Page 16 of Warlord's Mate
The thought whispered inside his head as he slipped his pants on. Allok had sent Zasra into the woods the day of The Chase, pretending to be newly arrived on Prison Moon One, and knew she’d crawl into his bed. Had probably told her to and sending the girl to Allok …
The thought of her in thatdrehansbed—his fist clenched. No, there were better ways to go about this. Him being in possession of her was enough to anger Allok into wanting another confrontation and depending on if the rumors were true and she really did possess magic, then Allok would bring the fight to him. He’d not have to risk sending her into the enemy’s camp. If he kept her long enough, Allok would come to him.
Of course she’d fall running out of the cave. Marcy limped toward the path and stopped once she made it under the sparse canopy of trees lining it and looked at her knee. She’d scraped it pretty bad. Luckily it wasn’t bleeding much, but now there was proof of her crime.
Her face still felt hot, the embarrassment at getting caught gawking at Jorrick the most humiliating thing she’d experienced so far on this backwards little moon. She should have left the moment she saw him but—he’d been too tempting a sight to turn away from.
She was on an alien planet and although most of the aliens here looked like those she saw on those science fiction movies and TV shows back home, Jorrick didn’t. If it wasn’t for that odd golden tint to his skin, he could pass for human. Well, until he opened his mouth, and those fangs were seen. But other than that, he just looked like a long haired, bearded, body-builder. A damn good-looking one at that.
She heard something behind her a few moments later and turned to look. Jorrick was behind her now and gaining on her. If her damn knee didn’t hurt so much, she would have run just to save her from more embarrassment but, he would have probably come looking for her, anyway.
Ignoring him, she limped down the path but jumped when he suddenly grabbed her arm. “Why are you not at camp?”
How the hell had he caught up with her so fast? He stepped closer to her and asked again why she wasn’t in camp, the tone of his voice telling her not to lie. “I went to the pond to wash my face.” His hand tightened on her arm. “There’s no coffee on this awful planet and I needed a pick-me-up. I figured a splash of cold water would do it.”
When he said nothing, she glanced at him. He was staring at her as he had the day before, as if he couldn’t decide if he wanted to eat her for lunch or beat her senseless.
He said nothing else as they stood there and for some odd reason, she heard music, as if some planetary soundtrack was playing in the background like some weird alien TV show. Then she remembered. Shewason an alien TV show. Prison Moon One was the hottest reality show in the universe. Of course they’d play music for their encounters.
Movement behind the warlord drew her attention, and she saw one of the flying camera orbs. That had to be where the music was coming from. Funny—she’d never heard it before when they were around.
His hold on her arm loosened. “You are not to leave camp without an escort or permission. Is that understood?”
She nodded her head at him. When he let go of her arm, she started down the path again, trying to ignore him behind her, and focused on the vegetation that grew on this planet instead. It was similar to earths but the colors here were more vibrant, as if the bright splash of fall colors were washed over everything. The only thing that looked normal was the occasional white flowers growing in clusters but they all looked as if they hadn’t bloomed yet, the petals all rolled into a tight ball.
When she made it back to camp, she saw Jityria. As usual she looked furious. She marched across the clearing, nodding her head to Jorrick in greeting before looking at her and pointing toward the far end of camp where the other females were. “Go sit with the others. I will join you in a moment to give you your orders.”
Marcy sighed and headed across the clearing to where the other females sat. She gave them a smile in greeting when she plopped down onto one of the stools, then glanced back toward the path. The warlord was still watching her.
Chapter Six
Jorrick stared at the back of her head for a long while with one thought running on repeat inside his mind—she’ll leave if you don’t watch her.
Her leaving camp alone was proof she would be more obstinate than the others. They did nothing unless told to do so. That one acted as if she could do as she pleased, her leaving camp said as much. He’d have to break her of thinking she had free will here.
Movement out of the corner of his eye brought his head around. Vikram and Darqu were standing beside him, Grynn walking his way. He noticed Darqu’s attention on the girl and felt a flash of anger at him boldly staring at her. “Did you need something?” he asked, irritated.
Darqu turned away as Vikram said, “Yes, warlord. Only to tell you that Aris is missing.”
Jorrick felt his gut clench tight at Vikram’s words and looked at the men he’d sent on patrol. “What do you mean, he’s missing?”
“He did not return with the others.”
“He wasn’t supposed to be with the others!”
Grynn, one of the oldest in their camp, reached his side and stepped forward. “He said you told him to go with us, warlord. We had no reason to doubt him.”
Jorrick clenched his jaw and pushed his hair back away from his face, the fear he’d hoped to never have to live through again making it hard to breathe. He knew trouble would be waiting for them soon enough but not this soon and certainly not this way. Aris missing was undoubtedly Allok’s doing. “Gather more to help in the search. Leave with half and send the others to me.”
He turned and started toward his hut. Anxiety caused his stomach to tie into knots as he crossed camp, but anger overpowered his fear a moment later.
Why did Aris go on patrol when he’d told him not to?Because you told him not to, that’s why.He stomped into the hut, snatching his weapons from the table.If he’s not already dead, I’m going to kill him.
Jorrick strapped his long blade to his hip and put the bandolier back on, the crisscrossing straps getting twisted on the back. “Jityria!” He shoved the small blades into the slots cut for them and turned when he had them all in and headed back outside.
“Jityria!” He didn’t see her. The others had gathered, Grynn’s group heading into the trees as he stood there, the rest of the group waiting for him.
Jityria didn’t come running as she usually did and he saw her nowhere in camp. The human was now by the central fire pit and he crossed to where she was sitting, her head raising and turning in his direction as he approached. There was wood ash on her face and her hands were black. She was once again as filthy as she’d been the day before when he brought her to camp. “What have you been doing?”