The Three (35 page)

Near the center, women sat in a large circle on the ground. Elin and the little girl, Lana, were led to a gap in the circle and encouraged to sit. Trey waved his hand at a subordinate, who immediately shackled Elin’s left foot to the right foot of the woman sitting beside her in the circle, Elin’s right foot to Lana’s left foot, and Lana’s right foot to the left foot of the woman to her right. Once finished, the men had all of their prisoners ready to eat lunch without risk of escape.

Anna gazed at Elin’s profile. Her lover was too far away for Anna to easily read her face, but what she did see was troubling. Elin’s shoulders were slumped in a kind of defeat that Anna was certain hadn’t been there before Brian’s attack. She looked lost and forlorn and barely responded even as Lana laid her dark head on her lap. Elin stroked the girl’s hair with a heedless hand.

Trey retreated toward his tent, gesturing for Matt to follow. Matt hesitated a moment, then, while Trey’s back was turned, quickly leaned down and whispered something into Elin’s ear. Just as quickly, he stood up and hurried to follow Trey back to his tent at the upper edge of the circle of the camp.

For a long moment Elin didn’t react. Anna stared at her lover, desperate for some clue as to Matt’s words, and after a number of heartbeats, she saw it.

Elin lifted her face and looked into the blue sky overhead. She sat up straighter and threw her shoulders back in quiet determination. Then, so subtly that nobody around her seemed to notice, she turned her head to glance in the direction of the trees where Anna and Kael were hidden.

Anna swore she could see the slight, hopeful smile on Elin’s face despite the distance between them. She knew without a doubt that Elin was aware she and Kael were out there, waiting and watching and utterly determined to rescue her. Anna closed her eyes and thanked Matt for restoring Elin’s hope. To see her lose it for even a moment had been terrifying.

Kael gave her a nudge. “That asshole is on the move.”

Anna opened her eyes and scanned the camp until she saw what Kael meant. Brian, having been released from the watch of his fellow guards, was stalking angrily away from the tents. He passed the field where the football game was breaking up and made it into the trees not far from where Kael and Anna were hiding.

Nobody followed him. Anna assumed that he was either deserting or looking to blow off some steam before Trey meted out his punishment.

“I want to go talk to him,” Kael growled. The tone of her voice left no doubt that talking wasn’t all she wanted to do.

Anna felt her heart stutter in anticipation. Nodding, she squeezed Kael’s hand with her own. “Then let’s go find him.”

They followed Brian’s trail almost a half mile through dense forest, snaking onto higher ground far above the river. Anna couldn’t imagine that this encounter would end any way but in bloodshed. She felt as though they were stalking an animal, waiting for the first glimpse of their prey. A dark energy radiated from Kael’s lean body, her desire to kill almost palpable in the cool afternoon air. Anna felt her own murderous rage, though she wasn’t sure she could follow through with it.

If she killed Brian, it wouldn’t be the first time she’d taken a life. After losing Garrett, she’d sworn that unless it was in true self-defense, her blind retribution for his murder would be the last time. She hadn’t liked how lost she’d felt when she gave in to her violent desires.

She didn’t want to kill Brian. But she wouldn’t necessarily mind if Kael did.

She understood the concept of vengeance, and more important, she was unwilling to direct Kael’s actions in whatever came next. Anna saw that Kael was struggling with her own demons, and she would allow her to exorcise them however she needed. Hearing something, she signaled Kael and they both stopped walking and listened keenly. Anna gestured to a cluster of maples to their left. He’s there, she mouthed, hearing angry muttering and harsh breathing.

When they caught sight of Brian, his back was to them. He was leaning against the broad trunk of a tree, forehead pressed to his forearm, his other hand busy in front of his body.

He remained oblivious as they approached from behind, panting in time with his aggressive strokes.

“Fucking little redheaded bitch. When I’m fucking done with you—”

Brian’s curses were cut short when his body slammed up against the tree as Kael tackled him. He grunted loud and struggled in an effort to turn and face his attacker. Kael wrapped one arm around Brian’s neck while she produced a wicked- looking knife from the back of her jeans with the other. Anna hadn’t even realized she was carrying it.

“Make one sound, and I’ll slit your throat,” she growled into Brian’s ear and pressed the blade against his neck. She eased her free arm from his throat to make room for the knife and pinned him in place with a rough hand on his back. She kept him pressed hard against the trunk, face smashed to the side against the bark. “After I cut your dick off. Do you understand?”

Brian hesitated, then he gave Kael a fast nod.

“We’re going to take a walk.” Kael pressed the edge of the blade against his throat, drawing a thin red line of blood to the surface. With a glance at Anna, she said, “Get out the gun and keep it pointed at his head. If he so much as breathes wrong, put a bullet in his brain.”

“No problem.” Anna forced false confidence into her voice as she pulled the unloaded handgun from the back of her jeans. She made a show of cocking the gun, then pointed it at Brian’s head. “My pleasure.”

Kael clapped Brian on the back. “All right, asshole. When I step back, you move away from the tree and put your hands on your head. If you try anything, my partner here will blow your head off. Do you think anyone will come after you?”

Brian managed to shrug. “Eventually.”

Kael stepped back and Brian immediately turned to look at Anna, who kept her gun pointed at his face. She met his stare, unwilling to be intimidated by the hatred in his cold eyes. This man hurt Elin. She was glad she didn’t have any bullets in her gun.

Brian reached down to tuck his flaccid penis back into his blue jeans. Anna jerked her gun at the movement, and Kael’s blade returned to Brian’s throat before either Anna or Brian could react.

“What are you doing?” Kael hissed.

Despite his predicament, the loud-mouthed defiance they had seen at the river returned to the surface. “I’m just zipping up, faggot. Or did you want to do it for me?”

Kael delivered a sharp punch to Brian’s kidney. “Shut up and walk.”

Kael steered them farther away from the Procreationist camp, back toward where they’d stayed with Dr.

Kate. Brian set the pace, with only a little additional urging from Kael with the tip of her knife against the small of his back.

About a half mile from Kate’s home, they came upon a run-down old barn that had obviously been abandoned for years. Kael poked Brian in the back.

“In there,” she told him. “We need to have a conversation.”

Brian changed direction without a word. He pushed open the large front door, half-rotted off its hinges, and stepped inside. When he reached the middle of the barn, he turned to face Kael squarely for the first time.

“Wait, you’re—” Brian’s eyes widened in surprise. He dropped his hands from his head. “You’re the faggot who was with the redhead. You killed Sue and Derek.”

“I wish I could say it was nice to see you again.” Kael gestured with her knife. “Get your hands back on your head.”

Brian looked over to Anna. His expression betrayed his genuine confusion. “So who is she? Christ, faggot, you were fucking the redhead a week and a half ago. It didn’t take you long to find a new one.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Kael snapped. Anna watched a vein pulse in the side of Kael’s neck. Brian was trying hard to upset her, and it looked like he was doing a good job of it. “It’s none of your business who she is.

Stop looking at her. And stop calling me faggot.”

Brian’s lips curled into a defiant smile as he slowly dragged his eyes back over to Kael. “What’s wrong, fag? Hit a little too close to home?” He laced his hands casually on top of his head. “You look like you’re probably just as good at sucking cock as that little bitch we took from you. Elin, isn’t it?”

Kael’s eyes flashed with pure rage, and she came at Brian with the knife, slicing him across the chest.

Brian’s hands dropped from his head, and he moved as though to strike back at Kael, but Kael delivered a hard punch to his stomach that doubled him over. She followed up with a blow to his face, knocking him onto his ass on the dusty floor.

“Say anything disrespectful about her again, and I’ll cut your tongue out.” Kael stood over Brian, heaving in anger.

Kael was deadly close to losing control. Anna didn’t understand why Brian insisted on pushing Kael’s buttons like this. Didn’t he see that Kael was dangerous?

On the floor, Brian shook with laughter. His T-shirt was stained with blood from the gash on his chest.

“Man, the look on your face,” he guffawed and pointed at Kael, who loomed over him. “You need to calm down. Don’t worry, she loved everything we did to her.”

Anna went hot at Brian’s crude insinuation. She aimed the gun at his forehead. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Keep going and I’ll kill you myself.”

Brian released helpless laughter. “Your boyfriend is going to kill me, anyway.” He raised hard eyes to Kael.

“You think I don’t realize that?”

“But you get to decide how you want to die,” Kael said. “And how long you want it to take.”

Brian’s grin faded. “So, what do you want to talk about?”

“Anna,” Kael said, “keep the gun on him while I find something to bind his hands.”

“Do I look like I’m resisting?” Brian asked.

Just looking at him turned Anna’s stomach. His cruel eyes reminded her of the first man who’d attacked her almost a year and a half ago. She’d had to stare into those empty green eyes for almost twenty minutes while he moved on top and inside of her. Anna struggled to keep the gun trained on Brian as her hand began to tremble. She took in the damage Kael had inflicted when she’d smashed him into the tree. Two of his fingers were bent at an awkward angle, obviously broken. His forehead was scraped raw, and blood trickled from his nostrils and mouth.

“Anna, huh?” Brian spit out blood and gave her a toothy, red-stained smile. “Pretty name. The faggot sure does find pretty girls.”

Anna didn’t respond. She couldn’t find words that wouldn’t betray her anger and fear, and so she didn’t say anything. She tried to steady her hand, gritting her teeth to stop the gun from trembling.

“Are you scared of me? That’s so sweet.” Brian grinned up at Anna, feinting an attack. When Anna didn’t flinch, he stuck out his tongue and waggled it crudely. “Are you as good as your friend? She’s a real squirmer. I love that.”

Just as Anna felt like she had no choice but to turn and flee from Brian’s taunting or simply kill him on the spot, Kael saved her. She jogged up to Brian, drew back her foot, and delivered a sharp kick to his ribs.

Leaning down, she pressed her blade to his throat again. “Hands behind your back.”

Brian glared as though tempted to try to attack Kael, but when Anna kept the gun and her eyes pinned to him in silent warning, he allowed Kael to tie his hands with a worn length of rope.

“They’ll be wondering where I am by this point,” he commented in a casual voice. “I’m sure we left a trail.”

“They’ll think you deserted,” Kael said. “And I doubt they’ll bother coming after you. It didn’t look like Trey was all that concerned about whether or not you were around after what happened at the river.”

“Yeah, well he just wants that redheaded bitch to himself, that’s all.” When Kael didn’t answer, he added, “If you think you’re going to swoop in there and rescue your girl, you’d better think again. Trey’s got her earmarked. He’s not giving that little piece up.”

Kael dragged him to a pillar and propped him against the wood. His hands, secured behind his back, rested on the floor between his ass and the wooden pillar.

“What are you talking about?” Kael asked.

“Trey gets to take a wife just as soon as we get home from this tour. He’s done seven years with the army, and that’s the deal.”

“And he wants Elin?”

“He’s been drooling over her since day one. Guess he must like the idea of a challenge.”

“She’s that important to him, yet you still tried to hurt her today?” Kael said. “I don’t believe it. Why would you take that kind of risk?”

Brian shrugged and cast a dark look toward Anna. “You don’t understand, man. They expect us to take these women, but we’re not allowed to fuck them. We’re out on the hunt months at a time, then we have to take them back for the guys who’re allowed to marry. Or they just go into service—what a fucking waste that is. And what do we get? If we make it through seven lousy years—if we manage to avoid getting killed by some faggot like you for seven years—then we get to fuck again.”

“Is this story supposed to make me feel bad for you?” Knife in hand, Kael knelt in front of Brian, resting her blade against his cheek. “Because I really can’t feel bad for a rapist who isn’t allowed to rape.”

“It’s all a bunch of bullshit, anyway,” Brian muttered. “That fucking hypocrite. He thinks we’re different somehow, him and me. But guess what? She doesn’t want him either, but she won’t have any choice.

Know what I’m saying here? Just because I don’t dress it up as being in the interest of the human race and all part of God’s plan, I’m the bad guy.”

Anna blinked in surprise at Brian’s clear-headed critique of the moral distinction the Procreationists used to justify their actions. It told her that he understood the difference between right and wrong. He just didn’t care. He understood perfectly what rape meant, and he yearned to commit it.