Eluria's Enforcer (The Argadian Heart Trilogy Book 1) (8 page)

“We’ll need to move out on foot. Taking your
velocitor will make us too easy to track.”

Eluria nodded as she continued to stuff
necessary items into her shoulder pack. “I know. Although I think I found the
beamer they were using to track me, I can’t be totally certain there wasn’t a
second one I didn’t locate. It would be like them to have placed two beamers,
hoping I wouldn’t locate the second.”

She looked across the chamber, her focus
pulled to the freshly healed scar on his neck. The chip was destroyed—the
Enforcers wouldn’t be able to track them through the beamer embedded in the
information chip. She trembled at the memory of the procedure to remove it from
his flesh.

Devon wouldn’t accept the numbing drink she’d
prepared. He’d said he wanted to remain alert; and he could handle the slight
pain it would bring. Eluria had tried to be as quick as possible. She’d stayed
attuned to his life-beat, searching for any irregularity to hint at his pain.
Surprisingly, it had remained steady. It was only now, once her nerves were
steadied and the procedure was complete, she realized what he’d done.

“You deliberately controlled your life-beats
and masked your pain from me,” she accused him.

Devon’s steady blue gaze met hers, but he
said nothing. She threw the pack aside and strode across the room.

“And now you’re masking your feelings.” She
balled her hand into a fist and struck him in the chest. “You will not do that.
We’re tied, and you will not hide your feelings in this way. I won’t tolerate
it.” She attempted to strike him again, but he caught her fist in his grip.

“Eluria, it would have served no purpose for
you to know the pain I felt. It would have caused your concentration to waver.”

She struggled to free her hand. “You had no
right. Do you consider me so weak? I’ve handled much worse procedures in my
time.”

Devon yanked her close. “On someone you love,
Female?”

“Female? You call me Female?” She wanted to
strike out at him again, but he held her arms too firmly—but not her legs.

“Don’t even think about it,” he warned her,
his narrowed gaze locked with hers. “We’ll have an understanding here and now.”

Slowly, she lowered the leg she’d lifted,
readying for attack. “What kind of understanding?” she asked mutinously.

“I know well those who hunt us. I lived as
one of them. I know how they think. You must agree to follow my instructions.
I’ll do whatever is required to protect you.”

“As I’ll do for you.” She raised her chin.
“I’ve worked alone all these years, Devon. I’ve destroyed my share of Enforcers
who have sought to terminate me. I’m not as weak as you seem to think me.”

He cuped her face. “I don’t think you’re
weak. I admire your courage, your devotion.” Stroking the side of her face, he
continued. “If you were hurt, it would compromise my sanity. Do you understand?
To deal with the return of emotions is hard enough without concern that you
won’t heed my commands. My concentration must be unwavering.”

Devon was right. He did know the Enforcers
better than she did. He could anticipate what they would do.

“I’ll do as you ask, Devon. I know you want
only to get us safely away. But you will not mask your emotions from me again.
Promise me.”

He released a deep sigh. “Like you, I’ve
always worked alone.” After a long moment he nodded. “I’ll hide nothing from
you in future. But I will see to your safety. No matter what emotions transmit
to you, you’ll follow my commands.”

“We’re going to clash like this a lot, aren’t
we?”

“If you continue to prove obstinate, I expect
we will. Your oath.”

“Obstinate? You should talk. Very well, I’ll
follow your commands, you have my oath. Only because you obviously have a
better knowledge of Enforcer mentality. And that’s not a compliment by the way.
Now, I’ll have your oath you’ll never again mask your emotions from me.”

He released her and nodded. “You have my
oath. Unless your safety is compromised,” he qualified.

“Males. Stubborn and pigheaded. I’ve always
found them so. For now, I accept your oath, as limited as it is.” She reached
up and pulled him down for a hard kiss. “I love you, Devon. Don’t ever forget
it. If your safety is compromised, I’ll do what I must.”

Stepping away from him, she turned and
stalked back to her pack. She heard him chuckle behind her. “We make quite a
pair, tafai, don’t we?”

Her lips curved into a smile she refused to
show him. “Yes, we do…taman.”

Eluria lifted the pack onto her shoulder and
turned back to him. “You’re sure your ship isn’t compromised?”

“It’s veiled. They won’t be able to detect
its exact location.”

“Why not? Didn’t they use a beamer to track
you? Wouldn’t it secure the location of your ship?”

The smile he gave her was feral. “I’m not as
trusting of the Tribunal as they expect. I’ve altered the beamer, providing a
mirror location. It’s not enough of an adjustment to cause suspicion, but
sufficient so they won’t be able to detect the exact location of my ship.” He
lifted a pack onto his back. “My guess is they’ll monitor the mirror site and
circumference the beamer indicates. They’ll wait for us there. It’s
strategically sound for them to watch the position indicated by the beamer than
to search the whole planet. They’d know it’s my only way off the planet.”

Eluria nodded. “What’s your plan once we
reach the ship?”

Devon was silent for a moment before
responding. “We’ll circle around and attempt to eliminate the trackers on the
surface. Once we take off, I’ll deactivate the beamer and engage the veil. I’ll
alter the veil signal so they won’t be able to pinpoint it. They’ll be unable
to locate or track us at that point.”

“Well, it all sounds very good. Let’s hope it
works.” She turned to leave the chamber.

“Eluria, wait.”

She turned back to him questioningly. “What
is it?”

His gaze was serious as he studied her. “You
will do as I say? Our lives depend on it. You won’t jeopardize your safety.”

“I’ll do as you say,” she confirmed. “And you
won’t jeopardize your safety.”

He strode towards her, halted and reached out
to caress the side of her face. “You have my thanks for restoring my memories.
And my emotions.”

She smiled. “I couldn’t have done otherwise.”

“If we don’t survive, you should know I love
you. I wouldn’t go back to the shadowland of the last twelve years. Having
found you again, these hours with you…”

Smiling, she lifted her hand, hushing his
words. “I know. And I feel the same, Devon. I wouldn’t change a moment. But as
you pointed out, Guardian wouldn’t have guided us this far if we were meant to
fail. We will succeed.”

*          *          *

They’d been on the move for about an hour
when Devon raised his hand and called a halt. They were hidden behind a large
boulder sheltered from the blazing rays of a fierce sun. They’d been lucky so
far in that they’d encountered no firestorms. Yet. Devon pulled out a container
of fluid and tilted it to his mouth. The cool liquid refreshed his parched
throat. The suit he wore regulated his body temperature so he didn’t become
dehydrated from loss of bodily fluids, but he still needed to remember to
replenish.

He turned and looked at Eluria who was also
refreshing with fluid. He monitored her life-beat, noting it was strong. It
seemed odd that in so short a time it felt normal to feel the echo of both
life-beats inside his own body. Without the steady dual rhythms, it would seem
a part of him was cut away.

They were drawing closer to where the attack
had taken place with the zyflamite. It would require greater caution from this
point onward.

Devon leaned back and slid to the ground.
Eluria was already seated in the shade of an adjacent boulder. He felt her
tense alertness; watched as her intent, narrowed gaze scanned the area where
they rested. This was not the innocent girl he remembered from so long ago. All
woman, all tracker, ready to kill if need be. It was all evident in her stance,
in her hunter’s gaze, in the hand comfortably resting upon her weapon. And his
tafai.

“When we get to my hovercade, I want you to
remain hidden.”

“Devon, I won’t—”

He held up a hand. “No. You agreed to do as I
asked. You’ll be able to observe the surrounding area. I know what I need, and
there’s no point in us both becoming visible targets.”

She uttered a loud sigh of frustration, and
glared at him, but she nodded. “All right. Unfortunately, it makes sense.”

“If you monitor with the port-scan, you
should be able to detect any movement before it becomes too dangerous. Did you
put the vo-comms in your pack or mine?”

Eluria dragged her pack forward. “They’re in
mine.”

“I think it’s time to put them on.”

Eluria reached inside the pack and pulled out
a small black container. She opened it, pulled out two tiny devices, handed him
one, and placed the other in her ear.

Devon secured the vo-comm. Once in place, and
sensing his body heat, he felt the small wires, like the fragile legs of a fire
spider, snake out to wind around the outer curve of his ear to hold the unit
firmly in place. He stood and moved a distance from Eluria to test the units.

“Do you hear me clearly?”

“Yes. I hear you,” her musical tone came back
through the nucleus of the unit. He turned, looked across at her and grinned.

She returned the look in acknowledgment and
stood. “Let’s get this done. The sooner we’re out of here the better.”

Devon strode back to her. He ran his thumb
along the curve of her lower lip. He felt her life-beat increase and he
grinned, knowingly. Adrenalin and hot desire pumped through his veins. It was a
heady feeling, enhanced by the danger.

Twelve years as an Enforcer and he’d never
felt this alive before. They’d turned him into a robot, curbed all sensations
of humanity. He might as well have been dead. But now he was reborn, and he’d
get them out alive.

Eluria place a hand on his arm and he looked
down at her.

“What is it, Devon? Your rhythm has changed.”

He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed the
palm. “It’s nothing. It’s simply preparation for confrontation. Nothing more.”

“I understand. The heat of battle rises in
your blood.”

He tilted his head to consider her, how
attuned she already was to his emotions. Yes, it was the heat of battle, but
not the Killing Frenzy he was used to. The Frenzy would consume him, make him a
killing machine bent only on one thing…aware of only one thing—focused and
utter destruction.

This adrenalin of battle cloaked him
differently. And he knew he had yet to discover the full meaning of the
difference. That worried him.

“Let’s go. I need the veil control to unlock
the ship to get us off this planet.”

Again at a slow jog, they moved toward the hovercade.

As they neared the area, Eluria used the
port-scan before venturing closer. “I’m not picking up any movement or
discernible body heat. Make it quick, Devon.”

With one last glance about the area, Devon
sprinted to the hovercade. It lay on its roof, nicely mangled from the force of
a zyflamite bomb. It was a wonder they weren’t both dead. One more look around
to be certain nothing lurked nearby and he dropped to the ground, inched
beneath the hood and through a shattered window. Opening a hidden compartment
beneath the seat, he breathed a sigh of relief as he encountered the smooth,
hard surface of the control.

Slowly, he pulled himself out from beneath
the useless conveyance. Wasting no time, he moved quickly to return to Eluria.

“Did you find it?”

He grinned and nodded. “I have it.” Leaning
toward her, he cupped the back of her head and gave her a swift, hard kiss,
then released her. “Let’s move out.”

An hour later, they were hunched low beneath an
overhang. Eluria scanned the area. She stilled.

“There are three heat sources indicating
lifeforce.” She glanced up at him. “It’s unusual for the Tribunal to use more
than two Enforcers on a hunt. They must consider you very dangerous.”

Devon met her steady stare. “Or you,
na-nivia
.
My guess is they want no mistakes this time.”

Pain flash into her eyes just before she
looked away, and he felt the jagged ache enter her heart. “My father is very
determined to see me terminated,” she whispered.

Unable to help himself, Devon pulled her stiff
body against his chest and stroked her hair. “He never appreciated the jewel he
possessed. I’ll not make the same mistake.”

Devon felt her shuddering breath as she
fought for control. Her rhythm steadied and she pulled away. “I’m fine, Devon.
He obviously wants us both. How do you want to proceed?”