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The Colonel gurgles, blood bubbling out of the wound, and she stumbles forward. Drazak and I back away as she falls to the ground, spilling red across the dirt. Han’zir walks towards her and yanks his spear out of her limp body, shooting me a wide smile.
“We’ll always protect you,” he says. And I know it’s true.
But the overseer is running over to us with his gun ready, his own wound drizzling hot blood. Drazak raises his hand axe, and Han’zir holds the spear over his shoulder, ready to hurl it again. But the gun would land its killing blow first.
The man stops cold when he sees what Han’zir’s done. “You killed her,” he says, glancing between us and the colonel’s body, his face going slack.
I can’t let him shoot one of my trollkin. “Step aside and let us go,” I say.
He raises the gun so it’s aimed at me. Drazak snarls, but I hold out a hand to stop him.
“So that’s how you knew.” The overseer shakes his head. “Indentured servant my ass.” His gun hand shakes, his other arm bleeding profusely from his bullet wound.
Then, the faintest smile flickers across his face. He lowers the gun and takes a few steps back. “You took care of our biggest problem for us,” he says, kicking the colonel. “I have to give you credit for that.”
I exhale with relief. Then I tug on Han’zir and Drazak’s hands. “We have to go,” I say in Trollkin. They both nod at me, and we take off running into the grass, with Keva close behind. The overseer doesn’t follow us as the barn is consumed by the fire.
Han’zir
It worked.
I can’t believe we got out alive, but our Esme is as smart as she is sweet. And we’ve apparently obtained a new member of our family.
The dog happily follows us as we leave the farm behind. None of the humans do. They had no problem letting her go after treating her as an object to be kept in a barn and tied up with rope.
But Esme is worth so much more than that, and I’ll make sure she knows it for as long as I’m alive.
When we’re a safe distance away, we stop to untie the twine around her hands, and I find red marks where it bit into her flesh. I rub them, but she yanks them away.
“Why did you come?” she asks, voice low and angry. “I left you. I don’t belong to you.”
I crouch down in front of her so I can look straight into her eyes. “You could run to the end of the world and we would follow you,” I say, pouring all of my misery over the last week into the words, all of the yearning deep in my body to have her back. “You are our mate, Esme. Our star. We cannot live without you.”
Her lip trembles. There is so much hurt buried inside her that I wish I could dig out and banish.
“I’m sorry for what we did,” Drazak says, taking one of her small hands in his big one. He weaves their fingers together, and though she tenses up, she doesn’t pull away. “I’m so sorry. You’re our everything. I’ll do whatever I have to do to make it up to you.”
Tears dribble from the corners of her eyes. There is more to her hurt than simply a nickname. Something deep and buried is clawing at her insides.
“I can’t be your pet.” Her shoulders curl, like she’s protecting herself. “My master... I was his dog, too.” When she looks at us again, there is a fire in her eyes. “I will not be this. Not again. Not even for you.”
All I want is to embrace our Esme, to show her what she means to me, but I have to earn that from her again.
“You are anything but a pet.” Drazak brings her hand to his chest. “You are my heart. Without you, I’m not myself. Neither of us are.”
I put my hand over theirs, cradling her between us. “I want everything that is you, Esme. I want all your thoughts and dreams and fears. I want to give you the home and the life you’ve always deserved, where you are you.”
Her big eyes swallow these words. When I reach out to brush her cheek, she doesn’t move away, and I draw her into my arms. There she starts to cry, her face pressed into my neck, still holding Drazak’s hand.
“I’ve missed you,” I say, stroking her hair, relishing simply in the feeling of her body against mine. “More than life itself.”
When I release her, Drazak sweeps her up, lifting her off the ground as he embraces her. The dog barks in excitement as he kisses her, deeply and thoroughly, and her legs wrap around his hips. They’re both panting when he finally sets her down, and it’s as if the air is electrified.
“Will you come home with us?” he asks her. “Will you be our partner, our equal in everything for as long as we live?”
She hiccups, tears streaming even faster down her face. For a moment I fear she’ll turn us away, that the injury runs too deep to overcome. Then, slowly, she nods. I wipe the tears away and kiss her cheek, then her nose, then her lips. She sinks into me, and I’ve never felt such relief, such happiness as having her with us again.
“Yes.” Esme sniffles. “Take me home, please.” The dog furiously licks her hand, and she giggles. “And little Keva here.”
