Human After All (12 page)

“I’m not judging you.”

As quickly as it had appeared, Halz’s anger dissipated. “Could be I’m a little touchy. I don’t get to talk to Companions every day, and I guess I want to impress you. When I didn’t know what frair meant, I felt a little… in… in….” The big man’s distress at not being able to find the right word was painful to watch.

“Indignant?” Drue suggested. “Insane?”

Halz shook his head irritably in another rapid change of mood.

“Look, it doesn’t matter,” the Exotic said. “I don’t think you’re sludge. In fact, you’re one of the most attractive men I’ve ever met.”

“No,” Halz blurted out, his startled gaze meeting the Companion’s.

“Oh yes, I’m afraid so,” Drue said sternly. “There’s no point in trying to deny it.”

After a moment, Halz’s confusion cleared. “You’re playing with me,” he said.

“It’s what I do.” Drue shrugged eloquently, letting his jacket slide off one shoulder and turning his hip to bare his entire right side.

Halz smiled. “I’m glad Lochler made you give up your trowz.”

“And why is that?”

“I like long legs.”

Drue crossed his arms over the tattoo on his chest. “In general?”

Halz’s smile widened to a grin, his prominent canines indenting his lower lip. “I’d like to have your long legs wrapped around me while I go off in your sweet ass.”

“Mmm,” the Fox purred. “That does sound nice. Will I be cumming with you?”

“As many times as you want.”

Drue put his palm against the Granger’s broad chest to keep some daylight between them. “This certainly is a place,” he murmured. “But is it the time?”

The gleam of lust dimmed in Halz’s yellow-green eyes as he remembered what the situation was. “Damn, you boychicks are good,” he said. “I couldn’t think about anything but topping you as fast as possible.” The Granger chuckled. “If Loch had come up on me with my trowz down, he’d’ve skinned me and hung my hide on his wall.”

“We were just playing,” Drue said. “So where is Ferrin anyway?”

A
SHADOW
fell over the dreaming features of the sleeping Thoroughbred as death hovered over him for a few moments, saving him for later, to be taken in leisure after the others were dispatched. The lobos were close, as close as their hapless pack mate had indicated before the murk called Mino had left him paralyzed and facedown in a shallow pool of bog water. It was no better than Kayel deserved for betraying his comrades, and the assassin had already dismissed the Granger from his thoughts. This close to his target, his whole being was charged with swarming energy, every particle realigned and aimed in one direction, drawing him like iron to a magnet. Silent as the sunlight that dappled Jaymes’s beautiful face, Mino traced the graceful line of an eyebrow in the air just above it. “Wait for me,” the murk mouthed and faded into the trees.

Ferrin held his breath as the camouflaged murk paused within a few feet of his location before moving on. Using every ounce of stealth he possessed, the Granger trailed the big assassin on a beeline for the clearing where Halz and the Exotic were waiting. Ferrin was no coward, but he wasn’t stupid either. He preferred the odds of two against one and sent his pack brother a sense impression of what was coming. Halz’s acknowledgment washed over Ferrin like a warm summer rain, and Ferrin smiled at the surprise they were going to give this interloping murk. The realization that he’d lost his quarry was simultaneous with the wire being drawn around his throat. His death was quick, relatively painless, and gave him no chance to get off another warning.

Mino lowered the Granger’s body to the ground and pulled it under some brush. “Too bad you got in the way,” he said. Saluting the dead lobo, he resumed the hunt.

“S
OMETHIN
’
ain’t right,” Halz said as he turned in a circle to inspect the surroundings.

“What isn’t right?” Drue finished pissing and shook off. “Halz?” When he looked around, the Granger was nowhere in sight. “You’re one stealthy sumbeotch.”

Drue peered into the foliage, but he didn’t see anything but tree trunks, branches, and leaves. A chill skittered down his spine on lizard feet as he listened hard for any sound other than the wind in the trees. The background chatter of birds had stilled, conspicuous by its absence. He had no idea how long he stood frozen before a voice broke the silence.

“Don’t run.”

Only then did Drue break from his trance and take to his heels. A solid weight hit him in the back and sent him flying. He landed facedown with the weight on top.

“I know you have skills,” Drue’s attacker said. “But you can’t beat me, so don’t fight me.” He eased his iron grip on Drue’s throat.

“What do you want with me?” Drue managed to say.

“Where’s the other one?”

“Other what?” Drue asked, and the throttling pressure returned.

“Where’s the lobo that was guarding you?”

“Let me breathe, and I’ll tell you.”

The grip was released, and the murk let Drue stand up.

“He disappeared before you showed up.” Drue stretched to ease his sore muscles. “Murd, you’re fast. And strong.” He rubbed his throat. “I’ve never seen a Combat Grade as fast and strong as you. What’s your Class designate?”

“There is no name for what I am. You can call me Mino if it suits you.”

“What do you want with me, Mino?”

“You represent a significant amount of capital.”

“I see. Who’s paying?”

“Who isn’t?”

Drue took the hint and swallowed the retort that rose to his lips.

“You’re a shrewd one, aren’t you?” Mino said. “Do you know where this pack dens up?”

“Terms?”

“Tell me what I want to know, and you can live.”

“This way.” Drue turned ninety degrees.

“Lead on,” Mino said. “It’s refreshing to run across someone so reasonable.”

“What would be the point of resisting you?” Drue said as he began walking. “I have no doubt that you could end my life before I could blink.”

“Sometimes people decide they’d rather fight than live as a captive.”

“And some people know how to choose their battles.”

Mino smiled at the back of Drue’s head. “Sometimes the battle chooses you. Now shut up. I’m trying to decide if you’re worth more to me dead or alive.”

“Be sure and let me know if I can do anything to influence your choice.”

“Those whorish tricks won’t work on me. Be quiet and move faster.”

Drue heard a grunt and a crash and took off running as thrashing noises rose in volume. He didn’t look back until he was sure he heard no sounds of pursuit. There was no one behind him, and he took a moment to catch his breath. He assumed Halz had ambushed Mino and that one or the other, probably Mino, was on his backtrail. It might be cowardly, and it might be wrong, but he was going to keep running.

A quick look around established that he was completely lost. Choosing to have the wind at his back, he fled as silently as he could.

M
INO
kicked the dead lobo at his feet, wasting no sentiment on this one. He was only annoyed by the delay in his mission. How many more of these mongrels did he have to delete before he reached his goal?

Flinging blood from his gloved fingers, he started away in the direction the Exotic had taken. Not once did he consider collecting the Thoroughbred first. That one was soft and naive and could be intercepted at any time. The Fox, on the other hand, showed promise of living up to his Persona Tag.

And this job had just become a lot more interesting.

J
AYMES
woke and sat up, blinking at the trees that surrounded him. In his dream, he and Drue were making love in the Pasha Suite of the Cloister’s most exclusive hotel. The sheets were crisp and cool, the pillows like a bank of clouds, and the air was delicately perfumed by the bouquets of organic blossoms on the organic wood furnishings. He was close to climax, and abruptly, he was lying on the ground under the sky… alone.

“Drue,” Jaymes murmured to the little yellow butterflies among the grass stalks. He could still feel the Exotic moving languidly against him, inside him, nudging him closer and closer to ecstasy. The disorientation continued as he got to his feet. His depth perception was all wrong, and when he took a step, the ground was much closer than he expected. The jolt shivered every bone in his body, and he fell to his hands and knees. His vision fractured and reassembled into a scene viewed from a higher perspective. “Drue.”

Jaymes stopped trying to stand and channeled his energy into concentrating on what he was seeing. Underbrush parted before him, and the ground under his feet was soft with fallen leaves. He was lost.

Jaymes shook all over as though an electric current had passed through him. Clenching his fists and his teeth, he made a beacon of his consciousness, broadcasting his position for any with the ability to home in on the signal. There should be only one. Drue.

D
RUE
pulled the thumbnail-sized beacon from his pocket and rubbed it for what seemed like the millionth time. Of course there was no reaction. Whoever Alvera was hoping to contact out in the Grange was not coming to save Drue. He was going to have to find a way out of this wilderness by himself. If he could run across the T-bred at the same time, he wouldn’t complain. Glancing at the sun told him nothing other than that it was past noon. Brushing aside some flowering branches, he pushed on.

J
AYMES
stopped with his head up as though sifting the breeze for an elusive scent. Against his palm, he felt the silkiness of real flower petals. Without thinking about it, he turned forty-five degrees and began walking again, certain he was going the right way.

D
RUE
reached a stream and stopped to pee into the running water. He was almost finished when a noise behind him made him turn abruptly.

“Here are your trowz,” Jaymes said, pulling a bundle from the back of his waistband. He glanced down at Drue’s cock. “You might want to cover up.”

Drue caught the fauxstrich pants and put them on. “Thanks,” he said. “I would’ve missed these. You can’t get this material anymore.”

“Then I guess everything’s all right.”

Drue grinned. “I’m glad you’re all right too.”

“Thanks,” Jaymes said, annoyed by the rush of warmth he felt. “You’re alone.”

“Yeah. That See You that chased us outside the Covillion is still after us. He took out the guys who were with me, and I have the strong feeling he’s trailing me right now.”

“And he’ll find us and take me back to fry for the Deep’s murder.”

Drue took out the linx beacon again and shook it. “Work, you jeedee piece of slag!”

“Let me see it.” Jaymes held out his hand. As soon as the small disk touched his skin, the green display appeared, seeming to hover above the metal surface.

“Stellar!” Drue said. “Rub your thumb over the display.”

Jaymes did as instructed, and the green line blinked twice before turning white.

“Yes!” Drue crowed, throwing his arms around Jaymes in a hug. “The beacon’s on!”

Jaymes allowed himself a few seconds to enjoy the embrace before he spoke. “Who are we expecting to answer?”

“Alvera’s techie friends, the ones who found it too restrictive to work under the government’s laws. A lot of them used to be genetic engineers, but now they use their skill to help the Pygmalion movement. In fact, one of them created the mechemical that subverted Gentren’s programming.”

“I’d like to meet him or her.”

Drue smiled. “That sounded like a threat.”

“You have a good ear.”

“Thank you.”

“So do we just camp here and wait for these Pyg friends of yours?”

“No.” Drue took hold of Jaymes’s wrist and moved his hand. “See that?”

“It got a little brighter.”

“That’s the direction we’re going.”

“Good.” Jaymes started walking, glad to have something to follow.

“So what happened after we split up?” Drue asked as he fell into step with Jaymes.

“Lochler took me to an underground base. I had a shower—an act I’d like to repeat as soon as possible. He gave me these clothes, and then he had some kind of warning. He dragged me out of there, and we went to a rendezvous point. He claimed to be able to communicate with his friends mind to mind.”

“I wouldn’t call him a liar.” Drue cleared his throat. “Where is he now?”

“I don’t know. We stopped to—finalize a transaction, and he got anxious again. Without a word to me, he disappeared. I sat down to wait for him to come back and fell asleep. When I woke up, I went looking for you.”

“I’m touched, Prince.” Drue fell back on sarcasm to mask his pain. Of course the Prince had used sex to control the lobo leader. Drue would’ve done the same in his place, but it still hurt to think of Jaymes with Lochler. It shouldn’t have, but it did. Though he’d been conditioned to view sex as a tool and of no more significance than any other bodily function, it was different when it came to Jaymes. And no matter how badly Drue wanted to deny his feelings for the pampered, snobbish T-bred, they were a part of him now and influenced his every act and thought. “And I’m completely fragged,” he said under his breath.

“W
E
’
VE
been walking for hours,” Jaymes said as he stopped and leaned against one of the smooth-barked trees.

“Let me see the linx,” Drue said, holding out his hand.

Jaymes tossed the small, heavy lozenge, and Drue caught it neatly. Passing the ball of his thumb over the surface, he watched the display for a couple of seconds.

“We’ve been walking for
almost
an hour,” Drue said. “But there’s no reason we can’t take a break. I’m sure the See You is taking breaks too.”

“Why are you so hate-worthy?” Jaymes groaned as he pushed away from the tree and started walking again.

“Why are you such a vac-head? We have to keep moving or Mino will find us. He’ll probably find us regardless, but let’s at least make the effort to reach help before that happens.”