’m tired now.”
“I know.” She swallowed past a lump in her throat. In the dusty light she could make out a few bodies still joined in combat. Where had everyone gone?
She couldn’t move Oren by herself. “I have to get you out of here.”
And even as she said it she knew it was too late. Oren’s hand fell away from her face and his eyes closed. Selia held Oren’s hand to her mouth and let her tears fall.
She felt more than saw Jaden struggle at her side. The sounds of battle had faded. She looked up into a blurry world and blinked. Nathan’s soldiers stood in a circle around them, spears and swords pointing in their direction. After a moment of confusion she turned toward Jaden then back to the soldiers, let go of Oren’s hand and launched her body over the Svistra’s, turning so her hands supported her weight but she could face their attackers. “Leave him alone.”
Relief and sorrow turned into confusion. Nathan stood, too shocked to move, staring at the tattered remains of Selia’s clothing. Her stomach and her right breast, the skin the dark red of a future bruise, could clearly be seen. What had they done to her?
He gripped his sword, itching for one more Svistra to slaughter as the tears flowed down Selia’s grime-coated face. The one under her would do just fine. He cautioned his man back a pace and swallowed his anger. The important thing was to get her away before the Svistra regained consciousness.
“Selia, that’s not Oren,” he spoke slowly and carefully as he would a child playing with a viper.
Her eyes focused and she blinked. “Nathan?”
“You’re safe now. The Svistra have all fled.” He stretched out his hand. Except that one under you. “Come here, and we’ll take care of you.”
“Nathan,” she repeated. There was relief and something else in her voice.
“Yes. Come here, Selia. Oren is dead. There’s nothing more you can do for him.”
Selia’s brows drew together, her eyes unfocused. Then a laugh that turned into a sob broke from her chest. “I won’t let you kill him. Oren died protecting this man. I won’t let his sacrifice be in vain.”
Altered Destiny Page 21
