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She cracked her eyes open a bit. She would find the best and quickest way to die. If she could take some of them with her, so much the better. But it didn’t matter that much. Nothing did except leaving this world.

Her mind cleared of fog and left the emptiness clear and cold. Brady was dead. All she could see at first were dirty, bare feet and hairy legs. Dark had fallen so she must have been unconscious for hours. A fire crackled and flickered near the edge of her small scope of sight.

The waterfall sounded more distance than where she’d been captured. The beasts wouldn’t like camping too close to the powerful water.

Someone wept in broken, wretched sobs. Cara opened her eyes a bit further and saw Bab only a few steps away. The Savage sobbed and buried her head in the tangled, dirty hair of another female. Rena. A large, wide foot shot out and kicked Bab in the thigh. She grunted and then tried to stifle her mourning.

“The same will happen to you, bitch, if you don’t tell me about these strangers.” The largest male squatted down beside Bab. His thighs bulged with muscles thicker than Cara’s waist. His hands were larger than her head and no doubt could easily crush her skull.

“You didn’t have to kill her,” Bab spat with foolish defiance.

The Savage struck her on the side of her head. Bab fell sideways and dropped her hold on her dead friend. Rena’s body rolled away from her and toward Cara. Poor Rena’s face was unrecognizable. Her nose was smashed flat, her lips torn and her eyes swollen shut. Cara might have felt sorry for her if she could have felt anything. The males had followed Rena to Bab’s cave. Rena must then have told the bastards where to find her and Brady. Cara didn’t hate her for it. It was too late for hate. Lucky Rena was already dead.

“Go feed my children.”

“I can’t feed them both,” Bab cried, still defiant.

The Savage hit her again. Blood flew from her lips.

“Then I’ll throw your useless runt in the river so you can feed my son.”

Bab wiped her hand across her mouth and looked at her dead friend. “I’ll do it for Rena.

She loved her son. That’s why she ran away from you.”

He drew back his fist to strike her again, but she crawled away beyond Cara’s field of vision. The big Savage rose and stomped over to Cara. He nudged her with his foot. Pain shot through her ribs, but she was so hollow inside she had no trouble ignoring it and hiding any reaction.

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The male growled a curse at her and moved away. He scooped up Rena’s body with one thick arm and carried it from camp. There were more Savages around their fire, some squatting, one apparently asleep and a few more back in the shadows. So it wasn’t that late at night. Not that time mattered.

Bab walked back into the circle of light and bulled her way in between two of the Savages squatting by the fire. She had a baby in each arm. The males gave way to her, grumbling but with little anger. One of them peered over Bab’s shoulder and grinned at the children. He was slightly built compared to most Savages. His brow line was normal and his face less broad and bloated. Should he clean up, trim his hair and wear decent clothing, he might pass as a Parlanian. Surely he was Angel’s true father. The Savages really were evolving.

Too bad the news would never reach Solonia. The information would die here with her.

More of the Savages stretched out to sleep around the fire. Most of them glanced her way now and then, but their dark eyes held suspicion more than the primal lust she’d expected.

Bab fed Rena’s baby, Storm, first and then Angel. She hummed a hauntingly sad tune.

Music? The males listened quietly, and then one by one they drifted to sleep. The big one that had slapped Bab was no where about.

After some time, Bab tucked Angel into the pile of hides where Storm already dozed.

She stared down at the children for a long time. Tears rolled down her cheeks, but her grief was now quiet.

Cara shifted her hands to test her bonds. They seemed well done, and she couldn’t wiggle her wrists at all. She slowly pulled her legs toward her and felt the tug on her ankle. She froze, and for a moment history overtook her thoughts. The last time she’d been captured, they would secure her leg each night with a hide rope to prevent her escape.

Bab snapped her head around and stared hard at Cara. The Savage swiped at her wet cheeks and then winced. A dark bruise grew on the face she’d washed to entice Brady. The female’s gaze skipped from Cara to something beside her.

Bab rose and picked up a wooden bowl sitting back from the fire. Cara thought the Savage was bringing her a drink, but the female veered to the side beyond Cara’s feet.

Cara slowly lifted her head to see what Bab was about. The female knelt before something at the very edge of the fire’s illumination. Brady!

She couldn’t breath. Her heart slammed against her ribs. The sounds of the night rushed in around her. Frogs chirped in the trees. The river murmured off to her left. The endless breeze rustled in the tree tops. The comforting scent of pine wafted on the stirring air. And the colors. Especially the bright red on the side of Brady’s face.

But he lived! She must have made a sound because Bab shot her a censoring glare. The female helped Brady lift his head and take a drink. Then she gently eased him back to his side.

“Thanks,” he said, his voice rough and low. “Cara?”

Bab gestured with her hand. Brady tilted his head and looked at Cara. His one eye was blackened and his upper lip swollen, but otherwise he looked terrific. Better than terrific.

“You all right?” he asked.

Bab frantically shushed them, but Cara couldn’t have answered anyway. She was so full, so full of love and hope, that she couldn’t put words together.

Bab brought the wooden cup to Cara. Its edge was thick and uneven, but the water tasted clean. She nodded her thanks to Bab. The female, a hated enemy earlier in the day, was now their only ally.

“Bab, you have to help us,” Brady said softly.

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Bab shook her head and glanced fearfully around.

“Cut us loose. We’ll leave, and they’ll never know you helped. We’ll go away and never come back.” Brady’s tone was authoritative.

Cara wondered if he’d said the wrong thing. Bab wanted Brady too much. She might see this as her opportunity to have him.

Bab shook her head with a sorrowful expression. Then her body tensed. She hurried back to the babies and flung the cup aside. After moving the infants closer together, she stretched out on her side near them. Only a few heartbeats later, the big male Savage stomped back into the firelight. Cara slammed her eyes closed and hoped Brady did the same.

The beast stood over her for a few long tense moments and then moved to Brady. A dull thud and then a growled obscenity. The bastard had kicked Brady.

After the Savage moved away, she again peered out from under her lashes. This male had to be the leader. He shoved another male aside so he could take a spot nearest the fire. After he settled himself, the night became almost peaceful. A number of Savages snored but otherwise it was quiet.

“Cara?” His beloved voice was light as the wind.

With slow care, she twisted her body so she could see him without straining her neck.

The fire had burned down and deep shadows had crept forward to hide him except for his silhouette. His hands were stretched behind his back, something she hadn’t noticed before in her joy at seeing him alive.

“I thought you were dead,” she whispered.

“I thought you were worse than dead.”

They were both quiet for a while, perhaps reluctant to lie to each other with promises of escape. Now that all the Savages were sleeping, she tugged at the strip of hide binding her leg.

It was tied tightly enough around her boot that her toes tingled a little. She wouldn’t be able to slip it off to escape.

“Are they all sleeping?” Brady asked.

Bab sat up when he spoke. She looked around at the males and then crawled toward Brady. She reached out and stroked his hair with the same tenderness she showed for the children.

Cara clenched her jaw. Bab really did care for Brady, though for the wrong reasons. Or perhaps not. The female Savage was attracted to his fine looks and gentle ways that disguised his warrior prowess. The same characteristics that held Cara in his thrall. Why did she doubt the veracity of Bab’s feelings? The female Savage had no example of how to treat another with respect and care, but she was clever enough to want that.

“Bab, you have to help us,” Cara said softly. The female didn’t look away from Brady.

She continued to stroke his hair and look at him with sad longing. “Bab, they’ll kill Brady when they figure out you love him. Your love will kill him.”

Bab’s hand stilled. A shudder ran through her muscular body. For the first time, Cara felt sympathy for the other … woman. After a long tense moment, Bab nodded.

“I’ll help.” Bab scampered behind Brady, her large body agile with surprising grace.

Cara kept an eye on the sleeping males, willing Bab to hurry. But Bab paused and then crawled back around to face Brady. His arms were still bound behind his back. Bab put her thick finger under his chin and stared him in the eye.

“You have to take Angel with you or I won’t help you.”

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Brady wiggled his fingers. Shards of pain lanced through them, but he was afraid they would go numb if he didn’t keep them moving. Dawn wasn’t far off now, and he had to be ready to move should an opportunity arise. Such as Bab cutting him loose.

She’d returned to the fire after issuing her ultimatum. It was crazy. It would take a lifetime’s worth of luck for him and Cara to elude the Savages and swim the river. They couldn’t possibly do it with a baby.

Brady twisted enough to look at Cara. She’d curled into a ball so she could work on the rope tied to her ankle. The Savages slept without fear of enemies around the remnants of their fire, and apparently they trusted their knots.

Cara huffed in frustration and lifted her head to look at him. The end of her tether was fixed to a tree and his was anchored on another. Even if Cara stretched as far as her bonds allowed they couldn’t touch. They’d tried.

“Can’t get it.”

Brady nodded. He didn’t want to wake their captives. There was still a chance Bab would change her mind. The temptation to lie to her until she freed them teased his thoughts.

But he couldn’t. Not even the nagging ache in his shoulder where Bab had bitten him could make him forget how much the Savage loved her daughter. She’d left her tribe and everything she knew to save Angel. They needed her to be so brave one more time.

“Tell her we’ll take Angel,” Cara whispered as if reading his mind.

“I can’t lie to her.” But maybe he could if it meant delivering Cara from this nightmare.

Even if Bab cut them free, they might not escape. He was sure some of his ribs were broken and nearly every part of his body hurt. Having his arms tied behind his back reminded him it had been less than a month since he’d dislocated his shoulder.

“We won’t be lying,” she hissed. “It’s our only chance. It’s Angel’s only chance.”

One of the big males rolled over with a snort and then continued snoring.

“We can’t make it across the river with the baby. I don’t think we can even make it in the raft.”

“We’ll make it if we kill some of them first.”

If his face didn’t hurt so much from being hit, he would have smiled. Being captured by the Savages hadn’t broken her or sent her spiraling into the horror of her memories. Instead, all the fierceness of her warrior heart had risen in battle.

“Where’s that Realm, I don’t give a damn, spirit?”

Now he did grin though a cut on his lip split and blood oozed down his chin. “I need my gun.”

She grinned back without humor, beautiful in her vengeful eagerness. The gray dawn crept in from the east. It would be better to navigate the river in daylight. He vowed to see Cara and the innocent Angel delivered from this. And the hell if he wouldn’t make it too.

* * * *

One of the Savages, the slimmer male, rose and glanced toward Cara and Brady. His interest seemed merely curious rather than concerned. He turned his attention to Bab and the babies.

Cara watched him from under lowered lids as he leaned over the sleeping female. His hand, though dirty beyond belief, was nearly as long-fingered and thin as a human. With a gentleness unseen in his kind, he lightly stroked Bab’s hair.

Bab woke and sat up to face the male. “Tam.”

“I missed you, Bab. I couldn’t sleep when I thought you were dead.”

Cara held her breath so she could hear their quiet words.

“I was afraid of Jak and Hop, of what they might do to Angel.” Both of them looked down at the infant slumbering in her nest of hides. “And I didn’t want either of them to ever touch me again.”

Tam stroked her hair again. “I don’t like it when they touch you either. I won’t let them hurt you.”

Bab took his hand. “Don’t. You know what they did to you last time. They’ll kill you if you try to stop them again.”

“Would that make you sad?” Tam smiled, and it made him even more human looking.

“You were the only one I was going to miss from the village.”

“I would have left with you. I could have helped.”

“I didn’t know if I could trust you.”

Tam frowned but didn’t argue. “What are we going to do?”