Defy (19 page)

Not long after that thought entered his head,
his hunger eased. Over the next stretch of time, Tate’s projected
emotions calmed. He couldn’t have been more relieved.

Then Sophia ran into the center of their camp
in her panther form, dragging the carcass of a wildebeest behind
her. She dropped the dead creature and then turned to the log
housing her clothes. When she grabbed the clothes as delicately as
she could with her teeth and hurried into the woods, Tiege
exchanged a look with Quincy.

Their relief over her safe return didn’t
last. Even as they stood to get the wildebeest for cleaning and
cooking, Sophia rushed back toward them from among the trees. Her
face was even paler than normal.

“I believe there’s a murderer nearby,” she
said, making Tiege’s neck hair stand on end. “One that preys on
females. I think Tate’s in more danger than we thought.”

Zachariah had about had it with females. Damn
Nyx and her bloody instincts.

His chest throbbed a bit where the
springy-haired female struck him. He wanted that fact to anger him.
Instead, he somehow found himself wishing she had hit him
harder.

He watched without comment as she returned to
her position next to the fire and sat with her arms hugging her
knees to her chest. Tears dripped from the eyes that only a few
moments ago had been sparkling with vibrant energy and emotion that
he didn’t fully understand.

How had he suddenly become responsible for
Nyx’s actions? he wondered with increasing frustration. Drumming
his fingers on his thigh, he wondered what the hell to do.

“Why did you leave me?”

His eyes moved to her. The question had been
a combination between a whisper and an accusation. And it finally
occurred to him that it wasn’t Nyx’s actions she held in such
terrible judgment. It was his.

What could he say? That he hadn’t cared
enough about some distended stranger to stick around? Though it was
the truth, it would surely just appall her all the more.

But he couldn’t lie to her. Somehow—and he
was deeply interested in learning just how—she had called all of
his bluffs, some even before they left his mouth.

Curse it. She already thought the worst of
him. What did it matter?

Yet, instead of that rather ugly truth, he
found himself saying, “I should not have left you alone.”

He registered her surprise, even as he
frowned. Why had he said that?

“Well, can you help me now?” she asked,
wiping her cheeks with the heels of her hands. “I mean, if you were
in that cave with me to heal me, you can’t be too far away,
right?”

“Why can you not fly to a platform for aid?”
he asked again.

“I’m not old enough yet to extend my wings,”
she answered. “In another…” she trailed off. “Well, I don’t know
how long from now, actually. I’m not sure how long I’ve been away.
But I should be able to extend them soon. And hopefully call forth
balls of light like other Estilorians.”

Her words mystified him. Despite himself, he
found himself moving closer to her. “Just what class of Estilorian
are you?”

“Don’t push your luck with the questions,
Sparky,” she said warningly. “I answered your question about
flying, and that’s more than enough for the moment.”

He found that fair enough. She wasn’t
pressing him for answers about his circumstances, after all. “Very
well. But I am not sure how I can be of assistance to you. At this
point, I do not know what direction you traveled upon leaving that
cave, and I myself have changed directions multiple times since
I—”

“How did you heal me?” she interrupted.

Losing his train of thought, he looked down
at her. “I administered the antitoxin.”

“Antitoxin? There’s an antitoxin for kragen
bites?”

“She did not bite you. There is a barb in her
tail that injects her victim with the paralytic toxin. You were
struck in the chest with the barb.”

“Ouch.” She made a face and once again rubbed
her chest. “Okay. So what’s the antitoxin made out of?”

“I created it using some of my blood—”

“Your blood?”

“You have the most atrocious habit of
interrupting me,” he said. He couldn’t help but notice that she
didn’t seem in the least contrite. “Yes, my blood. I have been
infected by Nyx’s toxin once myself, but I battled the effects and
overcame them. I now keep some of the antitoxin handy in case I
ever again need it.”

“Huh,” she said thoughtfully.

By some miracle, she was quiet for several
minutes. He watched as she settled back on the grass, crossed her
booted ankles, put one hand on her bare stomach and idly twirled a
light blue curl around the finger of her other hand. Her arresting
eyes focused on the night sky. Since he had the luxury to do so
without her yammering at him, he tilted his head slightly and once
again studied the cinquefoils around her eyes. Realization
dawned.

“Your second power is your ability to
recognize when someone is lying, is it not?” he guessed.

“Yep.”

The way she said the word resulted in a
little popping sound on the “p.” He found himself staring at her
soft, full lips after she spoke.

“Damn,” he muttered when he realized what he
was doing.

“Yep,” she said again, this time issuing a
giggle and smiling up at the sky.

The dimple in her left cheek made an
appearance. When he shifted his gaze to it, he noticed the bruising
that ran from her jaw down along her neck. There was similar
bruising at a variety of spots along her body, something he had
deliberately avoided focusing on before. Now, he frowned and looked
away before he did something foolish like ask her how she was
feeling.

“Did you take any of my blood or anything to
make the antitoxin work?” she asked at last.

“No.”

“Hmm.” She paused again. “Well, I was pretty
beat up. I had a lot of blood on me. Did you have any open wounds
that could have come into contact with my blood or saliva?”

He lifted his hand and looked at the faint
lines that still remained from Nyx’s swipe and the female’s teeth
when he opened her mouth. “Yes,” he said at last. “Why?”

“Easy. You’re a Gloresti. We exchanged bodily
fluids. That’s why we have this connection.”

He blinked. “That is—”

“Ridiculous?”

“Stop interrupting me.”

“That’s what you were going to say, isn’t
it?”

It was, damn it. But it
was
ridiculous.

She sat up, bracing herself with her hands
behind her on the grass. “Look, Sparky, I know you’re not happy
about this. I’m not exactly tossing confetti and throwing a parade
myself. But the fact is, we’re connected. We should make the most
of it.”

He frowned over her strange word choice.
Tossing confetti? Shaking his head to push the confusing thoughts
away, he said, “I was going to suggest having Nyx try and find you.
She hunted you once, she could likely—what?”

She looked at him as though he had lost his
mind. And when he questioned her, she dipped her head and gave him
an even more incredulous look.

“If I tell her not to harm you, she will
not,” he said.

She considered this for a moment. Evidently
reading the truth in his words, she glanced from him to Nyx and
back again.

“Well, you say that,” she said, “but Nyx
did
try to kill me, you know.”

He frowned. “So?”

She rolled her eyes. “If someone or something
nearly killed you and some stranger later tried to assure you that
the attempted killer would behave themselves around you, would you
take their word for it?”

He most certainly wouldn’t, and he knew she
would see it if he lied. So he said, “It is one thing if you do not
know whether you can trust the stranger. In this case, you can read
truth. What is the issue?”

She quirked an eyebrow. “What’s your real
name, Sparky?”

He stiffened. She nodded.

“Exactly. There are always shades of truth
and perception.” She got to her feet, stretched a little and then
walked closer to Nyx.

Zachariah moved forward to block her. “What
are you doing?”

“I’m going to sleep. Well, I guess I’m
technically already asleep, but you know what I mean. I figure if I
can sleep next to Nyx without her trying to stab me again through
the chest and we get through the night, I can trust her to try and
find me.”

“You are not sleeping by her.”

“I sure am.”

Completely ignoring his defensive position,
she ducked under his arm and crawled close to the sleeping kragen.
He could have stopped her, but that would have meant deliberately
getting close to her, something that he didn’t think would be in
either of their best interests at the moment.

“Don’t worry, Sparky,” she said with a sleepy
smile and a yawn as she settled herself against Nyx’s belly.
“You’ll protect me.”

He snorted. “I will n—”

“Lie.”

“Damn it. Stop doing that.”

“I can’t help it. The lie just radiates out
of you.”

“I was talking about the interrupting.”

“Oh.” Her cheeks flushed with color. “Sorry
about that. I’m used to talking around a lot of people. You have to
speak loud and quick to be heard.”

“Where did you—?”

“Not answering that.”

“You just did it again!”

“Sorry,” she repeated with a grin. Then she
patted the ground beside her. “Come on and get settled, Sparky, or
neither of us will be rested before the sun rises.” When he
hesitated, she added, “The longer you stand there, the longer
you’re going to have to listen to me talk.”

He narrowed his eyes. He didn’t doubt her for
a minute. It was an effective threat, too. Grumbling about her
manners and presumption, he joined her on the ground against Nyx’s
smooth belly. He left as much room between them as he could,
crossing his arms over his chest after he set his tomahawk on the
ground by his thigh. She ruined his efforts by scooting herself
closer, causing him to turn his gaze to the heavens in question of
just what he had done to deserve this.

“There’s something else I want to say before
I forget,” she said. Her voice was softer now. Less certain. It
made him look over at her.

“What?”

“Thank you for saving my life.”

He held her gaze, not knowing what to say.
Eventually, he nodded.

She yawned again, covering her mouth with her
hand. “Seriously, it’s time for some sleep. Sweet dreams, Sparky.
I’ll see you in the morning. Maybe.”

She didn’t seem to care when he didn’t reply.
He wondered why the hell they were still sharing this godforsaken
dream. Surely one of them should have awakened by now. He was even
more perplexed when her breathing evened out and she seemed to be
asleep. How was any of this possible?

He closed his eyes after a while, thinking
that if he slept in the dream, maybe it would allow him to wake in
reality. Then she sighed softly and shifted, causing him to again
open his eyes. She had managed to move even closer to him, he
realized in consternation. Indeed, when her head lolled a bit more,
her lemon-scented hair brushed his bicep.

Somehow, she seemed to be striving to annoy
him even in her sleep—in the middle of another dream.

Shaking his head at himself, he tried to
shift away from her. He realized as he moved that her weight was
unbalanced. The moment he eased away from Nyx’s belly, the sleeping
female all but fell against him. Growling low in his throat, he put
a hand to her head with the thought of shoving her forcefully from
him.

Her hair was like spun silk.

Unbidden curiosity quickly overrode his
irritation as his fingers sifted through the brightly colored
curls. He could admit that he had wondered whether her hair would
feel like normal hair. The shiny dark blue curls, in particular,
appeared to be made out of a sort of shimmering fiber more than
they did hair. He discovered now that the texture of all of the
curls was the same, regardless of their color. Fascinating.

Realizing what he was doing, he abruptly
dropped her hair. After giving more thought to the idea of shoving
her away, he glowered at the top of her multi-hued head. Then he
issued a resigned sound and moved his arm so that she was pressed
against his side with her head on his chest, as she seemed so
inclined to be.

“Damned females,” he mumbled as he put his
free hand on the tomahawk’s handle. He forced himself to ignore the
fact that another being was touching him for the first time in
ages, even in a dream. And worked harder to ignore the effect that
touch had on him. “Utter nuisances.”

But this time when he closed his eyes, he
slept.

"What do you think happened out here?” Clara
Kate asked in a quiet tone.

Tiege glanced up. Like Quincy and Ini-herit,
he squatted near the female Mercesti’s remains that Sophia found
while in her panther form. C.K. and Sophia stood beside each other
about ten feet away, studying the area in the moonlight.

“There are a number of tracks,” Tiege said.
“And holes in the ground.”

“For tent stakes,” Quincy observed.

“A mobile Mercesti camp,” Ini-herit added. “I
am thinking there are anywhere between thirty and fifty Mercesti,
depending upon how many could fit in each tent and whether they all
even resided within the tents.”

“It certainly isn’t unheard of for a Mercesti
to die at the hands of another Mercesti,” Quincy said. “In-fighting
is rather common, in fact. Perhaps that’s what happened here.”

“This female died particularly violently,”
Sophia murmured. Tiege barely made out the words. “Her blood was
spread over quite a circumference.”

“Maybe she was attacked by an animal,” C.K.
hazarded.

Sophia hesitated, but then shook her head.
“There were no animal scents surrounding the remains that would
lead me to think that. And…”