Dark Warriors: A Dark Lands Anthology (Darklands) (22 page)

“Besides,” Razzi continued, “had we not disabled the guardian, she might have gotten more than a sore head.”

Armetris fingered the hematite earring in his lobe as he considered the woman lying at his feet.

Keg knew from his cousin’s letters that once Luna would have listened had Armetris asked her to stop her activities. For that matter, she would have traveled the length of the swamps by snake-back had she thought it would impress him. The teenage Luna had been an amusing, but lovesick, tagalong; always right behind the young men who’d followed Armetris into danger. As often as they’d shake her, she would show up in the middle of their adventures at the worst possible times. It had come to either teaching her a warrior’s survival skills or tying her up before they left home, something that would be difficult to explain to her overprotective brother. About the time the slim girl had developed budding breasts and unwittingly caught the interest of two of the young warriors who’d attached to their group, Armetris had to forever end her adventures. She hadn’t taken well to the exile, but what else could he have done?

The men who had tried to rape her had suffered worse.

Keg’s jaw tightened as he recalled what else his cousin Armetris had told him. Since her exile from ‘the boys’ Luna had taken to sulking in the swamps for days, sometimes weeks at a time. Even as she’d grown into adulthood her hostility toward Armetris had not passed. She lived to cause him trouble. Her newest pastime, this technology tomb raiding, had gotten out of hand. Lately all they’d done was chase down and retrieve the things she’d sold to others, hiding them well out of the reach of innocent hands. To give her the credit due her, she’d kept the more damaging items out of the settlement; hiding them away in a yet-to-be-discovered spot. They’d find it. They had to. But first they had to deal with her.

And deal with her man-eating sidekick. He considered the petite Dey. Early twenties or not, she could still pass for a much younger girl with the pink ribbons woven in her dark hair. Even the slight pout to her full lips whenever Keg was near and the way she looked at him sideways, under her lashes, made her seem younger.

Just now she stood there, arms crossed, pink nails tapping, and a mulish cast to her pretty features. It was ludicrous.

“Whatever moved you to think you could guard her back, midget? One of the spiders crawling through these tombs could wrap you up and have you for a snack.”

She bristled. “A spider like you?”

She’d meant it as an insult, but still his lips curved into a provocative smile. “A leading question if ever I heard one. And here I thought you didn’t like me.” He winked at Razzi, who chuckled.

Dey fluttered her lashes at him, but her expression remained irritable. “How could I not like an overgrown, obnoxious geek with a bad haircut,” she eyed his long topknot and the cropped hair below his ears, “bad taste in jewelry,” she wrinkled her nose at his turquoise earring, “a tattoo he thinks is sexy,” she arched a brow at the black thorns circling his biceps, “and poor bathing habits?”

The bathing crack was off the mark and juvenile besides, but he dismissed it as desperation, since it had been a while since they’d traded insults and she was obviously rusty. But still.

He leaned forward and breathed deeply of her scent, his nose almost touching her neck, relishing her startled exhalation. “Hm. You smell pretty ripe, too. It’s hard to find fresh water in a swamp, isn’t it?” It was no truer than her comment, but it did shut her up.

Armetris came to a decision. “She’ll live,” he pronounced, slinging Luna over his shoulder as he rose to his feet. Her hands dangled down his back, brushing across his leather jacket as he moved. Razzi trailed along behind.

After gesturing for the still simmering Dey to precede him, Keg fell in behind him, killing the lights in the now empty chamber.

Luna would never find where they’d stashed the hoard now, even if she were dim enough to come back. Not that he could see her braving the backdoor again, not after this. A smile curled his mouth.

It was so much easier to use the front door, like them.

Hunger woke her.

Dey stirred and winced. She was lying on someone’s bedroll, at the base of a swamp tree with huge aerial roots, and a rock was poking her in the back. Someone had draped a bug screen over the roots, using them as a tent to protect her and Luna from bites. There was a loud splash to her right as something submerged, confirming their location as still in the lower swamps. By the arc of the moon it was well past midnight, edging toward daybreak.

A fire crackled to her right, and she turned her head to squint at the dark shape beyond it. Razzi glanced at her, then went back to his whittling, ignoring her.

The covers fell to her lap as she sat up. Exhaustion from the night before encouraged her to lie back down, but she resisted, patting herself down for the packet of cleansing tissues she kept for moments like these. The gentle pop and hiss of the fire wasn’t quiet enough to cover her swearing. Someone had taken her combat vest.

“Having a bad morning?” Keg sat up and tossed off his own bug protection, then reclined on one forearm, watching her. The man had the uncanny ability to wake at the slightest noise; his blue eyes more alert than hers could ever be so early in the morning. Even so, he was human, for his accent, an oddity in a settlement with few new arrivals, betrayed the huskiness of recent sleep.

Sub-human, she grumbled. The blankets slipped down his bare, muscular chest, and in spite of herself she sucked in a breath. No man should look so good that early in the morning, she thought testily; especially one whom she was determined not to like. Thoroughly put out, she groused, “Where’s my gear? I need to find my stuff.”

He reached behind him and tossed it to her.

She fumbled in the pockets until she found the tissues, sighing with pleasure as she wiped the grime from her face and hands. Someone had left his canteen by her, so she took a swig, dampening her dry mouth. Then she stood up, placed her hands on her lower back as she gingerly stretched. Her brown pants shifted uncomfortably low on her hips, the lacing loose from hours of sleep. An itch started on her side just under her bustier as the tight muscles pulled and relaxed. Dey scratched it absently with one hand as the other felt around the back of her neck for the claw she kept on a chain. Every time she slept the thing worked its way to the back, and even that faint pressure felt uncomfortable on her windpipe.

An appreciative growl rumbled from Keg’s direction. “Just a little more to your right, if you please.”

Dey dropped her arms and scowled at him. His hair had slipped from his leather thong and now wafted in a silky fall around his shoulders. At the moment he was pretending to leer at her with all the interest of an adolescent.

At least she thought he was shamming.

Disgusted, she flipped her raveling braid out of her way and pulled on her vest and boots. She appropriated the canteen, but left the bedroll. It was only a few hours walk back to the settlement from here.

She bent to nudge Luna. “Hey, wake up.”

Luna moaned something unintelligible and rolled over.

Exasperated, Dey shook her harder. “Come on, girl. Get up!”

One green eye cracked open. “Oh, it’s you.” Her eyes started to drift shut.

Dey whispered, “Unless you want me to leave you here with Armetris and the goon squad, I suggest you wake up.”

That did the trick. She wasn’t coherent, but Luna was on her feet and moving within seconds.

“Don’t you want something to eat?” Keg asked as they turned to walk away. He was kneeling by the fire, checking a skillet that had been left on the coals. Delicious smells wafted from it. Armetris had sat up and was watching them, but made no move to detain anyone. And why should he? He’d already accomplished his goal.

As far as Dey was concerned, they could all wander into a nest of water snakes, but the mention of food brought her up short. Her stomach rumbled, encouraging peace. Still, she couldn’t let him get away with what he’d done without a single word.

Luna took care of that. Turning slowly, she drawled, “Why not? It’s the least you owe me for cracking me over the head and stealing my treasure.”

“First finder is keeper,” Armetris countered without remorse. “And I’m sorry about your head. Have something to eat and forgive me.” Even his apology was command.

Since it served their purpose, Luna and Dey parked at the fire and gorged on roasted fish stuffed with grain and wild fungi. The food was good, but Dey was starved enough not to care if it had been half-raw and under-seasoned. It was always hard for her to eat in the excitement before a raid, and she’d barely nibbled dinner last night. Besides, she had a lot of walking to do today and needed the energy. Slogging through bug-infested bog was hard work.

Finished, the women wiped their hands on their pants and stood up. Already the sun streaked the horizon with crimson and gold. It was time to go.

“Great food,” Luna said. “Enjoy your spoils. See you.” She was half a dozen steps from camp before anyone could stop her.

Intent upon her goal, she ducked under a tree root, using it for balance as she stepped onto a rotting log that crossed a small stream. She managed three steps before the loose bark shot out from under her feet, sending her crashing down in a spread-eagled sprawl, her legs barely straddling the spongy wood underneath. “Ouch!” Her feet splashed in the water, wetting her waterproof boots.

Dey winced and paused with one foot on the log. This didn’t seem to be the way to go.

The sympathetic chuckles behind her didn’t help Luna’s rotten humor. It took a moment, but she made her way to the end, wincing as she slid off the log in a shower of decaying bark.

Dey sighed and prepared to follow. This could be a long day.

They hadn’t traveled far when large objects crashing through the brush alerted Dey that they were being followed.

Determined to ignore their escort, Luna kept her face forward as Armetris pulled up beside her on his symbiont hover cycle. The heated argument that ensued had Dey dropping back.

Unfortunately her action put her abreast of Keg’s cycle. The creature, a huge version of the symbiont that all their people wore around their forearms, made no noise as it flowed beside her. Only the slapping of brush betrayed its presence.

Well, that and its obnoxious rider.

Keg hadn’t bothered with his shirt, had simply tossed his jacket on over his bare chest. “It’s a long walk. I could give you a ride back.” His voice held no rancor, only a polite desire to help.

At first Dey didn’t reply; she overheard the argument and was siding with Luna. Because of her mixed blood the symbionts refused to respond to her. Everyone had a silver cycle, and took for granted the ease of transportation the shape-shifting creatures provided. Nor did they require maintenance, for at night the huge creatures hunted and sucked the toxins and impurities that were their sustenance from their prey. Anyone who wanted one could have one on their sixteenth birthday.

At the moment Dey was equally dependant on inferior transportation. Her symbiont cycle had disappeared for the season and wouldn’t be back until it divided, the symbiont way of reproduction. At times like this it proved an inconvenience, but it was one she could live with.

Besides, walking was good for a body.

Her train of thought was interrupted as she saw Armetris stop and Luna mount behind him. Surprised, she stopped and stared as the pair took off. Luna must have decided that accepting a ride would get her out of his presence faster.

Unfortunately, it left her with no choice but to do the same. She frowned at her nemesis, who watched her expectantly. Considering her perpetually dark mood since he’d caught her in the tomb, it was surprising he bothered being polite. Perhaps it was time to grow up. “All right. Thank you,” she added grudgingly. He smiled and her stomach did a little flip.

Maybe there was good reason to remain prickly. The man could be dangerous given half a chance. She placed a hand on his shoulder and mounted with one fluid motion. Instead of putting her arms around him, however, she rested them on her thighs.

It was much, much safer that way.

Immediately the symbiont cycle extended tendrils and wrapped them around her feet and calves, webbing her to the bike.

He glanced over his shoulder. “Hang on.”

No way. This close contact with him was bad enough. Just the thought of putting her arms around him, no matter how innocently, was enough to trip her heart into double time.

Keg was one fire she had no intention of being roasted by.

“I’m not a novice; you know how often I ride. It’s not like you’re going to go that fast through the brush, anyway. Just go.”

The bike lurched into motion, so suddenly she knew he’d done it on purpose. It was either grab him or get tossed around by the motion. Nor did he take a safe, sedate pace through the trees. No, Keg sent his request for speed through his symbiont interface and the bike leaped forward. The pace was thrilling, if dangerous, and it was moments before she realized that she was now plastered against his back. Her hands had skipped entirely over his jacket and were now flat against the solid strength of his hard stomach. Horrors!

The speed was wonderful, but the branch that suddenly whipped her bare arm was not. She flinched.