WarriorsApprentice (20 page)

“I didn’t think I’d have to,” Tybor explained. “I thought if
I was here, helping you, we’d get the job done, together, in plenty of time. If
we didn’t, then we were going to be dead anyway. Telling you about it would only
have distracted you.”

“Fuck you!” Huon flung Judie’s hand away and marched the
short distance to Tybor. “When the fuck are you going to get it through your
head that I’m not weak? I’m as much a warrior as you are.” He shoved his hand
against Tybor’s chest. “I don’t need
you
to protect me.”

“I thought…” Tybor began, stepping back a pace.

“I know what you thought. I know what you’ve thought all
along.” Huon paced up and down. “Did it occur to you that if I’d known about
this I never would have left Venice? That if I’d stayed I could have found some
way to get to the portal on San Michele?”

“You were bleeding, weakened.” Tybor shoved his hands in his
pockets and Judie could not have said whether it was to stop them from hitting
Huon or from holding him. “Judie made a decision to catch the train and I went
along with it.”

“Because you don’t give a shit whether I live or die!” Huon
shouted.

“After all Tybor has done for you? Don’t be ridiculous!”
Judie said at the same time that Tybor shouted, “Of course I give a shit. I’d
die rather than let harm come to you, I…”

He broke off and the silence tolled around them like a bell,
the unsaid words clanging in the air.

After a long, tense moment Huon said, his voice husky, “I’m
sorry. I wouldn’t have made it this far without you and I had no right to say
any of that.”

He looked down at Judie, who was wringing her hands
together, half in agitation and half in an attempt to restore the circulation
cut off by Huon’s fierce grip.

“I apologize to you too, Judie.” He picked up her hand
again, holding it as if it were fragile. “I’ve hurt you and I didn’t mean to.”
The words were directed at her, but he pitched his voice louder than before and
Judie knew they were meant for Tybor as well.

“There is another portal,” Tybor said quietly. “More
powerful by far than any other. It is the focal point for all ley lines, a center
of worship and mystic ritual for as long as humans and Dvalinn have walked the earth.
The natural power there is so strong that I
could
bring Huon back with
me.”

“Then we have to go there,” Judie said, one hand still
captured in Huon’s, the other reaching out imploringly to Tybor. “Tell me where
it is and I will do everything in my power to help you get there in time.”

“We’ll need your help,” Tybor admitted. “I don’t understand
the modern human system of transportation and I don’t have time to figure it
out.”

Shaking her hand free of Huon’s, Judie reached into her bag
and pulled out her phone. “Unless it’s some obscure place no one has ever heard
of, I’ll be able to use this to get directions.”

“Unless the upper world has changed more than I thought in
the last five hundred years, you’ll have heard of it.”

Judie tapped her finger impatiently on the keyboard. “Well?”

“Stonehenge,” Tybor said. “If we can get Huon to Stonehenge
within three days, he will live.”

“Piece of cake,” Judie said. And it
would
be, but as
she said it a heavy cloud settled on her shoulders. Only three days left with
these extraordinary men, and they would be gone, and she would be left alone to
deal with the murder of Brian Hopewood, left alone to try to salvage what she
could of her life, left alone forever because she would never be able to move
on, never able to forget that in a world somewhere beneath her feet, Tybor and
Huon lived their long, long lives without a thought for the grieving woman they
left behind.

“Can you find out the information now?” Huon asked, breaking
her out of her reverie. “Find out how to get from here to Stonehenge?”

His eyes gleamed and Judie knew the thoughts that saddened
her had not so much as crossed his mind. And why should they? She had only ever
been part of an assignment. A pleasurable part, to be sure, but once the
mission was over, easily forgotten. If they could take a soldier’s view of it,
she could too. She squared her shoulders, swallowed down the tears that
threatened and put on the mask she expected to wear for the rest of her life.

“It depends on the coverage,” she said, and flicked her
thumbs over a few more buttons, pinching and spreading her fingers across the
screen. Then she pushed her lips into a smile. “Gotta love a university town.
Extensive, free network coverage for internet access. We’re in. What do we need
to know?”

With a quick tap of her fingers on the screen, she called up
a map. “There’s Venice and here’s Klagenfurt. If we want to go to Stonehenge,
which is here,” she stroked her finger down the screen and the map scrolled, “we
went in the wrong direction out of Venice.” She shrugged. “But the Venice—Vienna
Express took me to where I thought I needed to go at the time.”

“And you dragged us along with you,” Tybor grated. “Shit,
how did things get so bad we’re dependent on humans and their machines for
help?”

“Unless you’ve suffered a memory lapse, I’d have thought
that would be obvious,” Judie snapped back. “You’re in the human world now, and
that makes me the expert.” She grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. “We have
plans to make,” she said, fingers flying again. “There isn’t a direct train
from here to the UK and even if there were, I’m not sure it would be wise to
take it. There might be other Gatekeepers and they
might
be watching the
trains.”

“Fuck!” Tybor exploded. “It would be so much easier if we
could just transport there.”

“If we could do that, we wouldn’t bloody need to do any of
this,” Huon replied. “There must be a way we can do it in the time we have
left.”

“Without drawing the attention of the authorities. We need a
car.” Judie clenched her hair in her fists.

“Steal one,” Huon suggested.

“And draw the police to us like a moth to a beacon? I don’t
think so,” she said gloomily. “We can’t rent one because any company would
insist on seeing identification.” She paused. She’d never been to Klagenfurt
before, but she’d exchanged hundreds of emails with fellow post-grad students
at the physics department of the University. “But we might be able to borrow
one.” She picked up her phone again.

“What are you doing?” Huon asked.

“Calling on the geeks and nerds network,” she whispered,
holding up one finger to stop the flood of questions.

She thumbed in a text message and waited. After a moment the
beep of an incoming message had her pressing buttons again. One more wait and a
beep and she crowed with excitement.

“Got it. All I have to do is go and pick it up.”

“Just like that?” Tybor asked skeptically.

“I told him I needed to get to a conference to deliver a
paper,” Judie explained. “He’s an academic. It was reason enough.”

“Didn’t he ask any questions? What if he sees something on
the news and realizes it’s us?” Huon sounded just as doubtful as Tybor.

“This guy is neck-deep in some really complicated
theoretical calculations,” she replied, shaking her head. “Don’t think he’s
been away from his computer for months, let alone left the town. The only time
he connects with the real world is if there’s something about his particular
field of physics. Another problem
I
solved.” She looked at the two
dumbstruck men. “You
need
me.”

Her phone beeped and she looked down. “I’ll go and meet him
and bring the car back.”

Before either man could make the protest that so obviously
rose to their lips, she raised her eyebrows and asked, “Can either of you
drive?”

Both men shook their heads.

“Thought not,” she said, unashamedly gloating. Let them feel
the sting of inferiority for a moment.

“It’s after dark. One of us should come with you to make
sure you’re safe,” Huon said. “You can’t use energy balls.”

“As long as any other Gatekeepers haven’t got here yet, and
we have no reason to think they have, I’ll be safe. I’m not worried about
walking the streets of Klagenfurt after dark. Austrians are very law-abiding
people. ” She pulled on her coat. “I’ll be careful and I won’t do anything to
draw attention to myself. I’m not stupid.”

“I won’t risk it,” Tybor said, folding his arms and
spreading his legs wide, looking as if he planned to model for a Master of the Universe
poster.

“I’m only going to pick up a car,” she said with an
exasperated sigh. She had to stop them from seeing her as a liability. “Believe
it or not, Tybor, I’ll actually be safer without your great big imposing
presence. You said yourself Gatekeepers can recognize you as Dvalinn.”

“Then let me come,” Huon demanded.

“No. If the Gatekeepers do come after us somewhere along the
line, you’ll both need to be at the peak of your abilities. Save it for then.”

Before they could muster any more macho arguments, she shut
the door behind her and sprinted down the stairs.

Fifteen minutes later, she slid behind the wheel of a
surprisingly well-maintained Volkswagen Golf and waved goodbye to its owner. If
Johann had any concerns about the safety of his car in the care of a relative
stranger, or worries about when she’d return it, they had taken second place to
his earnest queries about the paper she’d claimed to be delivering.

Stumped for an answer she’d rattled off the title of the
paper she’d prepared for her doctoral thesis.

“Oh, that,” Johann said, disgust evident in his tone.
“There’s nothing groundbreaking about that.”

Having shown herself unworthy of his interest, she was able
to drive the car away without further conversation, not sure if she was more
relieved or offended that he had stalked off, so eager to return to his work
that he didn’t bother waving goodbye.

She found a parking spot in the street behind the apartment
and, after making sure the car was locked, headed back up to their rooms.

She’d barely reached the door when it was flung open and she
was faced with two very imposing, angry men.

“Why were you away so long?” Tybor demanded at the same time
Huon asked, “Are you all right? Nothing happened to threaten you?”

She raised her hands to shove at two solid chests, one a
wide expanse of brown skin-covered muscle, the other slender and ivory colored
but just as solid. Both of the men took one step backwards, but it was only so
they could pull her inside and slam the door shut behind her, not because she’d
had any impact on them.

“I’m all right. I told you I would be.” She dropped the keys
on the hall stand. “I’ve only been gone a little while. I barely took time to
cover the civilities with Johann.”

“Johann? Who’s Johann?” Tybor snapped.

“The man I borrowed the car from.” Judie blew out a long
breath. “It’s parked outside, everything is under control and I don’t need you
to make a fuss over me.”

“You take too many risks. You’re only a human and you don’t
have the strength or training to deal with this situation.”

“A human who got you out of a situation you didn’t seem to
be dealing with too well,” Judie reminded him. “Maybe you’ve forgotten where
you were before I intervened.”

* * * * *

Judie stood there with her hands on her hips, glaring at
Tybor as if she were unaware that he towered over her and outweighed her by
about eighty pounds of pure muscle. Tybor glared back, his clean-cut lips firm,
his jaw clamped shut, a muscle in his cheek twitching.

Huon looked from one to the other and his skin grew hot and
itchy. He rolled his shoulders restlessly, but the tension didn’t lessen—the
tightness grew and spread down to his groin, settling solidly in his cock,
causing it to swell and harden.

Desire. Although he knew the feeling, knew how to label it,
knew by now how to obey it, the intensity of need that gripped him, held him
rigid and vibrating, took him by surprise. He had to have Judie. He wanted to
bury his cock deep in her body and thrust and thrust again until he reached the
peak of divine madness, but he wanted more—wanted something he couldn’t put a
name to, something tied inextricably to the man in front of him. Harsh,
warlike, infuriating, but fiercely loyal, prepared to give his own life to save
Huon’s.

As he watched the pair of them face off, another image
burned in his brain. Judie squirming and writhing beneath him, sandwiching him
between her soft smoothness and Tybor’s sharp edginess above him. He needed
them both.

His cock stirred and hardened and he stepped forward,
placing himself sideways between them, one shoulder against Tybor’s rock-hard
chest, the other arm brushing against the gentle swell of Judie’s breasts. Raising
his arms, he embraced them both.

“You are amazing, Judie Scanlon. Brave, resourceful and
very, very sexy.” He dropped a kiss on her forehead. “And Tybor knows it. He
just doesn’t like to admit it.”

“I’ve noticed a few things he doesn’t like to admit,” she
said.

“Yeah?” Tybor snapped. “Like what?”

“Your feelings, for a start,” Judie said.

“I’m not a human,” Tybor replied. “I don’t have feelings.
Not the way you mean.” He shrugged his shoulders and stepped away from Huon.
“If you want to fuck, then let’s fuck. But don’t mistake it for anything other
than what it is. Sex. Physical escape.”

He wrenched Judie away from Huon and threw her down onto the
narrow single bed, stripping off his clothes, pushing Judie’s out of the way
and coming down over her. Huon stood where he’d been, shock holding him
transfixed.

He’d wanted the strength that made Tybor the warrior he was,
but not this savage creature who seemed intent on selfishly fulfilling his own
needs regardless of what Judie might want.

Judie. The thought of her galvanized him into action. He
rushed forward, fists clenched, prepared to fight Tybor if he had to, if Tybor
did not back off. He would not let Judie be abused, not by anyone—not even the
man he admired to the point of pain.