PrimalDemand (8 page)

She could walk straight into danger and not realize it. Not
just the danger from strange animals. She should always be aware that there
were people after them. In the time she’d been with him though, she hadn’t
seemed alert to the dangers. He didn’t want her afraid, but he did want her to
know and be on her guard.

He didn’t hear movement ahead of him. Rounding a slight bend
in the trail, he saw her ahead of him kneeling on the ground gathering
alden
berries onto a small square of cloth. Her bag seemed a little fuller too.

Leah, you need to take more care as you go through the
forest.
He stopped before he walked into her line of sight.
You need to
tell me if you’re going to go somewhere.

She tensed. “You’d said we were going to stop soon. Then I
caught the scent of the melons on the breeze. I didn’t think it would take too
long to get it and I could catch up. Then I saw these. I guess time got away
from me.”

She gestured to the bag and he caught sight of the rounded
fruit in the sack. Shaking her head, she tied the square of cloth into a small
pouch and put it in one of the pockets. She stood and turned to face him.

There is more danger in the forest than those people
following us. There are other animals. You could have had an accident and been
hurt
. He shifted from side to side as agitation and anxiety swept through
him.

“I knew you’d be close. I didn’t think about telling you
until after I’d walked off. By then it was too late. I thought about talking in
your mind like you do mine, but I didn’t know if it would work. Silly, I know.
I realized it probably wouldn’t. I’m not like you.” She brushed at the grass
clinging to the knees of her pants.

You’re not like me yet.
He wanted to make sure she
realized that she was going to change soon. He’d told her, but he didn’t think
she believed him.
Still, with the connection growing between us, it wouldn’t
be necessary. I’d hear you. I’ve kept my mind open to yours. So if you thought
and focused it to me, I’d probably hear.

Her eyes widened and she looked a little uncertain. A moment
later, she shook her head. He knew she’d talked herself out of believing it
even if she could feel the connection. The fact that she still fought it only
intensified the agitation. He wanted to prove to her that she was his. She
belonged with him. She’d see it if she stopped focusing on her fear of losing
her sister. Not that he blamed her for that. He’d be worried and focused on
getting to his family or friend as well. It frustrated him though. He wanted
her trust.

Let’s go. We’ll find somewhere to stop and I’ll get us
some meat to go with that fruit you’ve found.
He pushed down the
frustration and focused on what needed to be done. They would talk after they
ate.

Leah looked around as they walked into the city. The walls
were of a creamy white mud brick, the same color of the cobbled streets. It was
a little different than the other gate city on the planet. It seemed more
relaxed and she didn’t see the open presence of the monks as she had there.
That relieved her.

She didn’t expect them to come after Arron. Yes, they’d
wanted him, but they wouldn’t know where he’d gone after he’d been freed. She
simply didn’t want to chance running into them again or maybe attracting their
attention. If there was a scene, it could easily draw their notice.

Arron’s hand touched her arm. His muscles were corded and his
body tight. His free hand wrapped around the hilt of the sword at his side. She
could feel the tension rolling off him. He expected something to happen and she
was beginning to believe him.

The air seemed heavy and the people on the streets much too
watchful. The only thing that offered her a little relief was that she didn’t
recognize any of the men in the area. She would recognize many of the men from
the warrior clan her brother had joined.

Arron guided her around the corner and onto another street.
This street was different than the last though. Where the streets had been
clean and debris free, here broken pottery trailed across the middle of the
street. A broken chair leaned haphazardly against the wall. Old linens had been
tossed along the side of one of the buildings. The chair and linens were
probably bound for a burn pile at some point, but they obviously hadn’t made it
there.

She frowned as she saw a group of people near the other end
of the lane. She didn’t recognize any of the red-haired men, but she did
recognize the insignia emblazoned on the cape worn by some of those men.

“Those men are warriors for the monks.” She grabbed at
Arron’s hand and tried to tug him back the way they came.

They aren’t human. I can feel the difference. They
probably didn’t choose to be warriors for them. I need to get closer so I can
scent them and see what they are and arrange to get help for them. We don’t
leave our people in situations like this. They might not be Zarain, but we can
get in touch with their kind. I told you I was tracking the disappearances,
trying to find our own people. We just didn’t know where to look.
Arron
kept getting closer although he did stop to look around occasionally as if he
were lost.

“No one chooses that,” she whispered the words, but went
along with him. She understood the need to know more and find those lost to the
damn monks.

In truth, it was worse with men than with women. In general,
they took women when they were paid, except if they were a threat to the monks.
Men, on the other hand, were often taken if the monks thought they could use
them. Such as that group of warriors. She had no idea how they did it, but at
times they took up to ten at one time. They’d done that once with men from one
of the warrior clans in the Dahal.

Arron didn’t take them too close to the group. They wandered
down the street to the end. The group of warriors was now on the next street.
They moved as a unit without a word. She couldn’t tell what they were doing,
but they appeared to be searching. Groups of two men would fan out whenever
they reached a connecting street or alley. They’d move down the street and then
return to the main group. The odd thing was they didn’t appear to be visually
searching.

Arron led her down a connecting street. He kept her close to
him. She didn’t try to move away from him. She hadn’t expected it to be so easy
to get into the city and once they had, she’d expected to be confronted by her
brother or some of his friends. They wanted her back and wouldn’t stop. She
knew it. The knowledge she held would give their clan power.

“They’re not like me, but I know what they are. I know who
to contact to get help for them and begin the search for their people. Someone
is missing them, I’d wager.” Arron leaned close to whisper the words to him.

She nodded, but she focused on looking at everyone in front
of them. It couldn’t be as easy as walking through the city and leaving the
planet. Her brother and the other warriors of his clan wouldn’t give up so
easily after chasing her here.

They moved into a busier part of the city. She guessed they
were nearing a market or some other business section. The streets here were a
little clearer. No boxes or refuse littered the lane and the buildings appeared
to be kept in better condition. She kept looking at each face she could see,
searching for someone she recognized so that they’d have some warning. As they
approached the entrance to what she could now tell was a large market square,
she saw one of the men from her brother’s warrior clan. She’d seen him many
times before she’d left Parit.

“They’re here.” She reached out to touch Arron’s arm.

“I know. My friends are close. Your brother won’t take you
away from me.” Arron’s hand settled on her shoulder and squeezed.

He was trying to reassure her and for a moment, it did. But
then she remembered her brother wasn’t alone. As much faith as Arron had in his
friends, he hadn’t seen any of them. He said they were nearby, but were they
even in the city? Arron could get killed trying to fight her brother and his
friends. Her heart beat faster. Should they stay or try to run?

“Don’t panic. You only run if I tell you to. Then you get
out of the city if possible. I’ll find you.” Arron’s voice was low and steady.
She found his confidence reassuring. “It probably won’t come to that.”

She took a deep breath and nodded. Fear pumped through her
as he kept walking down the street. She wanted to go anywhere but toward that
market.

“They won’t be as likely to pull weapons in the middle of a
crowd. We’ll be safer there.” Arron leaned close and his voice was barely above
a whisper.

She swallowed and felt only a moment of relief. They
wouldn’t be so quick to use something obvious like a sword, but if Arron became
too much of a hindrance they could use a knife without anyone seeing what
happened and who did it.

They walked into the market, but Leah didn’t feel any safer
as they walked among the stalls and passed small groups of people. She felt
surrounded. Even though she didn’t see anyone she recognized at the moment, she
felt stalked and hunted. Her eyes darted from one place to the other and her
breath rasped in her throat.

“It’s all right. My friends are close.” He reached over and
squeezed her hand briefly.

She wished she knew what they looked like and could be sure
of that. She didn’t see anyone as muscled as Arron. She didn’t know what to
look for in these men. Would they be wearing the same type of clothing as he’d
been wearing when she’d seen him in in the library? Would they have a symbol on
their clothes somewhere? This wasn’t the time to ask him though.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and gasped as she spun away
from the pressure. Arron reached out and pulled her to him, guiding her behind
him. She didn’t know where the man who’d grabbed her had come from, but it was
definitely one of the men from her village. She easily recognized him, but he
hadn’t been close to her a moment ago. She eased a little away from Arron,
giving him room to move, but tried to stay close to him.

Arron faced the man, but she caught him glancing to the
side. She didn’t know if he expected more people to attack or if he’d seen
something she hadn’t. She didn’t have time to wonder long. Two men jumped at
Arron. She stayed back. One was smaller, but he moved quickly. The two smaller
man lunged in, his fist shot toward Arron’s side. Arron blocked the punch, but
the larger man swung at the same moment. His clenched hand glanced over Arron’s
jaw.

An arm wrapped around her waist. She screamed as she was
lifted away and hauled back. Arron turned and stumbled as the smaller man
slammed his fist into Arron’s lower back.

“Did you think we’d let you get away? You’ll do what you’re
told.” The man holding her tightened his arms as she tried to twist away from
him. He carried her away from Arron.

She kicked. Her feet slammed against his shins, but he
didn’t even flinch. She scratched at his arms. One arm released her, but the
other held her easily. His free arm rose. She didn’t wait. As his arm rose near
her head, she bit and clamped her teeth down. He tried to pull his arm away,
but she didn’t release. If he wanted to get her mouth off his arm, he was going
to have to use his other hand. She was determined.

“Bitch, let go.” His arm loosened, but moved up higher and
he began squeezing.

The band across her chest forced the air slowly from her and
she could barely draw in a breath. She bit harder. If he didn’t release her,
she was determined to take a chunk out of him. His arm tightened. She felt a
little dizzy. Even though her chest ached and her lungs burned, she kept her
teeth sunk into his arm.

She felt a jerk, heard a faint smacking sound. He stumbled.
Her feet touched the ground. She didn’t know why, but her heart pounded in her
chest and she knew she’d pass out soon if she didn’t get some air. A hand
entered her vision and pulled away the hand at her chest. As soon as that band
of pressure lifted, she released her grip on the man’s arm. She stumbled
forward away from her captor. Her legs wouldn’t hold her. She dropped to her
knees, desperate for air. Dragging in gulping breaths of air, she looked up to
see two men holding the man who’d dragged her away from Arron. Just by looking
at them, she knew these were Arron’s friends. They had the same wild, almost
dangerous aura about them and the same black hair. Dressed in white shirts and
black leather pants, the men were obviously warriors. It wasn’t simply the
swords and knives they wore though.

“We’re here to help you and Arron.” Another man came and
helped her to her feet.

“Arron! You have to help him.” She spun and looked back
toward where Arron should be.

“Don’t worry. He’s just finishing up. Although he took a
couple of good blows when you were taken from behind him, he didn’t have any
real trouble. If any more of the men had stepped up to help them, we would have
gotten them.” The man sounded almost cheerful.

She wanted to hit him. “But you let him fight two men
alone.”

“He wouldn’t want our help. He wants you to know that he’ll
do whatever it takes to keep you safe.” The big man crossed his arms over his
chest and watched as Arron’s fist slammed into the smaller man’s jaw.

She saw the determination on his face and beyond him she
could see her brother and a couple of other warriors from his warrior clan
standing and watching. She knew they’d be involved if Arron’s friends weren’t
there, ready to help. In that moment, she knew they wouldn’t stop.

No matter what stood in their way, her brothers and their
warrior clan would keep coming after her. She’d always hoped they’d stop
chasing her after she managed to put a few worlds between them. In spite of
what she’d known in her mind, she hadn’t been able to push aside that bit of
hope that at least her brothers would cease helping. It wasn’t ever going to be
over. They’d search for her and eventually find her. As long as she held the
secret, they’d come after her. Arron was right. If she was out looking for her
sister, they would get her. No one could be with her every moment of the day.

“They’ll keep coming after me.” She shook her head and
watched as Arron kicked the larger man in the gut and then put the smaller
attacker down with another jab to the chin.

“Yes, they will until we can take away what they want most,”
the man beside her said calmly.

She didn’t understand what he meant but didn’t ask. She was
more worried about Arron than trying to figure out how he thought to stop her
brothers and their clan.

The lithe attacker didn’t rejoin the fight this time. He
didn’t move.

She looked up in time to see Arron slam the large man into a
wall and drive his fist into his face. The large man slid down the wall. His
head lolled to the side as he came to rest on the ground.

Arron turned and smiled when he saw her. He walked over to
her and took her into his arms. He hugged her tight and she rested her head
against his chest. Her arms slipped around him and her hands fisted in the back
of his shirt. Being held so close hurt a little after being squeezed, but she
needed to hold him. She couldn’t remember ever being as afraid as she was when
she was dragged away from him.

“I told you they were close.” He brushed a kiss across her
forehead. “Are you all right?”

“A few bruises, but nothing more.” She shrugged and
tightened her arms around him.

“You’re bleeding at the mouth.” He touched her lips. “Did he
hit you?”

“That’s not her blood. She bit him.” The man who’d stood
beside her as Arron fought stepped into her view.

Reminded of what she did, she looked at the ground. She
didn’t regret it, but thinking about it now felt a little wrong. She searched
in her pockets for something to wipe away the blood. Pulling out a square of
cloth, she hurriedly wiped at her mouth.

“Good, you left a mark for him to remember you by.” Arron’s
arm tightened again. “Leah, this is Achan Raven Talinian. Achan Raven, this is
my mate Leah.”

“You might go easy with the hug. The man who had her gave
her quite a squeeze before we got him off her,” Raven suggested.

Arron’s eyes narrowed. “You said you weren’t hurt.”

“I’m not hurt. It’s just some bruises. You can check for
yourself when we get a little privacy.” She smiled up at him.

“He can do it later after we’ve gotten you somewhere safer.”
Raven’s voice hardened. “We need to leave. Are we going to have to watch you to
make sure you don’t try to leave or was that comment earlier acceptance of the
truth?”

She shot a glare at Arron. Was there anything he hadn’t told
his Achan? “They won’t stop and if I’m caught there will be no one looking for
her. I’d hoped that by leaving they’d see I wasn’t going to give in to their
demands. I’d sooner burn the book than let any of those three clans hold the
secret. The fighting would never end.”