WarriorsApprentice (18 page)

Although she appreciated Huon’s gesture, Judie dragged
herself to her feet and into the tiny bathroom. If she didn’t get a few things
done and cleaned and emptied she was never going to sleep tonight, no matter
how exhausted she was.

When she opened the door again, Huon had already climbed
into the single top berth. “You and Tybor can have the double bed,” he said.
“You two can cuddle up and I can sleep up here and not risk bleeding on you.”

Judie looked up sharply. “Did your cuts open up again?” When
he shook his head she relaxed. “In that case, fine. It’s a good idea. I
wouldn’t want either of us to bump you accidentally during the night. I think
you’ve suffered enough.”

“Hmm. I think so too,” he said sleepily. A huge yawn cracked
his jaw. “But I was compensated for it rather wonderfully. Good night.” He
rolled onto his side.

Tybor had already shifted himself to the wall side of the
double bunk and he held up the sheet so Judie could slip underneath it. She
settled next to him and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She closed her
eyes and sank instantly into sleep.

Chapter Five

Light seeping around the edges of the window blinds woke
her. The soothing rumble of the train’s wheels carried on unabated. She opened
her eyes to see Tybor lying on his side, staring at her.

“What time is it?” she asked. “Should we go to the dining
car for breakfast?”

“No,” Tybor replied. “We don’t want anyone to see us or take
notice of us.”

Her cheeks burned. “Because of last night and me screaming,”
she mumbled.

“Because we don’t want anyone to see the three of us
together and remember we got on the train at Venice and got off at Klagenfurt,”
he said, tapping the end of her nose. “We’re on the run, remember?”

“Oh, yes,” she sighed. The events in this compartment last
night had made her forget, at least temporarily, about the fight with Brian
Hopewood.

Bumping against one another, they scrambled into their
clothes, Huon and Tybor pulling fresh garments from the bag Tybor had packed,
Judie wrinkling her nose up in distaste as she pulled on the same clothes she’d
worn yesterday. She sighed in regret for the packed suitcase she’d left on the
landing when she’d raced into Brian’s office, and promised herself the first
thing she was going to do after they found somewhere safe was buy herself some
new clothes.

As the train drew closer to their destination, Judie started
to outline her plan to Tybor and Huon. “You need time and a place for Huon to
recover. Klagenfurt is a university town. At this time of the year, some
students have already finished their courses and gone home, so we have a good chance
of picking up some short-term accommodation.”

Tybor smiled at her. “How do you know all this?”

“I worked at a university. It’s a small world. You find stuff
out.”

When the train pulled into the station, Tybor and Huon got
out first and checked out the crowds on the platform before they signaled her
to get down from the train. People went about their business without paying
them any particular attention. Outside the station, the three of them moved off
together. Judie cast several quick glances over her shoulder, but no one
followed them as they made their way down the tidy tree-lined streets to the
center of town.

She turned to look again, but Huon gripped her hand and
murmured, “We want to look innocent. Doing that is only going to attract
notice.”

In the window of a newsagent’s shop, a neatly typed notice
advertised rooms to let, breakfast provided, and they consulted a map in the
town square and made their way through the sedate traffic until they came to a
three-story apartment block. Tybor stepped forward, speaking fluent enough
German to the whip-thin middle-aged woman dressed in a dark skirt, white shirt
and wraparound floral apron.

If she thought their appearance odd or had doubts about the
nature of their relationship, she made no comment. Though her expression
remained dour throughout, she led them upstairs to a room with four bunk beds
and a tiny attached bathroom, told them what time breakfast was served and left
them alone.

“Nice language skills,” Huon said.

“When you’ve been around as long as I have you pick up a lot
of things, boy,” Tybor replied. “When you’re as old as I am, maybe you’ll speak
more languages, too.”

“Just how old are you?” Judie asked.

“You don’t want to know.” Huon laughed. “Let’s just say old
enough to know what he’s doing and still young enough to do it, judging by last
night.”

Since she didn’t want to go there again right at this
moment, Judie announced, “I’m going to do some shopping. And before you roll
your eyes and go all male on me, you two have a change of clothes. I don’t.”

“You could just stay naked the whole time,” Huon chipped in.

Judie gave him a “get real” look and picked up her purse.
Tybor stood up. “I’ll come with you.”

“So will I,” Huon added instantly.

“No, you won’t,” Judie and Tybor said in unison. Then they
broke into two separate explanations.

“You should stay here and recover,” Judie said.

“If the Gatekeepers are searching for us, they’ll be looking
for you and me together. Neither they nor the police will be looking for one
man and a woman,” Tybor said at the same time.

Huon nodded reluctantly. “Okay. But if you’re going out, you
need to pick up some things. Our supplies were somewhat depleted.”

The look he shared with Tybor carried a meaning Judie
couldn’t interpret, but then she supposed she was a latecomer to this little
group. She’d eventually get to the bottom of everything they weren’t telling
her. She’d make sure of it.

They left Huon behind and walked to the town center
together. Again, people went about their business and took no notice of them.
She tried to convince Tybor that she was perfectly capable of selecting
underwear and some jeans and shirts and shoes without his help, but he insisted
on accompanying her.

“Yes, I know you think it’s safe here. And yes, I have seen
that no one has looked twice at us, and it’s possible the police are not
looking for Huon and me,” Tybor commented. “But they’ll have a trace on your
credit cards for sure.”

“I hadn’t thought of that.” She spun around, eyes wild,
searching the footpaths. “How will we get money, then? If I use my cards
they’ll know where we are.” Her voice rose in panic.

“I have money,” Tybor said, pulling out a huge wad of euro
from his pocket.

“I’ll buy the cheapest clothes I can, and not too many of
them,” Judie said.

“You don’t have to skimp. We ended up with more money than
we thought. You can buy what you like, courtesy of Brian Hopewood.”

“How did you get…?” she began. “No. Don’t tell me. I don’t
want to know.”

“We’ll talk about it later, when we’re all together,” Tybor
said, putting a hand on the small of her back and propelling her gently along
the street. “Let’s just get what we have to and get back to Huon.”

At a department store, Tybor escorted her up to the
womenswear department.

“I’ll be all right,” she said in a hollow voice. “You don’t
need to come any farther.”

Hard brown eyes cast a long look around the area and Tybor
folded his arms across his chest and stood, feet placed shoulder-width apart at
the head of the escalator.

“I’ll wait here,” he insisted. With a nod of his head he
indicated the bank of elevators against the opposite wall. “I can see anyone
who tries to get onto the floor.”

He turned back to Judie and the way his eyes moved around,
checking the people around her, told her he was not as confident the police
would not come looking for them as he pretended.

“You can go and buy what you need, but if I come to tell you
to run, you run, no matter what state of dress or undress you find yourself
in.”

“Okay,” Judie agreed. “I’ll run if we have to. But,” she
fixed him with her own determined stare, “I’m not running away if you need my
help.”

“You’ll run if I tell you to,” Tybor insisted. “We cannot
afford to let the police arrest us.”

“I’m in this thing with you too deep to back out,” she said.
“We’re a team.”

“My people don’t do
team
,” Tybor snapped.

“But you and Huon, you’re a team,” she insisted.

“We worked on the same mission because it was the only way
to get the job done,” Tybor replied.

“No, it’s more than that. It’s the way you look at each
other, then look away. It’s what you said last night when you could feel—”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tybor cut her
off. “You don’t know us. Don’t make the mistake of thinking because we look
like humans, we are like you. We do what we have to do for the survival of our
people, but we are loners, and we don’t do commitment or social bonding.”

“You’re wrong,” Judie protested. “I can see what there is
between you and Huon.”

“There is nothing between us other than this mission.
Nothing! Just as there is nothing between you and me and Huon.” He took a step
back from her. “Dvalinn don’t believe in love. Don’t think our physical
affinity means anything. Don’t let it direct your actions. Don’t make plans for
a future that involves Huon or me.”

“I’m not making any plans,” Judie muttered. “I’m going to
get some clothes. You can do whatever you want to.”

She trudged, heavy-footed, to purchase the basic items she
needed. While she shopped, awareness of Tybor’s brooding gaze prickled
constantly at the back of her neck.

When she returned to his side, shopping bags dangling from
her wrists, he grunted, whether in approval or impatience she couldn’t tell,
and led her onto the downward escalator.

“Where are we going now?” she asked.

“To a chemist and a hardware store,” he said over his
shoulder as he strode down the street. “We need to have plenty of supplies in
case we’re attacked.”

With a hopping step, Judie hurried to keep up with him. “You’re
going to attack the police?”

“If I have to.” Tybor’s voice was grim.

“Where are you going to get a gun?” she asked.

His pace didn’t slow. “Our people don’t use guns. Ever. And
even if that was negotiable, there is no way we have time to develop expertise
with them. And,” he stopped briefly and looked down his nose at her, “this is
Europe. It isn’t easy to get a gun here and since we have to travel, the risk
of getting caught with one is too great. The components of our energy balls
however, when separate, will not arouse any suspicion.” He began to walk again.
“Do you want a gun?” he asked. “Are you an expert?”

“Me?” she squeaked. “No. I’ve never touched a gun in my
life.”

“Then the entire conversation is pointless. No guns,” he
reiterated.

“Well, can I have some of these energy balls?” She scurried
after him. “I need something to help you fight.”

An exasperated sigh escaped Tybor’s lips. “Weren’t you
listening? I told you, no—“

“No commitment. I heard you. But you can’t just desert me
here,” she argued. “Where you go, I go.” When he opened his mouth to argue, she
cut him off. “I know you have to go back to where you come from, but until you
do you’re stuck with me. I need time to work out what I’m going to do.”

“I should have,” he paused and Judie got the feeling he’d
changed what he was about to say, “knocked you out and left you in Venice. If
we’d made sure your fingerprints weren’t on the shovel handle…”

“
I
rescued
you
, in case you’ve forgotten,”
Judie said, her hands on her hips, feet square, glaring at Tybor.

They were blocking the sidewalk but she didn’t care. People
moved around them, polite and silent.

“And you didn’t have the choice to leave me in Venice. Who
got you to the train station? Who got whom out of the city within half an
hour?”

“Damn pushy women,” Tybor grunted, then scrubbed his hands
across his forehead. “All right, you’re in this as much as we are, at least for
now.”

“And my weapon?” she demanded. “I want some of those explodey
things.”

“No fireballs.” Tybor held up one hand to silence her
protest. “They’re hard to use, difficult to master and they require intensive
training before you can be at all effective. Don’t believe me? Ask Huon what I
put him through in training. Weeks and weeks of training.” He sighed and the
corners of his mouth tilted up. “But you did get us out of a tight situation
and we are grateful.” The smile grew wider. “Maybe we’ll just make sure you
have a good supply of coal shovels.”

In any other circumstance she’d have smiled back but Tybor’s
statement made her feel ill. No matter what Tybor and Huon had done or why,
she
had killed a man. She heard again the sickening thud of the shovel connecting
with Brian’s head. Nausea mixed with fear and horror weakened her knees, but
she wasn’t running away.

A deep chill settled on her while she waited for Tybor to
buy the mixture of chemicals and household cleaning products he needed. By the
time they stopped at a delicatessen she felt achy and feverish, her legs
shaking so much she almost stumbled up the stairs to their rooms.

Huon met them at the door, eager to ask about the trip, but
Tybor cut him off with a gesture of his hand. “Later.”

Huon blinked and asked, “Did you get food? Let’s eat.”

“You two do whatever you want,” Judie said flatly. The
nausea she’d been fighting boiled over and she rushed for the bathroom, bags
still in her hand.

The door had barely slammed behind her when she doubled over
the toilet, retching and heaving. When the spasms had passed, she lay on the
cool tile floor and gave in to the knowledge that in all the rush of escape, in
the fever of sexual excitement, she’d managed to keep buried. All the men she
worked
with
were dead, and she had murdered the man she worked
for
.
Her stomach heaved again, but there was nothing more to bring up. With legs
that felt a hundred years old, she pulled herself to her feet, took off her
clothes and staggered into the shower.

She let the water flow over her for a long, long time, but
at the end of it she didn’t feel any cleaner, didn’t feel like any of the grime
that stuck to her had truly been washed away.

She pulled a large T-shirt out of her shopping bag and put
it on, opened the door and, without saying a word to either man, climbed into
one of the single bunks, pulled the sheets up around her head and tried to
sleep.

Although every muscle in her body ached with tiredness, her
brain swirled and she felt shaky and disconnected from the world, as if a
translucent curtain had fallen in front of her. All her strange confidence had
fled and she was left facing the fact that she was a murderess, wanted by the
police and dependent on two strangers who were not even human. Long, long hours
passed before she finally fell into a fitful sleep.

* * * * *