Page 7 of Orc’s Promise (Knotty Monsters #3)

CHAPTER SIX

TANSEY

M y breathing is fast, deep, from fighting Verig—to no avail—before he dumped me and walked off… after promising to fuck me. I don’t understand the male or this unexplained fascination I have with him. Taking my eyes off him borders on nearly impossible.

When he spoke those words in a deep voice filled with promise and certainty, a thrill traveled through me, nearly making me follow him…. To do what, precisely?

I don’t know…

Verig is not what I expected…or want.

What I want is to be released, so I can return to my son.

“Tansey? Is that you?”

I recognize that voice from New Earth. I spin around, taking in the room where Verig left me. It’s not a room, but a huge chamber. With fur-covered pallets on the floor, light discs chest-high on the wall, and eight human women. Phoebe, Amara, Poetry, Calista, Tallulah, and three I don’t know .

The brute didn’t bring me to his quarters. This is the women’s quarters Paloma told me about.

“We didn’t know,” Phoebe says, her face sullen.

“Didn’t know what?” I ask.

“Soon after we arrived in Mount Racha, Paloma ordered the orcs to give us this space to ourselves, unless we chose to stay with the orcs who kidnapped us. We,” she motions to the seven women standing behind her, “chose to move in here. All those times we saw you with that orc outside…” Her shoulders sink.

“We thought you’d given in to him. Wanted to be with him. ”

“Baloq didn’t give me a choice,” I spew with venom they don’t deserve. They’re not in charge here.

“We didn’t know that at the time. Paloma and the female orc who’s always with her just stopped by and explained everything. I’m sorry, Tansey, if we had realized what was happening, we would have said something to the orcs.”

I search their faces, most of them wear terrified expressions. They wouldn’t have spoken up. Perhaps Phoebe would have, had she known. I believe her, but it changes nothing.

“It’s okay. It’s no one’s fault. Except the orcs.”

With a relieved smile, Tallulah steps aside and points to several pallets. “You can choose whichever one you like. They’re actually pretty comfortable. And the latrine’s not far from here. I’ll show you around, if you’d like.”

They’re trying to include me. Which is more than I ever had from most of the women back in New Earth. Then again, that could be because I kept to myself. Here, there are so few of us that our differences disappear. Their faces reveal the truth; they’re scared and clinging to each other for safety.

Safety is a nice idea, but a fleeting concept in reality.

I approach one of the palettes and sit down, still trying to process why Verig brought me here when he could have taken me to his quarters. I guess he meant everything he said about their laws .

He’s nothing like Baloq.

Maybe some of the orcs can be trusted.

Then again, they stole me and these other women. One act of decency doesn’t erase what they’ve done. Nor can I let it distract me from going home to Ethan. I need to be strategic, and to do that, I need information.

“Apology accepted,” I say without reservation. “Now, tell me everything that’s happened to you since we were kidnapped…”

“He was quite clear, Paloma. Verig said he’d…” I lean into her and whisper, “fuck me. Soon. He emphasized the word ‘soon.’ That was a week ago. He’ll take me soon.”

“It wasn’t a threat,” Paloma says as she swallows a bite of her late-night snack. We’re sitting by one of the many fires at the base of the mountain, enjoying the night air.

Despite Paloma’s invitation to visit her last week, I don’t know my way around the massive tunnel system. Wandering alone, looking for her chamber in a multi-level, dark maze of tunnels with too few light discs, is a recipe for disaster.

For the past week, I’ve remained in the women’s quarters, only leaving when a group of six or seven women goes out for fresh air or to eat.

Tonight, when I spotted Paloma sitting by herself, I broke off from the group so I could speak with her.

I suspect Verig won’t do anything to me while I’m near his grak’s mate.

“You’re right. It wasn’t a threat. More like a promise.” I couch my words where possible. Paloma’s latest escort, her eight-year-old orc niece, is sitting with us. Evve appears to be soaking up Common rather quickly, so I don’t want to say anything crass in front of the little girl.

I scan the area, that sense of being watched as strong as ever. “He’s here, watching me.”

Paloma looks around. “I don’t see Verig, but Kodex is watching you.

” She nods to the skinning area. Sure enough, the warrior is standing there, doing nothing except watching.

It’s not like we’re sitting on the edge of the woods either, where there’s always the possibility that some wild animal might strike.

We’re smack dab in the middle of camp, where it’s safe.

“I guess Verig’s off somewhere working and couldn’t waste his time stalking you, so he assigned the job to another,” she jokes.

“Not funny. That’s exactly what he’s doing. It’s how he’s always able to find me so easily. He cornered me in the tunnel, leaving the bathroom more than once.”

“Maybe he needed to use the facilities.”

“All these people, and I happen to run into him in the same tunnel twice in two days?”

“You’re on the same pee schedule.”

“That’s not a thing. But each time, I passed one of his warriors on my way to the bathroom. Five minutes later, on my way out, there he was. Waiting for me.”

Paloma lifts a brow, less amused than earlier. “What did he say?”

“Nothing. Not a damn word. He just watched me.” My jaw tenses. “That’s right, he did say one thing beneath his breath. Mine.”

“That’s…interesting.”

“Interesting?” My voice climbs high in disbelief. “He’s stalking me. Except he’s developed an entire network, using his men to keep track of me. Verig im Stalker, Inc.”

Paloma laughs, then quickly covers her mouth, trying to squelch her laughter. “I’m sorry, but I like how you morphed his title from im Neld to im Stalker. The word im means ‘the’ in Orcan.”

“I’m not here for a language lesson, Paloma!”

She shrugs. “Okay. Yes, it’s possible he’s stalking you, but you have to look at it from an Orc’s perspective.”

“And that is what? He wants to get laid? ”

She rolls her eyes. “Show me a guy who doesn’t want that.

Look, Tansey, all I can say is that Atox trusts Verig implicitly.

And I’ve never seen any indication that Verig would harm a woman.

He’s probably watching over you to make sure none of the other males pulls the same shit as Baloq.

” As she rises, she hands her plate to Evve, who runs off with it to the cleaning station.

“It’s only a matter of time before Verig catches me alone somewhere.”

“Weren’t you alone near the bathrooms?”

“For a few minutes, but that’s a high-traffic area.”

Evve rejoins us as we walk to the tunnels. Paloma’s heading back to rest. If I go with her, eventually I’ll have to walk through the tunnels alone, but I don’t want to lose this chance to talk with her.

“I’m telling you, this is how the orcs talk, nothing more,” she says with a casual wave of her hand. “All dominant and possessive. Even the women. Sorry, not you, Evve,” she says, cupping her hand over the back of Evve’s head. “I was thinking about your mom.”

“That woman doesn’t take sh—manure from anyone,” I admit.

“Orcs are very…determined, I guess is the word. When they see something they want, they go after it. Hard, but that doesn’t mean you don’t get a say.

They can be reasonable…if you push past all the stubbornness.

Honestly, Tansey, I don’t think you have anything to worry about with Verig.

Make it clear what you want.” She bites her lip.

“Though you may have to shout to be heard. Orc males aren’t the best listeners unless it has to do with weapons, patrols, fighting, and all that alpha male sh—manure. ” Her smile eases my mind.

“I gathered as much. Thick heads.”

Paloma’s eyes go wide, and she whispers, “You slept with him?”

Precisely what I didn’t want to think about…how big Verig is! I’ve seen that loincloth of his tent on several occasions .

“Not that head. Get your mind out of the gutter,” I scold.

Paloma opens her arms wide, showing off her belly. “Hello. Pregnancy hormones. My head now lives in the gutter. And Atox’s head lives in my?—”

I clamp my hand over her mouth. “Child present.”

As if Evve understands she’s not supposed to be listening to this part, she runs down the tunnel, which I suddenly realize leads to the women’s quarters.

I was so caught up in my worries about Verig that I didn’t realize Paloma was walking me back before going to her own quarters.

I guess she understands my worries more than I give her credit for.

Evve opens the door and peeks inside at the three women, the few who never leave this room except to use the bathrooms two tunnels over. The others always bring back food and drink for them. “Many human females. Mate warriors,” Evve says.

“You’re right. I need to watch what I say,” Paloma says. “Evve has picked up more Common than I realized. Fabulous!”

“Fabulous?”

“Atox wants to bring the bantarans here to install language chips in all the human women, so everyone can communicate easier. All the warriors have chips, but none of the orc women, kids, or non-warrior males have them. The chips are expensive. If the kids are learning Common on their own, that will help. Now, back to this problem with Verig.”

“He’s more of an obstacle slowing me down from solving the real problem, which is escaping here. I need to get back to our colony.”

“You haven’t given the orcs a chance yet.”

“I have a son back in New Earth. I left him with a friend for a few hours while I went to the main part of the settlement to return a book I borrowed from Holly. I’m sure Ethan’s fine, but I’m his mother, Paloma. I won’t let anyone or anything keep me from him.”