Broken Aro (The Broken Ones) (17 page)

The sound of loudly snapping branches froze her
immediately. She peered into the darkness under the trees, glad the sun seemed
to finally be rising. She could finally see a little better.

The sight of a giant wolf standing not far from her
almost made her scream. A weak whimper escaped her instead as she helplessly
raised her stick in front of her.

Run.

She blinked and quickly spun, taking off toward the
voices she'd heard. Her mind at least seemed to know what to do and not panic.

She ran as quickly as she could, dodging around trees
and underbrush, not worrying about being quiet. She slid to halt, stumbling and
gasping for breath as she stumbled amidst the men.

They weren't her men.

The voice she had heard in her head telling her to run
hadn't been her own thought. Someone had spoken in her mind!

Stupid girl.

She spun and ran back the way she had come, toward the
wolf. It must have been one of the Were. She hadn't known they could talk in
other people's heads. The stories never mentioned such a thing, but it made
sense. Actual wolves certainly couldn't speak.

It had tried to warn her. Was it friendly?

She never found out, she barely left the sight of the
men she'd discovered before they caught her.

One grabbed her by the back of her shirt and jerked
her backward so roughly she fell to the ground, her breath knocked out of her.
When she looked up, they had surrounded her.

She scrambled to her feet, trying not to choke on the
panic rising within her. The men were talking and laughing. She twirled around,
counting. Six. A shuddering breath escaped her.

From their dress and speech she was pretty certain the
strangers were slavers, not other escaped slaves. "Rot it!"

One stepped forward. "Where are of the rest of
you?"

She shook her head, afraid to speak, and certain she
couldn't even if she wanted to. Terror held her frozen. She couldn't even
breathe. Every muscle tensed, ready…even though she had no idea what to do.

"We've caught two of you again already, boy,"
the man said.

She bit her lip. So Allen and Garic hadn't run off, or
they had, but been caught.

"They told us more of you are out here. Our
fighters, too. We will find them. Tell us where they are and it'll be easier
for you."

She shook her head frantically again as the men
tightened the circle around her. She didn't know what they were going to do.
Would they kill her? Or just put her in chains again? She didn't want the
chains. Never, ever again.

She jumped to the side quickly, hoping to surprise
them and break away. Her attempt failed and they laughed as they dragged her
back. She fought them, kicking and hitting. "Let me go! Stop! Let go!"

She lashed out with her fist and grunted as she caught
one slaver square in the face. Without hesitating she swung her elbow back and
spun until she felt it connect with the soft tissue of a second one's throat.
Fear overwhelmed her as she blocked a punch with her arm, realizing there were
too many of them. Her fear became reality as a fist caught her in the shoulder
and spun her. She managed to grab his shoulders and deliver a swift knee to the
groin as her brothers had drilled into her so many times. She managed a small
smile as he doubled over and she brought both of her fists down on his head.
She wasn't strong enough to knock him out, but he would be concentrating on his
pains rather than her.

Maybe if she would have remained quiet and passive,
they wouldn't have started hitting back. They didn't hit lightly. She abandoned
the offensive and concentrated on blocking like she'd been taught. Her hands
clenched into fists as she reached out, blocking attacks to her face and
stomach. It took everything she had just to protect herself. However she'd
never fought with so many before, or with grown men who didn't hold back.

More and more blows hit. She wasn't fast enough. She
pulled inward, her hands protecting her face, her arms pulling tight to her
ribs to protect the vital areas. Ragged gasps were pounded from her as she
twisted and turned, still trying to avoid as many blows as possible. Her hands
and arms took the worst of the hits and quickly the pain turned to numbness.

They didn't stop until she fell again to the ground,
bleeding and bruised. She couldn't say for certain if she had any broken bones
or not, but despite her blocks her ribs hurt so much she could hardly breathe.

Gasping for breath and struggling to hold back tears
she fought to stand again. The ground was the last place she wanted to be. She
didn't want them to be able to start kicking her as well.

"Talk, boy."

She shook her head defiantly, unable to speak beyond
the pain that flared through her. She'd never hurt so much in her entire life.

One of them caught her arm, pulling her backward
before grabbing her other arm and pinning them both behind her. She struggled
against him as the others laughed.

"Well, well," the first man said, walking up
to her. He tilted his head to the side, "Not a boy after all are you?"

Startled, she followed his gaze down to her chest. The
way the man behind her had pinned her arms, her shirt pulled tight against her,
clearly showing breasts. They weren't very large, but they were definitely
there. Rot it, when had they grown more?

"Makes things easier. Where are they?"

She sucked in a shuddering breath. Her heart beat so
fast she could hardly hear anything else. "No," she managed to say.

The man smiled slightly. It wasn't a nice smile.

She saw his fist coming for her face and turned her
head. She wasn't quite prepared for how much it hurt. She closed her eyes after
the second, and by the fourth couldn't help but scream Kei's name.

The man paused as she hung limply against the one
behind her. She hurt so much she could barely stand. Her ears wouldn't stop
ringing. The punches to her stomach made her feel like she had to throw up.

When the man behind her suddenly let go she fell
limply to the ground, quickly and instinctively curling into a ball. She
couldn't keep the tears away any longer, or the whimpering sobs. The slavers
didn't seem to care.

Someone kicked her in the side. They might have been
demanding she talk again, but she couldn't hear them and didn't want to. She
tried to curl into a tighter ball, but someone grabbed her by a fist full of
hair and dragged her backward across the ground. She screamed, loud and shrill.
It felt like he was ripping the top of her head off.

He stopped suddenly, having accomplished what he
wanted; getting her out of her ball. One of them immediately dropped over her
and she fought in a panic as his hand pinned her down by the throat.

Even as they tore her clothing she fought back. She
could feel the cold night air raising gooseflesh on parts of her that had no
business being exposed. She forced her already swelling eyes closed and steeled
herself for what she knew was coming next.

They weren't gentle. More than one set of hands
settled across her. Grabbing gave way to pinching, touching became handling.
The tears of pain became horrid sobs of utter hopelessness.

Growing up around her brothers, she'd heard stories.
She had tried to imagine the horror of such a situation. Her imagination didn't
even come close. The screams of the women on the slave ship made so much more
sense now.

Her horrid sobs finally stopped as a great wail
started somewhere in her soul, echoed through her body, and erupted from her
throat to beg the sky for death. She couldn't survive this. She didn't want to.

She wasn't certain when it started, or what exactly
happened. One moment everything revolved around pain and darkness, the next she
found herself gently wrapped in familiar arms and listening to a familiar voice
whispering words of comfort.

She looked up in a daze at Prince, simply amazed to
find him suddenly there. She turned her head as a scream cut through his
calming words.

She gaped in horror. Bodies lay broken everywhere.
Pieces of bodies. Blood and gore covered them, the ground, and the trees. Kei
stood a short distance from her, tearing a man to pieces.

But it wasn't really him, just a monster who reminded
her of him. He didn't have teeth like a beast, or feral glowing red eyes, or
such impossibly long claws. Her sweet Kei wouldn't cause such destruction,
wouldn't be covered in so much blood.

"Aro. We have to go. And quietly. Do not call out
to him. It isn't safe."

She looked up at Prince, her eyes wide.

"He's gone into the fury. He might hurt us. So
quiet. Understand?"

She nodded even as more tears came to her eyes and she
looked back at Kei. It was Kei? Her Kei?

The monster turned. His glowing red eyes met hers and
a growl rumbled from him as he took a step toward them.

Prince rose swiftly and set her down, pushing her
behind him. "Do not come closer."

Kei paused, cocking his head to the side slightly as
if struggling to understand.

She peeked around Prince, her hands on the small of
his back, afraid to move. Kei looked at her and she saw his sharp canines and
the blood on his face. Trembling she whimpered, hiding more behind Prince.

"Go," Prince demanded. "She is safe
now."

Kei continued to hesitate, swaying slightly as he
watched her.

"You are frightening her. You need to go."

With a mournful howl Kei spun and disappeared into the
trees.

Prince sighed and relaxed under her hands before he
turned, putting his hands on her shoulders.

She stared after Kei, at the destruction he had
caused. She couldn't stop shaking. Prince caught her and lifted her up into his
arms as her legs collapsed. "You are safe now, Aro. Everything is fine."

She turned her face into his shirt as she wrapped her
arms around his neck and wept. "No, it's not."

Chapter 15

Not Fine

Prince silently carried her through the brightening
woods. The sun had finally risen, but it still rested below the tree line,
creating a muted light beneath the trees. She kept her arms tight around his
neck, her face hidden against him, and eyes squeezed closed against the light.

The tears continued to leak out of her eyes, her body
still trembled, but she didn't care. Everything hurt too much. She just held on
to Prince and tried not to think. She didn't want to remember what had
happened. She wanted to forget everything those men had done.

She couldn't do it. Pain wracked her body as a
constant reminder and Kei wasn't there. Prince had sent him away. She wanted to
be angry at Prince for doing that but she couldn't be. Kei had truly frightened
her.

Prince continued to make his way quickly but steadily through
the trees. Each step jarred her, even though she could tell he was trying to
walk carefully. She clenched her teeth, wishing the pain would go away.

Prince rested his cheek against her head. "Not
too much further," he whispered.

She began to nod but stopped abruptly and raised her
head, pushing back from him as her stomach suddenly twisted. "Stop! Down!
Put me down!"

He hesitated only a moment before doing so. Even so,
she only made it a few steps away from him before falling to the ground and
throwing up. The action hurt so bad it caused her to do so again and again. The
pain wasn't going to kill her, but right then she wished it would. She wanted
it over. She wanted the pain to go away.

Prince knelt beside her, his fingers gently pulling
her hair back from her face until she finished and collapsed over onto her
side.

"I think we should detour to the river," he
said, as she curled into a ball with her hands around her pain-wracked stomach
and ribs. "You're quite a sight, child."

She couldn't even answer him with a sarcastic remark.
All she could do was take small gasping breaths. She didn't want to think about
what she looked like. She could see her blood covered hands had started to
swell. Her face felt hot and burning, one eye had swollen completely shut. Her
lips on the left side of her face were tender and swelling and she could still
taste blood even after throwing up.

She glanced over at him, afraid to see if he was angry
with her for getting into such a situation. It surprised her to see his face
only clouded with worry.

She grimaced and closed her eyes as she slowly sat up.
"We need to go."

"We are safe. You can rest," he answered,
his voice tired and quiet.

She shook her head, just a little. "No. They were
slavers. They said they had Allen and Garic. They told them where we were and
who we are. There will be more of them coming for us."

She didn't catch what Prince muttered. She guessed it
was a curse. She rose as he did and tried to walk. Her legs didn't want to
work. Prince scooped her up quickly without even asking. She didn't complain.
The pain of being held in his arms was far less than if she walked on her own.