Broken Aro (The Broken Ones) (28 page)

She squeezed her eyes tightly closed. Build
walls...build walls...

"Aro, what are you–" Prince rested a hand on
her shoulder, "Aro!"

Her eyes flew open at the sudden panic in his voice. "What?"

"What are you doing?"

She grimaced. "Trying to keep my head safe. Damon
said–"

"Damon?" He looked at her in confusion for a
moment. "Ah. The Dragos."

She nodded and shrugged. "I don't believe most of
the nonsense he was spouting, about Kei and prophecies and everything, but I
thought he had some good advice about protecting myself. I don't want people
crawling around in my head."

"I see," Prince said, his voice quiet.

She turned and looked up at him. "You think it's
silly."

Surprisingly he shook his head. "No. It is wise
of you to so protect yourself."

She grinned and looked away to hide her embarrassment
at his praise. "I thought so. Do they come into cities a lot? Fey and Were
and Elves? And we just don't see them?"

"More than people know, I imagine," he
answered. "It is dangerous for them though. Humans tend to hate them, to
kill them if they can. That is why they hide what they truly are. However, if
you know what to look for, you can tell who is not human."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "You can?"

Prince nodded and gestured to Kei. "Watch the
Fey. Not only do his ears and eyes give him away, but also the way he moves.
Fey are rarely very tall, and are often slight of build."

She watched Kei for a while, and understood what
Prince meant. He was more graceful than a human. "So it's the same with Dragos?"

"Yes. They too move lightly." He grimaced. "Unfortunately
they can take any form, so that is not helpful. But they can't change their
eyes, for them, always look for that."

She nodded and bit her lip as she remembered the
strange iridescence of them. "And Elves? What do they look like?"

He chuckled. "Elves are beautiful, tall, lithe
creatures. Some may be wider of shoulder, but they aren't built like men such
as Bo."

She looked over at Bo and his fine array of bulky
muscles and nodded.

"Their ears are pointed, more so than that of the
Fey. Their eyes come in many colors, but have a brightness to them that's
noticeable." He paused. "These traits are not always helpful. The
Elves also have magic and can glamor themselves to look more human. So again,
you look to their actions."

She sighed. He made it sound both easy and hard at the
same time. "So what about the Were? In human form I mean."

"They are the most human. Sometimes the color of
their eyes will give them away. They range from blues to yellows to amber.
Their canine teeth will often be slightly more prominent. Otherwise they look
completely human."

"So watch the way they act again," she said
with a sigh.

"Yes."

"This conversation has not been particularly
helpful, you know," she told him.

He chuckled.

Bo walked over. "Ready to head out?"

She nodded and allowed Prince to help her up. Though
his arrogance had lessened somewhat over the months, his manners certainly had
not.

They entered the city and allowed the crowd to push
them inward. As the markets were their destination and could often be found
somewhere along the main street they went with the flow. The money they had
saved over the winter had slowly dwindled. She'd heard the men talking they
would only have enough left to buy supplies for a few more weeks. She didn't
even want to think about what they would do then. Prince had mentioned at the
last city they had traveled almost half way to his home. They'd been traveling
at least two months already, if not three.

The only reason their coins had lasted so long was due
to their own supplements, hunting small animals and birds along the way,
catching fish and other sea creatures when the shoreline allowed. Prince would
occasionally find edible plants near the road or closer to the sea. They didn't
dare try to steal from the crops or pastures. Armed men now regularly patrolled
both the road and beyond.

She followed Prince and Bo with Cain and Kei behind
her as the crowds grew thicker. She'd never seen so many people out at once
before and wondered if it was always like this, or if something had happened.
Had the city come under attack? She hoped the crowd was merely due to some sort
of celebration. Perhaps it was closer to the summer equinox than she had realized.
As the crowd pressed in on them and grew louder and louder she finally
understood it had something to do with the Fey.

There had been another attack.

She began to grow worried about Kei and kept looking
back to check on him. The city certainly wouldn't be a safe place for him if his
true nature became discovered.

The noise of the crowd increased even more. She wished
she was taller so she could see what lie up ahead. As it were, she just
struggled to keep Prince and Bo in sight.

When someone grabbed her upper arm and jerked her roughly
through the crowd she was so shocked she merely squeaked in surprise. Fear
wrapped around her as she realized she'd been separated from the others.

Heart beating furiously, she opened her mouth to
scream out to them.

The viselike hand on her arm jerked her forward
roughly and then again, spinning her about until she suddenly found her face
pressed against a chest by an impossibly strong hand on the back of her head.
Another arm pinned her against his body, her own arms trapped.

Barely able to breathe she still tried to scream but
only a muffled, choked sound emerged, easily drowned out by the noise of the
growing crowd. Panicking, she struggled against her abductor, but his arms were
like unmoving bars of iron around her. He pushed his way quickly through the
crowd, keeping her tight against him, her feet not even touching the ground.

The sounds of the crowd dimmed slightly. As suddenly
as he had snatched her, the man flung her away. Her back smacked up against
stone hard enough it knocked the breath from her lungs. Her head cracked
against the stone, the pain of it bringing tears to her eyes. Glad to be free,
she quickly caught her balance, her hands immediately moving for her knives.

"Please, go for your weapons. I'm sure you will
do better with them this time."

Chapter 22

Secrets

"You!"

He chuckled.

She grimaced, but didn't remove her hands from her
knives. "What do you want, Damon?"

"You remembered my name."

She shook her head in annoyance as she looked around,
trying to figure out where he had taken her. It seemed to be an alley of some
kind, however one not directly off the main thoroughfare. It was strangely
empty, yet she could still hear the muted noise of the crowd. "What do you
want?"

His smile remained. "I said I would be watching
you."

His words sent unexpected shivers up her spine. She
remembered, but she hadn't really thought about it. It wasn't her he was
interested in. She didn't understand why he had taken
her
from the
others. "Have you been?"

"I've been occupied. With other matters." A
smile appeared. "However, I am here now. What have you been up to, little
one?"

"I don't think it's any of your concern,"
she snapped. "I would much prefer if you just left me alone." She
rubbed at her arm, it continued to throb from the tight grip he'd had on her. "Why
did you drag me here?"

He spread his hands. "I did not think your
companions would much care for me talking to you."

He certainly had that right. "I don't much care
to be talking to you either."

He smiled slightly. "I know. Your thoughts are so
full of fear. Are they always so?"

She didn't answer. He took a step closer and she found
herself pressing back again the stone wall of a building.

Fear closed around her throat. Was he going into her
mind again? She didn't know if the walls she'd tried to build would work, if
they even existed.

His fingers brushed across her forehead. "I see
you listened to my advice," he murmured. "I'm impressed you managed
to create even this. Who showed you how?"

"No one."

"You are an interesting one indeed. First you
bond to a Fey, then take his fury, and now somehow build walls in your mind.
Did you think your feeble attempt would keep me out?"

"I'd hoped so," she whispered. Apparently it
wouldn't. Could she stall him? Certainly her men were looking for her even now.
How long would it take them to find her? "Why are you doing this? Why me?"

His fingers traced down her cheek. "That is the
interesting thing. Imagine my surprise, coming across you all outside of the
city and once again feeling the remnants of Fey magic. On you. Kei is important
to me, and you apparently are important to him. I want to know why. Why some
puny little human has him taking such risks. Why can you do the things you do? What
is special about you?"

She shuddered and turned her head as she tried to
sidestep away from him. Her movement angered him. Suddenly his hand pinned her
head to the wall. His thumb pressed in at one temple, his fingertips at the
other as his palm pressed her head back.

She gasped in pain. Her hands rose to encircle his
wrist, trying to pull his hand away. "Stop it!"

"Stop fighting," he said quietly. "It
hurts more if you do."

She struggled against him, at the same time trying to
keep her mental walls in place. She didn't want him in her mind. She didn't
want anyone in there. "Get out!"

"Shh."

Shock froze her for a moment when she was suddenly sucked
inward…

She stood upon the battlements of the fortress she had
built. Around her, beyond her shining stone, darkness hung and unimportant
surface thoughts swirled around. She may have built this massive fortress, but
from the outside. She had never actually been within her own mind before.

The darkness wavered. A roar echoed from within.

She straightened and found a bow in her hands.
My
bow. From before the city fell.
She smiled. Oh,
how she had missed
it.
I need to get another one. Sometime soon...

Something came out of the darkness, distracting her
thoughts. It flew around her fortress, a monstrous, horrible, beautiful thing.
It's
Damon. Prince had said he could shift forms. This is him as...
She couldn't
remember what it was Prince had said the Dragos turned into.

Dragon.

She stepped back at the power of the voice that
answered her. She raised her bow.
Get out of my head!

The beast, the dragon, flew closer, circling.
Very
impressive. You have done well. For a human. Now, let me in, Arowyn.

She shook her head, hair flying about in the wind his
giant wings made.
Leave me alone! I said no!

He laughed and then his laughter turned into a wild,
terrible roar. It shook the stone she stood on, shook the very air she
breathed. Fear froze her in place.
I can't fight this. I don't know how.

You're learning. Open a door. Let me in.

Stubbornly, she shook her head again.

Then it will hurt.

The dragon circled again, its wings beating harder. As
it neared to make another pass it dove for her, mouth gaping and full of teeth.
Damon roared again, shattering her to pieces.

Screaming she flew apart, returning to the real world.
She clenched her teeth as he ripped through her mind, circling around and
around before attacking her carefully built walls and tearing them apart piece
by painful little piece. It burned like searing fire roaring through her head. She
wanted to scream but her voice wouldn't work.

Despite the pain she tried to keep him away, to repair
the walls that tumbled down under his brutal assault. It wasn't enough. She
wasn't quick enough, or strong enough. She didn't know what she should be
doing. The pain his destruction caused hurt too much for her to truly
concentrate.

It did not take him long to break her.

She whimpered as she suffered him again going through
her memories. He muttered little comments as he none to gently rifled through
them. Their winter in the city. The sickness.

A choked wail quietly escaped her. She knew what came
next. She didn't want to remember.

Avery's death.

His death was hard on you. Did it hurt you?

Tears ran down her face as she fought again to force
him from her mind. She couldn't take anymore. She didn't want to remember.
And
he must not know...

His mind-voice ripped through her.
What are you
hiding?

He jerked forward the memory of the magic and binding
Kei had done to save her.