Page 30 of Warlord's Mate

The bitch had poisoned her. She’d put something in the cup. “Is there something in the forest that could cause a person to get sick like that?”

The others all turned as one to see what she was looking at, Celestia making a noise in the back of her throat before sitting down. “Yes,hysleria.A leafy frond found near the pond. When dried, it can be added to liquid to induce purging.” Celestia shook her head. “If Jityria did this to you, I would be more careful how you speak to her.”

Marcy scoffed. “I’ll be damned. If that heifer wants to play rough, then so be it. I can assure you, I’ll come out the winner.”

Chapter Eleven

The warlord watched her for days after telling her to snap out of her funk and the added attention from him did nothing but piss Jityria off more.

Marcy didn’t accept any more cups of water or bowls of food from her but Jityria still managed to get back at her for the attention Jorrick was showing her by working her from sun up until sundown. And no matter how tired she was, Marcy made sure to let Jityria know where it was she laid her head down at night, pausing at the door of the warlords hut and making sure she made eye contact with the hateful thing. It was petty. She knew it was, but if having Jityria think she was riding the warlord into ecstasy every night was the only way she had to get back at her, then so be it. It wasn’t as if everyone in camp didn’t think it was happening, anyway. And why would they not? The warlord didn’t make any of the other females go to his hut at night—only her, so how would they know Jorrick hadn’t demanded she do anything other than sleep inside it with him? No one besides her knew that she always laid in the floor. Or that he picked her up every night and put her in his bed. She might as well just start crawling under his furs herself. She always woke there. Besides, as odd as it was to sleep with a man who didn’t want to have sex with you, Marcy wasn’t complaining. It was nice sleeping on a semi-soft bed of furs with a muscled hunk wrapped around her. Things could be worse and she thanked every deity known to man that things weren’t.

As they did every week, they were foraging for berries and nuts and anything else they could find that was edible in the surrounding forest. Someone had taken down another of those large wooly beasts and the aliens would be feasting tonight so Cayen needed more of those blue root things he sometimes cooked.

Marcy was on her knees, digging into the dirt with a short stick when an alien stepped into her line of sight. He came straight at her and grabbed her arm.

“Up on your feet.”

Marcy dropped her stick as he jerked her off the ground. “Geez, where’s the fire?” He started pulling her away from camp, further into the trees. “Where are we going?” He didn’t answer. She didn’t remember seeing him before but there were so many aliens in camp, most off on patrol somewhere, she wasn’t even sure how many there were.

They reached the ridge and started climbing up the small incline, his hold on her arm tightening. When he looked back over his shoulder, she saw what looked like fear in his eyes and she paused. He jerked on her arm when she did. “Let’s go. Don’t stop.”

“Where are we going?”

He licked his lips and looked back over his shoulder. Marcy did too. She saw Celestia running through the trees toward camp moments before a loud, shrill sound filled the forest. The alien holding her arm started to run, dragging her with him.

She’d seen enough abduction movies to know when someone was about to get caught and this alien’s skin suddenly looked wet and he started oozing an odor that was the most foul thing she’d smelled since being dumped on the planet. He was running scared and, if she had to guess, wasn’t from their camp.

Marcy knew it for a fact when they reached the top of the hill and saw half a dozen aliens stand up from behind a cluster of bushes they’d been hiding behind, the orange hulking alien from the arena one of them. He grinned at her, his lipless mouth splitting wide across his face. “Told you Kr’Atek would have you.”

As he had in the arena, he referred to himself in third person and puffed up his chest as if it was supposed to impress her. When he reached for her, Marcy did the only thing she could think of at the moment—she screamed.

The orange thing grabbed her and slung her over his shoulder, the breath knocked out of her when she started bouncing with every step he took. The surrounding noise grew, loud shouts and angry snarls chasing them as the alien carrying her started to run.

Marcy braced her hands on his back to try to stop bouncing so much. Despite the thick muscles that made up the majority of his body, his skin was soft to the touch. Marcy dug her nails in deep into his flesh, sinking them in far enough small dribbles of blood were seen. He yelled, jerking to a stop, and slung her from his shoulder. She hit the ground with a grunt.

Letting go of her hadn’t been his plan. He looked panicked as he reached for her again but Marcy jumped to her feet and ran before he could touch her. She barely made it five steps before one of the others tackled her to the ground. It looked as if those self-defense classes she’d taken were finally going to pay off.

Marcy bowed her back, bucking the alien up enough to grab his arm, then braced her feet and pushed him over onto his back, bringing her elbow down and jabbing him in the stomach until he let go of her. When she was on her feet, she kicked him in the face and turned to run before he could grab her again but was knocked down by another.

This one took a little more effort to get away from and she crab-walked backwards when she broke his hold. A stick lay by her hand. She grabbed it as she crawled back to her feet. “Stay away from me.”

The orange alien laughed. “You won’t be brave when before Allok. He waiting for you.”

The need to stay calm had been drilled into her head by the self defense instructor and she'd always thought she would be but at the moment, panic felt as if it was crushing her lungs. She couldn't breathe and when he rushed her, she weakly swung her pitiful excuse for a weapon at him, screaming when he jerked it out of her hands, the bark biting into the sensitive skin on her palms.

The aliens from camp finally topped the hill, and it only took seconds for the entire area to erupt into mass chaos. There were so many aliens, Marcy couldn’t tell who was from which camp.

Kr’Atek looked over her shoulder and growled, his mouth turned down on both ends. He reached for her again and Marcy clawed at his face before beating at him weakly with her fists.

The smaller aliens were now turning and running into the trees as the sentries from camp came rushing up the hill. Kr’Atek gave her one last look before turning and following the others.

One of the aliens that tried to abduct her was a couple of dozen steps away when the warlord stepped out from behind a large cluster of thickly leafed bushes. His blade was already in the air when the alien screeched and came to a stop.

The warlord’s blade sliced through the alien’s neck as if it were nothing before he leaped and swung at another. Weapons were flying, bodies falling, and Marcy didn’t know which way to go. She backed up against a large tree and slid down its trunk, making herself as small as possible, watching the fight. Her attention was on one alien in particular and she had a hard time looking away from him. The muscles under his skin moved in such a way she wasn’t able to do anything but stare at him. He looked fierce, his long blade swung repeatedly, and he never stopped until there were only a few aliens remaining.

He wiped his blade on the back of the alien in front of him and slid it into the scabbard at his waist before heading straight for her. He never said a word when he reached her, and she sucked in a quiet breath when he lifted her into his arms in one quick motion and started back to camp.

Vikram fell into step with him as he started down the hill. “Your orders, warlord?”