Second Chance (9 page)

The man laughed as he squeezed her breast roughly and Ava had to suppress the bile rising in her throat. “Honey, we captured you outside the Cloak.  No one will even think to look out here for you.”

How was it possible that she was captured outside the Cloak? That meant she had to walk through the Cloak herself and she would have known if she had done that.  She knew they never even got near the edge of the Cloak because she didn’t see the shimmery wall. What in the AltVeritas was happening?

Carrick was in one of the four large stables that had been set up behind the streets of houses in Clairmont.  He had just finished training with his men.  Today, they had been honing their sword skills on horseback.  He much preferred battling with weaponry than spells.  As a member of the Warrior caste, his magic was strong and could smite many an enemy.  But there was something about striking your opponent down with nothing but the strength of your body that really revved up Carrick.  Plus, he loved feeling physically drained and exhausted when he headed home at night.  At least then he was able to fall asleep rather than having thoughts of Ava keep him up. 

No matter how hard he tried, he could not keep that woman out of his mind.  It was driving him crazy having her in such close proximity.  It was made even worse now that Ava had apparently forgiven him for sending her from Vyronas.  He’d rather have her hate back.  At least then he could put her firmly out of his mind and concentrate on preparing himself for the inevitable showdown with Ralina.

Carrick prepared to unsaddle his war stallion, Greta.  Yes, Greta was a stallion and yes, Greta had all the packaging that came with a stallion.  But when he purchased the animal seven years ago, he had let Ava name him.  And it was not by choice.  It was because he had lost a bet. 

Ava had been sixteen years old and seemed to be growing more and more beautiful by the minute. She had matured into a stunning woman. 

Girl. 

Whatever! 

Every day that passed, Carrick was having a hard time remembering her as that little eight-year-old girl he had befriended.

On this particular day, he had agreed to go fishing with her which was a favorite pastime for both of them.  He had been declining her invitations lately, because he was a man after all and he wasn’t often thinking with the head above his shoulders. 

He couldn’t help himself.  Ava had filled out in all the right places and he would have to be dead not to notice.  Although she looked every bit the mature woman, Ava was still innocent and she didn’t deserve to be the subject of those thoughts.  Of course, he didn’t have to be around Ava to have those thoughts, they just seem to be more prevalent when she was in his line of sight. 

Thus, he had been trying to avoid her as much as he could, even though he missed her friendship.  But Ava kept badgering him for a fishing trip and he finally relented because she had taunted him with a bet.

“Are you afraid to go fishing with me because I might catch more than you?” Ava had jeered.

“Silly girl,” Carrick responded with an air of superiority.  “There is no way you will ever be a better fisherman than I am.  So no, I am not afraid.”

“Well, that’s true, because I’m not a fisherman. I’m a fisherwoman.  But, it’s okay if you are scared.  You are my best friend so I won’t tell anyone,” she had teased.

“I’m not afraid you’ll catch more fish than me!”

“Well, how about we make a wager?”

This could be interesting.  “A wager?  What would you want?”

Ava never hesitated.  “I get the right to name your next pet.”

“You want to name my next pet?”

“If that doesn’t seem too unreasonable to you.”

“Okay.  Deal.  Let’s go.”

“Wait.  What do you get if you win?  I mean, I know it’s a long shot, but I’d still like to know the stakes.”

Oh, Carrick knew what he wanted.  He would give anything just to have a kiss from her but he couldn’t say that.  “How about you clean my tack for a month if you lose?”

“Okay.  Deal.  Let’s go then.”

Carrick thought back to that day.  She had beaten him bad.  She had caught eight fish that day, one of which was a 21-inch brown trout.  He had caught a mere three fish and she had taunted him the whole way home.  Still, it had been a wonderful day spent with her and even though his thoughts veered in a certain direction, he much more enjoyed just having the time with her to laugh and tell stories like they normally did.

It wasn’t two weeks later that Carrick bought Greta at a traveling horse auction.  He had immediately fallen in love with the big, black beast.  Of course, Ava was at the auction with her parents and when he bought the huge stallion, Ava immediately approached him and said, “I better think of a name pretty soon, huh Carrick?”

“What?”

“You remember that bet you lost a few weeks ago.  You said I could name your next pet.”

Carrick had completely forgotten all about it.  He looked over at her parents who were watching with amused smiles on their faces.

“A war stallion is not a pet Ava.  Sorry, you will just have to wait until I bring home a stray cat or something.”

“I disagree,” Ava said.  She walked up to the big horse and ran her hand down his back leg, appraising his fine features.  Carrick wondered what it would feel like to have her pet him like that.  Gods, he had to stop thinking like that.

“Will you not feed this horse?” Ava asked.

“Yes.”

“Will you not provide shelter for this horse?”

“You know I will.”

“Will you not bathe and groom this horse?”

Carrick didn’t respond immediately but Ava didn’t wait. She continued on.  “Will you not respect this horse and cherish him?”

Carrick knew where this was headed.  “I will do all those things.”

“And do you not do all of these things for your beloved pet dog, Baltazar?”

“Yes,” Carrick gritted out.

“Then,” Ava said with dramatic flourish, “I believe this stallion is indeed a pet.”

Ava’s father, King Jaron, who was really quite fond of Carrick, burst out laughing.  “I believe she has you there, m’-boy.”

Carrick looked at Ava who was positively glowing with pride in herself.

“Fine.  What do you want to name him?”

Ava circled around the horse three times, concentration keen on her face.  She finally stopped in front of the horse and took his big, black head in her hands.  The horse was enamored with Ava and looked at her with dark eyes.  It was weird the connection Ava had to animals.

She pulled his head down a little and stared deep into his eyes.  With a soft voice she said, “I think I shall name you Greta.”  Then she turned to Carrick and leveled an impish grin at him.

Carrick had not been happy with the name, of course.  But all he could think of as she looked up at him was kissing that silly grin off her face.  It was all he could think about today as well.  He could not get her out of his thoughts.  Try as he could to avoid her, she constantly dwelled in his mind. 

Even in his sleep, he dreamed of her.  Some of the dreams were sweet, filled with past memories.  Some of them erotic as hell, causing him to wake up with a raging hard-on which he would have to take care of in the bathroom while Ava slept.  Maybe he could do a memory spell on himself and erase these feelings.  Knowing his luck, he’d erase everything but Ava from his mind.

Carrick was roused from his thoughts when he heard frantic shouting outside the stable.  He ran out just in time to see King galloping toward the barn he was normally housed in.  Carrick’s heart nearly jumped out of his throat as he realized Ava was not in the saddle.  He raced forward and snagged King’s reins, as people started gathering around.  King was frightened and was rearing up while Carrick held onto him.

“Where is Ava,” he shouted to the crowd.  Everyone looked bewildered.  “Has anyone seen Ava? Quentin?  The guards that were with them?” 

No response.

Carrick felt the slow rise of panic in his chest.  Rubbing King’s neck and speaking in soft tones, he got the horse to settle down. He quickly looked King over and could see no injuries.  Handing King’s reins over to a nearby soldier, Carrick sprinted back to the stable.  Thankful he had yet to remove Greta’s tack, he vaulted into the saddle.  He gave him a slap of the reins and they bolted out of the barn.

Carrick could already see some of his soldiers automatically mounting their horses to follow behind.  They were trained well.  Carrick yelled back, “I want at least forty guards following me now.”

Carrick headed in the direction from which King had been galloping. 
Please let Ava be okay.  Please let Ava be okay.
  He kept repeating that over and over again.  He knew they were headed to a stream to fish so he went in that direction.  Within minutes, he had reached the brook at the edge of the Cloak.  Greta circled around and Carrick looked for any clues he could find.  The area was pristine and he was fairly certain Ava had not been here.

Carrick heard the loud approach of several horses and his soldiers came into view.  Carrick turned Greta toward the forest road and took off.  He knew his soldiers would spread out to search in all directions.  Trotting through the Leedle and Chappelle trees, Carrick soon picked up the trail of Ava’s party.  He whistled twice, sharply, letting his men know he found the trail and soon he heard them coming.  Carrick and his men quickly followed the tracks until they ran right up to the edge of the Cloak.

Carrick stopped to think.  There was no way Ava would have left the protection of the Cloak voluntarily.  Either she was removed forcibly, or she left her horse and wandered off in a different direction away from the Cloak’s edge.  Carrick had just about decided to leave the Cloak and hunt for her on the outside when he noticed the Cloak’s wall waver and grow thin.  He saw Quentin coming toward the Cloak and he seemed to be stumbling.  With a few more steps, Quentin lurched through the Cloak and fell to the ground. 

Carrick jumped off Greta and knelt by his side.  Quentin had a nasty laceration across his forehead and was bleeding profusely.  One of the soldiers had come with a cloth to press against the wound.

“Quentin, where’s Ava?” Carrick asked urgently.

“Don’t know,” Quentin slurred.  His head wound must be bad.  “Attacked.  Took Ava.”

“Why were you outside the Cloak?” Carrick demanded angrily.

“Not. Outside.” Quentin managed to say before passing out.

“Damn it all to hell.  This doesn’t make sense!”  Carrick stood up, clenching and unclenching his fists in frustration.

They were not outside the Cloak when attacked?  But Quentin had come from outside the Cloak. Carrick didn’t understand but he didn’t have time to figure it out either.  He commanded ten of his men to search the immediate area for any breaches in the Cloak and determine if there were any enemy forces inside.  He left two soldiers with Quentin and told the rest to follow him.  Carrick spurred Greta through the Cloak in search of Ava.

****

Ava was standing up against a large wooden post, her arms tied behind it with cloth.  The iron shackle was still secure around her neck but her feet were left untied. She was in a temporary camp as best as she could tell.  When they had arrived, there were approximately thirty of Ralina’s men that she could count.  They were all wearing the same black uniforms with the red eye on the shoulder. 

Ava had heard the man she was riding with called Snyder and she soon figured out that he was clearly in charge of this group.  Within a few hours, Snyder had given various orders to the soldiers and most had left camp.  Right now, only three others remained with him.  They were all occupied around a small fire eating two rabbits they had roasted.  She was not close enough to hear them talking but she had heard bits and pieces of conversation when they first arrived and while they were tying her up.

She had been able to figure out that Ralina knew that Ava had returned to Vyronas and had put a bounty on her head.  She was, thankfully, wanted alive.  These were not bounty hunters, though.  They were actually part of Ralina’s army so she figured Ralina was coming after her with all her might.

She had learned one other very important piece of information. She overheard the soldiers talking about a blood spell that had let them temporarily manipulate the Cloak’s boundary.  Ava had not been taken from inside the Cloak as she had thought, but had inadvertently wandered outside its protective boundary.  The blood spell they had cast hid the edge of the Cloak from her both by way of sight and feel. 

Thinking back on it, she would bet Snyder’s head that was the nauseous feeling she had when they were walking through the Leedle and Chappelle trees.  Ralina’s men didn’t have to breech the Cloak to get Ava.  She had wandered right out of it without even knowing. 
Except, how did Snyder and his men know that I would wander out of the Cloak?

Movement by the fire caught her eye.  She saw Snyder throw a bone into the fire and wipe his greasy fingers on his pants.
Oh, gross.  How about using a cleansing spell you pig.
Then he had the good grace to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand, while turning to face her. 

The look on his face had Ava swallowing a lump in her throat.  His look was beyond lecherous.  He said something over his shoulder to the other three men which she couldn’t hear but had them laughing. Then the three men stood up, and walked out of camp into the surrounding bushes. 

Now Ava was alone with Snyder and she was scared out of her wits.  With the iron around her neck and her hands tied behind her back, she had no means with which to defend herself.  Oh, she could kick out at Snyder, and she sure as hell would.  But she knew that was not going to stop him.

Snyder walked toward her, his eyes roving all over her body.  He licked his lips and she hoped it was just because there was more rabbit grease there, but she doubted it.  Just a few feet away from her, he reached behind his back and pulled out a huge knife.  The handle was made of a simple wood but the blade looked true and sharp. 

Ava tried to be strong but she felt a scream welling up inside her.  She steeled herself, tamping down her fear.  Maybe if she could get him talking, she could stall for time and come up with a plan.

“I don’t think Ralina will be too happy if you use that knife on me.”