Shades of Truth (The Summerlynn Secrets) (16 page)

“And you, Cadrian, are in a rare mood.” He blew a mournful sigh against my ear. “But I know it is only your hunger speaking.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” I would have folded my
arms across my chest, but that took too much effort. And I was hungry. It was already afternoon and I hadn’t eaten.

“You warned me yourself you become obstinate and irritating when you haven’t eaten.”

“I hardly think those are the words I used.”

“Didn’t you?”

“Did you take a specific class aimed at being difficult?”

“No. I come by it naturally.” This time he couldn’t stifle his laughter.

“This isn’t funny.” If I had a mark for every time I’d said that, I would have no need of the money in the purse Colton had.

“It is to people with a sense of humor.”

So now I was devoid of humor. Lovely. Before this conversation was out, I suppose I would lose my common sense as well. “Perhaps we shouldn’t speak.” Before I murder you.

“If you like.” He chuckled.

The rest of the afternoon passed with minimal conversation, both of us leery of engaging the other in another sparring match. We did stop to pick some wild grapes and Colton shot a rabbit that we cooked over the fire, which improved my mood somewhat. I was far from a delightful companion, but at least I stopped snapping at every word Colton said.

When the sun ducked behind the Earth, effectively darkening the forest, Colton pulled Brutus to a stop. It appeared we’d be spending our second night in the woods. Wonderful. I was actually tired, so after we unsaddled Brutus and laid out the bedroll, I was quickly asleep.

It was the silence that woke me. After a steady diet of birds, squirrels, and wind through the trees, the sudden, complete silence unnerved me. Keeping my eyes closed, I attempted to hold onto the warmth of my
dreams. Reality for me was cold and inhospitable and for just a few more hours, I wanted life restored.

But I happened to be one of those people who, once awakened, could not fall back asleep immediately. No. My brain tended to shift into overdrive, and I began making plans for the day, or thinking about yesterday, or any number of sleep repelling thoughts. Besides, I was becoming aware of a few separate things.

Firstly, I had managed to wedge myself tightly against Colton’s side. My head was even turned toward him, meaning when I did crack my eyes cautiously open, it was to find myself face to face with him. He was lying on his stomach, cheek pillowed on one hand while his other arm draped about my waist in a protective gesture.

Secondly, a very hard rock was now pressing into my hip. I was lying on that hip, meaning this rock bore almost my entire weight. A bruise was probably already inscribed on my skin, but I wanted to make sure it didn’t go much further. So I turned onto my back… and looked up into the face of a stranger. I opened my mouth to scream, but the pistol aimed at me convinced me otherwise.

Ah. They must be the reason the forest was so deathly still. Colton and I were surrounded by five men. If I strained my ear, I could hear the jingle of bits and other horse noises, so there could possibly be men behind the nearby trees holding the horses.

The men looked distinctly inhospitable. Attired in brown jackets and trousers, and mostly bearded, I got the feeling they had been on the road for some time. Each carried a pistol.

Coming so close on the heels of our activities in Muckford, and understanding Colton met with someone, these men must be related to the conspiracy involving my father. Great. Still more people who believed I knew something I didn’t. This would not end well.

Waving his gun to get my attention, the man leaning over me beckoned for me to get up. None too gently, I shrugged off Colton’s arm and got to my feet. Quickly, my arm was grabbed and I was pulled clear of the blanket and Colton.

Instantly, or so it seemed, Colton was on his feet. He appeared ready to fight the entire group, except a baritone voice coming from my left stopped him. “I wouldn’t do anything foolish.” Because of the gun at my head, I was unable to turn and assess the speaker. I wondered why I was always the one with the gun to my head.

“Advice you might wish to follow as well.” Though he appeared relaxed, I recognized the tautness of his shoulders and the weight balanced on the balls of his feet as signs Colton was waiting for the right moment to launch his attack. Not for the first time, I wished the man wasn’t so bullheaded. We were outnumbered, and I was completely unhelpful. There was no hope. We would just have to negotiate and see what happened.

“We have no quarrel with you.” The same voice addressed him. “Your father is expecting you. We’ve even saddled your horse for you.”

“And the girl?”

“She stays with us.”

“Unacceptable.”

“I thought you might say that.” From the corner of my eye, I gained the impression of the speaker. His beard was black, his frame large. Obviously the leader, he was big and burly enough to break me in half if he so chose. Colton was crazy if he thought he could fight this man and win. “Unfortunately, she has information for us. She stays with us.” At those words, the man holding me dragged me backward, out of sight. I caught a glimpse of the men gathering together to block his path to me.

“This is your last chance. Give her to me.”

“I hope you negotiate better than this.”

“She was never part of the deal.”

“That is not what her father said.”

The rest was lost to me. The conversation ended, and I heard only assorted sounds; the grunts, fist smacks, and other noises commonly heard when men settled disagreements with fists.

All sound abruptly ceased.

“Hold him steady.” The first voice again.

I began to imagine all sorts of reasons they’d need to hold him steady. None of them were pleasant.

“Now that you have decided to stay, you might be useful. I cannot have you getting in the way however.” A final sound of fist hitting flesh then silence again. Not so much as a whisper was heard. “Bring him.”

A short while later, Brutus was led to where I was being held. I looked from the horse to the man who had finally holstered his gun in favor of twisting my arms behind my back.

“I am not going anywhere until I see Colton.” I stuck my nose in the air. I may be a prisoner, but I was certainly not going to be easy about it.

“He‘s right there.” The man holding me pointed back toward the trees.

“What have you done to him?” I couldn‘t help the words. Balanced between two men, Colton was half dragged, half carried toward me. Obviously unconscious from the way his head flopped backward, I anxiously scanned his body for signs of wrongdoing. Except for a few darkening bruises on his face, he appeared physically fine.

“Nothing. Your boyfriend is simply fatigued from the length of your journey.” The man snickered, quickly tossing me up into the saddle. I saw a rope had been threaded through Brutus’s bridle, the ends of which were tied to the saddles of two other horses.

It took two men to heft Colton onto the saddle behind me. His body was dead weight against my back, forcing me awkwardly forward. This was not going to work. I lacked the strength and the patience to counterbalance his weight according to Brutus’ stride.

Perhaps I could poke him awake?

No response to the finger I poked between his ribs. Hmmm. Whatever they’d done, it appeared Colton would be down for the count, at least for a little while. That meant I was going to have to come up with an escape plan.

Well. There were eight of them, and only one of me. Brutus was carefully restrained, meaning I couldn’t just ride away. I was not very handy with my fists, but even if I was, at most, I would be able to attack only one at a time, leaving the other seven enough time to subdue me. Oh, and they had guns.

Since fighting my way out was not very wise, that meant I was left with negotiation. I might be able to convince them to let Colton go, but me? I was pretty sure they wanted whatever I could tell them about my father. Did they also want the pendant?

Without a word, the men mounted and began leading Brutus down the path. Thankfully, we remained at a walk, as anything faster would have sent Colton and probably me tumbling to the ground. I turned my attention to the men riding beside us. They weren’t a very talkative bunch and I had yet to see a smile. I suppose they could be a traveling bunch of mercenaries, or soldiers, or scouting teams for the army, but what did they want with me? They hadn’t even asked our names when they’d take us hostage.

Well, and the man from Lisbon had been spotted riding this way. I didn’t see him among the men around us, but that’s not to say he hadn’t warned them he was being followed. But how would he know he was being followed? Unless he’d seen us in Muckford, or Colton had met with him while Bennett distracted me.

What if Colton was working with my father, the man in Lisbon, and now these men? What if the reason he wasn’t killed was because he was one of them?

Before I panicked, there were some key elements arguing against Colton being in cahoots with the men. First off, the man in Lisbon reacted rather strangely to Colton’s presence. It hadn’t been a favorable response, either. He’d seemed quite disturbed to know Colton was traveling with me. That tended to point toward the men being on opposing sides.

Then there was the fact everyone Colton met so far mentioned his father. I may very well be the only person in the world who did not know who Lucas Colton was. The name certainly did not ring a bell, yet sometimes, when looking at him, I received the impression he was familiar. I was certain we hadn’t met before. I wouldn’t have forgotten such a gorgeous man.

Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling Colton knew much more than he let on. He hadn’t seemed unduly alarmed at the appearance of strange men in the forest. Had he recognized them? Or did he know what they wanted? What was it the leader asked, about negotiation?

Abruptly, Brutus sidestepped beneath me, causing Colton to start a slow slide toward the ground. “Stop!” I cried, desperately reaching around my back to hold him in place. Thankfully, Colton fell forward and I was able to keep him behind me in the saddle.

We came to a halt. The leader nodded at one of his men, the one riding directly to my right. He rode up to me, while the man riding on my other side suddenly reined his horse close beside Brutus.

A cloth pressed securely over my nose and mouth and I, too, fell forward into blackness.

I wasn’t woken by a word, but more of an unspoken message. My eyes opened and the world began blurring toward the edges. I blinked, and my vision cleared. Beneath me was a hard wooden floor and I felt a heavy weight across my legs. Though vaguely uncomfortable but not overly so, I was tempted to let myself drift away on the tide of drugs again.

Another nudge and my eyes opened again. The weight across my legs was Colton. He was alert and trying to wake me. Since my head was slightly averted, he couldn’t see that I was awake and began tapping insistently on my leg.

“I’m awake! Stop hitting me!” I shifted myself up on my elbows, found the room tilted alarmingly, and fell back against the floor.

“Gently,” was his only comment. I noticed he also remained reclining. Then I remembered he’d sustained some kind of injury that caused him to faint, which landed us in this situation.

I propped myself up on my elbows. This time the world steadied after a moment. Colton lay on his back, head turned toward me. I couldn’t see any bleeding—other than his lip—or any other kind of injury but the man had been unconscious. Something must be wrong.

How did I get him to let me take a look at it? Men could be very protective of their injuries, insisting it was nothing even as they passed out from the pain. I could always pin him down with my own body, and force him to allow me to check him over, but somehow, Colton didn’t seem the type to suffer an examination. He was lying rather awkwardly over my legs. Perhaps he’d sustained a rib injury?

“I can see the gears shifting in your brain. Out with it.” A smile tipped the sides of his mouth.

“Come here and let me take a look at you.” I used my best schoolmistress tone.

“There’s nothing to see.” Colton’s eyes were lazy on my face.

“Then you have nothing to worry about.” I narrowed my eyes.

“Besides a few bruises, I am perfectly fine.”

“I don’t believe you.” Mutinous, I crossed my
arms over my chest.

“You certainly are suspicious, sweetheart.” Colton sat up, running fingers lightly over his face. I couldn‘t be certain in the dimness of the room, but I swore he smiled when he found the blood on his lip.

“I wonder why.” Sensing that was all the conversation he’d allow about his fainting spell, I turned my attention to the room. Empty of furniture, a pile of blankets had been tossed in front of the closed door and a single window, boarded up, was the only ornamentation.

I didn’t have much experience with war or the treatment of captured enemies, but even I knew placing them together in an empty room wasn’t the norm. Shouldn’t we at least be leg shackled and gagged and separated for good measure?

His father must be very important indeed, to grant us this type of treatment.