Defiance (Rise of the Iliri Book 3) (20 page)

Time seemed to slow as the fake historian lifted his hand, the crossbow aimed directly at her.  She jerked to the side but heard the twang of the string.  The bolt crashed into her chest, near her right shoulder.  Air rushed from her lungs, but she didn't feel the sweet pain she expected.  Confused, she dared to glance at her shoulder, finding nothing more than a scuff on the black rings.  Those idiots were going to die.  

She moved, running toward the man who shot her, but the Terrans were prepared.  As the historian retreated to reload, Mr. Claudiu moved to put the assassins between himself and the fight, and the woman kneed her horse forward.  Her bow was held low, the bolt pointing at the King.  The iliri were too far away to stop this.

"Dom, down!" Sal yelled.

Chapter 22

As Dominik tried to throw himself from his saddle, Jase flicked his wrist.  A pale dagger flew between them, burying itself in the woman's back.  Her finger closed, the bolt released, but her aim was good.  With a sickening crunch, it lodged in the King's shoulder and his body crashed to the ground – silent.

Sal looked for the last Anglian, the King's huntsman.  Paralyzed with fear, the young man sat on his horse staring at the body of his king.  "Ride, you idiot!" she screamed, breaking his trance.  "Get the guards.  I don't care if you founder that horse, damn it.  Ride!"

The man shoved his heels against his mount, spinning the animal toward the Palace, and raced away as if demons chased him.  Elius Claudiu broke away to follow, the aged man reacting slower than the King's huntsman.  Sal didn't have time to help.  There were still two assassins to deal with.

Raven shoved close to the "daughter".  Jase pulled his sword.  Her back was red with blood seeping from the wound his dagger left, but she met him.  Blocking his first blow with her crossbow, the wood shattered under the force of the resin.  Jase kneed his horse closer, and they grappled between their mounts.  He had this.  Sal rushed past, intent on her own target: the supposed historian.  On the far side of the clearing, the grauori sped after the retreating Anglian and his pursuit.

Subdue him!
Sal screamed into their heads. 
I want answers, damn it.

She felt their ascent, but their feet never slowed.  The historian still struggled to load the bolt in his weapon, glancing up calmly to watch her running at him.  With a curse, he dropped it and pulled a long, narrow blade from his side.  Snatching at his reins, he wrenched his horse toward her and spurred it forward.  When he was almost on top of her, Sal leapt to the side.  Her hand closed on his wrist, the other fisting in his shirt, and the horse's momentum pulled him out of the saddle.  They landed hard, the impact breaking them apart.  He scrambled to his feet, pushing away from her, but Sal only crouched.  Her eyes locked onto his.

"I know what your armor means, scrubber," he taunted, ready for her.

She didn't respond, merely waited for him to move.  Her ears twisted, following the noises around them.  Behind her, horses shuffled in the grass.  To her side, Jase was growling.  In the distance, she could see the grauori struggling with a body on the ground.  A moan let her know that the King still lived.  It was a standoff as they stared at each other, both too well trained to make the first move.  A man like this wouldn't get desperate, but she was willing to bet he'd never fought anything like her.

Sal snarled, allowing her inhuman teeth to flash at him.  As his eyes lowered to her mouth, she pushed, closing the gap in a single step.  Her hand closed on his throat.  His blade slashed against her, but her armor prevented it from cutting.  He tried in vain to stab through it as she squeezed, his off-hand wrenching at her fingers in panic.  The thrill of a kill built inside her, and she raised the hooks of her bracer to his throat, watching his eyes widen in true fear, savoring the passions of her victory.

The historian twisted suddenly, slipping his shoulder under her arm to swing wildly.  Sal felt his resin blade tear through the flesh of her jaw, and he broke free.  Her body responded against her will, lashing out at the cause of pain.  The sharpened wings of her armor raked through his throat, taking nearly half his neck with it.  The man's mouth opened and closed in a silent scream, and his eyes flicked around in pure terror before they stilled and grew dull.  She let him fall and turned to her mate.

Jase lay across the woman's body, covered in her blood.  Her form was motionless beneath him.  Small cuts covered his face and hands.  His lips were pulled back in a feral snarl as he looked up at her.

"Secure the old man, Jase," she told him too calmly, jerking her head to the grauori in the distance.  Hwa stood on top of Elius Claudiu, and Roo held his shoulder, the man below them very still.  Jase pried himself from his kill, wiping the human's blood from his lips as Sal neared.  She whispered, "Question him.  I want information first, Sergeant, then you may kill him, lover."

He smiled at her, then took the last step to close the distance between them.  Grabbing her pauldron, he pulled her to him, meeting her lips with his.  Sal held him there while she savored the taste of human on him.  So good.  Too good to let go, but she had to.  Their eyes met.  His look was both a promise and a need.  When she wrenched her eyes away, he hurried toward the grauori.  Sal rushed to the King's side before she could be distracted again.

Dominik lay in the dirt, the black fletched arrow buried below his collar bone.  The wound was serious but far from fatal, Sal thought as she knelt beside him.

"Sal?" he moaned, "what happened to your face?"

She smiled and felt a flash of pain as her skin resisted.  "I'm afraid we decimated the envoy, sire."

He nodded, searching her face.  "And Jase?  The grauori?" he begged, honestly concerned about their well being.

"Fine.  Your wounds are the worst.  Lay still.  I have the huntsman seeking help.  They should return shortly."  Sal licked her lips, the smell of his blood thick in the air.

"Am I safe from you, Kaisae?" he asked.  There was no fear on his face.

"Yes, sire.  I make no promises for Jase, but you
are
safe from me.  I only wished you smelled less sweet."

He laughed, cutting it short with a moan of pain.  "I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about that, Sal.  I'd prefer you don't eat me, though."  His smile faded for a moment, and he whispered, "Shit, girl, this hurts."

"I know, Dom.  Move less and it will hurt less."

Giving in, he let his head flop to the side.  "Sal?" he whispered, and she glanced over her shoulder following his gaze.

The nacione grauori they'd freed earlier slunk toward them.  His eyes were wide and ears up, watching them both.  The male's leg was also nearly healed.  "Rer hoomans not so tame, Kaisae," he said, refusing to look away from the body of the King.

"He is mine, nacione," she snarled, moving her body protectively across Dom's.  Her eyes sought those of the male approaching her, but his head was lowered, his tail tucked close to his body.

"Ya, Kaisae," he whimpered, shifting his gaze to hers then back to the ground quickly.  "I owe roo fer mah life.  I rill heal this one."

"You're a healer?" she asked, surprised.  "Thank you.  Thank you, very much, cousin.  Dru vau kanna?"  She begged for his name in Iliran.

"Wroogr," he said, as he reached her side.  There, he squatted and reached out for her hand.  Understanding, she pulled off her mail gloves and let him take it in his near-paw.  His eyes slipped shut, and he exhaled slowly.  Sal felt her face tingle and closed her eyes as the vertigo hit.  When Wroogr released her, she crumpled, falling to her rump beside the King.

"Sal?" he asked, struggling to sit up.

"Don't move, Dom," she told him sternly.  "It causes dizziness.  That's all.  Just give me a second – and thank you Wroogr."

"What did he do to you?" Dom asked.

When her world finally stopped spinning, she turned to him, exposing the side of her face.  The cut from before was gone.  "He heals.  The problem is, sire, we still have to get that bolt out."

Dom's eyes searched her face.  She knew he was looking at the blood smeared on her skin.  Then he nodded.  "This is going to be bad, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it really is.  What armor do you have under that coat?"

"Ringmail."  He groaned, realizing what she planned to do.

"Then this is really going to hurt.  Wroogr?"  She turned to the grauori.  "I'm already in maast.  If I try to harm him, please stop me?"

The male searched for signs of her honesty, inhaling deeply.  "Roo may kill him, but roo no want to?"

"Exactly.  If he screams, I'm not completely sure I'll be able to stop."  Sal closed her eyes, struggling to push her body's demands for more death away.  "Humans are my prey, too, but this one cannot be."

"I rill stop roo, Kaisae.  Roo rill not kill this man today."

Jase, Roo, Hwa,
Sal called in her mind,
our friend is going to heal the King, but first I have to remove the arrow.  He will scream.  Do not let Jase help us.

I'm na that foolish, Kaisae,
Jase replied, his passions leaking to her. 
Hwa and Roo are fine, it's only us in the maast.

Good,
she sent, and closed the link before his passions could affect her more.

Then she stood, placing one foot beneath each of his arms, straddling the King's body.  "Ok, Dom,"  She wrapped both of her small hands around the shaft of the bolt tightly.  "On three, ready?"

Dom closed his eyes tightly, trying to brace against the pain he expected.

"One," she counted, "Two..." and then she pulled, using her entire body.  The bolt sliced muscles as it slowly slipped from his skin.  The King's body arched beneath her, but he did not scream.  Sal clenched her teeth against the snarl.  If a human could hold it back then so could she.  With a sucking pop, the tip slid free, lodging against the ringmail.  Sal held herself still, the arrow so close to the human's flesh, and heard Wroogr growl softly beside her.  Slowly, the pale grauori reached his muzzle toward her, tilted his head, and opened his mouth around the shaft.  With her fingers clenched on the end, he bit down, severing the wood only centimeters above Dom's clothing.  When she still didn't move, his eyes raised to hers.

"Roo are Kaisae," he told her.  "He is Kaisor."

Sal nodded, looking away from the blood soaking the King's shoulder.  With another deep breath, she moved back to his side, glancing at his face as she knelt beside him.

"You ok, Sal?" Dom whispered.

"Better than you, I'm sure."  She licked her lips and carefully bit the lower one as she forced her heart to slow. 

Wroogr pressed his hand onto the King's and reached across for the human's face with the other, resting his stubby fingertips against Dominik's cheek.  The King nodded his assent, and the grauori sucked in a deep breath.  When the beast exhaled, Sal watched the King's eyes track to the side repeatedly.

"Close your eyes Dom.  It's easier," she said, and his eyes snapped shut.

Wroogr paused, panting before he took another deep breath and repeated the process.  While they were busy, she worked on getting the arrowhead from beneath the King's mail.  Her fingers slid against his chest.  Feeling the wet blood of the wound, she pulled at the armor, exposing it.  Wroogr panted again, and Sal checked the progress.  As he exhaled slowly for a third time, she watched the torn flesh straighten, and the wound became more shallow.

"That's enough Wroogr."  Sal stopped the nacione before he made the fourth attempt.  "I'm sorry Dom, but the huntsman saw you get shot.  We can't repair you completely without more questions than either of us want."

Dom's eyes were still closed, his face pale.  "Yeah, we don't need grauori kept as slaves for their talents.  I get it Sal, but damn.  How long does this last?  I'd rather not spill my guts in front of you."

She laughed, just like he'd probably intended.  "Breathe deeply and it should be over in no more than six breaths.  It will pass."

He nodded, and she counted his breaths with him.  On the fourth, he cracked his eyelids opened and sighed.  "Thank you Wroogr," he groaned.  "Thank you so much." 

"Roo saved mah lyfe, Kaisor.  I owed roo.  Ree are even, ya?"

"No," Dom told him.  "I owe you, my friend.  I did not save your life, I merely righted the wrong done to you by another.  I already was in your debt for having allowed the trap to be there.  I still owe you, Gerus Wroogr."

Wroogr looked up at Sal and smiled.  "He is a Kaisor.  Roo spoke da truth. I rill tell da pack."  He paused and flicked his ears up.  A moment later, Sal heard the sound, too.  Hooves thundered against the ground.

"I think it's time for you to go, Wroogr.  Not all humans are like this one." 

He nodded at her then loped away without another word, making a straight line for the trees.

Sal, get that grauori out of there.  Guards are coming,
Jase warned.

He's gone.  The King is well enough, but not so well that we'll have problems later.  Wroogr also fixed me up.  Did you learn anything?
she asked