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* * *
Lo’zar
When I wake up, it’s dark, and I panic for a moment that we haven’t gotten far enough—that Kugara and Drozeg are just about to catch up to us. My panic rears up even higher when I find that the bedroll next to me is empty.
Where did she go? Blood rushes to my head when I jump to my feet, and I frantically search the jungle around us for any sign of little Ree-mee. Surely she wouldn’t be so foolish as to leave on her own, would she?
“Lo’zar?” I hear her small, inquisitive voice over my shoulder and turn around to find her hopping down from the wagon, carrying a big bag. The moonlight turns her hair and face silver, like her eyes. She jogs over to me, and plops the bag down on the ground.
“Ree-mee,” I reply, and reach out to touch her shoulder, as if I need to make sure she’s real. She lets me do it, and I exhale with relief. “You’re okay.” She cocks her head, confused by my tone. I pat her a few times to reassure myself that she’s still here.
She rummages through the bag. I realize when she’s pulled out a few fabric items that this must be Kugara’s stuff. Ree-mee extracts a pair of stitched pants, and though Kugara is significantly taller and wider, they should fit her well enough with the laces drawn tight. I’d almost forgotten she’s still only wearing my extra-large tunic because it covered her like a dress. She slips on the pants, and then pulls out a few shirts, examining each like she’s on a shopping spree through Kugara’s clothes. Once she’s found what she’s after, Ree-mee turns around and takes off my oversized shirt. Her back is creamy smooth, and just the sight of her small shoulders and the generous curve of her hips immediately makes me hard. Damn.
I’m hungry for her, I realize. This strange human with the sharp mind and tapping fingers has left me starving. But I stay where I am, and squeeze my hand into a fist to keep it still.
Ree-mee slips on Kugara’s much more appropriately-sized jerkin—still much too big for her tiny human frame—and turns back around, smiling widely. I study her for a moment, then give a nod of approval. She lifts the hem of the shirt and curtsies, and it’s so damn cute that my cock surges against the inside of my pants.
Now that we’re both awake, it’s time to go. It’ll be at least two days until Kugara and Drozeg make it back to the city and tell old Gusak what happened. Once he knows, though, all bets are off. He’ll send riders out as soon as possible,fastones, and then we’ll have a huge target painted on our backs.
We have to put as much distance as possible between us and Kalishagg while we still can, and at some point, diverge from the main path to make it harder for them to follow us. We have to get out of the jungle, at the very least. It’s not safe for her or for me.
After we’ve eaten and had some water, I lift Ree-mee into the wagon and we’re on our way, our path lit by the glowing moon. I still don’t know where we’re going—I probably should have figured that out—but we’d better move quickly.
Now that I’ve freed her, perhaps my next step is to get her to safety, and the only place she’ll be truly safe is within the human lands. But we’re a long way from any human settlements out here. We’d have to make it to another port city, Borzan, and then take a boat across the bay, which would land us near some contested territory. From there, we’d have to find another method of travel until we reached human civilization, and only then would Ree-mee really be safe.
Our other option is to continue walking and go the long way around. It would take us through the hills, where bandits are known to seize travelers, steal their goods, and usually murder them.
I would really prefer the not-murder route, myself, but smuggling a human into Borzan and then onto a boat without getting caught—either by the guards or by Gusak’s men—sounds like an impossible task.
And that’s if I just wanted to take her to a human settlement. The other option, the one I only barely consider before setting it aside, is to get her back to her home to where she belongs. But where that is... I don’t know if I’ll ever find out.
Then I’d have to think of myself, of where I can possibly go now that Gusak’s hounds are after me. Who knows how much he sold Rimi for? He’ll be enraged.
Maybe I should have had a better plan before I ditched Kugara and Drozek in the jungle, but it’s too late now. I’ve spent my life running missions for Gusak and cleaning up after him, overcoming impossible odds to stay ahead of lawmen. This is no different. Now Ree-mee’s safety is my mission, my objective, and I won’t rest until I finish it. I’ll figure out the rest later.
* * *
It isn’t long into the following day when I hear hoofbeats. Ree-mee jumps into the back of the wagon without having to be told, and covers herself up with the cloth. She’s quick and smart, and my admiration for her only grows as she tucks herself into a pile of goods so you’d never know she was there.
The hoofbeats are fast. Galloping. A pang of dread hits me square in the belly, and I know better than to ignore my intuition. I pull the horses over to the side of the road and drop my hand to my gun. I only have a handful of bullets and powder on me, so if I must use one, it needs to count. Making sure the gun’s packed and ready to fire, I pull out the map and pretend to be studying it as the hoofbeats approach.
Up ahead the road curves, so I can’t see who’s coming until they’re almost on top of us. There are three of them, riding solo on their horses, and the moment I see the leopard furs over their shoulders and glowing purple eyes, I know that we’re fucked.
Hunters.
“Ree-mee,” I hiss. She pokes her head up under the cloth. I jerk my head to one side, leap off the wagon and run to the back. Then I pull the cloth off of her and yank her up by one hand. Shocked, she resists for a moment, so I seize her by the waist and haul her out of the wagon. By the time I’ve got her on the ground, kicking and flailing, the riders have almost reached us. I wish Ree-mee could understand me.
If I thought Gusak’s riders were bad, they have nothing on wild trolls. For the most part, they keep to themselves and don’t bother travelers. But their hunters are another story. Hunters are trained from an early age to find and kill, whether their target is animal or trollkin. There have always been urban legends that not only will they brutally murder you, they’ll also cook and eat your meat before they’re done with your corpse. Whether that’s true or not, with eyes like those, I don’t want to find out.
The riders roar something I can’t understand. I pick up the little human and toss her over my shoulder, and take off into the trees as fast as possible.
I can’t let anything happen to her.
Chapter7
Rimi
I’m yelling as Lo’zar throws me over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes and charges off into the jungle. Why are we running? The three trollkin are shouting after us as he sprints, my legs flailing behind him. Are they the same people who were keeping me captive before?
