WastelandRogue (15 page)

For the show, he forced Rye back. She charged and shoved him
through the doorway, back into the shack. He cried out, making a painful sound
as if dying.

“Go.” He pushed her toward the door, not wanting the men to
get too close to her with a bout of courage.

Rye ran out.

He grabbed their coats, tossed them through the window and
then followed. The opening wasn’t as big as it appeared. After wiggling
through, he fell on the ground.

Rye’s outcry had him jumping up onto his feet and sprinting
toward her shrieks. His heart felt as if it would leave his chest, it pounded
so hard.

How quickly a good plan can get shot to hell.

Rye didn’t expect anyone to come after her, especially such
a small man. He had strength, just not the weight behind it to overpower her.
The knife he plunged into her shoulder could have been an equalizer.

“At least this one wasn’t dipped in allium.” She breathed a
relieving sigh as she threw the man off her.

“Are you sure?” Sevrin’s voice startled her.

She jerked the knife from her shoulder. “It’s becoming the
first thing I think of when attacked, but I didn’t smell that pungent odor and
I don’t feel the weakening effects.”

He put his hand lightly on her arm, a light tingling
skittered up her limb.

“It’s healing,” she said, shrugging off his touch, turning
her face away so he didn’t see her blood-infused eyes.

He grabbed her arm again and pulled her around. His hand
appeared near her face, the ghostly shadow of fingers waved slightly. “How bad
is your eyesight like this?”

She flinched at the quick movement he made to test her
vision.

“Well, I’m not blind.” She turned her head and spit the
taste of blood from her mouth. Her best defense against someone stronger was
always biting them. Unfortunately, the slightest taste aroused her senses—all
of them. Everything from hunger to anger to lust roiled through her. “Let’s get
out of here before someone comes.” She pushed Sevrin aside.

At the back of the building, while Sevrin grabbed their
coats, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The unwelcome feeling of her
hunger-lust made her shudder. Sevrin knew how she reacted to human blood. Her
darkened eyes were a big fat reminder. How did she explain to him all the
sensations she experienced or did she need to? She had never hated the effect
more than now, when it might upset Sevrin. Would he tire of her uncontrollable
mood changes?

Then Sevrin was there, showing her they hadn’t yet. He
stroked her arm, soothing her soul. Calmness washed through her quicker than
normal.

“Are you all right?” He touched her cheek and rubbed away
what she suspected would be spots of blood.

She lifted her lashes and looked into his eyes, filled with
kindness and caring that she readily welcomed. He seemed too good to be true
and that’s what kept her in debate with her doubts. What man met a female and
right off treated her so special? He didn’t know if she was a killer or crazy.
The smartest villains could charm water out of rocks.

Sevrin guided her from the building. They crept along in the
shadows until they got back to the shack on the end. After sneaking inside,
they listened to the shouts of men giving orders or demanding to know what was
going on.

“They’re upset,” she said, pleased by the results of her
plan. Nothing she liked better than to have something turn out how she hoped.

“The word is ‘terrified’,” Sevrin said, flashing a
triumphant glance her way.

As the sun came up, light filtered through the weathered
boards on the thin wall. She moved closer and tried looking out between them to
see what was happening. The angle was all wrong. Sevrin too showed a need to
see out. He opened the door slightly.

“What are they doing?” She walked over to him.

“Can’t tell. A group of them has congregated by that shack
Orland occupies down at the end. I assume they’ll toss around arguments for
leaving, for staying or for hunting us down.”

“Do you think they’ll search the camp?” She leaned and
looked over his shoulder. “It might occur to some of them that we were helped.
They could threaten people into talking. What if we’ve put Ev, Tari, her father
and others in a worse situation?”

“They were already neck deep in feces, Rye. The marauders
killed all the
lamians
who couldn’t escape. They killed Ev’s mate and
Tari’s mother. No one has the perfect choice. At least we gave the survivors
some hope.”

Rye watched the band of thieves and cutthroats milling about
in a tight mass. “They do appear too agitated to do anything constructive.”

“Except from what little I saw and heard from Orland when I
was sneaking around by his shack before, he’s not stupid. He knows how to
handle this bunch of thugs and he’ll not go as quickly as we’d like.”

“Then maybe we should get out of here.” Rye spun away and
leaned against the wall. “If we’re found, those who helped us will be in more
trouble than if we’re not found at all.”

Sevrin turned his head and looked back at her.
Lamian
men lacked a lot of facial hair. The scruff on Sevrin’s face had grown thicker,
giving him a ruggedly masculine, unconquerably confident appearance. While
humans were the weaker species, they had a fight in them to survive. Yet again
Sevrin proved he leaned more toward his human side.

“You said Tari hid under the floorboards. Was it an old
mineshaft below?” He closed the door and walked around tapping his booted foot
on each board.

“No.”

He kept searching the floor. “Some shafts have multiple
tunnels going quite far.”

She went to the corner and picked up the boards. “This is
where she stayed.”

Sevrin got down on his hands and knees and looked beyond. “I
don’t see anything.”

“Don’t you think if there was a shaft, Tari’s father would
have used that to hide his daughter?”

“I suppose you’re right.”

A creak from the door caused Sevrin to spring up from his
crouched position. He stepped in front of Rye when the door opened.

“Tari.” Rye went to her and Ev. “What are you doing here?”

Rye looked up at the man who entered behind them and stepped
back.

Sevrin stopped her with his hands on her waist. “It’s all
right, he’s Tari’s father.”

“I’m Toddas Gray,” the man said. “My daughter and sister
told me how you two helped us.”

“I’m Rye Sanborn and this is Sevrin Renault. Have we
helped?” she asked, not knowing what was going on in the camp.

“You helped a great deal.” Ev smiled. “They’re leaving.”

“Orland didn’t want to leave,” Toddas added. “But his men
are rattled. He had to appease them, so he said they’d go hunt and kill
lamians
.
I’m afraid that’s just a temporary reprieve for us. When they get tired they’ll
be back.”

“Sevrin.” Rye turned around. “I didn’t want to send them on
a rampage.”

“Their goal has always been to kill,” Toddas said. “Humans
will do but they live for slaughtering
lamians
. They did it while they
were here. They’ll do it elsewhere. However, they’ll be doing it with four
fewer men, by my count.”

His reminder of her kills made Rye put a hand to her mouth.
Was there blood on her face? She hoped Sevrin would have told her, but maybe he
hadn’t noticed or didn’t care.

“Excuse me,” she said, going to the water basin and grabbing
a rag.

“We use this,” Ev said, picking up a shiny flat piece of
metal. “Your reflection will be distorted, however, it still can show you if
you have…If you have any smudges on your face.”

It wasn’t a very good imitation of a mirror. Rye saw the
shape of her face and a blurry mesh of her features. In his trades, her father
had managed to get a real mirror for Shay. Rye had used it, but not for the
same vain needs as her sister had.

“If you’ll allow me?” Ev touched the cloth in Rye’s hand.

Rye tightened her grip on the rag, feeling stubborn.

“Please?” Ev tugged with admirable persistence.

Rye released it to her.

“Is there anything you need?” Ev wiped the wet cloth against
Rye’s temple, brushing upward into her hair.

“Nothing,” Rye answered.

“That’s the way of your kind, helpful, caring but never
wanting anything in return or needing anything for yourselves.” Ev lowered her
arm and smiled. “There. Not a speck left.”

“Thank you.”

“Rye, are you ready to go?” Sevrin called to her.

“No, you can’t go!” Tari ran over and hugged her around the
middle. “You have to stay and help us keep the marauders away.”

Sevrin’s shrug looked to suggest he was leaving the decision
up to her. But she had to say
no
. She had to find her sister.

“Toddas says Orland told him they’d be back,” Ev said from
behind, sounding as if she too wanted them to stay, but then added, “We’ll be
better prepared to stop them.”

Rye ran her hand over Tari’s head, hating she had to
disappoint the girl.

Sevrin put a hand on Rye’s shoulder, patting it in that
comforting way he did in an unconscious manner. She took her jacket from him
and headed for the door. Goodbyes weren’t something she could do.

“Come again,” Tari said.

Rye glanced back. Not trusting her voice to work, she smiled
at the little girl and nodded.

“Are you all right?” Sevrin asked once they were outside and
alone.

There it was again, his concern. She wanted to shout at the
top of her lungs,
no
. She hadn’t been
all right
in a long time
and doubted she knew what that meant anymore. “I was thinking about Shay. I
know she’s probably dead, but I don’t want to believe it.”

“Well, I have some news. I asked Toddas about nearby allium
fields.”

“And?” Rye asked, hopeful for something good.

“He said there was one north of here, not too far. He had
the idea we could reach it within a half day at a steady walk, however, I think
we can shorten that time considerably.”

“How?” She followed him. “Did he say if he heard anything
about the marauders taking
lamians
there?”

“He knew for a fact they did.” Sevrin led her through the
camp, around some shacks.

“Why didn’t the
lamians
that live here destroy the
field?”

“He didn’t say, but honestly, they’re humans. They
have
to
eat to stay alive. Allium is a harmless food source to them. I’m sure the
lamians
kept their distance from it.”

“Have you eaten allium?”

“No. Since it’s a poison to
lamians
, I assume my
parents didn’t want to take the chance having it around. And in my travels,
I’ve never came across any. I stick to the wastelands for the most part and
from what Toddas told me, allium do best in cool, moist soil. That means near
the northern mountains where rain is more frequent.”

Rye followed Sevrin, feeling hopeful that while they might
find the allium field, they’d not find Shay in it.

“Here’s how we’ll save time,” Sevrin announced, turning at
the corner of the last shack in the camp.

Curious, she took a few quicker steps to see what he was
talking about and there before her loomed a steam-trekker. “The marauders have
a vehicle just like yours.”

“Yup.” He climbed onto the track wheel and then stepped up
on the running board while opening the door.

“Did you see Levor in the camp?” She spun around, feeling a
chill run down her spine at the thought the creep would appear.

“This isn’t my steam-trekker
,
Rye. It’s unlikely he’d
be around here unless he worked for Orland. I think Levor seemed more the
acting-on-his-own type. He’d not bring something valuable around Orland’s
bunch.”

Rye listened to the engine grind, refusing to rouse from its
inoperable state. Memories of her starting Sevrin’s vehicle almost made her
offer suggestions. Then the machine sprang to life. Of course it did. Sevrin
would know more than she did. It got her thinking about how easily he had said
he had moved around camp. All the information he gleaned from Orland’s men.
Distrust resurfaced. What if he was one of them?

Sevrin leaned out of the steam-trekker. “Are you coming?”

“Why didn’t Orland take this when he left with his men?” she
asked suspiciously.

“Because I disabled it.”

The plausibility was enough. She hurried around to the
opposite side. Now wasn’t the time to pursue her struggle with trusting or not
trusting Sevrin’s involvement in her life. She had to do everything possible to
find Shay. If she was wrong to trust Sevrin, then she’d deal with that at the
time he posed a real threat.

She climbed in and wrinkled her nose at the smell of the
interior. “Is there a dead body in here?” She glanced to the back cargo area.

“I don’t think Orland’s bunch believe in cleanliness.” He
rubbed his nose. “Open the window.”

She pulled and tugged at the lever on the top to slide the
glass down. “It’s stuck,” she informed him as she twisted sideways and lifted
her leg. Several taps with her booted foot and the glass dropped into the slot.
“Now it’s not.”

“Then we’re ready?” He didn’t wait for her to answer.

The steam-trekker rolled forward.

Sevrin maneuvered the cumbersome vehicle around rocks, holes
and debris. Time moved slowly as they traveled north, crossing the wastelands
toward the low hills.

The heat of the morning only got worse.

Rye took a sip of water from the flash and offered some to
Sevrin. “I should have thought of getting us more water when Ev asked if there
was anything she could do for us.”

“There will be water holes in the hills.” He took a swig and
handed back the flask. “You make sure you stay hydrated.”

She nodded, took a small sip to conserve what they had left
and closed the flask. Suffering from mild dehydration wasn’t anything to be
concerned about. She was far from suffering sun-fever and paranoia.

Rye rested her arm on the window opening and then pulled it
back out of the sunlight.
No point in being careless with the sun and heat.

She studied the horizon for clues to their destination.

“How long do you think it will take for us to reach the
allium field?” she asked impatiently.

“Relax. We’ll get there.” Sevrin picked up a rag from the
floor and wiped at gauges on the panel.

“Do we have enough fuel?”

“We do.” He gave her a quick glance. “But the engine is
heating more than it should.”