Men of Anderas II: Dak the Protector (5 page)

Why? Why go to all this trouble to own a
slave
?

And why the mind games? She acted too
innocent to be a tease and her tender treatment of his injuries
suggested she was kind-hearted. He couldn't shake the feeling that
something was driving the crystal witch. Something that was forcing
her to act totally out of character.

You never laid eyes on her until
yesterday. How do you know what her true character is like
?

Dak trusted his instincts when it came to
people and whenever he met someone who didn't fit with what his gut
told him, he hammered away at them until he discovered why. With
Kierin, there were too many pieces that didn't fit. Like that dream
she planted in his head. She was too refined, too gentle for the
coarse rutting scene. He pictured her wearing something light and
delicate. Lying on midnight blue sheets. Surrounded by the
fragrance of crushed flowers. Bathed in the soft glow of candles.
That glorious mane of white hair spread across the bed, waiting for
him. Oh, yes. He could definitely come up with a better scenario
than hers.

Tired of circling around and around the
why
of Kierin’s actions, he focused his attention on the
how
. If he could figure that out, he might find a way to
stop her or at least change the odds in his favor.

The smallest detail always gave away the
flaw. He surprised the hell out of her when he woke up so suddenly.
That much was obvious. She dropped that stone ….

She dropped the stone and the images
disappeared. The stone? Is her crystal the source of her powers? Or
merely an amplifier
?

Every instinct he possessed screamed that
the stone was the key. He had to figure out how the crystal worked.
His agile mind and a fascination for plotting strategy made him
invaluable as a leader, first to King Zeth, and now JarDan. All he
needed was a little time and he’d turn this situation to his
advantage.

How much time do I have before all trace
of my men disappears
?

Before his worries could depress him, Kierin
returned to her seat--still blushing but with her chin thrust out
in a militant
I-dare-you-to-say-anything
angle. Dak
grinned.

“Quit smirking.”

His grin faded at her command.
Blast and
damn this piece of rock around my neck. Every order she gives, I
follow. Power comes with a high price, little witch. Have you
thought about what all of this will cost you in the end? Will the
results be worth it
?

Kierin watched Dak’s lopsided grin disappear
as anger replaced the teasing glint in his eyes. A curious sense of
loss tugged at her chest. A feeling she wasn’t prepared to examine
too closely. Hiding in the lounge didn’t do a thing for her massive
case of embarrassment. So far, the only one of her plans that
worked out the way she expected was finding Dak, alive and
reasonably well, at Safe Haven. Everything else seemed to unravel
around the edges. Obviously, she couldn’t continue with the image
enhancements. He would know she was behind them when he woke up.
The simplest solution would be to just tell him what she needed
from him. The truth. Plain. Simple. Direct.

Impossible. She couldn’t just look him in
the eye and say it. It was too cold--too stark--too impersonal.

“Are you hungry? Thirsty?” She asked her
traveling companion, more to break the uneasy silence than any
actual need to eat.

“No.”

Only a supreme effort of will kept her from
wincing at his answer. How could one softly spoken word feel like a
physical blow? She couldn't even ignore him by staring out of the
window. The cost of the upper deck transport seating was beyond her
budget and the lower decks were nothing more than dull, grey, metal
walls. She missed the comfortable silences of earlier more than she
cared to admit and had no idea how to restore his sense of
humor.

The soft
whoosh
of the cabin door
opening put an instant end to her useless regrets. Everything about
the man standing just inside the cabin was dark and cold. There
wasn’t an ounce of excess weight on his tall, lean body but his
attitude, more than anything physical, set him apart. Muscles
worked in the square jaw while his nostrils flared repeatedly. He
reminded her of the large black cats that lived high in the
mountains near her home. Once he caught the scent, nothing would
stop him from seeking his prey. A natural-born hunter.

His measured stare skimmed over each
passenger in the cabin but she doubted he missed the smallest
detail about anyone in the room. When his gaze reached the corner
where she and Dak sat, Kierin quickly looked down. Not by so much
as a flick of an eyelash did his expression change, but her finely
honed sense of survival kicked into full alert. He recognized her.
She knew it. There was nowhere to run even if she had time to
escape. All of her grand plans for Dak withered in the face of this
nameless adversary. After twenty years of hiding, it seemed somehow
ignoble to die in a cheap cabin aboard a rundown transport
craft.

Pulling her dignity around her like a warm
blanket, Kierin straightened in the seat. She would not disgrace
herself--or the memory of her family.

“I truly am sorry, Dak,” she whispered. With
his back to the door, he wasn’t aware of this new danger. The
familiar lifting of one eyebrow at her statement brought a
bittersweet smile and an unfamiliar sting of tears.

“There you are. You didn’t tell me our seats
were in the baggage bins. I got tired of waiting for you in the
dining chamber. Figured I better locate my seat before our next
stop.”

Kierin stared in open-mouthed shock when the
stranger settled into the seat beside Dak. He was acting like a
lifelong friend instead of a bounty hunter. Risking a quick glance
at Dak, Kierin stalled before she was forced to respond to the
unusual man. Before she could form two coherent thoughts in a row,
the stranger leaned over and reached for the food basket in the
seat beside her

“Relax, Lady Kierin,” his rough voice,
unexpectedly soothing, carried no farther than their tiny area. “I
know who you are and you’re safe with me. There’s a couple of
Phantom Riders upstairs but I don’t think they’re looking for
you.

“This smells great. When do we eat?” His
voice rose to normal levels as he dug into the food.

“Who are you?” Kierin winced at the sound of
her own desperation.
He knows who I am
!

Shifting the basket to the seat beside Dak,
the stranger settled himself in the empty seat.

“I hate sitting with my back to a door.”
Dropping his voice back to the soft tones only she could hear, he
murmured softly. “My name is Talon. I’m an assassin.”

Kierin gasped and struggled against the
light-headed warning she was about to faint.
Assassin! By the
Goddess Jovena he’s a bounty hunter! How ironic! Only in this end
of the galaxy was assassin an honorable profession!
Clutching
her amulet tightly, she fought the flood of desperation, forcing
her mind to clear. She had to think.
Phantom Riders upstairs and
an assassin here. It can’t end like this. Not yet
. The Goddess
of Goodness and Light couldn’t allow her death before she found a
way to stop Draagon. She was the only one who stood between his
evil and the rest of the known universe. If she died now there
would be nothing and no one capable of controlling Draagon’s insane
drive to rule the galaxy.

A low-pitched, rumbling growl jerked
Kierin’s attention from the green-eyed stare of the bounty hunter
to Dak. His face showed no more emotion than it had since she
placed the stone around his neck, but his eyes blazed with intent.
Another rumbling warning echoed around them and she found herself
lifted from her seat and placed in Dak’s. Dak now occupied her
position next to the bounty hunter. His movements were so swift and
smooth; she had no time to wonder how he managed to react past the
control of the stone he wore.

“I mean your lady no harm,” the stranger
quickly assured Dak. “If my intent was to kill her, she wouldn’t
have made it off her own world.”

Dak continued to stare at the man who
threatened Kierin until the truth of his words registered in his
cold stare. Allowing himself to relax slightly, he glanced at
Kierin’s pale face and haunted expression. Another wave of rage
ripped through his brain. This stranger had no idea how lucky he
was that Dak couldn’t act on his emotions. In another time, another
place, the bastard would never get the chance to frighten a
woman--especially his little crystal witch.

“Explain yourself.” Dak’s soft voice carried
all the authority his years of training and leadership gave
him.

Glancing around the cabin before answering,
the
assassin
met Dak’s gaze. “There are too many ears here.
I give you my word that I’m not after the Lady Kierin. While the
bounty on her head would keep a small country solvent for several
years, I’m after the man who’s putting up the money. I want
Draagon.”

For the first time since he realized the
full effect of the rock around his neck, Dak thanked the Ancient
Prophets for help in controlling his expression. Glancing again at
Kierin, he noticed her heightened color and the guilty look in her
eyes.
Bounty? Just what secrets are you hiding, little
witch
?

“… and we’ll soon dock at the transfer
station.”

He focused his attention on the stranger
again, calming the demand for answers screaming through his brain
with a promise of
later
.

“Most of these passengers look like miners.
My guess is they’ll leave at the transfer dock. There’s not usually
much traffic on this outbound flight. If we stay below deck I don’t
think the Phantom Riders will know we’re here.”

For whatever reason, Dak’s instincts were to
trust this man. He just prayed he was right. The consequences would
be deadly--to all of them.

With a short nod, Dak agreed. “I look
forward to your story … Talon?” When the assassin acknowledged his
use of his name, Dak continued. “My name is Dak. Lord Beldon Dak of
Falcon Tor on the planet Anderas and this,” he indicated Kierin
with a tip of his head, “is Lady Kierin.”

“Peace to you, Beldon Dak. It appears we
both have some interesting stories to tell. I’m especially curious
to hear how an Anderan peer managed to find his way to this side of
the galaxy and in the company of a crystal witch.”

Dak saw the sparkle of amusement that
briefly lit Talon’s eyes and responded to it.

“It’s a long story,” Dak’s wry drawl brought
a short bark of laughter from the other man.

“Then I suggest we get some rest. We’re
still several hours from the transfer dock. Those Phantom Riders
upstairs were trying hard to get as drunk as possible as quickly as
possible. It should be safe enough to relax, but we can take shifts
if you prefer.”

“Lady Kierin will have to answer that. My
directives must come from her.” Dak prayed she’d understand his
statement. He didn’t know Talon well enough to entrust him with the
true limitations of his abilities. With Kierin’s crystal around his
neck, he was virtually helpless unless she gave him orders. Her
safety, as well as his own, depended on her answer. It took long,
agonizing seconds before she nodded and he released the breath he’d
been holding.

“Very well,” Kierin muttered. “Dak, do
whatever you must to guarantee our safety--as long as you don’t
remove the amulet.”

“I’ll take the first watch,” Dak shifted his
concentration to Talon. “I’ve done nothing but rest for the past
two days.”

With a knowing grin, Talon settled his long
frame into the cramped space, resting his feet in the seat beside
Kierin. With no other place to stretch his legs, Dak spread his
knees and captured Kierin’s legs between his. He grinned when she
blushed and closed her eyes to hide from him.

Sleep, little witch. Hide your secrets
while you still can. I’ll have some answers soon. I just pray Talon
doesn’t wait for me to ask the questions
.

Dak waited until Kierin’s breathing evened
out before turning his attention to Talon and the unusual events of
the past few minutes. He didn’t understand his reaction to Kierin’s
distress. Only the rock around his neck kept him from killing
Talon. Kierin’s grip on her own crystal projected all of her fears
into his mind. Even her calm acceptance of death came through loud
and clear. There was a bounty on her head, a large one if Talon was
to be believed.

You’re no criminal, Kierin. I’d stake my
life on it. So what’s the real story? You said you were sorry.
Sorry for what? For buying me? For enslaving me with this rock? Or
is it something else? Something more sinister? Something dangerous
to both of us? Is this the reason you needed to buy a slave?
Someone from so far away from your home that he wouldn’t know why
you were hunted? Do you need my protection, little witch
?

I touched her again. Just reached out and
grabbed her away from Talon’s threat. How? Is the crystal losing
its power? Is it only when I’m threatened? Or Kierin? What makes
the difference? I even talked to Talon
before
he asked a
question. How? By all the Ancient Prophets, I grow weary of these
endless questions
.

He spent the next several hours following
each line of reasoning, trying to find the common thread. There had
to be a reason and the sooner he figured it out the sooner he’d be
on his way home.

Chapter Five

Talon woke up as quickly as he went to
sleep. "You didn’t wake me for my turn at watch,” his low pitched
voice barely reached Dak’s ears.

“Like I said,” Dak replied with a careless
shrug, “I’ve spent most of the past two days sleeping.” He wasn’t
about to admit than he didn’t completely trust him. Instincts
aside, Talon was still a stranger. A stranger who knew secrets
about Kierin. Secrets he intended to learn. “She called you a
bounty hunter and an assassin. Which are you?”