Willing Sacrifice (18 page)

“What information?”

Knowledge about the Hunter and its connection to the Solarc had come to her suddenly, as she’d needed it. Just like Brenya had said.

While that little piece of the puzzle was now in place, Grace could feel more of them, still hidden in her mind. They were there—their weight was easily recognizable—but she couldn’t reach them at will. Like all the bits of memory she’d recovered, the knowledge would come to her when it came, and there wasn’t a thing she could do to speed up that process.

Rather than telling him she didn’t know what the information was, she lifted her chin. “I’ll tell you when you need to know.”

He stalked up to her, his jaw set in a way that made her want to turn and run. Only the certain knowledge that he wasn’t going to hurt her made her hold her ground.

“You’ll tell me now,” he ordered.

“Nope.”

His big hand circled her throat. The touch was firm but careful. His fingers were so long they reached all the way around to her nape, where the heat from each fingertip branded her. His thumb grazed across her pulse, making an army of tingles march down her spine.

He stared at her mouth for just a moment too long—long enough to make her think about kissing him again—then looked into her eyes. “I can make you tell me, Grace.” It was a threat, but not to inflict pain. This threat was much more deadly, his gaze and touch promising her something far more potent than pain.

Pleasure.

Her voice shook when she spoke, and she knew he could feel that weakness vibrate against his palm. “You can try. I’m sure I’d enjoy your effort. But everyone is counting on you to drive back the invasion.”

He was quiet for a long time, his only movement the steady rise and fall of his chest. She wondered if she should step back, away from his touch, but she liked the feel of his hand on her skin too much to move. Even angry and covered in cuts from battle, he still possessed a mesmerizing kind of beauty that made it hard to look away.

“Apparently they’re counting on
us
,” he said. “Whatever information Brenya gave you, it has some purpose.”

Grace nodded. “I’ve never known her to do anything without at least three reasons.”

“And she probably never tells you any of them when you ask.”

“Now you’re catching on.”

He closed his eyes and let out a long breath. Then he nodded to himself, as if he’d made some difficult decision. “First we bury the dead. Then I’ll take you as far as the southern village. If Brenya isn’t willing to answer our questions, then we won’t cooperate with her until she does.”

“Everyone does what Brenya wants. That’s just the way the world works.”

“Well, I’m from a different world. She needs me. It’s time she starts acting like it.”

Grace stifled a groan. His plan could end only one way: badly.

T
orr gave Grace a list of things to collect from the village while he dug the grave for the Athanasian woman.

It didn’t seem right to bury her so far away from her home and family, but it was the best he could do for now. Maybe Brenya would be able to send her home, but even if she did, chances were it would bring up questions better left unasked.

He felt Grace approach a moment before she spoke from behind him. Her presence burned through him like a brush fire, destroying all other thoughts. Even the bad ones.

There was a kind of quiet magic in her that he’d never encountered in anyone else. She gave him peace in a life that had been filled with far too much war.

“I like the spot you picked,” she said. “It’s pretty here.”

The small clearing just inside the tree line had a thick carpet of ground cover the color of sapphires. It was far enough away from the village not to risk contamination of their well water, but still within sight of where the Sentinel Stone had recently stood. A canopy of shimmering leaves shaded the area, and the rest of the forest gave it a sense of privacy.

“I thought so, too. Do you think she’d approve?”

“I didn’t really know her, but I’m sure she would.”

“You didn’t know her?”

“She just arrived through the stone this morning. I would have gotten to know her over the next few months, while she carried her child to term.”

“She was pregnant?”

Grace nodded. “The women who come here almost always are.”

Torr grieved for both the lives lost here today, but didn’t allow himself to linger or wallow in it. There was too much to do, too many more lives at stake. “Did you get what I asked for?”

“I got the food and water, along with a few medical supplies.” Her gaze fixed on his chest, and the blood and dirt covering him. “You should let me use a few of them on you. Some of those cuts are deep.”

As he watched, a hairline cut opened along her arm, in the exact spot where he was injured.

She was healing him again without even trying. He didn’t dare call her attention to it for fear that she would realize that they were connected by the healing disks and start asking questions. Worse yet, she might start using the power purposefully. So far, her accidental healing of him had been minimal. That could change at any moment.

“I’ve had worse. They’ll heal fast,” he said casually, hoping she’d forget all about his wounds. “What about weapons? Did you find any?”

“I searched Brenya’s hut. There were no more crystals or anything that looked like a weapon. Mostly just books, jars and bottles. All unlabeled.”

“I was sure she’d have some kind of stash in there.”

“If so, it’s hidden. There were a few spears in the practice area and a couple of swords that Tori uses.”

“Not exactly the magical artifacts I was hoping for.”

“Do you want to search it yourself?” she asked.

“No time. We have to find the location the Masons are using to build the portal before it opens and we’re screwed.”

As soon as he said the words, Grace went pale and got a distant stare like the one she’d had right before telling him she thought her family was dead.

It had taken all his willpower not to tell her the truth. Blake was still alive. She still had a brother who loved her and missed her. Her mom hadn’t survived the Synestryn attack, but Torr had managed to save both her and her brother that night.

The night he was paralyzed.

Dark, furious emotions seethed just below the surface. He couldn’t think about that time now—not when there were so many people who needed him to be at the top of his game.

Torr reached for Grace, both to comfort her and to soothe himself. There was magic in her skin, and he wasn’t above using physical contact to stay strong and steady for her.

“What is it?” he asked.

She gave a tiny shake of her head. “Nothing. We should get going, though.”

“That wasn’t nothing. Tell me.”

“You said yourself there’s no time. Let’s just do what we need to do and get moving. East.”

“East? You sound sure. Did Brenya tell you?”

“Let’s talk about it later. I’ll go back and search her hut again for hidden storage.”

She scurried off before he could stop her. As fast as she was moving, he knew there was definitely something on her mind.

He tried to ignore the sting of insult her silence caused. There had been a time when she would have trusted him enough to tell him anything.

Clearly that time was over, but he would earn her trust again. It was too precious a thing for him not to crave it.

Torr went to the lake just long enough to wash the blood and dirt from his body. The shallow cuts had mostly healed, but every time Grace looked at him, her gaze went right to the blood smeared over his skin and the dirt of the woman’s grave.

That wasn’t what he wanted her to see. Not even close. She’d experienced too much blood and pain for one short lifetime.

By the time he was done, she was waiting for him by the water’s edge. He came out of the lake soaking wet but clean. Grace tracked his movements, her color deepening with every step he took closer to her.

He’d never known a more beautiful woman. Even the Athanasians he’d seen couldn’t compare to the light that shone out from Grace’s soul. If he lived another thousand years, he would never tire of looking at her, never tire of the desire that reddened her skin and made her dark eyes glow.

She tracked him all the way to the shore. Even though the water was cool, he felt warm everywhere her gaze touched.

His wet, charred, tattered jeans had seen better days. He needed a needle and thread to repair the opening Grace had cut along the leg, but at least they covered him and kept his swelling erection in check. As much as he wanted to lay her down and see if the languid expression on her face was the invitation it appeared to be, there were more important things they needed to do. Less pleasurable but definitely more vital.

“Did you find anything good?” he asked.

A smile built along her lips, slow, lazy and brimming with the promise of paradise. She didn’t have to say a word for him to know what she was thinking.

“I meant in Brenya’s hut.”

She blinked a couple of times, casting off all traces of the delightful ideas that were running through her head. “No. Nothing. I did find another shirt for you, though. I think one of the women made it for you.” She held up simple sleeveless shirt made from some kind of loosely woven fabric. “It’s not hemmed yet, but I figure it’s better than nothing.”

Torr slid it on over his head. The fabric was softer than it looked, and it fit perfectly. “Remind me to thank whoever made this.”

“Let’s just hope we all live long enough to make that happen.”

He strapped his gear to his body, sliding the Mason’s hammer into a simple leather loop he’d tied on his belt. The heavy weight of it tugged at his jeans, but it was a small price to pay for having the weapon handy. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yes. We need to head east. To the lake.”

“The village is to the south.”

“I know, but Brenya’s map is headed east. To the lake.” She tapped her temple. “And you can’t find it without me.”

“I can. And I will.”

“How long do you think that will take? How long do you think the village has? How long can Brenya keep doing what she has to do to keep everyone safe?”

He hated that she was right. “I’d rather take you south, back to the others.”

“If Brenya had wanted me with the others, she would have taken me along. She didn’t because you need me to help you find the building site.”

Torr didn’t see any plan to refute her logic. “Fine, let’s go. But as soon as we find where they’re building the portal, you’re going right back to the others.”

She said nothing, but her satisfied smile spoke volumes.

He made sure they had what they needed and that Grace wasn’t carrying too much weight. As soon as there was no more reason to delay, he set a steady pace east.

Within a few hours, he began to see frequent signs of Hunters passing this way. The forest was crisscrossed with sheared paths in the foliage and gouge marks in the ground.

He could hear Grace at his back, only an arm’s length away. She kept up with him, but he could tell when he was pushing her too hard by the change in her breathing. He slowed down as they banked up a steep hill, pausing several times to listen for signs of danger on the far side.

“Rest a minute. I’ll be right back,” he whispered, then slipped off to scout the other side of the hill before she could argue.

He saw nothing but dark, glittering trees stretching out across the valley. The angle of the suns made the metallic leaves shine and shielded the forest floor from sight.

Even though he couldn’t see any danger, his instincts whispered to him that it was here.

He waited, patiently scanning the area, giving whatever was down there time to make itself known. He gathered a few sparks of power from the earth beneath him, marveling at the way it felt so different from the energy back home. These sparks were hotter, with more sting to them, but it took more of them to do what he needed.

Finally, when he’d gathered enough juice, he amplified his vision. Everything looked closer. Details were in perfect focus. Still he saw nothing.

Grace scooted up the hill on her stomach, taking a position beside him. “Everything okay?”

“I’m not sure.”

She fell silent and shielded her eyes from reflected sunlight.

Every time a breeze blew past, it brought with it her scent. Torr closed his eyes and breathed her in, wishing he could have more even as he cursed the distraction she created. He had no idea how long they lay there, but when he regained his control again and searched the area, the angle of the suns had changed enough that the glare from the leaves was no longer blinding.

He amped up his vision once more, this time gathering enough power that it stung his fingertips and made his skin burn. Still he saw nothing.

Beside him, Grace squirmed and rubbed her arms.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I think I must have been bitten by some bugs or something. No big deal.”

It wasn’t bugs that had bitten her. That sting was his—he’d inadvertently hurt her because of the damn disk that connected them.

He needed to get the thing off before he did more than irritate her skin. Like it or not, Brenya was going to help him find a way to free Grace. She may not have known a life without it, but she was strong. She would adapt.

“I still don’t see anything,” he told her. “We’ll keep going, but we need to be careful.”

He helped her to her feet, lingering a bit too long with her hand in his. He’d give anything to have her back at Dabyr, safe inside the walls where he would be able to relax and enjoy her. Thoroughly.

It was a selfish fantasy, but one he couldn’t control.

Torr led the way down the hill, moving more slowly than he would have liked. There were a few open spaces where trees had fallen. Nothing new had had time to grow in their place yet, leaving little pools of sunshine on the forest floor. The clearings made travel easier, but also left too many openings for ambush.

He skirted them and stuck to a path animals had cut through the trees with their passing. A thorny bush had invaded this area, making travel between trees more than just uncomfortable. Each two-inch thorn dripped with something thick and wet, like syrup.

“Watch out for those,” said Grace. “They’re poisonous.”

“What kind of poison?”

“The kind that makes you wish you were dead.”

He knew that kind all too well. “We should go back and find another way through.”

“There is no other way. All the other paths lead to the swamps where those giant lizards live.”

He glanced over his shoulder at her. “You’ve been this way before?”

“No, but Brenya has. I seem to know what she does.”

“Great. What’s up ahead on this path?”

“A narrow strip of rock that will keep us out of the swamp.”

No wonder the path was so obvious. The animals the lizards preyed on would have learned to cross here and stay out of danger.

“When we get there, we’ll need to cross fast.”

“Why’s that?”

“The lizards are territorial.”

“This just keeps getting better.”

“Well, if you were going to build a magical device you didn’t want anyone to find, wouldn’t you put it on the other side of a bunch of territorial, man-eating lizards?”

“Good point.”

A few hundred yards later, Torr saw the pale strip of stone stretching between two stagnant pools of water. Several of the huge lizards lounged in the last rays of sunlight. He could see more of them just beneath the surface of the water.

Before they got too close, he stopped. “Let me have your gear.”

“Why?”

“You’ll be able to run faster.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll be fine. All you need to keep is your water, just in case we’re separated. Head straight east and I’ll catch up with you as soon as I can.”

He removed one of her bags and settled the strap over his shoulder.

“Catch up with me? What are you going to do?”

Torr gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. I’m just going to distract them.”

•   •   •

Grace was almost certain that was the worst idea in the world. “I’m not letting you distract them. There’s too many. Fighting one nearly killed you. I count at least seven.”

“I wasn’t ready for the fight then. I am now. Besides, I’m not going to get that close. When I say, you start running and don’t look back.”

“No.”

“I know what I’m doing, Grace. Trust me.”

“Of course I do, but there’s got to be another way.”

“Can you think of one?”

She couldn’t. And while she would have rather had both of them run across at the same time, that was much more likely to get them both killed.

She’d seen him fight. She knew what he was capable of. If either of them was going to face off against a pile of angry reptiles, he was the safe bet.

“Okay, but if you don’t come across immediately, I’m going to do a little distracting of my own.” She pulled Tori’s practice sword from where it was strapped to her body, making her intentions clear.