Born of Shadows

by Sherrilyn Kenyon

  Unfortunately, she didn't. Damn. He'd like to have some good come to him after the freight load of crap that'd assaulted him today. Even if it did mean the Andarions would find them and he'd have to battle his way out.

  Some things were just worth it.

  And he had a gut feeling seeing her naked was definitely one of those things.

  Just a tiny taste...

  Desideria went rigid as she realized Caillen had his head practically buried in her hair. "Are you sniffing me?"

  His warm, low laugh sent chills over her. "I prefer to say I'm admiring your scent, but yeah, I guess you could say I'm sniffing you and you smell really good."

  Normally that would creep her out. Instead, she was actually aroused by the gesture. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say she was aroused by his presence. Even dressed like some phantom creature, he was sexy. Only Caillen could pull off that look. And she had a strange curiosity about what his fangs would feel like grazing her skin.

  As if he could hear her thoughts, he dipped his head closer to hers. But before he could make contact with her lips, a loud voice sounded outside.

  Desideria listened intently. Nothing was remotely familiar to her. Not a single syllable. "What are they saying?" she whispered in Caillen's ear.

  He placed a gentle finger against her lips as he listened. That sensation sent a chill over her and made her wonder what it would have been like to kiss him. I shouldn't be attracted to him.

  Yet she was...

  He didn't move until the voice had drifted out of her hearing range. When he spoke, he whispered low in her ear, raising even more chills along her body. "They're calling in search animals that will be able to sense p the mirrors. We'll have to get out of here."

  "And go where?"

  "Wherever there's something that can mask our scent." He moved away from her to retrieve his backpack. "We'll need a cover story should we cross paths with the natives. I'll be using the alias Dancer Hauk. Call me Hauk around other people."

  She curled her lip at his choice of alias. What a stupid name. Surely that would get them caught faster than her appearance. "Dancer Hauk?"

  He held his hands up in surrender. "Believe me, I know the name's a freakfest. But he's actually a real person and he's Andarion. With any luck, they'll know his name and not his face. If we're really lucky, they'll have heard about his fearsome reputation--which will definitely buy us some prestige." He slung the pack over his shoulder. "If they know his face, well... we'll deal with it. Let's just hope we catch a break at some point today."

  Her jaw went slack at the way he moved through the darkness. Light of foot, with the fluid moves of a trained dancer, he picked the light stick up and extinguished it before sliding it into his pocket. It was obvious this was his natural habitat--hiding from enemies... not cruising on board a ship full of aristocrats.

  In a few heartbeats, he eliminated all traces of their presence, then sprayed something she assumed would mask their scent from the animals. He crooked his finger for her to follow him. At the opening, he removed his mirrors, returned them to the pack and led her back into the woods. He sprayed more of his bottle's contents, but she couldn't detect anything at all coming out of it.

  "What is that?" she asked.

  "Aquibrade."

  He said that like she should know what he was talking about. It was gibberish to her. "And it does...?"

  "It's erackle pheromones."

  Her head was starting to ache from his unfamiliar vocabulary. "What's an erackle?"

  "One of the ugliest-looking animals you'll ever meet. But they secrete a scent that if inhaled by another animal screws up their olfactory glands for days. One whiff and they won't be able to find us."

  "Should we bathe in it?"

  He gave her a charming grin. "We could, but if we happen upon an erackle, it would try to mate with us. Trust me, that would get ugly fast."

  Yeah, but that might not be a concern for them. "Do they have those here?"

  "No idea." He handed her the bottle. "If you're willing to risk it, I'm willing to film it and make a lot of money from it online."

  She glared at him. "You're not funny."

  "Not trying to be. Simply an opportunistic entrepreneur in the purest sense of the word."

  She scoffed at his light tone as she made sure to keep her voice to a whisper like him. "How many sisters did you say you have?"

  "Three. Why?"

  "Tell me how it is they let you live this long?"

  He pointed to the scar on his head. "I assure you, there was no lack of trying to kill me. I'm just really resilient."

  She followed him over a fallen tree. "Apparently."

  He slid something into his ear as he led her through the thick overgrown weeds, deeper into the forest.

  She gestured toward his ear. "What is that?"

  "An amp for sound, so please don't scream or shout. It'd take out my eardrum."

  Which would be bad. Last thing she needed was for him to go down since she couldn't show her face on this planet without being imprisoned or eaten. That thought made her draw her cloak tighter as she rushed to keep up with his long strides. "Is that what you were trying to tell me with all the earlier hand gesturing?"

  Holding back a low-hanging limb, he paused to let her pass in front of him. "You don't know League sign language?"

  "Never heard of it."

  He shook his head as he retook the lead. "It's a hand language soldiers and assassins use to communicate with each other when they're on missions."

  That explained why she'd never seen it before, but not how he knew it. "Were you in the League?"

  He laughed out loud, then instantly lowered his voice. "No. I learned it so that I could tell what they were saying while trying to capture me."

  Now that was interesting. What kind of criminal was he? "What exactly did you do before your father found you?"

  "I survived, Princess. Most days only by the skin of my eyeteeth."

  She opened her mouth to ask him to elaborate, but before she could, he pointed up. She followed the line to see the hovercraft coming in.

  Why wouldn't they give up?

  But that wasn't what concerned her. The fact that a blast of orange shot through the clouds and into the ship did. She watched in horror as the ship disintegrated and then rained down burning debris all around them.

  Oh dear Lord. The assassin had found their crash site and was coming in for a rematch.

  Caillen took her arm and led her toward a small cut-out growth in a large tree. He pressed himself against her as the area around them was salted liberally with fire. "Looks like our friend decided to join the party."

  Desideririmaced as a part of the bark cut into her back. "How offended do you think he or she would be if we rescinded the invitation?"

  "Well since their home-warming gift for us was an exploding Andarion hovercraft, I'd say they'd be real upset. They'd probably want to hurt us."

  She rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. "Do you have any weapons in your pack?"

  "Not a one."

  She was stunned by that. He'd been so prepared for everything else. What kind of lunatic wouldn't have at least one weapon at hand?

  He winked at her, then unzipped his jacket to show her an arsenal strapped to his body.

  Now that amazed her, especially given the close proximity she'd had to his body over the last few hours. "How have I not felt those?"

  "I'm used to wearing them. And it wouldn't do much good if a frotteur or pickpocket could feel them on me."

  Yet another word she didn't know. "Frotteur?"

  "Someone who takes sexual pleasure from rubbing their body up against another." He clicked his tongue at her. "Frottisse is the female version. Feel free to partake of it with me anytime you so choose. I promise you I won't mind in the least."

  How could he even contemplate sex while they were being fired on? The man was completely insane. And still, she was impressed with him. "To have been raised on the s
treets, you have an amazing vocabulary."

  "I have my sister Tessa to thank. Unlike me and my other two sisters, she liked to insult people so that they didn't realize she was being cruel. Hence Kasen's favorite phrase, 'I'm gonna break Tess on your ass and call you names you'll have to look up in order to be offended.' "

  She laughed in spite of the danger. "Your sisters sound... interesting."

  "That's a polite way of saying they're all effing nuts. But it's okay. Sanity waved good-bye to me a long time ago too."

  The fighter flew back over them. The sound of the engine was so loud Caillen jerked the amp out of his ear. He sucked his breath in sharply.

  So much for not being able to pick up ambient sounds.

  Damn.

  Desideria glared up at the fighter that opened fire on the ground again as if the pilot knew they were here. "You wouldn't happen to have anything to shoot that down, would you?"

  "I could try your shoe theory, but I doubt it would do anything more than land on our heads and give us a concussion. And I think we've both had enough head injuries for one day. What I carry isn't quite that strong. However, I can poke out his eye should he come near us."

  "What is it with you and this eye-poking business?"

  "Another thing I picked up from my sisters. They never fought fair, especially not Tess." He held his hand up to midchest. "And she's only this tall. Vicious little thing. Reminds me of you."

  "I think I'm insulted."

  "Don't be. I admire strong women... most days." He cursed as the fighter went over and dropped a smoke bomb on the ground. "Hold your breath."

  She did so without question while he pulled out two small masks from the pack and handed her one. Coughing, she covered her face. Still her eyes burned. "How do they know we're here?"

  "I don't think they do. The pilot's flying too wide a radius. Bastard's just hoping to get lucky." He made an adjustment on the GPS on his wrist. "We need to get out of here before he locates us."

  "How far do we have to go?"

  Caillen coughed twice before he answered. "The nearest town's a haul. But there are outlying burbs and he won't be able to fly over them. Sooner or later another Andarion patrol is bound to get here and take him on." He held his arm out so that she could see the satellite photos on his chronometer of the nearest town.

  Lightly settled, the houses were rather advanced for a colony. "Are you sure about where we are?"

  "Yeah. I think the town we're looking at must be where the local governors and politicians live. Which is not a good thing if we get caught, but if we can get there and snag some sleep, everything should be all right come morning."

  Now he decided to turn optimistic? That was almost more frightening to her than the assassin bombing the forest around them. She pointed up at the ship as it zoomed past again. "What about our friend?"

  "Once we hit town, he'll have to land, and then he'll have the same problem with the authorities that we will."

  "I hope you're right."

  "Me too. And if I am wrong... It's all right. There's only one assassin I think I might not be able to defeat and Nyk's not here. The rest are just target practice."

  She rolled her eyes again at the ego in those words. "You are so arrogant."

  "Not really. I know I'm the best in a fight. It's a fact. Plain and simple."

  Yeah, right. "I'm sure you've lost a few rounds."

  "Only when I wasn't trying to win. I've never once lost a fight or a battle against an enemy when it counted. Ever." With those words spoken, he stepped back from their cover as if daring the fighter to shoot him.

  She watched in stunned silence while he tested their safety. Once he was sure the fighter couldn't see him, he motioned for her to join him. She'd only taken four steps when she heard a new set of engines barrelown on them. Looking up, she realized more Andarion craft were moving in to pursue their "friend."

  Never had she seen a more welcome sight. But that caused Caillen to pick up his pace.

  "We need to put as much distance between them and us as we can while they're distracted."

  She couldn't agree more.

  The two of them ran for so long that she couldn't even begin to keep up with how much distance they'd gone. Her lungs ached and her legs were starting to protest. Still Caillen ran with an endurance that was as frustrating as it was impressive.

  I can't believe I can't keep up.

  But her pride wouldn't let her slow down. By the gods, she'd keep running until she died. And at the moment, it really, really felt like she would.

  How could he keep running on his wounded leg? How? Her injuries were throbbing and aching to the point she feared she'd be sick from it. All she wanted was to lie down. Just for a minute.

  Still he ran... Gah, I could kill him. It was tempting to shoot him just to make him stop.

  Caillen ground his teeth as every step sent a fierce wave of pain through him. Damn his leg. He wanted to scream it hurt so badly, but he was used to pain. He'd been hurt worse. Although at the moment, he was hard pressed to remember a time in his life when he'd ached more. But he was sure that he had.

  The only thing that kept him going was the knowledge that his father and Desideria would die if he failed them.

  He glanced back over his shoulder to check on her.

  She was keeping pace with him at a small distance, but her face was pale. Her features drawn tight. Shit. She looked like she was about to hurl. Slowing down, he allowed her to catch up to him. "You all right?"

  Her eyes sparked with pride as she gasped for air. "Of course."

  The indignation and challenge in those words made him smile. He fell back under cover so that the ships wouldn't see them should they happen by. "Let's take a second to catch our breath."

  "If you need to..."

  He grimaced as the male pride in him reared up and demanded he make her pay for that. Yeah... the little brother in him was desperate to run her until she puked from it. But he wouldn't be that cruel.

  Not at the moment.

  He pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to her. There was no missing the gratitude in her eyes or the relief that danced across her features. For the merest instance, she looked at him like he was a hero and something about that made his cock and stomach jerk. Never had a woman, other than his sisters, made him feel that way.

  "Thank you," she said, taking it from him. Her hands shook as she tried to open it.

  "Here." He held his hand out for her to return it to him.

  She hesitated before she complied. He could tell it wasn't often she allowed anyone to help her.

  He popped the top and this time when she took it her hand brushed against his in the tenderest of caresses. For the merest slip of a heartbeat, he wanted to take her hand into his and kiss those soft knuckles, and tell her it was all going to be okay.

  I am insane. He was in excruciating pain. They were in the middle of a chase and all he could focus on was how adorable she looked with her skin glistening from sweat. How cute the dirty streaks and windblown hair were on her.

  Yeah, he must have hit his head harder than he thought. Women had never caused him anything except trouble.

  Pushing those thoughts aside, he pulled out the bottle he'd opened earlier and finished it off.

  Desideria sipped her water slowly while Caillen guzzled his so fast she was amazed it didn't make him ill. He pulled a cloth out of his pack and wiped the sweat from his brow. She didn't know why, but she had a sudden urge to want to do it for him.

  "How much further do you think?" she asked, trying to distract herself.

  "Couple of miles."

  She had to force herself not to whine in protest. You can make it. At least that's what she hoped.

  "You think the Andarions caught our assassin?"

  Caillen shrugged. "I hope so, but my luck says the bastard will be back to hound us when we least expect it."

  She took another drink of water. "Is your luck really that bad?"

&nbs
p; He gave a sarcastic laugh. "My luck is the stuff of legends. The badness of it is such that if you were to do an analysis of its regularity, they'd say that it is impossible to have it. And yet, it craps on my head every chance it gets. Statistical anomaly and all."

  She shook her head as he started forward again at a much slower pace. He continued to lead her through a rough patch of the woods. They didn't speak much for the next few hours as they made their way to the upscale neighborhood he'd charted.

  By the time they neared the houses, it was almost dark. She was aching all the more, exhausted and hungry. Given the injuries on his leg, Caillen had to be hurting even worse, but he said nothing about it.

  He stopped just outside the yard of a house whose back end was hidden from the road and from its neighbors by a giant hedge. Completely dark inside, it looked to be unoccupied. But of course, there was only one way to know for sure.

  One of them would have to break in and see.

  Caillen winked at her. "Chin up, Princess. We're almost able to lie down. I'm going in first. If I make it in and don't get caught, I'll motion you over."

  She nodded even though she didn't like the idea of breaking into anything. Any other time, she'd decline. But this was a special circumstance and sometimes you had to do things you didn't want to to protect the ones you loved. Her mother better appreciate this.

  Caillen paused by the hedge and had a moment of doubt as he saw the exhaustion in Desideria's eyes. For the last hour, he'd expected her to keel over and leave him to carry her. It was a testament to her strength that she not only kept going, but that she kept up with him and didn't bitch while she did it. If ever there was a woman he could see at his back, she was it. But he knew better than to make that mistake. On her world, men were property and no one would ever own him.

  He handed her another bottle of water and squeezed her hand comfortingly before he skimmed his way around the hedge in the yard to come out near the house's outbuilding. About four hundred square feet, it looked like a typical storage unit. While the house appeared unoccupied, he wasn't willing to chance it. Even vacant, it could have all manner of security and right now he was too tired to screw with trying to disarm any system. He just wanted to lie down for a few and relax.

  Hoping the outer building didn't have a camera pointed at it or was wired, he left the cover of the hedge to reach the rear door. He jimmied the electronic lock, then slid inside.

  Luckily it was empty except for a few tools and a pile of grass seed bags. Unfortunately, it was so bare that it offered them no cover whatsoever should anyone come in. Damn. Glancing around, he finally saw a small loft area over his head that would give them a tiny bit of cover.