Between Two Tiron (22 page)

Shard lifted the carefully wrapped bundle and carried it to the large table. He placed it on

a hastily cleared area, before he went to work on the wrappings. The elegant, glossy surface of

the large vase gleamed in the bright light.

“It is a nice piece of work, but I see nothing special about this vase.” Kaleb tilted his head

and studied the scenes painted on the large vase on the table.

“Ah, but you‟re only seeing it as a nice piece of late period work. You‟re not really

looking at it. You don‟t see the message that‟s plainly there if you would only look.” Lina smiled

as she waited to see if they would see any of the clues without further prodding.

“What makes this vase special and not some of the others we have found?” Shard looked

at the vase, but saw nothing special about the scenes or in the way it was painted. It looked like

random scenes from a day in an old
thent
.

“I‟m not going to give you the answer to this puzzle. You‟ll just have to discover it on

your own.” She turned to leave the artifacts tent before she gave them another hint simply

because they were making no progress on their own. She wanted them to do this, to solve this

puzzle without her giving them aid. Half of the joy of learning the secret was in the discovery.

Shard‟s large hand tangled in the long, flowing strands of her hair. The move effectively

stopped her exit. She looked over her shoulder and sighed. Arrogant man. He would only release

her when he was ready. There was no use struggling against his hold.

“Tell us.” Shard gave a teasing tug on her hair.

“Are you admitting that two wise Ardin can‟t solve such a simple puzzle?” Her smile and

sassy tone taunted and teased. She cocked a hand on her hip and winked at them. “I thought you

were such cunning warriors and astute leaders.”

“We‟ll solve this puzzle.” Kaleb‟s hand cupped her hand and tilted her head until she was

staring into his green eyes. “When we do solve it, I want an apology for the slurs and teasing,

rah’ki
.”

“
If
you solve this, I‟ll apologize to you.” She smiled and gave a regal nod.

“I want detailed stills of the entire vase, even the bottom.” Shard released her hair just

before he paced over to the end of the table where all the documentation on the artifacts was

kept. He lifted some of the still images that they had of the large jar. “Closer, and I want more

detail than these.”

Sauntering out of the tent, she grinned. She had no doubt that they‟d discover exactly

what was so special about that urn. Especially now that they felt they‟d been challenged. She‟d

enjoy watching them work through the puzzle until they saw the truth.

Shard came out of the tent and with a few long strides caught her as she strode across the

camp to the work table. His arm slipped around her waist, pulling her close even as he urged her

away from the table and toward their tent.

“Don‟t you have a puzzle to solve, my Ardin?” She raised her brows in challenge.

“That vase isn‟t going anywhere.” The hand at her waist moved up to cup her breasts.

“Your impertinence might just need lessening.”

Soft, feminine laughter tumbled from her lips. “I‟m still not going to give you any hints.

You can threaten as much as you like. I insist that you solve this without help.”

Shard‟s fingers left her breasts to dance over her ribs. “
I’ma
, you‟ll know when we‟re

threatening. It will be a moment before we deliver on the promise.”

“Consider me suitably intimidated.” The wide grin curving her lips and the laughter

lurking in her voice belied the submissive words.

Shard hooked his arm around her waist more securely and spun her around in a circle.

“You‟re a distracting little thing. You‟re lucky I don‟t have time to teach you now. Tonight,

i’ma
, we will impress upon you the wisdom of proper deference to your mates.” Shard‟s hand

landed a light swat on the curve of her buttocks just before he left her.

Her eyes followed him hungrily. They were such teases sometimes. Just when she was

ready to crawl into bed with him and forget her own work, he had to remember that he had to go

somewhere.

Lina stretched, feeling the delicious aches in the muscles of her legs. They‟d been

insatiable last night. From teasing to thought-shattering intensity, they had shown her a variety of

sexual levels.

Flipping onto her stomach, she couldn‟t stop herself from thinking about them and

everything that had happened. She felt so much with them and not just sexually. Her emotions

were definitely deepening. Her feelings surpassed liking and came close to love already, even

with the trials of adjusting to life in a
thent
and answering to someone else. She had no idea why or how she had come to feel as she did about them in such a short time.

She had even noticed a difference in the way her feelings for them were growing. Kaleb,

generally the more easygoing of the two men, made her laugh. Liking seemed to grow into a

deeper caring for him with ease. Shard was a different matter. She admired his strength, the

power, the control he displayed. Respect after that first fight had grown along a path of its own

into a deep trust and caring.

She rolled from bed with a groan. Raising her arms over her head, she stretched her

muscles slowly. She was late rising after the wild night. With a small smile curving her lips, she

walked over to a small basin and washed away the last of the fatigue from the night‟s exertions.

She dressed simply in a pale blue shirt with narrow straps, matching undergarments and a black

skirt. Resisting a last urge to linger, she left the tent to begin her work.

She went straight to the work table and sat waiting for Jaksen. She had to see if the man

the scanners had been tracking had joined with a larger group. Finding that group would be a

step closer to freeing herself and the other women from the restrictions that practically confined

them to camp.

Lina took the computer from Jaksen and went to work. There was definitely a pattern to

the man‟s movements. Every night he returned to the same place and every day traveled same

path almost to the step.

A shout of alarm rang through the air as a stun ray hit a metal crate next to one of the

Dura-tents and deflected. She reacted without thinking, falling back, taking the small computer

with her. The table crashed onto its side as Jaksen rolled to a stop beside her. Lina frantically

exited the tracking program and activated another.

“Go to your haven, Lady,” Jaksen urged, looking almost panicked as shots pinged against

the table.

Lina didn‟t argue. She nodded and shoved the computer into his hands. “Here, use the

Sendar‟s weapons systems to provide cover fire. I‟d suggest the remote hover weapon.”

She thought about the haven and crawled forward. She wasn‟t surprised to find herself in

the grassy glade only a blink later.

She knew that if she hadn‟t come here she would have had to pay for her defiance of

what had been an order. This situation wasn‟t worth punishment. With the Sendar‟s weapons, the

fight would soon be finished. She had hated leaving the others in those circumstances, but she

had done what she could to offer help to those in the camp. She looked around the glade, trying

to decide where she should wait for Shard and Kaleb to come to get her.

* * * * *

Shard cursed as a bolt thudded into the tree next to him. He rolled behind some bushes,

seeking better cover from the sharp missiles and occasional stunner fire. Kaleb was to the right

of him crouched behind two trees which had grown together.

The attack had taken them by surprise. They hadn‟t sensed anyone close as they had

walked through the forest toward the ruin they had just started searching. There had been no sign

of strange tracks in the area. He hadn‟t caught so much as a whiff of human scent. The first

indication of trouble had been the first bolt which had thudded into a tree short of its target.

He had seen movement in the trees from two places, but suspected that there were at least

five men involved in this attack. The dense forest around them prevented the archers from taking

more shots and inflicting severe damage. The location was not conducive to the long-range

weapons.

During the first volley of arrows, Vellis had been struck in the shoulder. It was a mere

flesh wound, and he was now firing into the foliage opposite his position, providing cover for

Trane to slip into the forest. Vellis kept up the intermittent bursts to keep the men pinned into

one place.

Shard fired after a shaft struck the ground near his foot. He kept firing, leveling a spray of

shots over a wide area. He ducked down after he was assured that he had given Kaleb enough

time to slip out of sight of the attackers.

Kaleb kept low, moving fast and with practiced stealth through the bushes and trees

around them. The laser pistol was a reassuring weight in his hand. His finger poised over the

trigger, ready to fire. His senses, heightened by the rush of anger at this cowardly attack,

searched for the slightest movement, the smallest sound. He moved in a wide arc to get behind

their enemies. He had complete faith in Shard‟s and Vellis‟ ability to keep the enemy busy.

Kaleb found the trail of two human men and cautiously approached. He moved with fluid

silence from tree to bush as he approached them. They were in the process of launching more of

the metal-tipped shafts. Unaware that the real danger lay behind them, not in front of them, their

attention was focused on the trees where Shard and Vellis crouched. With quick efficiency and

utter accuracy, Kaleb pulled the trigger twice. A yellow ray hit the first man. Before the first man

even began falling, the second ray hit his companion. Kaleb faded back into the forest, stalking,

hunting those who had dared to attack them.

He swept wide again and began searching for tracks or scent to lead him to the next

group of men. A small tuft of fabric fluttering on the branch of a stout bush gave him the first

clue. A hint of male human scent drifted to him as he moved cautiously. He followed the scent,

silent, alert to a trap.

One of the two men in this small area had taken a position behind some concealing

bushes and now lay unconscious, stunned by the blast from one of the shots fired to provide

cover. Kaleb shot the second man, sending him into unconsciousness.

Keeping his body low and his tread silent, Kaleb moved away from the area, continuing

his hunt for others who might hide in the forest, waiting to kill the unwary. In the dense

vegetation, he found Trane. With a series of hand signals, he gave his instructions.

They separated, going in opposite directions. The two men swept a wide circle around the

area where Vellis and Shard had taken shelter. Only when they were certain that there were no

other hidden assassins did the two men give the all clear signal.

Kaleb took out his com-link as he walked back to Shard and Vellis and tried to contact

the camp for transport of the eight men who had attacked them. There was no reply, no signal at

all. A few moments later, it was confirmed that none of their com-link units were working.

They realized that they should have already known that the com-links were useless. The

attackers must have placed units to create a dampening field around them. If the com-links had

been working, the
Ovian
would have contacted them when it picked up the stunner fire on its

sensors.

Trane had been sent to find the edge of the field and notify the camp of their needs. He

ran back to them. The look on his face caused Shard‟s gut to clench in dread. Something had

happened at the camp. He knew without a doubt. There was no other reason for that look or his

speedy return. He had been given permission to wait for those who would come for them.

“There was a simultaneous attack on the camp. They‟ve been trying to reach us, both the

Ovian
and the people at the camp.” Trane drew in a great gulp of air trying to catch his breath after the long, fast run. “There were only minor injuries, some damage to the camp. Everyone

will heal and everything can be fixed.”

“Lina?” Shard‟s muscles ached as he waited for Trane to answer.

Kaleb‟s eyes narrowed and her tensed. If she hadn‟t gone to the haven, he would see that

she remembered the cost for such defiance. Her rear would glow.

“She awaits you in the haven you created for her, Ardin.” Trane relayed the answer

quickly, knowing exactly how they felt. He had asked after his own mate as well when he

learned of the attack.

Kaleb released the breath that he hadn‟t known he had been holding. He‟d had some

doubts that she would actually use the haven if she ever had to do so. She probably didn‟t realize

just yet that that haven had been created more for the sake of their sanity than her safety. They

couldn‟t focus on a battle when they were worried that she might be out there placing her life on

the line.

She wasn‟t the type to hide in safety while others fought. She was the kind of woman

who fought at her man‟s side. He had expected to hear that she had commandeered a stunner and

had defied orders to help stop the men attacking the camp.

“How severe was the assault on the camp?” Shard paced as he waited for the details. The