Tyler's Story (Tales of Quelondain) (7 page)

“Is he still there?” inquired Tyler softly.

She nodded.

“Describe him to me. Maybe if we keep describing him,
it will take longer for you to forget.”

Heidi closed her eyes and touched to bandana. “He’s
got black hair. It’s curly, but he doesn’t like it so he keeps it
cut really short. He’s got great eyes. They’re the darkest blue
you’ve ever seen. Tanned; if he’s not at work, he’s outside. He’s
just over six feet, so a bit taller than you, but thicker than you
are.” She stopped short, suddenly aware that even though she was
describing Blake, it was Tyler she was picturing in her head.
“Jeans; he’s always in jeans and hiking boots and T-shirts. If it
gets cool out, he’ll put a bunny hug on. He’s got one, his green
one, that he’s had since he was about seventeen. The cuffs on the
sleeves are all ratty but he refuses to get rid of it.” She
pictured it over his broad shoulders and she continued her
description as his image formed in her mind. “He’s funny and he’s
always joking around. One of our favorite things to do together is
hiking.” She thought back to the day she’d crossed over. They’d
made plans to go out on the trails for the afternoon. Blake had
phoned and cancelled due to issues at work. She didn’t mind. She
knew she’d see him later that day when he’d come home just before
she’d leave for work. She’d decided to head out on her own just as
she’d done thousands of times before.

She swallowed hard and a tear slipped down the side
of her face. She heard Tyler sit beside her and his hand ran over
her arm.

“Come on. You can clean up at the creek and we should
have you dressed in something that fits before the day is out.
Here’s hoping that in another week, I can have you home.”

Heidi sat up and wiped her arm across her face.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her eyes on the ground.

Tyler smiled softly. “You’re welcome.” He helped her
up and led her to the creek. “Take your time. We have a good hour
before John wakes up.”

She nodded with a laugh.

“I’m going to go start the fire.” Tyler saw the
flicker of panic in her eyes. “I won’t be far and I’ll be just a
few minutes.

The panic subsided and he headed back to the camp.
John was still snoring. Tyler knelt by the fire pit, his flints
raised. He frowned. The forest was quiet. Too quiet.

“John!” He heard his friend scramble to his feet as
he ran toward the river, John’s footsteps close behind.
“Heidi!”

He stopped short as he broke through the cover of the
trees, his eyes darting up and down the creek, searching for any
sign of her. John crashed out of the woods.

“Bloody hell! What’s going on? I was having a dream…”
He stopped talking at the panicked look on Tyler’s face.

Tyler ignored him and squatted to look at something
on the ground. “They have her,” he growled.

“What? Who?”

“Majs.” He pointed to the tracks in the wet earth;
boot and paw prints reaffirmed his conclusion. “Let’s go.” He
stopped short as John grabbed his arm.

“I know where they’re going.”

Tyler frowned. “Aren’t they taking her to Howel?”

John shook his head. “There’s a camp near
Growlen.”

Tyler’s eyes flashed. “What kind of camp?”

“It’s where they keep the rogues. It’s not much of a
camp, really; more like a really big cage.”

Tyler’s growl rumbled through him.

“The sisters can help. They have a friend that works
the gate.”

Tyler took a deep breath and tried to calm himself.
“Alright. Let’s go.” They quickly put out the fire, shifted, and
left. After hours of running, John shifted and bent with his hands
on his knees in an attempt to catch his breath.

“Which way?” questioned Tyler.

John pointed and the two of them walked another five
minutes until they came across a small cabin in a clearing. The
front door opened and two women with long blond hair and dark blue
eyes ran out.

“John!” They took turns hugging him.

The older of the two grinned. “You look
fantastic!”

He blushed and shrugged. “It’s amazing what a little
food will do for a being.” He noticed the younger of the pair
staring at Tyler. “Girls, this is Tyler. Tyler, Mina and
Maddy.”

Tyler nodded politely and John went on to explain
their predicament.

Mina frowned and looked to her older sister before
gazing at Tyler. “I’m not sure what the problem is, then.”

Tyler clenched his jaw. “She hasn’t done anything
wrong. She doesn’t belong in there.”

“Alright, well, it’s an odd request and I’m not sure
how you think you can get her out, but we’ll take you there. Vic is
working the gate tomorrow.”

Tyler took a deep breath and tried to smile. “Thank
you.”

“Until then, you can stay here.” Maddy led them back
to the cabin and showed them where to set their things. Mina
appeared from the kitchen with four mugs of sloan. Tyler thanked
her and took a sip of his ale.

Mina smiled up at him. “And where are you from,
Tyler?”

“Howel, originally. Here and there, lately.” He
noticed Maddy watching her sister.

“And your mate…” Mina let the comment hang in the
air.

“I don’t have one.”

Mina’s lips curled slightly and she lowered her
eyelashes to look at him as she took a sip of her sloan. Tyler
groaned inwardly. Not again. He set his mug down and nodded
politely to the sisters.

“I’ll be back.” He turned and went outside to sit
with his back to the cabin.

“What’s with him?” inquired Maddy.

Tyler could hear the grin in John’s voice. “He’s not
very social to start with and he’s worried about Heidi.”

Mina grunted. “I was just being friendly.”

Tyler took a deep breath and shook a mental finger at
himself. She hadn’t done anything, really.

“Why does he care so much about this human?”
questioned Maddy.

“He found her, therefore, I think he feels she’s his
responsibility. Tyler’s great that way. I wouldn’t want to get on
his bad side. The man’s deadly.”

Tyler rolled his eyes and leaned his head back. Heidi
was his responsibility. He’d promised her he’d get her home, and by
the moons, he was going to do it if it was the last thing he did.
Promises weren’t something he took lightly. He waited until the
conversation turned to more pleasant things before he returned to
join them. They talked of nothing in particular for the next couple
of hours. He avoided looking at Mina, though he could feel her eyes
on him. He excused himself and settled in for the night with a sigh
of relief.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was a full day’s travel at a trot to get to the
‘camp’ and the closer they got to their destination, the tenser
Tyler got. He took a deep breath to calm himself.

“Another ten minutes and we’ll be there,” announced
Maddy.

John glanced at his friend. Tyler blew out of his
nose and ran a hand through his hair.

“What’s the plan?”

Tyler frowned. “We’ll ask them nicely to give her
back.”

“And if they don’t?”

Tyler’s companions all shivered at the darkness in
the eyes he turned toward them. “Then I take her back.”

“Tyler, you can’t just kill the guards if they don’t
let her out!” Mina looked horrified.

“Mina! Maddy!”

Everyone looked up at the sound of a man’s voice
calling to the women. They grinned and waved at the tall blond man
who looked to be in his early thirties. His light brown eyes took
in Tyler and John.

“Vic!” Both girls gave him hugs.

He grinned and set them down. “To what do I owe the
pleasure of this visit?”

“We need to ask a favour of you.” Mina was doing the
eye fluttering trick women liked to pull on men and Vic looked
completely in love with it.

“What can I do for you?”

“Vic, these are our friends, Tyler and John.”

Vic nodded. “John I’ve met before. You’re looking
well, man.”

John grinned and Tyler nodded his greeting. His dark
brown eyes locked with Vic’s lighter brown ones.

“There’s been a misunderstanding and we think a
member of our pack was put in your ‘camp’.” Tyler growled the last
word.

“If he’s human, then there’s no misunderstanding.
This is where they go.”

“She is human, but she’s no rogue. She just crossed
over and has no idea about Braw.”

Vic took a deep breath. “Little brunette with amazing
eyes?”

Mina frowned and Tyler nodded.

“Listen, I’d love to help you out, but once they go
in, they don’t come out.”

They all turned to look at the twenty foot fence with
a thorny top rail. Even if someone managed to climb to the top,
there was no getting over. From this close, it was impossible to
tell how big the enclosure was. It stretched out as far as they
could see in both directions.

“Rainen knows of this place?” Tyler frowned.

“Of course.”

“I highly doubt it.” He met Vic’s gaze once again.
“Considering her mate is human, I’d say she might have some
objections to this.”

Vic grunted. “That’s just a rumor. Rainen would never
be mated to the enemy.”

Tyler turned and nodded to John. “I’ll meet you in
Growlen.”

John’s eyes widened, but he nodded. “Stay safe.”

“Stay safe.” Tyler turned to the sisters. “Thanks for
your help.”

Both frowned.

Tyler spun, his fist connecting with Vic’s jaw before
he sprinted toward the gate. The second guard yelled a warning
which cut off in a whoosh of air as Tyler’s shoulder collided with
his abdomen.

Tyler jumped and pulled himself up onto the roof of
the small hut stationed by the gate. Cries of alarm and warning
shouts echoed through the air. Tyler looked down and saw three more
guards running toward him. He unrolled his blanket, climbed the
rest of the rails using the almost non-existent spaces between
them, then swung the blanket so that it covered the thorns. He
noticed some of them managed to tear through and he gritted his
teeth as he hauled himself over.

“Where’s the key?”

“Stop him!”

“Halt!”

Tyler ignored the shouts and managed to hear John
mumble something along the lines of ‘well, I guess I’ll be off,
then’ before he shifted and loped off. He chuckled at the
bewildered looks on the guards’ faces as he tipped his head in
farewell, shifted, and bolted deeper into the enclosure. He ran
until he could no longer hear the men. He wasn’t scared that they
might come after him. They’d be daft to come in after him even if
they were armed. Five guards against the moons knew how many
rogues… it was suicide. He grunted. And yet, here he was. He
reached down and made sure his dagger was loose in its scabbard.
Now, he thought to himself, if I was a scared human girl, where
would I be hiding?

His eyes turned up into the trees.

“Hey, you!”

Tyler turned, making sure his pack covered his
dagger. He thought quickly and brought every saying he’d heard his
Aunt and other humans he’d heard say come to mind.

“Oh, thank god!” he exclaimed, glad he managed to
give the words his Aunt’s accent. She always said that Majs tended
to sound Irish and whatever that meant, he didn’t think it was a
good thing at this point in time. “I’m looking for my wife! Please,
tell me you’ve seen her!”

The man, he couldn’t have been much older than Tyler,
ran a hand through his black hair, frowning. “Ah, I guess that
depends.”

“What’s wrong?”

The man seemed to shake himself mentally. “Never
mind. I thought you were one of them.”

Tyler let his jaw drop. “Why the hell would you think
that?” He prayed to the moons the man wouldn’t ask to see behind
his ears. The sight of his Maj mark would be a sure giveaway he was
lying.

“Just the clothes and the pack. They don’t let us
keep those.” He shrugged again. “So, your wife, eh? What’s she look
like?”

“They just brought her in. She’s about this tall,
long dark brown hair, grey green eyes… her name’s Heidi.” Tyler
held out his hand. “I’m Tyler, by the way.”

“Nathan.” He smiled and shook hands. “How long ago
did you cross?”

“A month ago. Me and Heidi were taking a walk and the
next thing we knew, we were here. What the hell is this place?”

Nathan grinned. “Damned if I know, but it sucks. Come
on, we’ll head over to the camp. Maybe someone found your wife
wandering around.”

Tyler took a deep breath and plastered a smile on his
face. “Thank you so much!”

It took a few minutes of making a trail through the
dense brush, but soon the sounds of life reached his ears.

“Hey, Garry!”

“What’s up, Nathan?”

“They just dumped another one. Garry, this is Tyler.
Him and his wife crossed over about a month ago.”

A man with greying brown curls and dark eyes nodded
to them.

“They took my wife and separated us.” Tyler clenched
his jaw and swallowed hard, hoping he looked more devastated than
ready to kill. “Did anyone find her? Her name’s Heidi.”

“Tyler!” Heidi’s yell rose an octave as she ran out
of the tent and ran at him, her hair streaming behind her.

“Thank god!” Tyler caught her in his arms and almost
fell over with the force of her hug. He brought his face down to
her neck. “They think I’m human and you’re my wife,” he mumbled
softly so no one would hear.

She gave a small nod of her head and looked up at
him. His heart clenched at the tears running down her face.

“Shush, love, it will be alright.” He noticed
everyone was watching. “You’re not hurt?” He silently swore as the
last sentence came out sounding Irish. She shook her head and he
breathed a sigh of relief. He closed his eyes. “We have to get out
of here.”

Nathan grunted. “Good luck with that. Trust me, we’ve
all tried.”

The cry of a young child made Tyler frown. “They put
little ones in here?” He couldn’t disguise his accent as the anger
exploded from him. A few of the men and women were starting to
frown. Heidi gripped his hand and plastered herself to his side. He
pulled her close.