Reggie ached straight through to her bones. Despite being physically fit, she’d been too long without sleep or enough food. Breathing was rapidly becoming problematic, thanks to air that was too thin on oxygen and too thick with dust. The legs of her black trousers were coated with the stuff; even her teeth were gritty.
A drink of water would taste good about now, but she was in no hurry to stop for the day. As tired as she was, she wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep moving. For certain, she didn’t want to give Kolar an excuse to begin the training session Jeban had mentioned.
Barbarian bastards.
What passed for daylight in this world was almost gone by the time they’d traversed halfway across the valley. Finally, Jeban called a halt. After a brief discussion with Kolar, he switched to English for her benefit.
“Our regular camp lies in that direction,” he said, pointing toward a clump of scrubby trees a short distance off to the right. “There we will stop for the night and wait for our partners to join us late tomorrow.”
He paused to look back the way they’d come. “Kolar, I’ll start the fire and the evening meal. Why don’t you circle back this time? I still sense someone behind us.”
Kolar nodded. “If I find it is a human, should he die?”
Jeban looked at Reggie before answering, a cold gleam in his pale eyes. “If you can capture him, do so, but it will be no great loss if he dies. Enough of our people have been murdered by human hands. Balancing the scales would be satisfying.”
Reggie shivered. These two talked of killing as if a life held no worth at all. Maybe for them, humans were disposable. If that was indeed D.J. or one of his fellow Paladins behind them, she could only pray that they stayed safely out of sight. Then there was the whole other problem of more of Jeban’s gang being on their way to meet them.
She slowly followed Jeban to the campsite. She knew she should fear what these alien bastards had planned, but right now all she could do was collapse on the ground. Drawing her knees up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around her legs and made herself as small as possible.
Jeban ignored her while he started a fire and then filled a kettle with water from a nearby spring. While he took care of the chores, Reggie prayed harder than she had in years.
God, I don’t want my life to end here, but please don’t let D.J. die because of me.
As she waited to see what would happen next, she stared into the fire and let her head fill with images of D.J. From what she’d read about the Paladins, he and his friends were certainly the stuff legends were made of: warriors with a code of honor so profound that they sacrificed their lives over and over again to protect ordinary people like her.
She really wished the two of them had had more time together. Rather than think about the potential horrors that might await her, she thought about the amazing kiss they had shared and drew comfort from the memory.
Todd did his best to ignore the argument occuring just outside his office. He didn’t know what it was about and didn’t care.
Then the door to his office slammed open with no warning. What the hell? He’d told his assistant Melinda to hold his calls and fend off anyone who wanted to see him so he could get this damned report done.
She hovered in the doorway, waiting for him to acknowledge her. Behind her stood Ray, obviously back from his trip to the coast. What the hell had happened to him? Rather than acknowledge him, Todd concentrated on soothing his assistant’s ruffled feathers.
“Yes, Melinda, what is it?”
“I’m sorry, sir. I told Mr. Pine here that you weren’t to be disturbed, but he wouldn’t listen.” She shot the other man a nasty look. “Shall I call security?”
He forced a smile to hide his irritation
“That won’t be necessary, Melinda. I should’ve told you that Ray might be stopping by today.”
Her relief was obvious as she backed out of the office, shooting one last look at Ray before pulling the door closed. When she was gone and safely out of hearing, Todd leaned back in his chair and glared at his unwanted associate.
“Ray, what the fuck happened to your face and why are you here? I thought we’d agreed that we wouldn’t meet at work.”
The other man ignored him. Instead he helped himself to a cup of coffee before settling into the chair facing Todd’s desk. He looked like hell. If Todd had to guess, Ray hadn’t slept much in the past two days. He was also sporting a pair of world-class shiners and a nose swollen to twice its normal size. And the man looked thoroughly pissed off.
Todd couldn’t resist tweaking the guy’s already bad mood. “Tough day at the office or are you going to a costume party as a raccoon?”
Ray glared at him over the rim of his coffee cup. “Fuck you, Todd. I told you I didn’t want to make that trip. Now look at me.”
Todd studied his friend’s face. “Looks painful.”
“It is, and what’s more, I’m going to need surgery to put my nose back together. Tomorrow, as a matter of fact, so I’ll be out of commission for at least a couple of days. That little bitch you wanted picked up did this to me. I hope those two Others I left her with—”
When Ray’s voice got louder with each word, Todd cut him off in midsentence. “Shut the fuck up right now. This is not the time or the place for this conversation.”
Ray glared right back at him. “Yeah, well, tough shit, Todd. Why don’t you explain to my wife how I ended up like this after a business trip?”
God, he hated placating the peons. “Fine, I get it. You’re hurt. You’re mad. She’s mad.”
Damn it, he should’ve handled the situation himself to make sure it was done well right from the start.
“I suppose it never occurred to you that by heading straight here you’ve led a trail right to my door.” He rose to his feet. “Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“Someplace where we can talk without being overheard.”
Twenty minutes later they were sitting on a park bench with a couple of sandwiches and cold drinks. Todd had lost his appetite when Ray walked into his office, but appearances were everything. If anyone was paying any attention, it would look as if two friends were taking advantage of their lunch hour to enjoy a sunny afternoon in St. Louis.
“Okay, start to finish, fill me in.”
He took a bite of his sandwich while Ray explained what had happened. The more Todd listened, the more he wanted to choke the bastard.
“Any chance the dead guy can be traced back to you?”
Because if he could, there just might be another corpse in the making. At least Ray had been smart enough to use local talent in Portland. One Regents employee making a trip to the area might go unnoticed. Sending four but having only three return would be harder to hide.
“No way. We kept it to first names only. I paid cash and used burn phones.”
Ray paused to take a long swig of his iced tea. Then he cleared his throat. “There’s more.”
“I figured there was.”
Todd stared out across the grassy slope and waited for the shit to hit the fan.
“Someone is already hunting for her. I don’t know for sure, but I think it might be the Paladins from Seattle.”
Todd snorted his soft drink, nearly choking in the process. “Are you sure?”
“No, but one of the guys thought he overheard her call someone D.J. It would be too much of a coincidence for it to be some other random guy by that name.”
“Did he hear anything else?” One look at Ray’s face told the story. “Don’t tell me, he’s the one you shot.”
“He let her steal his cell phone. It was his fault that things got this screwed up. I’m telling you right now, if the Paladins are really on the hunt, I want out.”
Yeah, like that was going to happen. But before Todd explained the facts of life to his good buddy Ray, he had to ask one more question.
“How the hell did you manage to drag those bastards into this? It was supposed to be a clean snatc
h-and-grab. You were to let the Others have some fun with the bitch, so that when we drag her back across the barrier she’d be more cooperative.”
Not that it would save her life in the long run.
“I don’t know how they caught wind of what was going on. All I know is that someone followed us to the caves. We never saw them, but whoever it was sliced the tires to the truck. If I hadn’t had a helo on call, we’d have been screwed. As it was, we’d barely gotten off the ground when another truck drove up.”
“Did you get a good look at them?”
“Three guys got out of the truck. One was tall and blond, the other two were shorter, with dark hair. We were too high up to pick out details.”
At least that meant it was unlikely that the guys on the ground could see Ray any better in the helicopter. Okay, maybe Ray could live awhile longer.
Todd pondered the situation. “Okay, I’ll do some checking and see if I can pick up any chatter from out west. If necessary, I’ll do some damage control. Right now I’ve got to get back to work.”
He wadded up the rest of his lunch, no longer hungry. “Go get your nose fixed.”
Wouldn’t want the man to look bad for his own funeral.
In the distance, a flare of light and a wisp of smoke caught D.J.’s eye. If he had to guess, someone was setting up camp. Good. If his quarry had stopped for the night, this would be his best chance to catch up with them. With his night vision, he could keep moving even if both of Kalithia’s cursed stars disappeared behind the horizon.
He kept a wary eye on his surroundings. There was no way to know if he’d managed to hide his presence from Reggie’s captors. If he were them, he’d have one guy set up camp while the other hung back to watch the trail just in case someone had crossed over into Kalithia intent on rescuing Reggie.
As he walked, he studied the terrain ahead. If he were setting the trap, he’d be waiting just past where the trail wound up and over the side of the last hill overlooking the valley beyond. The trail ran along the edge of a rocky drop-off that would funnel him right toward where he hoped they were resting.
Options. He needed options. His Glock would allow him to kill from a distance. The downside was that the noise would alert any other Kalith in the area. A knife would be silent, but he’d have to get within cutting distance of the enemy.
He opted for skirting around the back side of the hill even though it would take him some distance off the trail. If he was reading the terrain correctly, he’d come out behind where they might be waiting. With luck, the enemy would be too intent on watching for him on the trail to notice that he was staging a little trap of his own.
The hike took him over some rough ground, leaving him breathing hard. When his pulse slowed to normal, he drew his Glock and crept forward to where he could look down on the trail. At first glance, he didn’t see any hint of the enemy, but his instincts were screaming that someone was out there.
The night settled around him, the darkness getting thicker with each passing minute. A movement in the grass caught his attention. He continued to stare at the spot, trying to decide if the shadows there truly did have more substance than the surrounding ones.
Oh, yeah. The bastard was there all right, the blade of his weapon catching the faint glow of the moons rising in the sky above. D.J. resisted the temptation to use his gun to blow the Other to hell and back. If he could actually capture the guy, maybe he’d be able to learn more about the situation he’d be walking into before he reached the campfire in the distance.
D.J. bent low and started forward, his gun in one hand, sword in the other. The blade would be his first choice of weapons, but he couldn’t risk the Other getting the upper hand with Reggie depending on D.J. to rescue her.
The Other rose up to look around. Had the guy decided that he’d only been imagining someone dogging his footsteps? Maybe, because after ducking down briefly, the Other stood again to stare up the trail. After a few seconds, he started forward, his sword at the ready. D.J.’s prey moved slowly, his head sweeping from side to side, testing the night air and hunting using his sense of smell.
It was easy to know the instant the male picked up D.J.’s scent. The Other froze in midstep, slowly bringing his sword up into attack position. From where D.J. stood, he could take the Other out with a single shot. Tempting as it was, D.J. holstered his gun and followed the Kalith, Larem’s sword in his hand.
He was able to get surprisingly close before the guy realized he was no longer alone. He’d started backing up, only to realize that his prey stood right behind him.
D.J.’s predatory nature had him smiling. “Looking for me?”
The Other didn’t hesitate but spun and charged forward, swinging his sword in an arc designed to slash D.J.’s head from his shoulders. He blocked the blow with his own blade and shoved the bastard back a few steps.
D.J. taunted his opponent. “Tsk, tsk, is this how you usually greet guests in Kalithia? I didn’t see any of us trying to kill you while you were in my world.”
He went on the attack as he spoke. “Of course, I would’ve skewered both you and your buddy had I gotten the opportunity.”
The tip of his blade sliced open the Other’s cheek. Blood flowed in dark contrast to his pale skin, but the wound was more painful than serious.
“Did I mention that was my woman you kidnapped?” D.J. danced forward and marked the male’s other cheek the same way. “Tell me who has her and why, and I promise to ease your passing.”
The Other rejoined the battle, doing his own fair share of taunting in heavily accented English. “You will die screaming in my world, Paladin. I will celebrate your death by taking your woman to my pallet. I have already tasted her kiss and held her body against mine.”
D.J. fought to control his burning fury, knowing cold hate served him better in a battle to the death. He studied his opponent’s technique. The Other was good, but not great. No way this guy had the skills of a Sword Guardian. He might get lucky, but he’d never defeat D.J. on skill alone.
One thing was clear. The Other wouldn’t offer any useful information, not unless D.J. subdued him long enough to use some creative interrogation techniques. There wasn’t time for that, and it was doubtful the information would be reliable anyway.
But from the increasing panic in the guy’s fighting style, the dance was about to turn lethal. So far, D.J. had managed to stay out of striking distance, but it was going to come down to stamina or bad luck.
With a bellow loud enough to wake the dead, the Other charged one last time, nicking D.J.’s sword arm and then shoving him backward. D.J. ignored the stinging pain and pushed back, causing the Other to lose his footing right at the edge of the drop-off.
For a handful of slow-motion seconds the Other hovered there, his arms pinwheeling until he finally lost his balance and went flying backward over the edge. His scream echoed through the valley, only to be cut off in midnote when his body crashed into the rocks below.
D.J. peered over the edge in a futile attempt to determine if the Other was still breathing. All he could tell was that the Kalith wasn’t moving. Rather than wasting his time climbing down to make sure, D.J. opted for retrieving his pack and taking off down the trail after Reggie.
If the Other’s dying scream had carried as far as the campfire, his partner might panic. At the very least, he’d be waiting for D.J. now, most likely armed and ready to use Reggie as a hostage.
This time, D.J. wouldn’t hesitate to use the Glock. He ran full out, grateful for the boots that Barak had loaned him. They made little noise as he tore through the darkness. As he ran, he ignored the pain in his arm, his near exhaustion, and his lungs’ struggle to filter enough oxygen from the thin air.
All that mattered was getting to Reggie.
Chapter 13
Her captor was practically twitching with nerves. So far, Jeban had been the calm one, but with Kolar gone so long, he paced restlessly, stopping every so often to listen to the night.
She knew the instant he sensed something because he turned in her direction, his pale eyes reflecting the flames of the campfire. His hand hovered over the pommel of his sword, as if unsure about drawing his weapon. What had he heard that had him so freaked out? Rather than sit there on the ground, she rose to her feet, not sure what she intended to do. But whatever was about to happen, she’d face it head-on.
“What’s wrong, Jeban?” she asked, even though she doubted he’d actually answer. “Are your friends coming?”
He shook his head. “They aren’t due until late tomorrow afternoon. Kolar went hunting. It appears he found something.”
No, not something. Someone.
The two of them stood staring off into the darkness. She didn’t know about Jeban, but she couldn’t see much of anything beyond the circle of flickering light cast by the campfire. She tried closing her eyes, hoping that she’d be able to hear better that way.
After a few seconds of continued silence, a horrifying scream ripped through the night, only to be cut off abruptly, unfinished. The night grew quiet again, but this time with a feeling of building tension. Jeban didn’t hesitate. He drew his sword and then yanked Reggie close to his side, the blade at her throat.
“I would guess the hunt has ended,” he whispered near her ear. “The question is, which hunter was successful?”
With the cold steel against her skin, Reggie could neither talk nor even swallow for fear the sword would draw blood. Her instincts told her that someone had died up there on the trail. There was nothing to do now but wait and pray that the footsteps running through the night belonged to D.J. and not Kolar.
Time came to a screeching halt. For an eternity, it was just her, Jeban, and the pounding of her heart. Her captor had turned to stone, his body stiff with anticipation. His gaze remained trained on some invisible point in the impenetrable darkness beyond. What was he sensing that she wasn’t? Wave after wave of chills washed through her, fear quickly eroding her self-control.
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