Willing Sacrifice (19 page)

“I won’t make you use that. All you have to do is get across and wait for me.”

“You should try throwing them some food before using your own skin as bait.”

He cupped her face in his hands, leaned down and kissed her. She had no time to anticipate his action, no time to prepare herself for the blissful shock of his kiss.

The second his lips met hers, the whole world melted away. He was there and gone before she could do more than register the heat of his mouth. Still, the brief kiss rocked her to the soles of her feet and left her reeling.

She blinked up at him, unsure what to do or say. The urge to grab him and demand more was strong, as was the strangest feeling that she’d felt that before, only in a different way.

Breathe for me, Grace. Don’t give up on me. I love you.

His voice was in her memory, but she’d never heard him say those words.

“For luck,” he told her, before stepping back and shedding all signs that he even knew how to kiss.

It was the warrior side of him that stood before her now, tall and fierce. He opened a pouch of dried meat, drew his sword and gave her a nod. “Stay here until I say, then run. Got it?”

She gave a mute nod and struggled to gather her wits.

Torr moved quietly along the line of thorny brush, skirting the edge of the lizards’ territory. When he was a few yards away, he stepped forward and yelled, “Now!”

Grace took off at a dead sprint.

She made it all the way across the narrow land bridge before she gave in to the urge to look over her shoulder.

Torr was holding his own, fending off snapping jaws and powerful tails. He danced between the animals, grace and strength on blatant display.

This wasn’t like the attack he’d fended off when Brenya had summoned him here. He was ready for this, and his skill shone through.

Part of Grace gloried in the sight, completely enthralled by the way he moved. The rest of her was terrified that something would go wrong and he’d get hurt, or worse.

By the time she was released from the mesmerizing show long enough to look where she was going, it was too late. Something thin caught against her shin, sending her into an uncontrolled fall. She hit the ground hard. Tiny filaments made from some kind of transparent fiber wrapped around her body. They seemed to be spring-loaded, and at the end of each one was a small, clear crystal.

Several of those crystals smashed together, sending a beam of light into the sky. It cut through leaves like a spear and glowed bright against the dimming sky.

The second Grace realized what had happened, bits of the knowledge Brenya had given her flooded her brain. She knew instantly that this was a trap set by a Warden. That beam of light was going to lead it right to her, and once that happened, both she and Torr were dead.

G
race screamed Torr’s name. The sound was one of sheer terror.

He immediately disengaged from the group of lizards he’d been holding at bay and ran toward her. He tossed out every bit of food they had, hoping it would keep the animals occupied long enough for him to reach Grace.

He saw her dangling a few feet off the ground, her body bundled inside a net. Several pencil-thin beams of light shone into the sky. Crystal shards littered the area, giving off a low hum of energy that he’d felt only a few times before in his life.

There was magic here, and that couldn’t be good.

One strong swing of his sword cut her down. She landed hard, letting out a whoosh of air.

“Warden trap,” she wheezed.

Definitely not good.

Torr didn’t waste time asking how she knew. It made too much sense for him to question.

The strands binding her body were too tight for him to risk slicing with his sword. From the redness in her face, he worried that they were also making it hard for her to breathe. Still, that wasn’t the worst of their worries.

Those glowing beacons were going to bring every nasty thing hiding in these woods right to them. He had to ditch the beams and get her away from here before it was too late.

The light seemed to be pouring from broken crystals. He cut through the strands attaching the crystals to her body and lifted her over his shoulder.

“Sorry about this,” he said as he set out at a fast jog.

Her poor body was bouncing on his shoulder. He knew it had to hurt, but whatever pain she suffered now wasn’t as bad as what any Warden would do if it found her.

As soon as he’d put a little distance between them and those beacons, he set her down to check on her.

She was still conscious, but barely. Her breathing was shallow, and each breath seemed to give the strands room to tighten.

“I’m going to give you some room to breathe,” he told her. “Just hang on.”

A flare of recognition lit her eyes for a second before they closed.

Frantic, he patted her cheek to wake her up, but she didn’t respond.

The time for careful was over.

Torr used the tip of his sword to slice through the strands over her tunic. The leather split open, but so did the strands. He tried to avoid the places where there was no leather to protect her. He hoped that opening even a few of the tough fibers binding her would be enough to give her relief.

She pulled in a huge gasp of air.

In the distance, the sounds of crashing leaves and wind chimes filled the air.

The Warden was here.

“We have to run,” he told her.

She nodded weakly.

“Try to stay quiet. I’ll get the rest of your body free as soon as I can.”

“Cave,” she choked out. “Not far.”

“Which way?”

She frowned for a second. “North. Under the big rock.”

That had to be good enough for now.

“Hold on, honey. I’ll get you free as fast as I can.”

The trail Torr had left behind was created in a panicked rush and easy to follow. As soon as the Warden found it, they would be screwed.

At least he only had one set of tracks to hide. With Grace over his shoulder, he was going to be slower, but he had centuries of experience in hiding his trail.

He kept careful tabs on her pulse as he moved as fast as he dared. The farther upslope he went, the thinner the brush became. The sound of wind chimes was distant, but he could still hear it whenever the wind died down.

“You doing okay?” he asked.

Her voice was strained, but she said, “Yeah.”

He made use of the paths the Hunters had cut through the trees whenever he could. When he couldn’t, he moved slowly, being careful not to break the small branches and leaves surrounding them. He checked behind them every few yards, making sure there was no visible path to follow and that nothing was on their tail as he headed toward the big rock she’d talked about.

Finally, he saw a rock big enough to be named for its size.

It looked like a glacial boulder deposited here millennia ago. The surface of it was smooth from wear and covered with tiny fossils. It was the size of a house, perching precariously on a hillside. In the gap between the boulder and the hillside, he saw a small opening.

He wanted to scout out the space first, but he didn’t dare leave Grace out here, completely unable to defend herself or even run away. Instead, he carried her up the steep slope and angled himself so that he could peer into the opening. A few sparks of power later, he saw nothing inside except some dry grass and sticks that appeared to have once been the nest of an animal. As old and scattered as the debris was, he doubted the animal had been here in a long time.

He ducked as he walked through the opening, making sure not to bump Grace’s head. As soon as they were out of sight to anyone who wasn’t standing on the hillside, he eased her to the ground.

Her skin had a greenish cast to it that told him he hadn’t been gentle enough. He’d made her sick. “I’m sorry about the rough ride.”

“It’s okay.”

The clear filaments binding her had left deep creases in her skin. She was even bleeding in a couple of places where the pressure of the strands had been too much.

“It’s going to take a few minutes to get you out of this thing, but I’ll go as fast as I can.”

He started at her head, using his sword as carefully as he could to break through the tough fibers. When the length of the blade became too unwieldy, he worked her short sword free of her belt and used that. After a few painstaking minutes, the top half of her body was free.

She took several deep breaths. He could practically feel relief radiating from her in waves. “I’ve had better days.”

“Me too, honey. Almost there.”

He nicked her knee trying to cut it out of the binding. She didn’t flinch, but he could hear her nearly silent hiss of pain.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Not your fault. I’d rather have a few cuts and be out of this thing.”

The leather bindings around her calves helped protect her legs and he was able to make quick work of the rest of the net. Once it was all the way off, he bundled it up and tossed it into the refuse pile in the corner.

Her skin was covered with angry red marks and more than a few cuts. Between his efforts and the filaments, she was bleeding in several places.

He removed his bags and started searching for the medical supplies she’d packed. “We’ll get you cleaned up and then I’ll secure the cave.”

“I’ll do it,” she told him. “You can go do whatever it is you need to do.”

She seemed steady now, so he left her side and moved deeper into the opening.

As caves went, it wasn’t much of one. It only went about twenty feet into the hillside before ending in a crack just wide enough to let rainfall drain out. The floor slanted down the deeper it went, but it was still level enough that he didn’t have to worry about sliding down and getting his foot stuck in the opening.

Because of the angle and the boulder that hid them, he didn’t think they could be seen by someone passing by below. At night, the opening would look like little more than a shadow in the rocks.

Night wasn’t far away.

They had no food, no light, and Grace wasn’t going to be able to travel once it got dark.

“We’ll stay here tonight. It’s defensible, hidden and about as safe as we’re going to get with a Warden roaming around out there.”

“Is there a back door?”

“No, but it won’t come to that.”

“You should keep going. I’ll be fine here without you.”

“Even if I was willing to leave you alone—which I’m not—you’re the one who knows the way.”

She dabbed some kind of thick cream on one of the cuts on her thigh. “We’re not far away. I can see the rest of the path from the big rock now. Travel over the hill we’re in and head southeast over three more hills, each one progressively higher. In the valley after that last one, you’ll find the lake there.” She closed her eyes as if seeing it in her mind. “At the bottom of it are a bunch of stones—the kind Brenya used to carve the portal to Earth. They have some kind of innate magic, like those crystals we found. They’re what the Masons will use to build the portal.”

“How do you know that?” Torr took the small pot of antiseptic cream from her and applied it to the shallow cut on her cheek.

She tapped her temple. “A gift from Brenya.”

“So if we find the source of the Masons’ building material, we can wait for one to come for more stone, then follow it back to wherever they’re building the portal.”

“That could work, but I don’t think that’s why Brenya put the map to the lake in my head.”

“Then why?”

“The stones the Masons are using are drawn to each other. If we get one, it can lead us to the others.”

“Like a kind of compass.”

“Exactly.”

She held her hand out to take the cream from him again, but he kept it. She had a dozen small cuts, most of which she wasn’t going to be able to easily reach.

“I’ll do it,” he said. “Turn around.”

She looked confused for a second, like she couldn’t believe he’d help her, but then did as he asked.

The backs of her arms and shoulders had taken the worst damage from the Warden’s filament. While none of the cuts were deep, he was sure they had to sting.

Grace gave no sign that he was causing her any kind of pain. In fact, she kept talking like nothing had happened. “There’s no way to know how long the Masons have been at work or how much more time we have. One of us needs to find them and check on their progress before it’s too late and we have an army to fight. And you know that someone can’t be me. I don’t see in the dark like you do, and we can’t risk carrying a light source.”

He didn’t want to leave her. He didn’t know this world or what dangers might lurk in the night. She was too precious to risk, and while he couldn’t tell her why, he also couldn’t pretend she didn’t matter.

“We’ll go to the lake together tomorrow,” he said, hoping the finality of his tone would end the conversation.

She was quiet for a minute as he finished cleaning and treating her cuts. Her breathing became slow and deep, as if she was trying to deal with the pain.

Torr wished that the healing disks worked both ways, but his research into the devices had proved otherwise. They were meant to transfer health from one person to another, not the other way around—a one-way street.

When he was done, she let out a long breath. “I’m slowing you down.”

Torr closed the jar of cream and tucked it back in her bag. “I never would have been able to find the location of the lake without your help.”

“But you can now. I told you where it is. You should go.”

“No. I’ll be too distracted, wondering if you’re safe. You’ve gotten me this far. Morning will be soon enough.”

“And if it’s not? If they finish the portal and open it before you reach it?”

“Then I’ll kill whatever comes through. I’ve been beating back evil invasions since I was old enough to hold a sword. I’ve got this.” He hoped.

She stared at her lap. Her whole body seemed to deflate, and even without a luceria connecting them he could feel her sadness and frustration. “Brenya should have picked someone else to guide you. I have no idea why she chose me, a weak human.”

“She must have thought you were the best choice.”

“Or maybe my brain is just so simple in comparison that it was easy to shove information into it.”

“I promise you that human minds are anything but simple. But even if that were true, Brenya is powerful enough not to let a little thing like that get in her way. She chose you because she thought you were their best hope. She knew you were brave and that you’d give your last drop of blood to save them.”

“Of course I would. Those women and children are important. Earth’s survival depends on them.”

“And their survival depends on you. Not exactly a task Brenya would have given to some weak human.”

“Desperate times . . .”

He took her by the shoulders, resisting the urge to shake some sense into her. “Stop it. I know plenty of humans. Some of them are weak—they break vows, they give up when things get hard, they toss each other aside like bags of garbage and spend their lives as victims, waiting for someone to save them from their own laziness and poor decisions. I know you, Grace. You’re not like them. You’re special.”

“You’ve only known me for a few days.”

He bit his tongue against the urge to correct her. “In those few days you’ve proven yourself over and over. Now stop bashing yourself and have a little faith in you the way Brenya and I do.”

She stared at him, her gaze direct. He could see the exact moment her mind changed, and it was a beautiful thing to behold. She shed her insecurity like an old skin and let a bright new confidence shine through. “You’re right. Brenya wouldn’t have risked everything she’s worked for all these years on someone she thought would fail.”

“Now you’re catching on.”

“I won’t let her down, Torr. Or you.”

“Honey, you couldn’t let me down if you tried.”
I love you.

He didn’t dare say the words, but he let them swell in his heart, hoping that some of his intense feelings would spill through the disks that connected them.

Her eyes fluttered shut, and the sweetest smile warmed her expression. When she looked at him again, her eyes were brighter and filled with newfound hope.

He had to kiss her. There was no more holding back. No more resisting her pull on him. She was the woman of his dreams, everything he’d ever wanted. He didn’t care if she wasn’t a Theronai. He didn’t care if he couldn’t have her forever. She was here now, and he was going to love her for as long as he could, even if it was only for one night.

One night with Grace was more than he’d ever hoped to have. A lifetime with any other woman couldn’t compare.

There was little light left outside, but plenty for him to see by. The deep orange glow cast russet shadows across her body, highlighting the delicate lines of her frame.

He traced that line between light and shadow with his finger, following it up her arm, along her neck and across her mouth. Each inch he traveled made her brown eyes grow darker as her pupils flared in a way that had nothing to do with the dim lighting.