Do Or Die [Nuworld 4] (46 page)

promises they exchanged during the day, she would disappear. There was only so

much time to prove her argument to him. And she’d barely made it to Tara’s tent last

night. Obviously, Gilroy had been told of the cruelties she was administering to Andru,

because Meah noticed he seemed to watch her like a hawk. She knew what bothered

Andru more than the private torment she was putting him through. It was the not

knowing where she was sleeping at night.

So when she crawled out of the escape flap on the backside of Tara’s tent she was

very cautious not to be seen by any of the Gothman guards. Over the past few days

she’d crept to Tara’s tent successfully, and each morning managed to sneak back out

before dawn. Tara assured her that her tent, right in the middle of the Gothman

campsite, was the safest place for Meah to hide. Again, it seemed the woman might be

right. It was only the third day, though. Meah knew it would take a lot more than three

days to show Andru she would not be reckoned with. She would not be controlled. He

would not think for her. She would never let him own her.

Meah was actually glad to feel the gentle rain and see the heavy clouds when she

freed herself from the tent. She crept easily through the campsite in her black Runner

clothing and the thick blackness of the early morning. Once at the Runner camp, a mug

of coffee warmed over one of the large fire pits was just what she needed. The Runner

cooks were just starting to get up and move around, but someone managed to find a

thick slab of bread and spread honey butter on it for her before they continued with the

process of preparing food for the troops. There wasn’t much else for her to do at the

moment, so she jumped in to help. Although she desperately wanted to go climb into

her own bed and catch a few more hours of sleep, she knew if Andru found her there

she would have incredible difficulty turning him away.

In fact, this was another problem Meah hadn’t foreseen. She needed to talk to Tara

about this one. All of the flirting and public fondling she was participating in with

Andru was having an incredible impact on her. She wanted Andru—badly. Her old

feelings toward him were slowly taking over the feelings she’d developed after he

raped her.

Meah threw together a Gothman honey loaf, a popular Gothman breakfast. When

the breakfast was ready, she carried the steaming loaf back over to the Gothman

campsite. She had almost reached the center of the campsite where the Bryon tents

were, when her comm vibrated in her pocket.

“Meah, we’ve spotted one of the armies.” Gilroy didn’t bother with the formality of

introduction.

“Really? Where were they spotted?” She started walking quickly toward Andru’s

tent as she spoke on her comm.

“It’s about a two-hour flight from here. I’m assembling armies right now. You

should do the same.”

“Right. Where’s Andru…and Ana?”

“If you don’t know where your claim is then it’s not my place to tell you.”

Gilroy’s odd answer confused her but she disregarded it as she reached Andru’s

and Gilroy’s tents. Andru and Ana walked out of Gilroy and Ana’s tent as she walked

up.

“Gilroy, Andru and Ana are right here. They just came out of your tent.”

Gilroy said nothing. In fact, he was quiet for so long, Meah almost forgot their

transmission was still connected.

“I brought you breakfast.” Meah was glad Ana was there. It was getting more and

more difficult to be alone with Andru.

“Oh, Andru, look at this,” Ana squealed with delight. “Did you make this?”

“Yeah, I brought cream sauce too.” Meah smiled as Ana pulled off a chunk of the

honey bread, broke it in two, and handed half of it to Andru. He smiled at his sister as

he accepted the chunk of bread then took the bowl of cream from Meah.

“Let’s eat in my tent,” Andru said as he ate. Meah wrapped her arm into Ana’s and

headed toward the tent behind Andru. She wasn’t about to let Ana escape. Andru

wouldn’t cause any scenes in front of Ana—he was always very gentle around his

sister. That was the Andru of her dreams, the Andru her imagination had conjured up

as her perfect lover, a gentle yet powerful man.

“Meah, give your comm to Andru.” Gilroy’s voice in her ear almost made her jump.

“I need to go over a few things with him.”

“I almost forgot,” Meah said when they were in Andru’s tent. She’d noticed that he

hadn’t referred to it as their tent. Did that mean he’d told Ana that she was sneaking

away at night and leading everyone to believe otherwise during the day? If he had, that

would be an indication that her scheme was working. She needed to dissolve his pride

enough for him to see he wouldn’t rule both Gothman and Runners.

She pulled her comm off and handed it to Andru. “Gilroy wants to talk to you.”

Andru took the comm and wrapped it around his ear.

“They’ve spotted one of the armies.” Meah grabbed Ana’s arm and told her as

Andru spoke to Gilroy. “We need to prepare armies to head out. He says they are about

two hours away.”

“Oh, fantastic. I was getting really crazy in the head sitting through this waiting

period.” Ana squeezed Meah’s hand. “How many armies do you think we should

send?”

“We need to find out how many soldiers are in this army and we should send out at

least that many warriors of our own. Anything the Gothman send out will then be

ample reinforcement.”

Andru pulled the comm from his ear and handed it to Meah. He grabbed her hand

when she took the comm and didn’t let go but instead pulled her to him. “Ana, let’s

each send out five hundred warriors. We need to be ready to go within the hour.”

“Sounds good.” Ana grabbed another piece of the honey bread and dunked it in the

cream before turning to leave the tent. Meah frowned when she realized Ana didn’t ask

how big the army was. She allowed Andru to lead the show and simply implemented

his instructions. Tara was right.

“Meah will be with you in a few minutes.” Andru smiled warmly at his sister when

she turned to see if they were following her. Ana held her brother’s gaze for a moment

then smiled gently in return before leaving.

“Where did you sleep last night?” Andru turned her around quickly when they

were alone.

“You no longer care about the two nights before that?” She smiled innocently as he

held both her arms.

“Damn it, woman, what is this?” He shook her once and then relaxed his grip

somewhat. “Your little game is wearing on my patience.”

“And so what will you do about it?” Meah held her head up high and stood firm in

front of him even though the top of her head barely reached his shoulders.

His entire body tensed and she felt his grip on her arms tighten until the circulation

disappeared. Still, she remained undaunted.

“Obviously, there is an end to your madness.” He pulled her close to him and lifted

her mouth to his by cupping her chin in his large hand. “All I can do is hope that you

will get this little game out of your head before I’m forced to seek out a mistress.”

His arms tightened quickly and his mouth devoured hers. She gasped in spite of

herself when she felt his hard body from his legs standing on either side of hers to his

iron chest smashing her growing breasts. She struggled to catch her breath when he

slowly let go of her and then backed away.

“The passion is in you, my lady.” He smiled and rubbed her red lips with his rough

thumb. “I believe we will both be a lot happier when you submit to it.”

“I have no intention of submitting to anything or anyone.” She turned away from

him quickly and walked toward the tent flap. He was right behind her when she turned

on her heels quickly and poked a finger into his chest. “And if you start running to

another woman for sex, I’ll disappear and so will your child.”

Meah slipped through his fingers and was out in the moist air before he caught up

to her side.

“I’ll not be threatened,” he whispered as he slipped his hand casually around hers.

“And, my lord, neither I nor my race will be intimidated by the heir to Gothman.”

* * * * *

Over a thousand warriors once again lifted into the heavy, dark gray sky less than

an hour later. They flew at high speed to the spot indicated on their landlinks. Andru

didn’t like not knowing anything about his opponent. Hell, they didn’t even know what

race these people were, or more than likely, what races dominated their armies. He

couldn’t overcome the sensation of moving blindly, and he didn’t like that feeling.

Tara ordered Ana and Andru to stay behind and instruct their commanders from

landlinks in her tent. Andru protested heavily but Tara stood him down with the

authority of a seasoned warrior. She wasn’t in the mood for his bullheadedness. As

leaders they would serve best if they let their armies do the fighting and stayed out of

the heart of battle so they could think clearly. The tent was heavily guarded, and Tara

paced back and forth behind them as her twins sat together at a long table noting

incoming reports and communicating with Gilroy and Meah.

Tara knew there was no way an army with over a thousand warriors could attack

with the advantage of surprise. The unknown army would have scouts surveying

surrounding land as they moved. She hoped the army would be taken off guard enough

though that the Runners and Gothman would be able to attack and annihilate without

too much effort. Always the hope in battle.

A Runner scout confirmed sight of several troops approaching at the same time the

first explosion ripped through the air. Meah shouted orders into her comm and

immediately raced through her surrounding guards toward the source of attack. Gilroy

came through her comm and told her there were several small troops on the Gothman

end of their large army, each attacking at opposite ends of the large Runner and

Gothman wall of warriors that filled the air.

It started raining right before Meah got word that the two attacking armies were

eliminated. The dark clouds hung so low that when the rain hit, it became difficult to

see for a distance. Everyone began relying on their landlinks to guide them.

“I’m going down,” Meah told the leader of the scouts she was flying with.

“Continue toward our destination and keep me posted if there are any more attacks, no

matter how small.”

“Sounds good.” The Runner flying next to her looked over and gave her a thumbs-