Triumph filled her when he bent forward and braced his hands on his knees in an effort to remain standing. His shuddering breaths were a testament that she had struck him hard. Taking advantage of his vulnerability, she pulled back and popped him on the tip of his nose just like Marvin had taught her. She remembered that Martin always told her to hit her attacker while they were still disoriented. The double assault sent Ristèard backwards onto his ass along the soft grassy surface that edged the walkway.
Turning away, she saw Stan striking out at one of the men attacking him. She focused on the man closest to her that was trying to circle back around behind Stan. The moment the man turned his back to her, she kicked out her leg. Her foot connected with his backside sending him headfirst into the other man when Stan suddenly twisted.
“Run!” She cried out, reaching for Stan when he jerked backwards out of the way of the two men.
Stan turned toward her and reached for her outstretched hand before he jerked and froze. His eyes widened and his mouth opened and closed several times before they rolled back in his head and he collapsed. A low cry of terror escaped Ricki when she saw a fourth man step out of the darkness holding some type of weapon. Turning, she fled.
Chapter 5
Emyr bent and held his hand out to Ristèard who was lying on his back, still drawing in deep breaths as wave after wave of pain radiated through him. He could care less about his nose. He’d had that broken more than once in the past. No, it was his balls that he was worried about. He had never been hit in that sensitive spot before and hoped to the Goddess that he never would be again.
“Don’t… lose her,” he bit out between gritted teeth.
Emyr gave Ristèard a sympathetic nod before he closed his hand around his friend’s. “Sadao is following her,” he responded. “She won’t get far.”
Ristèard emitted a low curse as he forced himself into a standing position. Wiping the back of his hand under his nose, he ignored the Blood on the back of it. It wasn’t broken, but it hurt like hell. Shrugging Emyr’s hand off his shoulder, he looked at the other three men.
“Sadao, where is she?” He asked into the comlink.
The sound of heavy breathing surprised him. He would have thought Sadao would have caught Ricki by now, unless she used the same defense on the guard as she did on him. He was about to demand Sadao’s location again when his guard replied.
“She has disappeared,” Sadao responded in frustration. “I know she is close by, though.”
Ristèard bit back the curse threatening to escape him. His eyes moved to the sky and the faint glow of the first moon rise. Before long, it would be more difficult to keep their position undisclosed. Turning, he nodded to Emyr and Harald.
“You two get the air-skids and meet us at Sadao’s location. We are going to have to leave in a hurry. Once Ajaska or Torak find out we are here, they are going to want to know why,” Ristèard said sharply. “Let’s go.”
He didn’t wait for the others. A slight groan escaped him when he felt his balls shift against the material of his pants as he ran. He had fought several women over the course of his life, most trained assassins, but never had any of them been as successful at putting him on his ass as Ricki had been.
A reluctant admiration for her rose up inside of him. She had not only put him on the ground, but two of his best warriors. Of course, they had greatly underestimated her, something that would not happen again.
He was surprised at the distance it took before he and Andras caught up with Sadao. The warrior was carefully walking through a small wooded area.
Ristèard nodded when Sadao turned to him in frustration. He was surprised when he saw the line of fresh Blood along Sadao’s temple. Coming to a stop in front of his friend, he glanced around with a frown.
“Where is she?” Ristèard demanded before his brow creased even further. "And what the hell happened to you?"
Sadao gave a nod to Andras. “She is somewhere in this wooded area, and she is what happened to me. There was a low limb along the path I didn’t see. She pulled it back and let it go just as I was about to catch her. It knocked me on my ass. She is fast, Ristèard. I swear I have never seen a woman run as fast as she can.”
“Are you sure she is there?” Ristèard asked, looking into the small clump of trees.
Sadao nodded. “I could see all the way through them. There is no way I could have missed her. She went in, but never came out.”
Ristèard studied the wooded area carefully before he nodded to the other two men. With a wave of his hand, they split up. He took the center, while Andras took the left and Sadao took the right.
Stepping onto the dark path that cut through the thin grouping of trees, he listened intently as he scanned the path. He paused when he caught a glimpse of pale yellow under a bush. Bending, he picked up a slender shoe. Looking around, he tried to see if he could find any other clues as to where she could have gone.
He paused when he saw another piece of yellow. This time it was her sweater caught on a branch. He glanced around, puzzled, before his gaze rose upwards. He would have missed her hiding among the branches if not for the light breeze that suddenly blew her dress outward.
A grin curved his lips before he pressed them together and emitted a low whistle. It didn’t take long for Sadao and Andras to join him. With a nod, he pointed her out to the other two men. She was hiding about ten feet off the ground on a low branch. He could tell she was trying to remain as still and quiet as possible.
Pushing through the bushes, he stepped up under the tree. “I see you, golden hair,” he called up to her in a quiet, husky voice. “Come down.”
For a moment, she remained frozen, pretending she hadn’t heard him before she slowly turned her head and glared down at him. Even from this distance, he could see the stubborn thrust of her jaw. He reached up and rubbed at his chest when a strange tightness pressed against it. She looked so damn beautiful with her bright yellow dress blowing around her. She gripped the tree with one arm while she reached up with the other to impatiently push her long, tangled hair away from her face.
“No,” she hissed, wrapping her arm back around the thin trunk of the tree. “Go away! I swear I'm going to scream so loud if you don't… that... that every member of the circus will be able to hear me from here.”
“Don’t,” Ristèard warned sharply. “I mean you no harm. Come down and I will explain.”
He released a low growl of frustration when she shook her head again. Holding out her shoe, he muttered for Andras and Sadao to find the other one. He needn't have bothered because the moment he gripped the lower branch of the tree, it hit him on the top of his head with a loud thump.
Stumbling backwards, he would have fallen again if Andras hadn’t reached out and grabbed him. He glared up at her, rubbing his now aching head. His heated gaze quickly turned to both Andras and Sadao when they chuckled. He turned back in time to see why. Ricki was now sticking her tongue out at him in defiance.
Andras shrugged when Ristèard glanced back at him with a pained expression. “You’ve got to admit, she has a good arm,” he said, completely unashamed of his amusement.
“And great legs,” Sadao added, grinning up at her.
Ristèard punched Sadao in the jaw, knocking him backwards a few steps. “Quit trying to look up her dress,” he snapped.
Andras chuckled and stepped back with his hands in the air. “I didn’t say anything about her long legs, or about the pretty yellow lace under it.”
Ristèard turned when he heard Ricki’s outraged gasp. His heart skipped a beat when she let go of the tree and frantically tried to catch her dress that was blowing in the breeze. She wobbled for a moment and almost fell before her left arm caught the trunk again and she pressed herself against it.
“Come down before you fall,” he ordered, staring up at her.
She shook her head and pressed her cheek against the smooth bark. Making a decision, Ristèard gripped the limb above his head again
and began climbing. It didn’t take him long to get to the same branch she was on. Stepping around her, he wrapped his arm tightly around her waist.
“Release the tree, Ricki,” he whispered in her ear as he pressed his body against hers.
It took less than a second for him to realize that she was not only trembling violently, but that she was drawing in quick, tiny breaths of air. He could feel the terror running through her body and see the death grip she had on the tree. Steadying himself, he reached up to peel her arm away from the smooth surface.
“Don’t!” She whispered frantically, looking at him in panic. “I’m not… Just leave me. Please, just leave me alone.”
Ristèard tightened his grip around Ricki’s waist, sliding his hand down her arm until he could thread his fingers through hers. He almost winced when she tightened her fingers around his in a surprisingly strong clasp. He muttered under his breath when she didn’t let go of the trunk with her other arm.
“Ricki,” he started to say, pausing when she shook her head frantically from side to side.
“I can’t,” she whispered in a tearful voice. “I can’t.”
Ristèard wondered for a moment if he had made a huge mistake in planning this entire mission. He knew that Ajaska and Torak would never have understood his belief that Ricki was the mythical Empress sent by the Goddess to save his world. Hell, he didn’t believe it, but he was desperate.
He needed to return to his world before his absence was noticed. Already, he had been gone too long in his previous negotiation with the Kassisan Royal family. His absence had enabled the traitorous bastards on the council to set a trap for him and his guards. He was scheduled to meet with them tomorrow afternoon. That meant he needed to leave Kassis as soon as possible if he was to return before they noticed he was missing again.
“I swear I will not harm you and neither will my men,” he reassured her, wrapping their joined hands around her waist so he could pull her other arm free.
Ricki glanced over her shoulder at him and scowled. “You hurt Stan,” she snapped. “How on Earth do you expect me to believe you won’t hurt me too? You… What do you want with me anyway?”
Ristèard used her distraction to pull her other arm from the tree. Her loud cry and suddenly stiff body almost toppled them both. It took him a moment to regain his balance on the thin branch. He pulled her close and braced his hand on the trunk of the tree as she dug her nails into his arm.
“Calm or you will make us fall,” he ordered, glancing down when Andras called up in a low voice that Harald and Emyr had arrived.
“Oh, God, please don’t,” Ricki muttered in a terrified voice. “Oh, please don’t, please don’t, please don’t.”
Ristèard gritted his teeth in pain. He was sure that he was going to end up with a bloody arm on top of everything else. He shifted his weight until he was balanced and called down to Andras and Sadao.
“I’m sorry, Ricki, but we have to leave now,” Ristèard said when the sound of alarms echoed from the direction they had come earlier. The human male’s body had been discovered.
Ricki gasped loudly before a loud, piercing scream escaped her as she felt herself falling through the air. Ristèard cursed, knowing that the authorities would hear her. Time was running out and he had done the only thing he could think of to get her out of the tree. He had picked her up and dropped her down to Andras, who was waiting below.
Turning, he jumped, landing on the ground next to where Andras stood holding Ricki in his arms. Taking her shoes from Sadao, he stepped forward and slid them on her bare feet. When he was done, Andras lowered Ricki to the ground.
“Get the…,” Ristèard started to order before his head exploded back and he swore he saw the stars up close and personal. “What in the name of the Goddess did you do that for?” He hissed out, holding his now aching jaw.
“You ass!” Ricki hissed in fury, pushing her hair out of her eyes. “You arrogant, horrible excuse for a piece of blue toilet bowl cleaner! I’m terrified of heights and you threw me out of a tree! You are the most horrible, terrible… meanest person I have ever met!”
Ristèard backed up a step when Ricki swung her fist at him again. He caught it, twisting her around so he could pull her back against his body. A low groan escaped him when she stomped her foot down on his instep in an attempt to break free of his tight embrace.
“Ristèard, we need to leave,” Harald warned, glancing down at a scanner. “I have movement headed this way.”
Ristèard nodded. With a wave of regret, he knew he was about to make his new, very unwilling Empress even more furious with him. He glanced at Emyr and nodded. Tightening his hold on Ricki as she continued to struggle, he watched as Emyr pressed an injector containing the same drug they used to knock the alien male out against Ricki’s neck.
She stiffened and cried out in surprise and shock before he felt her body began to melt against his. Bending, he slid his arm under her knees and straightened, cradling her against his body. With another nod, the small group moved quickly to the air-skids on the other side of the wooded area.
Ristèard adjusted Ricki securely against his body before he started the transport. Lifting upward, he thought it was just as well he had ordered her to be sedated as they rose above the tree line. She would not have enjoyed this part of their journey.
Chapter 6
Ristèard looked up from the report he was studying when the door to his cabin slid open. Andras looked around with a raised eyebrow before returning his eyes to where Ristèard sat on the long couch. They would be landing on Elipdios within the next hour.
There had been a few tense moments on Kassis. Swarms of the security personnel had converged on the area, forcing them to take a longer detour through the city to the transport they had hidden on the outskirts of it. Two of his private security force members had the smaller ship ready for takeoff by the time they arrived.
Harald and Sadao had been working on a new defense system to conceal them from the Kassisan's radars. It had worked well-enough as the local ground control systems registered the ship as a short-range freighter scheduled for a routine run and not an Elipdios star transport. Within an hour of leaving Kassis, they had rendezvoused with his warship, the Elipdios Star.
Once on board, he had ordered Andras to get them back to Elipdios as soon as possible while he carried Ricki's unconscious body to his cabin. He had been surprised by the rush of possessiveness and feelings of jealousy that had coursed through him as he carried her through the long, narrow corridors of the warship. More than one warrior on board had stopped to stare at her long, silky yellow hair that fell in shimmering waves. A dark scowl creased his face as he thought of it.
Since when in the name of the Goddess did he think in terms of shimmering waves? He thought in disgust, glaring at Andras.
"What did I do this time?" Andras asked warily. "You normally only look at me like that when you are ready to kick my ass for some reason."
Ristèard's eyes shifted uneasily to the bed in the corner where Ricki lay sleeping. He needed to get these annoying feelings under control. Frustration and irritation ate at him the more he thought about it.
What was it about her that was getting under his skin? He could appreciate she was unusual and extremely attractive in an exotic way, but he had seen and been with numerous attractive women. He had been fascinated by Jazin Ja Kel Coradon's yellow-haired mate the first time he saw her hair, but he hadn't experienced any of the other emotions beyond curiosity.
Releasing a heavy sigh, Ristèard shook his head. "It is not you," he responded with a wave of his hand toward the chair across from him. "Is there any indication the council is aware of my absence?" He asked, setting the tablet down on the couch next to him.
Andras shook his head. "No, our spies within the council said they are too busy arguing with each other and how they are going to overthrow you to realize that you were gone," Andras said in disgust. "I still think we should just kill them all and be done
with it."
Ristèard grimaced. "Not yet. There is at least one of them supporting me. I want to find out who it is and why first,” he said, sitting forward with a weary sigh. “The reports are not good, Andras. I will have to make a decision within a matter of weeks about evacuating the planet.”
Andras didn’t respond, but Ristèard could see the shock on his friend’s face. No one, but he and the few select scientists chosen by him, knew just how bad the shields were or the extremely low resources they had left, even with the tons of replicated material coming from Kassis there was little hope.
The Kassisan crystals, while similar, did not react to the radiation the same way the crystals on Elipdios did. No one knew exactly why, but knowing wouldn’t change the facts, that without the Blood crystals, his world would be lost. Yes, the crystals absorbed some of the particle emissions and helped power the generators, but the shields were only a temporary solution. One strategic attack against them and all would be lost. Millions of his people would die from radiation poisoning, not to mention the damage to the environment.
“What of the underground cities?” Andras asked in a quiet voice. “Surely, they could be used. Our ancestors lived there for centuries.”
“There are only a handful of them at most that have been found. The last known underground city is where the tablets were discovered. I talked with Mena Rue’s parents who discovered it in the Eastern desert region,” Ristèard said grimly with a shake of his head. “The population of our world was much lower centuries ago. The human female is the last hope for our world, Andras. How?… I do not know. I just know that unless a miracle occurs within the next month, or two, millions of our people will die and we will be without a home.”
*.*.*
Ricki lay motionless, listening as the two men talked in a quiet voice. She had been awake for several minutes, trying to figure out where she was and her best plan of attack. Now, listening to them, she began to see things from a different point of view.