Dark Warriors: A Dark Lands Anthology (Darklands) (3 page)

The waitress cleared her throat and handed a bundle of worn quilts and a lumpy pillow to Dagon. She left without making eye contact.

“You made a friend,” Vana observed as she tossed her pack on the bed.

He shrugged. “I’m not likely to desire a woman that…blatant. I prefer a woman who beds only one man; me.” He tossed the blankets on the floor, making a makeshift mattress.

A hot flush made her duck her head as she sat on the bed. The man was blunt. And disciplined. There weren’t many guys she knew who’d turn down easy sex in this day and age. She eyed him discreetly as she kicked off her shoes. A discriminating stranger who turned down a warm bed to sleep outside her door… There was something gallant about that, and very sexy, in an old fashioned kind of way. How many guys would do something like that?

She tossed her jacket over the foot of the bed and crawled under the covers. It was chilly in here. At least she wasn’t the one on the floor. Guilt made her wince. But what could she do? She wasn’t about to invite him into the bed.

She just hoped he wasn’t going to hold it against her when she had to take his class.

Vana woke up from a dream involving a pair of ice blue eyes and knowing male hands. It faded as her eyes opened, leaving her unsure of the details but uncomfortably curious about their cause.

“The cause” leaned against the doorframe, watching her wake.

“Do you always sleep this hard?” he asked. He didn’t seem to mind. Those sensual blue eyes of his moved over her with warm appraisal.

Finger combing her hair out of the way, knowing she must look a mess, she grumbled, “Usually. I hate mornings.”

White teeth flashed in a bright smile. “You need a reason to get up, then. If I buy you breakfast, will it cheer you?”

“Only if it’s a loan. I owe you too much already.”

There went that smile again. The man really was enjoying himself, though how he managed at this early hour was beyond her.

As she passed through the doorway, she was reminded where he’d spent the night. Now that she had some sleep, the reason why was obvious, and she was impressed by his integrity. Not that she would have given him a chance to do otherwise, of course. He was married. Probably had several kids. She glanced at him and unconsciously sighed. “Your wife would be thrilled to know what a nice guy you are.”

His brows drew together in puzzlement. “I’m not married.”

He wasn’t? Suddenly she felt perkier. “Oh. I just thought…” Embarrassed, she let the words trail off. She didn’t want him to feel as if his chivalry was in question.

As if he could read her mind, he snorted in amusement. “You’re too used to Earth men. Earthy-men, that is,” he hastily corrected, glancing at her. “Grown-up boys with no discipline, no morals. You’ll appreciate the difference at the academy.”

She hoped she would. Already she was nervous. Still, if Dagon were a sample of the kind of men she would meet…maybe sending in that application was one of the best ideas of her life.

As the tow truck pulled up at the academy, Vana grabbed her bag. Halfway out the truck’s door, she froze. Dagon’s motorcycle had hardly rolled to a stop when a man dressed in a black uniform came running out. Dagon pulled off his helmet, listening intently to the man’s words. Although she couldn’t understand the language the man spoke, his body language told her that whatever he had to say was urgent. Dagon confirmed it when he swung one long leg over his bike and moved swiftly to her side.

“Hurry,” he said, taking her bag. He caught her hand and helped her leap down from the jacked-up truck, slamming the door behind her. Without explanation, he dragged her off at a lope.

“What’s wrong?” she huffed, barely able to keep up.

“We have a problem,” was all he would say as he ran toward the academy. The brick building was a handsome structure with two wings off each side. At another time she would have enjoyed studying the lawn and gardens surrounding it. Just then it was all she could do to keep from tripping as they joined the stream of people rushing up the stairs.

Another car careened around the corner and screeched to a stop, spraying gravel. A man leapt out, running around the other side of the car to hurry the female passenger.

“Hurry up, Ser! You’re going to be a permanent resident!” someone yelled.

One quick peek at that scene was all Vana got before she stumbled on the stairs.

“Careful!” Dagon growled, grabbing her to prevent a fall.

“Sorry.”

They dashed into the hall, past a series of rooms made hard to see because of the press of bodies rushing toward a set of double doors. The crowd was so close she couldn’t see what lay beyond, but she felt the chill as they approached; an odd contrast to the body heat around her. And then she was through. A white light blinded her, and she knew no more.

Dagon swore as he caught the woman and lowered her to the frozen ground. They were supposed to have transported directly to the compound. This thin forest with the frosted ground and naked trees was definitely not their destination. Tension gripped him, even after he recognized the familiar landmarks of the Banderols Highway, two miles shy of their destination. It was the perfect spot for an ambush.

“Shields up! Battle positions.” Dagon commanded. “We got a message of sabotage, so we rushed everyone out. A group of enemy soldiers broke into the lab and made it to the controls of the Istalgilese Tunnel before they were stopped. They wouldn’t dare alter our arrival point significantly, not if it was the women they were after.” With a touch of a button, the men shed the electronic illusion of human soldiers and transformed into the fearsome vision of fully armed, combat-ready Beast warriors. The glowing eyes of their fantastical beast-headed helmets made them look alien and dangerous. Scarier still were the sleek black rifles and deadly handguns.

They would need them, for their enemy was every bit as dangerous as they were.

He hadn’t been surprised when he’d pulled up to the ‘academy’ and found the place in a state of controlled chaos. The emergency evacuation drills had prepared the men for trouble, and they’d been hustling the women along at a fast clip. Whatever had gone wrong at home would be dealt with immediately. They couldn’t afford to have screw-ups like this happen, not with their precious breeders in hand. “Any sign of the Dark Ones?” he called to his scouts, who were busy scanning the area with their portable biosensors.

Vana heard the last, though the meaning was dulled in her mind. Everything was fuzzy and far too bright, like sun glinting off snow. Her leaden body felt like a mattress left out in the rain and reluctantly dragged back in. Had she hit her head? Where was Dagon?

“What about the women?” someone said.

“The displacement will wear off soon. They’re better off tranquilized; at least they’ll remain calm.”

Calm? Why did she need to remain calm? Was there a gas leak or something? Panic cleared her head. Suddenly the visual haze burned off. Vana sucked in a breath as the armored warriors around her came into view. A clear blue dome surrounded their group. And outside it…

The ground shook as a massive, clawed creature like a saber tooth, but far too big, leaped in front of the shield. It snarled; every muscle poised to jump. A helmet of worked metal protected its head, and a steel breastplate guarded its massive chest. A warrior with a deadly looking weapon rode on its back.

Vana made it into a crouch, but that was all her shaky body would do. She was trying to figure out which way to run when a black dragon (a dragon!) landed in front of the shield. It flamed and screamed, shaking its wings in fury. It, too, was armored, but what shocked her more was the figure that dismounted and strode to the shield.

“Give up the women or die,” he demanded, as more riders arrived to back up his threat. His armor was black, and the close-fitting helmet hid his face, making him even more frightening.

“When the sun freezes over, Nikon! Find your own women,” the man who was apparently the leader called back. His animal-headed helmet shone like cold silver in the murky light. Close fitting body armor protected his chest, arms and legs. Even Mr. Rogers would look imposing in that outfit.

Vana heartily agreed with his sentiments, until it dawned on her that she didn’t know anything more about these men than she did the other. She glanced at the dragon and her mouth went dry. On the other hand, at least the men on her side of the bubble didn’t have overgrown pets.

Nikon raised his hand. Every man there cocked his guns at the group within the bubble. The dragon drooled flame. “Is that your final word, Dagon?”

Dagon? Shocked, Vana glanced at the beast-headed leader. It couldn’t be! Oh, man. She’d known that she had terrible taste in men, but this! How could she have misjudged him so badly? Chivalry, indeed, she thought with disgust. The jerk had been planning this all along!

Dagon cocked his own gun. “You never did know when to run, boy.”

Vana hadn’t survived twenty-five years alone in the big bad world for nothing. With lightning deduction, thank God her brain was working faster than her body, she grabbed a sidearm out of the nearest man’s holster, then swiftly wrapped her arm around the neck of a petite blond and hauled her to her feet. Before anyone could react, she had the gun pressed to the girl’s temple.

“Play along,” Vana hissed in her ear. “I’m going to try to get us out of here.” Louder, she called, “Freeze! Nobody move or I’ll blow her brains out, I swear!” It was a risky move. If she stopped to think about it she would have chickened out. She was used to thinking exhaustively about what flavor of ice cream to buy at the store, for pity’s sake! For someone who viewed Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey as a wild night out, this was crazy indeed. But for once in her life, action had taken the place of careful reasoning. Now she prayed that her acting skills had peaked along with her bravado.

Warriors on both side of the shield stared at her in horror. “Don’t do it, woman,” Dagon warned.

She blew the girl’s hair out of her face, trying to watch all sides at once as she spun in a circle, dragging the poor girl with her. “Back off! I will blow her head off, man, I swear!” she cried in her best imitation of a jacked-up bank robber.

A circle cleared around them, with warriors forming a wall between the remaining women and Vana to protect them from wild shots.

Vana thought fast. “You,” she nodded at the man whose gun she held. “Come here. That’s far enough,” she warned, holding the muzzle firmly to her captive’s head. In a low voice, she told him, “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m smart enough to figure out that we do not want to get shot in a war between you guys.” She jerked her head at the men outside the shield. Adrenaline made her shake.

The girl held very still.

Vana said, “Pretend that whatever knocked us out when you brought us here made us crazy, or brain damaged, or whatever. Make those guys not want us, because none of these women deserve to get hurt.” And hurt they would be if these guys started shooting. The fear in her gut told her so.

The warrior stared at her for a moment, his metallic head gleaming. Then he backed off and started an argument with Dagon. Their words grew louder and more heated, until finally he shouted at Dagon, “We were warned that this would happen. I told you that nobody was desperate enough to bed a bunch of crazy women! Give them to Nikon. What good are they? They’ll pass on their madness to their children.”

Nikon glanced sharply at Vana. Grumbling started among his men.

To egg him on, she raved, “What are you talking about? I’m not crazy!” she fired a shot into the air to prove her point. Instantly the warriors leveled their guns at her.

The blond screamed and grabbed her head, apparently sure she was dead.

Vana gulped. Hoo, boy! She was toast. Maybe she was too good an actor…either that or she’d watched too much garbage on TV.

Vana grabbed the back of her captive’s hair, trying not to be too rough. “Relax! Play along,” she whispered. Though the girl probably thought she was nuts, she didn’t fight. That was good, because the sight of all those rifles pointed at Vana made her light-headed. She’d never pulled a stunt like this in her life! What had possessed her to act like a Wild West gunslinger?

“You see?” the warrior shouted. He waved his gloved hand at the other drugged and befuddled women . “She’s crazy and the minds have gone on the rest of them. Give them to Nikon. He deserves a crazy mate,” he sneered.

Without another word, Nikon turned and mounted his dragon. With a roar, it jumped into the air and winged away. As one, his warriors rode off. Whatever appeal the women might have had seemed to have disappeared.

The instant they were out of sight, the girl pulled away from Vana and slapped away the hand with the gun. “What did you think you were doing? You could have killed me!”

“They left, didn’t they?” The words were pure reflex. Shock was setting in. She was surprised the blond had the energy left to fight.

“You pulled my hair!” the blond shouted, outraged, and by the look in her eyes, terrified of what was happening.

The warrior broke into their conversation by snatching his gun.

“You know each other?” he growled, seemingly uncertain whether he ought to tackle Vana or not. He grasped her arm just in case.