All For One [Nuworld 3] (21 page)

passed by them.

“What did you say?” She couldn’t hide her surprise. “What tribe did you live

with?”

Syra stopped also and stepped to the side as two Gothman women, in the middle of

an animated gossip session, scurried past them.

“I lived with the Barringswood tribe and if they look at you they can pull thoughts

from you.”

Ana felt a cold sweat slowly spread across her body. A slight breeze made her

shiver. It had been three days since she’d seen Roth. He’d contacted her once on the

landlink but he would only stay on the transmission for a couple of minutes. Here was

her opportunity to learn more about him. If she asked the right questions, Syra might be

able to tell her how Roth acted at home.

But this was the last thing she had expected Syra to say. Was Roth listening to her

thoughts when they were together? She blushed in spite of herself. “C-could all of them

hear your thoughts?”

“They don’t exactly hear your thoughts, but yeah, all the Barringswoods can pull

thoughts.” They began walking again although neither of them paid attention to the

stores they passed. “At least, the way it was explained to me, when they make eye

contact with you they can pull thoughts from you and then they hear them in their own

thoughts. They can’t choose what thoughts they pull and it doesn’t hurt when they do it

to you.”

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Syra chuckled and smiled as she squeezed Ana’s arm. “Actually, I kind of liked the

way it felt, depending on who was pulling thoughts from you. Sometimes it felt like

they were trying to pull you off your feet with their eyes.”

Suddenly Ana felt very angry. Roth never mentioned, or even implied that he could

get thoughts out of her head. What did he know about her that she didn’t offer? Had he

pulled some thought that made him not want to have sex with her? She felt used and

embarrassed all at once.

“Are you okay?” Syra leaned forward to stare into Ana’s face. “All of a sudden you

don’t look so good.”

“No, I’m fine. I just imagined how hard it would be to keep your thoughts under

control if you ran into a good-looking guy. Were there a lot of good-looking guys

there?”

Syra laughed and pulled Ana’s hair back away from her face. “I can’t believe how

fast you’ve grown up. Yeah, I thought there were a fair amount of good-looking guys.

They’re not built like our men are and all the Barringswood tribe have red hair and

bright green eyes. You can tell there’s something different about their eyes as soon as

you see them, but not many people would guess it’s because they can pull thoughts. It

actually puts them at an excellent military advantage. I’m sure Sorg knew a lot about

Darius and Tara the second he saw them.”

“Did you know Sorg and his family?” Ana knew Syra would say things that would

allow her to direct the questioning. This was perfect. She could get Syra to talk about

Sorg and his family and see if she said anything about Roth.

“I lived with Marda, his mama. It’s pretty incredible, Ana, when you get to see how

other people live. The Tree People live in trees. Some of the trees in their forest are

incredibly large. They carve out the trunks and make rooms and they build more rooms

up in the branches. Some of the houses were pretty fancy.”

“I’d like to see them someday.” Ana remembered Roth describing his house to her.

“Was it just you and Marda in a house?”

“Well, there were the servants. I wasn’t alone too often. Sorg had his own home but

his younger brothers lived with us, although there was only one left at home by the

time I left.”

“So, you lived with a bunch of guys?” Ana smiled teasingly at Syra.

“There were two of them. The older one moved in with Sorg and the younger one

was ten seasons old—that’s what they call winters.”

This was going really well. She’d have all the information she could get on Roth

from Syra. It was easier than she thought. It wouldn’t sound obvious at all for her to ask

about the older, then the younger brother. It fit in with the conversation perfectly.

Ana smiled, and waited to ask the next question until they’d crossed the street.

When Fulga heard they were going to take a walk downtown and do some shopping in

several of the different stores, the older lady had thrust a list of things that she needed

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from the market into Ana’s hand. The market was across the street and they hurried

along with many other Gothman mamas and children.

“I don’t believe it.” Ana froze and grabbed Syra’s arm.

“What is it?” Syra looked confused as she quickly glanced around the busy

downtown area.

“Quick, come over here.” Ana almost pulled Syra along as she hurried across the

street and then moved along the sidewalk quickly. She stopped when they reached a

sewing supply store and Ana focused on the items in the window. “Just act normal,”

she whispered.

“What is going on?” Syra whispered back.

Ana discreetly pointed to a couple ten feet or so away from them, standing next to

some large trash bins, almost hidden from view. A large Gothman in military attire

spoke to a small Gothman woman who held a baby in each arm and had another one

holding onto her leg.

“Are you talking about those two over there?” As Syra watched, the large man bent

down and kissed the woman.

“Oh Crator!” Ana turned her back to the couple and her hand went to her mouth. “I

don’t believe it. Shit, what do I do?”

“Would you mind telling me what you’re talking about?”

“Syra, that’s Rayla—Torgo’s claim.”

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Chapter Twelve

Ana pulled the folded piece of paper out of her pocket as she moved down the

hallway, past her parent’s bedroom, and toward the landlink room. She’d almost fallen

asleep waiting for Torgo to go home. Maybe if he didn’t spend so much time in that

landlink room, his claim wouldn’t be fooling around on him. She’d decided not to

mention what she saw to her uncle but the only way she’d been able to pull that off was

to avoid him all together.

Ana crept into the room and slipped the flat portable landlink that Torgo kept in the

room for emergencies under her arm, and then hurried back to her room. She’d printed

directions on how to reach Roth, since she took the bigger risk at being discovered

when she contacted him. He told her in the message that she could contact him at her

convenience if she used this particular transmission. She sat cross-legged on her bed,

ready to cover the landlink with her blanket if anyone entered the room, and typed in

the instructions from his note.

“Ana, I’ve been waiting for you to contact me. I can’t believe it’s only been a week

since I’ve seen you. I miss you.”

Ana’s heart jumped. He missed her. She hadn’t printed the message he’d sent her

yesterday until early this morning, before Uncle Torgo and her papa took over the

landlink room. She hadn’t been able to respond until now.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t talk to you sooner. I’ve missed you, too. My activities have

been increased. I’ve been pretty busy.”

“Why are they keeping you so busy? Does anyone know about us?”

“I don’t think so. My papa decided it was time Andru and I began training to rule.”

“You will rule some day?”

“Not by Gothman law, but I can rule the Blood Circle Clan and maybe all the

Runners. My parents argue about it.”

“I wish I had something like that in my future. Unless my brother dies, I will never

rule. My brother thinks I will make a good diplomat. So, I will leave tomorrow for the

Rangbak tribe. Ana, this tribe is closer to Bryton than any other tribe. It’s straight across

the mountains from you. I can’t stand not seeing you. Please, I don’t like talking to you

like this.”

Ana watched the letters as they appeared across her screen. She smiled as she read

them, and then her heart raced as she thought of actually seeing Roth. She read his last

sentence and then typed again.

“I know why you said that. You can’t see my eyes this way.”

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There was a long pause before anything appeared on her screen. Had she made him

mad by saying this to him? He should have told her. She had to mention it and clear the

air about it. It was frustrating that she was the one who had to bring it up. But she

couldn’t know that he could pull her thoughts and not mention it to him. Besides, the

next time he saw her, he’d immediately know that she knew. Oh Crator! The next time I

see him…

“I should have told you.”

“Yes, you should have.”

“I was afraid I’d scare you away.”

“I don’t scare that easily.”

“Then will you come see me?”

“Yes.”

Ana didn’t sleep at all that night. After sneaking the landlink back to the landlink

room, she lay staring at her ceiling and planning her escape. It wouldn’t take long at all

to get to the mountains if she flew directly west, less than an hour she guessed. But

what excuse could she come up with to be gone for a while? She needed alibis and the

only one she had was Andru.

But with him playing war games out in the field, he couldn’t very well vouch for

her whereabouts. There was no one else who would keep her secret. Absolutely no one.

Was there anywhere she could be for several hours by herself? She doubted it. Her

parents already thought she was a little too wild for her age.

By dawn Ana knew what she had to do. But she wanted Roth to know before she

did it. Her actions would put him into serious jeopardy as well as her. Ana flew out

from under her blankets and crept down the hallway once again to the landlink room.

Every sound in the large house put her nerves on edge.

She got the landlink back to her room and quickly sent her message to Roth. Was he

asleep? How long would she have to wait for the message to be answered? She tapped

the side of the landlink and strained her ears to hear any sound of movement outside