Kingdom Come (11 page)

The arrow vanished from view.

“The effect is an arrow that travels over one thousand feet per second. Twice the speed of any bow on Earth.”

“More like a bullet,” she said thoughtfully.

He nodded and bent down to grab both quivers, holding one out to her. “Would you like to try?”

She watched him swing his own bag over his shoulder, fixing the strap across his chest. She quickly did the same with hers. It was odd to wear the quiver on her back, as every bow she had ever owned had a built in holder for the arrows. She rolled her shoulders to get used to the feeling.

Sensing his eyes on her, she pulled an arrow from the bag over her shoulder and notched it.

“Just let the bow do the work,” he said softly.

She raised the bow, pulled back the string, and let go. The surge of power from the bow almost took her breath away. The moment she released the string, an electric jolt went through her body and she could almost feel the air splitting around the arrow. She turned to Edric with wide eyes.

“That was awesome.”

…

Abby was remarkably good at tracking. That was the excuse he gave himself for watching her every move. The truth of the matter was that he could not take his eyes off her. It was more than the hunting attire, though that was very pleasing on her, it was the way she moved through the underbrush. As if she were already a part of his world.

She did not walk, but stalked between the trees. Eyes narrowed and head on a swivel, she split her attention between the tracks in the dirt and their surroundings. Every time he looked away to scan their surroundings, he found his eyes drifting back to her. The swing of her hips, her lush curves. He mentally shook himself.

They had been hunting for just over three hours, evidenced by the shadows growing beneath the trees. After Abby tracked and brought down the sisu and he returned it to a stasis chamber at the back of the enlil, she had asked for something more challenging. The nearby forest was teeming with small predators, so he agreed.

After he showed her the tracks they were seeking, she had taken over the hunt. If he thought of it too long he became extremely distracted. Even on a small game hunt, he had to maintain his focus. He glanced at her, again.

She suddenly stopped midstep and hummed thoughtfully. After a moment, she glanced over her shoulder at him. He immediately moved to her side.

“What is it?” he asked softly.

“I’m not sure. A scuffle of some kind.”

He stepped closer to look at the ground. The tracks of the niksum ended abruptly, as if the jackal-like creature had been snatched as it was fleeing. He knelt down to make out the shape of the larger tracks in the dirt. In the fading light it took him a moment to recognize the creature responsible for the niksum’s fate. He inhaled sharply.

“We should stop for the day,” he said, even as he scanned their immediate surroundings. He needed to get Abby back to the enlil.

“What? Why?”

He had hoped to sound casual, but it was obvious from Abby’s tone she sensed something was wrong. He answered her without taking his gaze off the nearby trees.

“An urbat has wandered down from the mountains. We need to get back to the enlil quickly and quietly.”

He glanced over to see her staring at him with wide eyes. He gestured for her to follow him and let out a sigh of relief when she did not hesitate. They walked in silence for several minutes, before he sensed her inching closer to his right side.

A moment later, she whispered, “What’s an urbat?”

He paused to listen to the forest. There was nothing but the sound of the wind in the trees. He urged her on.

“Think of a tiger mixed with a timber wolf and covered in thick, leathery hide.”

She wrinkled her nose. “That would be one seriously ugly-” She broke off at the sound of a low growl.

He slowly pulled his hunting knife from his belt, reaching for Abby with the other hand. At any other time, his heart would have surged at the feel of her sliding her hand into his, but could not enjoy it with the urbat hunting them. He tugged her behind him.

She lay her palms flat against his back, moving with him as he turned in place. The growls stopped just as a branch snapped off to their left. He mentally calculated the distance to the enlil. It was too far. Unless, the urbat was distracted. He kept his gaze on the shadows, but gently nudged Abby with his elbow.

She leaned against his back, her cheek against his shoulder as she looked up at the side of his face.

“Do you remember where we left the enlil?”

She glanced around and nodded. “That way about half a mile.”

He checked to make sure she gestured the right way and nodded. “I want you to wait for my signal and when I tell you to run, head for the enlil.”

She stiffened. “No.”

“Abigail.” He sighed. “Abby, please.”

“I’m not leaving you alone with some kind of dangerous creature thing. Not a-.”

A low growl made her fall silent. He tried to take a step away from her, nudging her further behind him. She refused to move away. The sound of a knife leaving a sheath made him look over his shoulder. She held her dagger in her right hand, bow slung across her back.

She raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m staying.”

She started to say something else, when her eyes suddenly went wide. She grabbed his arm and jerked him toward her, the urbat landing where he had been seconds before. The creature paused to take in the situation and gave him a moment to back away.

The urbat was heavily muscled, its black and grey skin stretched tight over bone and sinew and splashed with the bloody remains of the niksum they had been hunting. Its large, black eyes moved from him to Abby and back, as if trying to gauge which one of them would be more of a challenge. It took a step toward him.

Abby made a sudden move and its attention was split between the two of them. Edric took a step closer to it, determined to keep its focus on him. The urbat’s lips pulled back from its teeth a second before it turned and leapt at Abby. He did not have time to think past keeping it from reaching her.

Its bulk slammed into him hard enough to jar his bones and cause his teeth to clack together. He wrapped his arms around the creature as they fell, shoving his dagger between its ribs. It let out a loud roar and seized his shoulder in its powerful jaws. He felt something crunch.

Abby was yelling, but he could not make out her words past the sound of the urbat’s snarls and growls. It pulled back from him and looked in Abby’s direction. Abby yelled something belligerent and it growled low in its chest, stepping over him to move toward her. She continued to scream at it, nonsense insults and wordless noises.

It worked to distract it. Edric rolled onto his stomach and slashed at its back legs with his dagger. It let out a furious snarl and turned on him, again. No amount of yelling was going to distract it when it shoved him to the ground with a clawed paw on his injured shoulder. He stabbed at it wildly, blinded with the pain.

A blur moved past his left side and the weight was gone in an instant. Blood blurred his vision, but he thought he saw Abby drawing her bow. The urbat roared in pain off to his left, but he was too weak to move. Abby yelled something that sounded hateful and he raised his eyes to look at her. She was glaring to the left of him with a murderous look in her eyes.

She drew the bow and paused. A fierce smile crossed her face, as she let it fly. He heard the arrow hit its target and the urbat let out a weak keen before falling silent. Abby let her arms drop to her sides, the bow tumbling to the ground. She seemed to sense his gaze, as she jerked her head around to stare at him.

Her face contorted into a pained grimace and she stumbled toward him, falling to her knees with her thighs pressed to his side. Her hands fluttered over his torso like frightened birds, clearly afraid of touching him for fear of causing him pain, but when she spoke her voice was steady.

“Where are you hurt?”

He blinked hard, trying to focus on her face. “Shoulders, ribs, left arm.”

She nodded. “First aid kit?”

“Side compartment of your quiver,” he said, wincing when
he tried to lift his head.

“Lay still, Edric.” Abby murmured, as she dug through her bag. She quickly pulled out the medical kit and flipped open the lid. “Which one’s the sanitizer?”

He coughed and rasped, “Blue bottle.”

Without hesitation, she popped open the bottle and dumped a healthy portion on his shoulder. It felt like molten lava. He jerked violently, clamping his mouth closed to hold in a pained yell. He caught Abby’s expression from the corner of his eye. She had gone pale.

“Why didn’t you tell me-” she broke off, scowling to herself.

She pulled a cloth from the kit and began to wipe it around the wounds, careful to avoid the torn skin. He shuddered, as he felt his body start to heal, the muscles slowly drawing together. He had to warn her before she noticed.

“Abby.” He was not surprised to hear his voice was already stronger than moments ago.

She glanced up at him, a worried frown on her face. “Am I hurting you?” She looked back down at him. “Stupid question. Of course, I am.”

“Abby, I’m fine.”

Her hands were shaking as she continued to gently clean the blood from his skin, but she let out a humorless laugh. “You’re not fine, Edric.”

For one breathless moment, he thought she would cry. “Abby…”

“I thought-I thought you were-” She swallowed hard and met his gaze. “I don’t know what I would do if…”

He needed to hear her finished that thought. He needed it like he needed his next breath, but she simply stared at him. He felt his ribs knit together enough for him to chance moving. He slowly pushed himself upright with his good arm.

“What are you-” She watched him with wide eyes, as he sat up and braced his back against a tree. “How are you doing that?”

He clenched his left hand and rotated his arm. He was not sure what to make of her tone, but from the narrowed eyed look she was giving him, he felt an explanation was needed.

“Do you remember what Konani told you about the culinary staff I sent to your government?” He winced when a sudden movement pulled the newly healed skin of his left bicep. He saw her nod hesitantly.

“Yes. She said Ghadrikan food has regenerative…Oh.” She looked him over. “So, you’re healing already?”

“I have eaten a traditional Ghadrikan diet since birth. The effects are very strong.”

She nodded and looked away. “Oh. That’s good. I’m glad you’re okay.” He could sense her distancing herself from him.

“I’m sorry I worried you,” he said carefully.

She nodded vaguely. “The president would be unhappy with me if you got hurt while I was here.”

He mentally winced. He had thought she was concerned about him. When he focused back on her face, she was watching him closely.

“When you feel up to it, we should get back.”

She waited for him to nod, before she rose to her feet and walked over to retrieve the bow she had dropped. She spent an inordinately long
time looking over the weapon for damage.

“Abby?”

She turned her head toward him, but did not meet his gaze. “Yes?”

“I should have told you.”

She shook her head, but did not answer. He watched her until he was able to move without pain. She was looking down and his need to know her thoughts was almost overwhelming. He started to call out to her and paused. She glanced at him.

“Ready?”

She was quiet all the way back to the enlil, only speaking to thank him when he helped her into the small craft. They sat together in silence, her clearly lost in her own thoughts and making no move to speak to him. He was not sure how to fix the situation. When the ship landed, he helped her out of the enlil and led her into the palace.

He knew better than to try and touch her. They were just outside the throne room, when she whirled to face him.

“I thought you were going to die.”

He froze. “It was a possibility, but not likely.”

She made a frustrated sound and he turned to face her.

“I was more concerned about your safety.”

She shook her head, frowning. “I was worried about you. Really worried.” Her voice dropped so low he had to lean in to hear her. “More worried than I should have been.”

“Why?” he asked.

She looked at him. “What?”

“Why more than you should have been?” At her blank stare, he continued, “Because you are here in a professional capacity?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“I make no habit of risking my life for members of a foreign government.”

What looked like hope mixed with her confusion. “Okay…”

“Never once did I consider my own welfare over yours. I was…worried for you. Far more than myself.” He took a step closer to her. “Far more than I should have been.”

As he watched, the thunderclouds cleared from her expression and her lips turned up into a small smile.