All For One [Nuworld 3] (5 page)

“I’ve reached the mountains but I haven’t seen any sign of the man I saw the other

day.” She narrowed her gaze trying to search every inch of the rocks as she glided

through them.

“And what are you going to do with this man once you find him?”

“Andru, he’s probably part of a race that lives over here and we know nothing

about. I could be the first Gothman to meet these people.”

“Ah, dressed like a Runner.” Andru laughed but then stopped quickly. “Ana,

they’ve realized you’re not here.”

“It took them this long?” Ana snorted. “Damn, I’m sure missed around there.”

“I told them you went to the Crator temple with me this morning. I had no more

excuses for you after that. Uncle Torgo just told Mama that you’re in Taratown. She’s

furious.”

“And you’re taking the brunt of it for me. I owe you big time, Andru.” Ana caught

a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye and turned the glider around to

inspect a large row of boulders.

“That you do. What will you tell them when you get home?”

“The truth,” Ana said stubbornly. She lowered her glider into the boulders and

moved slowly up a rugged path.

“I don’t know if you’re incredibly brave or desperately foolish,” her brother

groaned. “I think I’ll conveniently be out with the guys tonight. I want you home in two

hours. That’s plenty of time to say hello.”

“Yes, m’lord,” Ana taunted.

“Ah, someday you will say that,” her brother shot back.

“Just remember, you’re the younger.”

“You’re the only one who remembers that. And we live under Gothman law. I’m

the firstborn son.” Her brother laughed.

Ana flipped off her comm and maneuvered around an exceptionally large group of

rocks. What happened next was so sudden Ana had a hard time explaining it in detail

to Andru later. Something tugged her backwards, like the air suddenly decided not to

let her ride through it. The tug turned into an invisible barrier and her glider literally

came to a stop. She spun herself around quickly, looking above and below for what

might have stopped her. Before she could focus on the net that enveloped her, several

tall men surrounded her glider pulling it to the ground.

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She wasn’t sure how they did it, but somehow the three men pulled the net off her

glider and then managed to pull up her dome. She threw her leg over her seat and

attempted to jump at the man to her left. His balance faltered momentarily but the other

two helped in restraining her.

“Let me go!” she screamed, and fought violently under their grasps. Large hands

held her by the shoulders, arms, and legs. She contorted her body and could have

flipped free of them, if they’d only let go.

Much to her surprise—they did. Ana jumped several feet away from her captors

only to realize she was surrounded by boulders and therefore trapped—the only feeling

in the world that caused panic inside her. Ana turned and faced the three tall men who

watched her carefully. She pulled her laser and aimed it at the man in the middle. A

calm voice spoke, and she jumped.

“Don’t fire your gun.”

The order came from a fourth man she hadn’t noticed until now. He sat on one of

the boulders with long legs pulled up to his chest. His arms rested on his knees, and he

looked like he would pounce to the ground on a moment’s notice.

“Who are you?” She turned to face him but kept her laser pointed at the man she’d

initially singled out. Her mama taught her long ago that in combat, if someone told you

not to shoot, they probably didn’t want to see the person you were aiming at killed. It

wasn’t good strategy to change your target.

She realized that the man sitting on the rock was the man she’d seen through her

viewer. Ana caught herself studying his features. She had thought the man had dark

brown hair, but red locks, darker than a setting sun, fell in loose curls to his shoulders.

Wisps of chest hair peeked out from a low-cut V-neck shirt. His face wasn’t shaven, but

the hair on his chin seemed fine like a first beard.

The man wore dark green clothes, his pants the same color as his shirt, and he wore

a brown leather belt around his waist. The clothes fit him loosely, making it hard to see

at first scrutiny how big he might actually be, but she guessed him not the equivalent of

her brother and his friends, although he appeared to be older.

The man’s eyes met hers and she felt a jolt inside her stomach she hadn’t

experienced before. She didn’t feel nervous, but the quickening that settled in her gut

made her giddy. He had the most intense emerald green eyes she’d ever seen. They

were pools appearing to have no depth, and he seemed to look right through her every

thought sorting through them one at a time. She forced her eyes away from his and

instead focused on his mouth as he spoke, wishing the opening in her head cloak was

adjusted better over her eyes.

“I am Roth of the Barringswood tribe,” the man said, and cocked his head as if

trying to get a better look at her.

She remembered she wore her headscarf and that he couldn’t tell what she looked

like. There was no indication of her long hair with the scarf around her face and head.

Her large leather jacket made it difficult to detect her figure. She could feel the

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penetration of his gaze as the emerald green eyes swept slowly over her body and then

back up to her eyes. Again, she couldn’t meet them.

“Please, no one here wishes to hurt you. You can put down your gun.” He waved

an arm toward the three men. “Back off, give the lady some room.”

The three tall men stepped backwards toward the edge of the mountain allowing

her clear escape to her glider if she wished it. At the moment, she didn’t. This man,

Roth of Barringswood tribe, had just called her a lady and his eyes were on her again.

Slowly, she lowered her gun but kept it in her hand.

“Now, tell me who you are and what you’re doing on the mountain. I am sure you

know you’ve crossed the borders of your nation.” His voice remained calm and she

thought his accent remarkably similar to Gothman’s.

“I am Ana, daughter of Darius and Tara Bryon,” she said carefully, and watched for

his reaction.

His eyes narrowed, and then he smiled. “Darius and Tara? If you refer to Lord

Darius, leader of all Gothman, and Tara of the Blood Circle Clan and leader of all

Runners, then you certainly downplay your heritage.”

So, he knew something about her people.

“How do you know so much about my people yet I know nothing of you?” She

cocked her head and dared to meet his gaze. His eyes were beautiful and they sparkled

like fine jewels.

“As we speak, my brother meets with the leaders of your nation—your parents.”

He offered the information easily.

“Your brother and not you?” Ana assumed Roth must be the younger. “So, you sit

and watch for his safe return?”

“No, not exactly.” His grin turned mischievous. “I actually watched for a beautiful

young lady who played on her glider while long golden hair flew out behind her.”

Ana was eternally grateful for her headscarf when she blushed deeply at his

flirtatious comment. Many Runners as well as Gothman had made sexual advances

toward her. But this was a man…a good-looking man.

“You were watching me,” she said boldly, although she didn’t feel too confident.

For some reason, she didn’t wish to indulge in her usual cockiness that she displayed

around her peers. “I saw you watching me when I looked through my viewer. That’s

why I came here.”

His eyebrows raised but his smile didn’t disappear. “You came here to find me?”

“I wanted to know who you were and what you were doing up here.”

“Oh, I see.” He almost sounded disappointed. “We are Tree People and the

Barringswood tribe is the most powerful in our nation. When my brother returns we

will fly to our home on other side of the mountains.”

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“The other side of the mountains?” Ana looked at the rocks hovering above her.

“What’s it like over there?” She almost whispered the question and it brought a wide

smile to Roth’s face.

“You are an adventurer, aren’t you?”

She turned and smiled at him in spite of herself. “Do a very large number of people

live over there?”

“A very large number. Maybe you would like to see it some day.” He jumped off

the rock at that moment and she automatically braced herself defensively.

“You are an adventurer and a trained warrior.” He spread his arms out, palms up,

as if approaching a wild animal. “I have no plans to hurt you.”

She looked up at the tall man standing in front of her. He was definitely tall, she

was sure the top of her head might possibly come to his chin. His chest was broad, but

he wasn’t built like her father, or brother, or even her uncle. He was lean, not large, but

somehow still looked powerful.

Ana’s comm, which still hung around her ear, beeped and when she flipped it on.

Roth took a step to the side as if trying to see through the small holes in her face cloak

where her eyes were.

“What is it?” she spoke quietly.

“You are talking to one of your people?” Roth asked as he took a step closer.

She nodded her head and listened as her brother spoke into her ear.

“Ana, you need to come home. The guards sent to bring you home from Taratown

have found the bug that should have been on your bike. Uncle Torgo just finished

bombarding me with questions. If you hurry, you might get here before Mama and

Papa get here.” Her brother spoke quietly and she knew he chanced contacting her. Oh,

she owed her brother a very large debt.

“Where are they?” Her eyes once again locked with Roth’s.

“They’re having an audience with people from the other side of the mountains.

They call themselves Tree People. More than likely, your man is one of those people.”

“He is.”

“You’ve met him?”