Warrior Rogue (The Drift Lords Series) (8 page)

“The generator mechanism had sharp edges and moving parts. It tore my clothing as I fell. The ocean ran below. I must have been sucked into a spontaneous tear in the space-time fabric when I hit the water.”

“Well, that would explain your confusion and bruises.”

He touched the purplish wound on his head. He’d ripped off the bandage on the airplane. “As for why I landed in your location, that was Fate. I knew it as soon as I saw your watch.” His gaze swung to her wrist. “Hmm, I wonder. Where would you be if you could wish yourself there?”

“Home, of course.”

Paz gripped her hand, the heat from his palm radiating up her arm. “Go ahead. Visualize the place.”

She gaped at him. “What are you saying? That I can whisk us there like magic?”

“It’s worth a try.”

“Huh. The sun must be baking your brain.” Nonetheless, she squeezed her eyes shut and pictured her family’s two-story white columned house in Palm Beach. When they hit another rut in the road, her eyes flew open. “We’re still here.”

“I guess so. Apparently, you’re not ready to wield your power.”

She withdrew her hand, confused by his words. Her dress rumpled under her legs, and she smoothed it out. Maybe she could get a change of clothes in the next village.

Idly she scratched at a bug bite on her shoulder, pondering their conversation. What wasn’t he telling her?

Her toes ached, the skin between them scraped raw. A glimpse of sparkling sea to their right made her yearn to dip her body into the cool water. She wasn’t cut out to be Nature Girl. Discomfited, she adjusted her position.

Paz’s amused glance followed her movements. She had a momentary mental image of him massaging her feet. Her face heated again, or maybe it was just the humidity getting to her.

“Why did the Trolleks attack us? Were they after you?” She asked the question foremost on her mind.

“At first I thought the beasts had vectored in to capture me.” He raised his voice to be heard over the truck’s engine noise. “But I think my presence surprised them. One guy came at me with an axe, while the other
riff
grabbed you. If you hadn’t been immune to their spell, he’d have taken you. I believe that was their prime objective.”

“To capture
me
?” Jen’s pulse accelerated. “How would they even know I was there?”

His eyes narrowed. “Your wristwatch allows them to track you. I suspect its special functions activated when we met. It has properties similar to the transport units the beasts wear on their armbands. We don’t know how it works.”

“Oh, that’s just great.”

“I do know one thing—kissing you saved me from being confounded. Zohar learned this from Nira. Our mingling transfers your immunity to me.” He sidled closer, his gaze darkening. “In fact, we’d better do it again for safety’s sake.”

“What? You must be addled in the attic.”

“Attic? I do not understand.”

She circled her finger around her ear. “You know, nuts.”

“Ah.” He leaned closer until she could smell the scent of the jungle on him. “I am serious. Normally we polarize ourselves against the Trollek touch. It has to be done every twenty-four hours. My margin has long since passed.”

“So I have to kiss you to protect you.” Her tone dripped with sarcasm.

“At the very least. The more intimate we are, the longer the protection lasts.”

His mouth prevented her next question from forming as his head descended. She tasted the tang of salt as he brushed her lips with the slightest pressure.

The nerve of the man for making up such a story. And yet it held a kernel of truth. Just in case it had merit, she allowed him to plunder her mouth. He didn't go deep, just tantalizing her enough to want more.

And oh, did she want more.

The horror and stress of the last few hours returned with full force along with the realization that this man had saved her life.

Her arms wrapped around him of their own volition. She parted her lips and pressed her body closer. Her breasts ached as they encountered his broad chest. A vision of them naked together made her breath come short.

His strong arms hugged her against him while she relished his strength and power. The man might be confident, cocky, and arrogant to boot, but he sure could kiss. His mouth changed angles and hungrily devoured her.

They started to slide downward, and so did his hands. She felt a low ache in her belly, a surging need as he found her breasts. This might be the wrong time and place, but she couldn't help herself. Lust consumed her.

His thumbs brushed her nipples, and she moaned.

Paz kissed her once more and then withdrew. “I’d like to continue this,
leera
, but not now. We have a mission to accomplish.” He helped her to sit upright.

Jen straightened her dress. “I just did that to protect you. Don’t think I’m easy.”

“A lady like you? Never.” His smirk told her he thought otherwise. “Although, if the Fates are to be believed, you and I are meant to be together.”

“Is that so?” Was that another excuse for him to kiss her? She tilted her head. “Why didn’t any of this happen earlier, like at my showroom in New York? The Trolleks could have jumped in and grabbed me then.”

“As I said, it was the confluence of our being together that raised their alarms. You can always ask those guys.”

His deeper tone alerted her even as the truck slowed. A roadblock of angry armed Trolleks waited for them ahead.

Chapter Six

Paz would have preferred to enter Shirajo Manor on his own terms. Being escorted there by a squadron of Trolleks didn’t bode well for their prospects. At least, he hoped they’d be taken to the base commandant and not summarily executed.

Jen trembled next to him as they stood by the road, with their hands raised, along with the pickup truck driver. Her face pinched and her forehead beaded with sweat.

A large, beefy Trollek wearing military gear inspected them one-by-one. When he reached the driver, he drew out his disruptor and shot the man point blank in the chest.

“Oh, my God.” Jen’s voice edged on hysteria.

“Search them, Menig Gwarp,” the officer snapped.

“Yes, Leytnant.” A Trollek with a missing front tooth approached Jen and leered at her.

“Don’t resist,” Paz warned her from the corner of his mouth. It might go in their favor if they appeared docile.

The stocky one called Gwarp took his time feeling Jen up while she focused forward and clenched her jaw. Paz curled his fists and reined in his impulse to punch the brawny
riff
. This was only a small humiliation compared to what was coming.

Menig was the lowest enlisted rank in the Trollek military force. Paz wondered at the size of their garrison and how they’d gotten here. Had they opened a rift on the island near where one naturally occurred when the dimensional plates shifted? If so, what was the advantage of this remote location?

He stared straight ahead, his mouth taut, as Gwarp patted him down. He’d find the answers in their command center.

“I just found one weapon, Min Drott,” the enlisted rank told his officer. He displayed Jen’s handbag, Paz’s PIP that looked like a bulky cell phone, and their Swiss Army knife.

A quick search inside Jen’s bag by the leytnant brought a sneer to his lips. “These items are worthless. The woman can keep them for now.” He held onto the knife but tossed Jen back her handbag along with Paz’s PIP. She stuck it inside her purse.

At the officer’s signal, the guards herded them into the back of a small transport. Gwarp kept his disruptor trained on them as they sat in silence.

Jen bit her lower lip, her face white. He wanted to offer comfort but not while they were so keenly observed.

They drove across the island over a bumpy road that inhibited progress. An hour or so later, their vehicle halted at the base of a hill.

Forced out at gunpoint, Paz and Jen exited the ground transport and started up the slope—armed sentries flanking them.

Tall, shady trees lined the packed dirt road. A sweet scent entered his nostrils but it was far from pleasant. It reminded him of dead people and the cloying odor that lingered after death. Massive stone lanterns stood at intervals along the way.

At the summit, they stood before an arched gate. Ancient wood doors were set inside the structure that had a peaked tile roof. As they approached, the doors flung open. Two armed humans regarded them impassively as they marched through. The men’s eyes had the glassy look of confounded souls.

They entered the outer sanctum of the citadel. Stone walls surrounded the compound. Passing a grassy expanse of what might have been a moat in the old days, they followed a gravel path. Clearly the Trolleks had confiscated someone’s property, perhaps a retreat for Japanese nobility.

In the distance rose the five-tower structure that housed the main keep. It had a stone foundation, blue tile roof, and whitewashed walls. Multiple towers surrounded it, making for a huge complex.

He tried to keep note of their route but an array of twisting paths, gates, baileys, and stairs challenged his sense of direction. The compound must have been designed on purpose to befuddle intruders and allow for ambushes along the way.

Confuse and Conquer: A brilliant strategy.

He grasped Jen’s hand as they trudged up another hill, a stone wall on one side and a white building rising on the other. After a switchback, they reached another gate nestled into a structure that looked as though it housed residences. The doors remained closed at their approach.

The leytnant yanked on a cord that rang a bell. He leapt back as the doors opened outwardly. More guards waved them through.

Jen glanced at him, her eyes anxious. “What if they separate us? How will we find each other?”

He squeezed her hand. “We’ll work it out. In the meantime, the Trolleks won’t harm you. You’re too valuable to them.”

He hoped he was right. At least his words gave her the strength to straighten her spine and move on. She stopped quaking and held her chin high. He gave her credit for accepting the situation with courage.

Despite her pallor and exhaustion, she still looked lovely with her delicate features, tousled black hair, and wide-eyed gaze. He cursed his inability to protect her.

They might not harm Jen right away, but Paz didn’t have any illusions about his own fate—a torturous death.

The Trollek’s words from the aircraft played in his head.
“The one called Kaj screams like a stuck pig. Fighting us is useless.”

A chill racked him. Kaj’s locator beacon had stopped transmitting while he patrolled the Vile Vortices. When the engineer didn’t respond to comm signals, his team had feared the worst. Now Paz knew for certain Kaj had been taken.

He could only imagine the torments to which his comrade had been exposed. Paz would soon be up close and personal to them himself.

Gritting his teeth, he returned his attention to their route. Should he attempt to escape, getting through this maze would be paramount. He could probably tap into a satellite to get an aerial view if he kept his mobile data unit.

“Jen, give me back my PIP,” he gritted between closed teeth as they crossed a second moat.

She didn’t spare him a glance but surreptitiously handed it over. He stuck it in his pocket, grateful their wrists hadn’t been restrained.

Beyond an intersection stretched a wide expanse of grass with gravel on either side. They turned left, sticking to the path. After rounding a corner, they faced a steep set of stairs.

Jen held up her hem as she climbed the stone steps, a resigned look on her pale face. A wall abutted one side, with overhanging trees shading the other. Her feet dragged, and she faltered before the summit.

Without warning, the squadron commander yanked a shock stick from his belt and jabbed her in the gut. “Keep moving, human.”

She screamed, doubling over.

“Don’t touch her.” Paz launched himself at the officer.

The Trolleks descended on him in numbers. Their blows pummeled him to the ground while he fought to protect his head. Electric jolts to his mid-section stole his breath and brought his arms around to guard his stomach. More jolts scrambled his nerves and made his vision blur with pain. He lay on the ground, twitching and unable to command his limbs.

“Stop it, you’ll kill him,” Jen cried. He heard her howl of pain follow but was helpless to defend her.

One beast kicked him in the kidneys. He took the hit with a grunt of agony. The next bolt of energy to his lower spine sent him over the edge of consciousness.

****

Jen had quelled her urge to panic, but seeing Paz get hurt brought her simmering hysteria to a boil.

“Don’t hit him anymore!” She choked back a sob. “Can’t you see he’s down? You’ll only injure him further.”

“So what?” the leytnant snarled. “General Morar gave us orders to capture you. That pathetic human is just collateral.”

She had to give them a reason not to kill Paz. “He’s no ordinary man. Paz Hadar is a Drift Lord. He’ll be more valuable to your leader alive than dead.”

“A Drift Lord?
He’s
one of the legendary warriors? If you tell the truth, I will ask for the privilege of interrogating him myself.”

Jen studied her captor’s brutish face. Whiskers stuck out from his taut jaw under a bulbous nose. His enormous ears looked like scalloped satellite dishes. Getting a whiff of his breath, she grimaced. He smelled like road-kill.

She held his gaze for what seemed like an eternity, and then the muscular alien signaled for his troops to lift Paz. They carried him on their shoulders, outstretched like a corpse.

Praying Paz was all right and that her kiss would protect him against their mind spell, Jen fell into place.

At the top of the stairs, she spotted the manor, rising in the near distance. Multiple towers surrounded it. She assumed that site to be their destination.

Prodded in the back with a painful jolt, she stumbled forward toward another gate. Instead of opening to a path again, this door led inside a building.