Hunted (Book 2) (23 page)

Tressa held her breath. Something was below her. And its
abrupt cessation of movement told her it knew she was there too. She was so
tired of things lurking in the shadows waiting to kill her. Life had been so
simple in Hutton's Bridge. No one wanted to kill her there. Out here, everyone
was out to get her. For a moment she wished for her old life behind the fog.

But, no, she'd seen too much to ever go back to a life like
that. Whatever it was, she would face it, just as she had with every other
challenge the Dragonlands had presented her.

Tressa reached down to her calf, pulling out a small
dagger. She tossed it in the air, catching the blade in her palm, ready to
throw at the first sign of danger. It was a beautifully proportioned dagger.

Another crack drew her attention up. It, whatever it was,
was on the move again.

Tressa pushed her back into the tree trunk, her legs
bracing against the limbs.
Let it come,
she thought.
I'm ready.

In the space of a breath, a shadow leapt onto her branch.
She hesitated, holding back from throwing the dagger, and was glad she did.

"Tressa?"

She smiled. Finally, something had gone her way.
"Jarrett." She pulled his face to hers with her free hand, letting
her lips explore his.

He kissed her. "What are you doing here? I left you
back at Risos. You shouldn't have followed me."

Tressa placed a finger over his lips. "I didn't follow
you. After you left, they cast me out. I'll tell you all about it when there's
time."

"But, Tressa, you should be in bed. You shouldn't be
up and about. Not after..."

"I'm healed." A warmth washed over her heart. She
was healed inside. Something had happened out there in the water. It had changed
her. Made her lighter. Stronger. Ready for anything. "Trust me."

"It doesn't mean I'll stop worrying about you."
He stroked a thumb on her cheek.

"Will you two cut it out?" someone called from
above.

Jarrett laughed. "That's just Avital. Ignore him. He's
jealous."

"Sick is more like it. You act like two love-struck
children." A fake vomiting noise followed.

Tressa buried her face in Jarrett's shoulder. She swayed,
her stomach lurching. Jarrett grabbed her arm. "Don't forget we're in a
tree."

"Yeah," she said, taking a few quick breaths.
She'd been so relieved she had forgotten to brace herself. "I won't forget
again. So, tell me, what are you doing in this tree, and how many men do you
have with you?"

"We're hiding up here. Presumably for the same reason as
you. I have only a handful of men. We are scattered in trees across the outer
edge of the forest, trying to keep our crew a secret from those who dwell in
the Hills of Flame. I saw you sneaking around on the ground and followed you to
this tree."

Tressa gazed out between the leaves. An uncountable number
of trees dotted the landscape. "Have you any word of the people from
Hutton's Bridge?"

Jarrett shook his head. "I wish. We've questioned many
on the way here, but no one has seem them. Or they've been threatened with
their lives to keep the secret. Someone has to have seen something. Those
people couldn't have simply disappeared."

"I agree," Tressa said. "We'll find them. We
have to. I can't rest until we do."

They sat in silence for a few moments. No more comments
were made from above. Instead, the quiet night was punctuated by the occasional
snore.

"I think we're alone now," Jarrett said.

Tressa's eyelids felt heavy. The last few days had taken a
toll on her. Now that she was back in Jarrett's arms, she might be able to
relax.

"I'm so, so sorry for the way Jacinda treated you. I
never should have brought you home with me." Remorse tinged his words.

"Yet here we are with a small group of men willing to
fight for my people."

"The cost was too great." Jarrett's eyes
softened. He tightened his arm around Tressa's waist. "Your baby is
gone."

"I had no time to fall in love with the baby,"
Tressa said. "I only experienced it as a loss, just like I did all the
other times I attempted to get pregnant. It is a blessing I didn't know until I
lost it." She laid her hands on his cheeks. "It gives me hope for the
future that I might conceive again."

His quiet response was a simple kiss. A promise.

Tressa wanted to tell him they'd be together. That her next
baby would be his. But it was a fool's dream. They'd have to survive. Then
they'd have to see if they even liked each other when they weren't surrounded
by danger. She still loved Bastian...but too much had changed. She had changed.

She settled back into Jarrett's arms and closed her eyes.
"Tomorrow?"

"We find them tomorrow. I swear it to you."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," she said
through a yawn.

"Sleep, now. Trust me."

She fell asleep without another word.

***

The sun woke them up, a tangle of arms and legs resting on
a thick bough.

"I'm coming down. Better have your clothes back
on!" A rustle above them preceded a man dropping to their bough. It
bounced, threatening to toss Tressa and Jarrett to the ground. Tressa's arms
flailed as she attempted to wrap her arms around the trunk.

"If I didn't need you so much, I'd consider pushing
you to the ground," Jarrett said with a friendly snarl. "This,"
he said, turning to Tressa, "is Avital. He not only excels in fake puking,
but he also happens to be one of the best swordsmen in the Dragonlands."

Avital bowed with a flourish, one arm behind his back, the
other stretching in front of him. He bobbled to the side, waving his hands in
the air.

Tressa gasped. "He reminds me of you."

"Yes," Jarrett said, a smile on his face.
"We are brothers, sharing the same mother."

"You haven't seen my nards yet. Let me show you. I'm
just as big as Jarrett." Avital fiddled with the strings on his pants.

Jarrett slapped his brother's hands. "Stop!"

"Hey, those are delicate parts you're slapping. Show a
little respect."

Tressa chuckled, watching the two brothers interact. She'd
rarely seen Jarrett as anything other than serious. It was nice to see this
side of him.

"Let's take this to the ground where I can fight you
for my honor." Avital grabbed onto the branch, swinging down the tree like
a monkey in one of the books Granna had read Tressa when she was a child. He
landed on the ground, squatting and beating his chest. "Come on! I
challenge you!"

Jarrett shook his head, a small smile on his face. "My
brother enjoys acting asinine. But, I swear, when it comes to battle, or even
meeting dignitaries, he's the most serious man on the field. You'll be glad
he's with us."

"I believe you," Tressa said. She was glad for
the moment of silliness. It was good to relax once in a while. To let her guard
down. To know the world held more than sadness and death.

After they made their way to the ground, Jarrett introduced
Tressa to the rest of his men. She couldn't keep their names straight, but
promised them she'd work hard on learning them. She expected them to balk at
her insistence on fighting, but no one batted an eye. They accepted her for who
she was.

"Today we find the residents of Hutton's Bridge. No
matter what comes, we need to save them and find out if the Red has secured the
honey. We mustn't let the honey fall into their hands. It will mean the death
of all of us."

The men solemnly agreed. Not once did they question Jarrett
or accuse him of being on a fool's errand. As she'd hoped, these were more
Jarrett's men than Jacinda's. For the first time in months Tressa had a real chance
at saving the villagers.

Tressa looked at the group of men in front of her. These
were hardened soldiers. Men accustomed to fighting. Men who were here because
battle was in their blood. Not because they were promised coin and whores.
Maybe they could rescue her people.

Though exactly how they were going to do it was still a
mystery. The forest canopy spread over them, stretching as far as the eye could
see. Out there, somewhere, were her people. She would find them and bring them
home.

And then? Tressa shook her head, refusing to think beyond
her current goal. She'd spent her life making plans, none of which mattered
now. She lived in a new, uncertain world.

Jarrett pulled off his boots and held them upside down.
Pebbles and dirt fell to the ground. He tossed her an intimate smile. "Are
you ready?"

"Yes." She shifted her weight from one foot to
the other. "But where are we going?"

"Forward." He pointed to the northeast with his
boot. "We're going to find out why the Red sent their kilrothgi to the
Yellow. I have a feeling they were after something very important."

"What?" Tressa asked, squinting into the rising
sun.

"You."

"Me?" She was taken aback. "What would they
want me for?"

"Why would they want the people of Hutton's
Bridge?" He slipped the boot back on his foot and repeated the same on his
left.

"The honey. But I don't have the honey. I don't know
how to make it. I didn't even know it did anything special. There's no reason
they would want me." Tressa sat down on a rock, her back against Avital's
back.

Avital's back straightened. "The Red takes what they
please. They fancy themselves the rulers of the Dragonlands. In truth, the rest
of us only tolerate their childish claims."

"Except for the way you all control the Meadowlands.
Clearly there is some sort of hierarchy here," Tressa said pointedly. She
hadn't told them yet about what she'd learned there.

"The Meadowlands did something anathema. The dragon
form isn't for everyone. They've taken a well-guarded secret and exploited
it." Jarrett pulled his boot back on and straightened his tunic.
"They had to be contained before the secret got out. Can you imagine the
rebellion if the common people knew they could be changed into dragons? Our
society depends on the secret. Without it we'd have dragons flying around
everywhere, doing as they please."

"Control the dragons, rule the realm," Tressa
whispered.

"I heard that," Avital said. "It's true. The
dragons think they rule. Those of us who know about them and keep them in check
truly rule." He nudged her side. "No more talk of the dragons. The
rest of the men are coming back from the stream."

"They don't know?" Tressa asked, stunned.
"They should. They put their lives in harm's way without knowing what
they're really fighting for."

"It is the way," Jarrett said. "It
works."

"Then maybe my people should have stayed trapped in
Hutton's Bridge. It worked."

"It did." One of the men chimed in. "We
wouldn't have this disaster to deal with. Now look at what we have to do. We're
marching on the Malum, where the Red Queen resides, demanding she return your
people to you." He held up a hand before Tressa could respond. "I
don't support anyone being subjugated, but sometimes people need to do what's
best for the greater good."

Tressa fumed. The greater good? Her palm itched for a
sword, but common sense told her to stay her hand. These men might not agree
with her, but they were still willing to help. The world was a strange place,
and people stranger still.

"Enough discussion." Jarrett waved the stragglers
over. "It's time to move. We need to get closer to the castle. Their queen
won't see me without a royal request. Jacinda refused to give that. We will
need to be more creative when it comes to entering their compound."

"What exactly do you propose?" a man with curly
blond hair asked.

"It is the Descent Festival. As you all know, the Hills
of Flame are populated with descendants of the ancients from the east. They
continue to worship the fabled Queen of All Dragons. There will be celebrations
throughout the countryside. The people will be dressed in costume. They will
perform fertility rituals. Burn bonfires. Inebriation will run rampant. It is
the best time for us to sneak in."

"You really think they'll let down their guard because
of a holiday?" a man named Brandon asked. He ran a hand through his hair,
his blue eyes flashing. "If we go in like fools, we will die like
fools."

"I had hoped we'd find the people of Hutton's Bridge
before now. But we haven't. If they've been taken by the Red, we need to get to
Malum."

"And if they haven't?" Brandon asked.

Tressa watched Jarrett's face carefully. He didn't seem
perturbed by the line of questioning. She had assumed his men would follow him
unconditionally. Instead they seemed to work off each other, bouncing around
ideas until the best one could be found. It was an intriguing way to run an
army. Fascinating. She'd grown up under Granna's gentle dictatorship. Granna
was not to be questioned. Ever. This seemed like a better way to run things,
assuming all parties could be trusted.

"Then we leave.” Jarrett said. He clapped his hands.
"So, what do you think?"

"Do all of us need to go to the celebrations?"
Hayden asked. "I refuse to mate with someone from the Hills of Flame just
for a mission. It's disgusting. Their women, they don't..."

He trailed off, rolling his eyes. The other men laughed.

Tressa was curious what they didn't do. She looked at
Jarrett, but he didn't offer anything. Was it something she did? Or didn't do?
Jarrett didn't seem to find her repulsive.

"No," Jarrett said, slapping his man on the
shoulder. "I don't expect anyone to sleep with anyone they find abhorrent.
It's against what we stand for, anyway."

"Life. Choice. Honor." The men chanted it
together, their fists pounding against their chests with each word.

Tressa wanted to ask how they'd become such honorable men
with a queen like Jacinda. Perhaps later when she and Jarrett were alone he
could answer all of her questions.

"What I need from my men is a way in. A distraction to
allow Tressa, Avital, and myself to steal costumes and sneak into the city
gates. From there we will do what we can to find her people."

"Yes, sir. And what should we do after you are
in?" Hayden asked.

"Go home. We will succeed or die. Either way, I don't
want you to be in danger any longer than necessary."

Tressa nodded; it wasn't their battle. It was hers. She was
grateful they'd followed Jarrett into an unknowable outcome. It was more than
enough. She looked at Avital. He seemed to want to help them too. "You
don't have to come." She laid a gentle hand on his arm.

"Leave Jarrett to his own devices? I think not. I let
him slink off to Ashoom with Henry, and what happened? Henry got himself killed
and he came out with you." Avital laughed. "I guess he does all right
on his own. No one liked Henry anyway. He would have been a terrible king. And
you…" Avital looked her up and down. "You're not so bad. You put a
smile on my brother's face. I like that."

Tressa smiled. Jarrett had put a smile on her face too.
"Thank you for helping me." She meant it with a depth he couldn't
possibly understand. Not yet. Maybe someday.

Avital pulled Tressa into a hug. "Keep my brother
happy," he whispered into her ear, "and I will be your greatest
champion."

"And if I don't?" she asked.

"I'll gut you from belly button to the top of your
throat. If you do anything to harm him, I will kill you slowly. Painfully. You
will regret the day you met Jarrett and wish you'd never given him a second
look." Avital let go of her and smiled. He winked.

Tressa froze, unsure if he'd been teasing her or serious.
Without another word, Avital rejoined his brother, not leaving another glance
for Tressa.

Her stomach flipped. She'd have to watch her back.