Claimed: The Warriors of Nur (23 page)

“You please me well,
Duša
” he praised, kissing her shoulder as she collapsed into him. 

“You please
me
well, Tarzan” she teased.

He chuckled.  “Nothing brings me more pleasure than to please my mate.”

“Hmmm…” she sighed.  “When will your brothers return?”

“Soon.  Another moon covering at most.”  They swayed, the rocking hammock lulling them both into lethargy.  “The
Bashkim
has ended.”  He hated to see the end of their hiatus, an understanding of their future obstacles heavy in his chest.  “Come,
Duša
,“ he shifted into a sitting position, her slight weight positioned snuggly in his lap.  Standing, he started for the entrance.  He’d been meaning to do this for the last three moon coverings, but had been unable to bring himself to do it.  Striding thorough the halls, the cold stone of their mountain dwelling echoed the slap of his bare feet as he made his way to his rooms.  Bending, he let her feet slide to the floor before turning away to the neatly packed shelving that occupied an entire wall, a menagerie of furs and other items lining them.  Reaching into his
borża
, he withdrew a small circular item, a light, almost silent pulse emanating from it.  Turning, he extended his hand, palm up, the black device centered delicately within.

Leo stared.  In the center of his palm lay her OD Wrist Unit.  “How--?”  She stared questioningly up at him, her hand covering his.  Retrieving the unit, she turned it in her palm.  Here lay a key component to her obstacles.  With the unit, even if she was unable to return to her EP, her sister would be able to track her once she reached the planet’s surface.  “Where did you--?” She swallowed, remembering the last time she’d seen it.  It had been when it’d been ripped off of her--along with the rest of her clothes--when she’d fought Kereteki.

Erol didn’t answer, silently closing the unit around her wrist until it locked into place.  He cupped her face, his thumb tracing the outline of her lips.  Her face, in resolute sorrow, sat fresh in his mind.  “Heed my warning, Leo’Nya.”

Uriel drifted, a cloud of platinum blonde flowing around her, a liquid sun burst.  She sighed, closing her eyes as she allowed the warm springs to bleed the tension from her over used muscles.  The return journey seemed to have taken twice as long as the journey there, the miles made longer with the loss of anticipation.  That, and the constant nagging criticism of her unwanted protector.  It seemed that everything she did, Cahil took exception with.  She couldn’t breathe deeply without him commenting on her depth of breath and how it made her breast more noticeable, and how that tempted males, and on, and on.  She hadn’t enjoyed the
Bashkim
at all.  Well, not as much as she would have liked to anyway.  Any unmated male that crossed her path--blood kin excluded--was treated to a show of bared fangs and unprovoked aggression from her brother.  The few non-blood males that were there were fostered, and after one encounter with Cahil, they’d given her a wide berth for the rest of the gathering.  The only saving grace had been the opportunity to socialize with the other females.  Some were equal to her, some puerile and some well-seasoned.  Most were well seasoned, but regardless, they all provided her with tidbits of their experiences.  Experiences that she yearned for.  Every moon covering, she sat in a corner of the
Zelt
with all of the other unmated and whispered about the things that they all hoped for.  To find a strong male to take as
Mati
, to travel to Stolica where the High
Mexxeja
sat, to apprentice the
Tobba
.  For hours she’d listened, her own dreams spinning unvoiced in her head.  Like all young females, she knew she’d leave her family clan to strengthen another, knew she’d have to settle into the life decided for her by her brothers, but unlike the others, she didn’t rejoice in it.  When she slumbered, it wasn’t images of young that raced behind her eyes, but instead a kaleidoscope of places and things that she’d never see.  Images of other worlds wrapped her in wonder when she closed her eyes.  It was this that she dreamed of when she imagined her future.

She sighed.  Those images--much like the solitary moments she now stole--were fleeting.  They were something that she would never be able to have.  Off-world travel, while not impossible, was extremely rare.  For a female well…impossible was a perfect description.  She knew her limits. She only had until her brothers found her to enjoy her time here alone.  Before she knew it, they would discover her gone from her quarters and nowhere to be found within the dwelling.  She cringed to think of the reprimand to come, but she couldn’t regret her reckless behavior.  She would have the whole of her life to feel trapped, unable to move freely, unable to explore, unable to just….be.  She wasn’t a fool; she understood that her freedom--the little that she was still allowed--was only that…allowed.  Her brothers indulged her out of love and a desire to see her happy.  Her mate, the male she would choose to
Mati
, would feel no such desire.  To him she would be property.  Cherished and protected, but property all the same.  It was with those thoughts in mind that she allowed herself to float, and when a shadow blocked the sun, she opened her eyes expecting to see the angry blue rimmed lavender eyes of her brother; instead she was greeted by a gaze so filled with rage that the pupils dilated until only blackness shone from their depths. 

Uriel gasped, her head sinking below the surface, her mouth filling with sulfur tinged water.  Flailing, she grasped at the hands that held her, the weight of the larger female bearing into her until the only thing left above the surface was her feet as they kicked for purchase.  She stared into the shadowed face above her, the hunched form blocking the sun until it was just a black shadow above her, no clear features available in her outline.  The weight on her was constant, no hesitation in the obvious intent.  Uriel continued to struggle, her hands rising above the surface to grasp at the female above her.  Her lamentation of her future limitations stopped cold,  in a moment she saw the grief of her brothers.  They would mourn her.  She prayed that they would at least be able find her remains.  That her brothers would find the peace in offering her as they were unable to offer their
Majka
and
Patro
.  Sorrowed rimmed the now blackening edge of her consciousness.  The sorrow of that one loss was still fresh, and now they would weep for another.  Her sight dimmed, her vision shrinking to a pin-point before snapping closed to complete darkness. 
This was death…

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

The thick vegetation swayed slowly.  Avi surveyed the structure before her, the scopes giving her a view as clear as if she were crouched directly before it instead of three kilometers away.  Mountainous was the most apt description she could give, and somewhere within that rock was her sister.  The internal lenses flashed a muted red as the signal from her sister’s tracking unit reactivated the locator.  Now, all she had to do was follow the blinking light.  Literally.  The dark around her seethed with the sounds of alien wildlife, high pitched calls blending with low hissing growls to create an almost deafening symphony.  Her suit, while protecting her from the almost fridgid temperatures, had begun to lose some of its heat, not enough to concern her, but definitely enough to make her a little less than comfortable.  From her perch she searched for her team, the IAESC’s finest equipment allowing them to blend seamlessly into the growth below her.  Security settled in her stomach when she was unable to pick them from the muted green vegetation.  Silently, she blended into the dark trunk, the shadowed green of her suit shifting to an almost black now that she no longer sheltered within the leafy foliage.  She dropped silently to the ground, her back pressed into the trunk until she was certain none but her team was near.  Upon arriving on the surface, it’d become obvious that the EP was abandoned.  Their only option was to locate Leo’Nya by her personal tracking unit.  Now, ten hours later, they’d finally narrowed her location.

“Activate communications” she whispered.  She didn’t need to speak any louder for the communications device to activate.  “Maintain stationary status,” she commanded.

“Target status?”  De’Lhila’s voice rumbled in her ear, the device morphing a whisper into normal volumes.

“Stationary.”

“Plan of action?”  De’ questioned.

“Signal’s stationary about three kilometers up.  Massive structure.  She must be in a cave.”  Avi hesitated.  She hated being on unfamiliar ground.  Not knowing what to expect usually put her in a mind-set of ‘Fuck it, whatever happens…happens,’ a frame of mind that in the past had served her well.  But it was easy to say ‘Fuck it’ when it wasn’t her family--technically her only family-- hanging in the balance.  In this moment, she wasn’t willing to deal with the fallout.

“Missy.  Suggested plan of action?”  Avi waited.  She hated putting the decision in another’s hands.  ANY other’s hands, but the fact was, she wasn’t the expert here.  As DR&FA, Aramis Turner was the man with the blueprint.  He had the knowledge and training to get them on and off this rock most effectively, and from the moment they touched down, he’d pulled his weight.  The last ten hours was just the warm up to what she was about to ask him to do.  “Get us there undetected.”  It was a command, not a request, an expectation that he was competent and capable of doing the impossible.

Aramis hesitated, sweat beading between his shoulders to roll down his back before being absorbed into the air-wick mesh of his chame-suit.  He shifted, his wrist rising to eye level where he pulled up a small three-dimensional hologram of the terrain around them.  The wooded area around them ended abruptly, leaving them 1.5 kilometers of open desert to cross, and he had to figure out how to do it undetected.  While the chamo-suits afforded them an advantage, there was no way to camouflage movement within an otherwise still plain.  Once they started moving, they’d be visible.  Sure, they’d still retain the exact color and visual detail of the area they came in physical contact with, but moving mounds of sand were noticeable.  “Vegetation breaks in a kilometer and a half, Captain.  After that, it’s open desert” He rotated the image, his finger spinning it as if it rested on a turn-table.  “Adequate coverage is located two kilometers east.  It’ll add 60 minutes to our recovery time, but we won’t be out in the open.”

Avi simmered with frustration.  Sixty damned minutes.  There was no way they’d be able to recover Leo before daybreak.  Their 12 hour window would be nearly up before they reached the other side.

“Compartmentalize, AB.”  De’Lhila’s voice, cool and commanding, poured into her ear.  “She’s lasted this long.  Don’t sweat another day.”

‘She’s lasted this long…’
  Thirty-six damned hours!  That’s how long they’d have to wait until night would fall again.  Avi balked, every nerve screaming for her to take the fastest way to her sister.

“Fast is sloppy, AB” De’Lhila cautioned as if she had a ringside seat at the debate in her captain’s head. 

“Fast is sloppy,” Avi repeated.  A verbal acknowledgement.  “Take lead, ‘Missy.”

“Understood, Captain,” he responded after only a moment’s hesitation.

As one they began to move, the echo of the night creatures muting any evidence of their passing.  They’d spotted some of the natives in the distance earlier in the night, when the light was just fading, but since then, there’d been no sign of life aside from the ever-changing pitch of the creatures surrounding them. 

De’Lhila relaxed into the familiar lull of physical activity.  Whether fighting or marching, the burn of strained muscles always soothed her.  This is where she was most comfortable.  Automatically, she tracked the area around her, years of training not allowing her to fall completely at ease in such a foreign setting.  The wood around her reminded her of the rainforest at night, the thick vegetation shadowed by the even thicker trees above.  She could imagine that it was extraordinary in the light, the dark unable to completely mute the healthy green colors.  She could remember, as a child, seeing the lush decadence of the Amazon.  Her father, unable to deny her, had taken her on deployment.  They’d spent months trekking through the thick humidity.  Where most girls her age would have wilted, she’d thrived on the freedom of being in a place so untouched in its grandiosity.  She’d found it amazing to realize her insignificance.  Breathing deeply, she took in the unmistakable scent of life and growing things.  It was a scent that was unchanging.  Alien or not, nature gave her comfort.  “We’ll find her, Avi.”  She whispered softly, needing to reassure her friend.

“I know, De’” Avi answered.  “She’s tough.”

“Of course she’s tough.  I taught her everything she knows.”

“I’ve seen her ‘flyin’ boa’” Avi chuckled softly.

“Yup, that’s definitely her fave,” she grinned.  “TK can’t even get her off.  She’s like a spider monkey.”

“So that’s where it came from.”  Avi smiled, the anxious frustration settling a little more calmly in her stomach.  This was her family.  Hers AND Leo’s.  They wanted her back just as much as she did.  It felt good to remember that.

“Yup.  She wounded his manly pride.”  She laughed softly.  “Just picture it, TK flapping around with your sister wrapped around him like a demented Diamondback.  It was priceless.  He couldn’t get her off to save his life.”

Silence fell, the familiarity comforting.  “She’s tough, right De’?” 

“Yeah, she’s tough.”

“What do you mean GONE?!”

Leo cringed, her body pressed to the cool stone behind her.  Cahil pressed forward, his larger frame corralling her until she was trapped, his arms barriers as strong as steel, on either side of her.  He bent, his face coming to within inches of hers, his hot angry breath bathing her face.  His eyes, usually beautiful blue-rimmed lavender, bled to deep crimson.

“She needed some time alone,” Leo found her voice.  Unable to sink any farther into the wall, she faced him, her chin jutting rebelliously.

“What?”  He growled, his claws scraping the stone as he pressed further forward.  “You know NOTHING
Aljeni
”

“I know you were driving her crazy.”  Anger simmered anew.  The naturally effervescent female had returned home, sad and down trodden.  It hadn’t take Einstein to see beyond the forced smiles to the forlorn confused young female beneath.

“I only seek to protect her!”

“You were smothering her!”

“Who are you to speak of things you know nothing of?  You are not Gwerriera Nies, will never be of us.  You do not understand our world!  Be careless of yourself, but not of my sister.”

“Your right!  I’m
not
Gwerriera Nies, and if you’re an example of how a Gwerriera Nies woman should be treated, I’m damned glad of it.”

“You dare—”

“I dare!” she yelled, anger making her incautious.  Yeah, he was bigger than her--much bigger.  And yeah, he could definitely maim, hell, kill her if he wanted, but she couldn’t stand a bully, and that’s what he was.  A bully.  She’d watched him bully his sister time and again in the name of ‘protecting’ her, and she was tired of watching it.  She was even more tired of watching everyone else watch it and do nothing.  Human or not, everyone had a breaking point, and she’d recognized that Uriel was at hers. 

“Tell me where she is!”

“Fuck you!” she returned, channeling her inner Avi’Nyla.  So this is what it felt like to really let go.  She was so gonna have to do this more often.  She felt power, a surge of righteousness in her defense of the female she was becoming to think of as a little sister.

“Back away brother.”  Erol struggled to hold himself.  The burnt scent of his mate’s anger clogged his nose, and the sour season of her fear hung beneath it, fading, but still present.  It took everything in him not the rip the male before him apart, the remembrance of his affection for his sibling, the only thing holding him at bay.  It was unacceptable that another should frighten her.  That another would dare touch her in anything but tempered affection.  That his brother dared to threaten her, in voice or action, was unforgiveable.

“Uriel is gone.  This
Aljeni
,” he spat, “will not tell me where.”  He continued to cage her, not moving an inch from his threatening pose.

“Back.  Away.  Cahil.”  The command erupted on a growl, his body heating. 

“CAHIL!”  Atif pushed into the room, his body positioned between his two brothers.  It took but a moment’s observation to understand the very real possibility of bloodshed that hung between them.  “Erol!” he barked.  He watched the gray-white eyes bleed to crimson.  “Calm, brother!”  His request unheard, he watched elongated fangs drop heavily from his brother’s gums.

Erol crouched, his weight shifting to balance him.  A growl, low and menacing, sounded from the pit of his stomach. 

“Cahil—”

Cahil spun, his weight shifting low to meet the threat.  “You would protect this
Aljeni,
brother?  Above our sister?”

“He would protect her as his mate, brother.” Atif answered for him.  “As his
Mati
, Cahil.”

“She will not tell me where Uriel is.”  He roared, the sound echoing from the surrounding walls.

“There must be a reason, brother.  Back away, Cahil.” He glanced behind him, his anxiety rising at the deep rumbles Erol continued to loose.  “She will tell you where our female is—”

“Wanna—” Leo’s mouth snapped closed, the look Atif blazed at her vocal enough to shout ‘shut up’ loud and clear.

“Leo’Nya would never harm Uriel.” Atif met her gaze, silently entreating her cooperation.  “Would you…
sister
?”

Leo hesitated, the unsolicited title giving her pause.  “N-Never.  I would never cause her harm.  I just wanted to give her some time. 
Alone
.”

Cahil snarled at that last word.  “A female is not safe
alone,
Aljeni
.”  He turned to face her, Erol’s elevating growls no longer holding his attention.  “Would you have her taken?  Forced?  Abused, so that she can have time ALONE?”