When she didn’t answer, he looked up at her. Her face was flushed a furious rose color, and she wasn’t looking at him. He searched for tears, but her averted eyes were clear and dry, only her rapid breath giving him any hint of her emotion.
“Lasher, she has some angry bruising,” he said softly, running his thumb ever so gently across the marks. “Do you have a reabsorption patch? Tight bandages will hurt if we—”
“Absolutely. Just a sec,” Lasher said, turning to rummage in his kit.
But Bronse was not paying him any attention. He had suddenly become aware of the soft, breathless gasp that Ravenna uttered, and the immediate reaction to follow. The nipple close to his caressing thumb tightened and formed itself into a thrusting point, and a ripple of goose-flesh prickled beneath his fingertips and palm where they rested artlessly against her. Bronse watched the reaction with the same fascination as one would watch the inevitable rush of an approaching avalanche. Awe at the sheer magnificence of how natural and beautiful it was sent a thrill of body-rocking excitement completely through him. Then came the realization that if he didn’t move, and move fast, all hell would break loose and sheer survival would become an issue.
Bronse jerked away from her as if he’d been stabbed through his hand, awkwardly staggering back as he gained his feet, which, for some reason, refused to work with their usual dexterity. He was dimly aware of Lasher looking at him in surprise and confusion from over her shoulder, and he almost laughed at how well his second’s expression reflected his own feelings of the moment.
“I need to—”
It was all he said before executing an about-face and walking off. Lasher watched him go with a sense of disbelief and consternation. “Now what the hell got into him?” he asked aloud. His patient didn’t answer, keeping her arms raised and her face averted as he moved around her to apply the reabsorption patch to the space just under the first bandage wrapping. Then with her help he finished covering the bleeding wounds. It was awkward and would have been far easier with Bronse’s help. Shaking his head, Lasher grimly noted the bruises on Ravenna’s breasts and wondered if Bronse had left to cover a bout of temper. His commander had a well-defined sense of honor, and evidence of defilement such as this would be just the sort of thing to piss him off beyond control for a moment.
Lasher helped Ravenna tie off her dress at her waist so the skirt remained in place, and then he helped her ease back into Bronse’s shirt. He took a deep breath and met her troubled gaze firmly as he buttoned it for her.
“There is only about sixty minutes’ worth of medication in the block. The topical and bandages will help, but not much. I’m going to be watching you. Please … please let us narc you when it gets to be too much. If for nothing else than your brother will have an apoplexy if he sees you hurting. Trust us, we can take care of whatever comes up. Besides, I think you know that you … you have an effect on my commander. Don’t be a distraction for him. He needs to focus on keeping everyone safe, not on worrying about your pain.”
“How long will I be out?”
“I’ll give you a patch. It will let me be able to take it off you at whim, and you’ll wake in fifteen to twenty minutes max. Or sooner, if I’m guessing your pain level right.”
“Okay. Lasher … I …”
She broke off and looked dead and deep into his very light jade eyes, their unusual specks of black an instant fascination. Ravenna had only meant to express her thanks to him. She was so grateful for all of his care and all of his acceptance. She knew how far above and beyond they were all going strictly for her benefit and to see her safe. She was a stranger. They cared because they cared about Bronse’s wishes, but she sensed that for Lasher and Ender it meant more to them than just orders. Lasher’s concern went beyond his love for his commander. It was touching and a rare blessing in her life and she wished to acknowledge that.
But the words suddenly wouldn’t come. She looked up into his eyes and was swept into that sensation of chill that washed down the back of her neck and demanded her attention. She suddenly reached out for him. Lasher jolted, grabbing her forearms as she seized him by the back of his neck and laid a hand over his heart, physically fishing past the weight of his vest in order to find the flat span of his pectoral muscle through his shirt. She drew him forward with surprising strength, and he went to pry her hands off his chest in discomfited reflex.
Her eyes flashed open, the topaz glowing with fierce purpose as they looked up at him through her lashes, and he found himself paralyzed by her gaze. She looked like a hunting cat fixed on a target, and he felt like he had just become lunch. Then her whole body jerked and she gasped. Her focus blurred, then softened, and she seemed to mentally disappear from the close clutch they shared.
“Masin,” she said quietly, using his given name and chilling him to the bone because he couldn’t remember anyone having used it in front of her. “Masin, you must be careful. Bronse needs you. There are those who plot against him and wish him dead.”
“I … I know,” he found himself saying in spite of himself. But how did she know?
“A woman will come to you,” she continued as if he’d never spoken. “She comes under the guise of neutrality or friendship. But be warned, she seeks to remove you from the equation. She will strip Bronse of his armor. You, Masin. You are his armor.”
And just as suddenly, Ravenna released him, sagging back as she shook from head to toe, as if she had exerted herself mightily. Lasher instinctively surged away, up to his feet, bracing his legs and body defensively as his eyes widened with a dozen rushing emotions and ten times as many thoughts.
“What the hell was that?” he demanded fiercely.
“A gift,” she said shakily, shivering. “My gift to you. Do not ignore it. Please …” The plain fear in her tone grabbed at Lasher’s guts with icy fingers of dread and foreboding.
And Lasher suddenly knew where Bronse’s premonitions had come from.
Lasher waited until the others came back before he marched off in search of their wayward commander. After ordering the crew to eat and rest, he followed Bronse’s path with a quick, determined stride. He didn’t know exactly what was going on around here, but he was about to find out. Bronse Chapel never held out on him. Never. Lasher had functioned smoothly for ten years based on that single belief. Granted, Bronse wasn’t required to share everything. As commander he often received orders meant only for him. Bronse simply chose to share them with his second.
But Lasher had begun to suspect that there were two different missions on Bronse’s mind. It was the only explanation for what they were trying to juggle. Four soldiers in a massive hostile environment with not one but two enemies searching them out. Not only that, they were trekking around with civilians, one of whom was severely wounded.
Lasher followed Bronse’s faint track until it took him to the edge of a small creek. His commander was crouched down on his haunches, pulling water over his head. He swept his fingers through his hair, spiking it up, and then reached for more water to throw against his face, washing away sand and dust, something they didn’t usually do until they were safe at base. Dirt coating the skin helped with camouflage.
Shaking his head, Lasher approached Chapel with a clear bite in his step. “You want to tell me what the hell is going on around here?” he snapped.
Bronse paused, shook water off his hands, and then slowly rose to his full height. “I’m sorry,” he said coldly, “but would you care to repeat that question?”
Lasher felt the whip in those flatly spoken words, and he winced inwardly.
“Do you want to tell me what the hell is going on around here, sir?” Lasher corrected himself, adding respect to his frustration but refusing to completely play games of rank. “Bronse, I need to know what you’re thinking. I know you know I’ll follow any order you give me short of dancing naked on the IM tarmac at midmorning, but I need to understand those orders and their motivations. That’s how we’ve always worked. After ten years, th
at’s what I need in order to function at my best. And let me tell ya, functioning below par is not a good thing in this situation, if you hadn’t noticed.
“Bronse, that woman just grabbed hold of me and … and told me my fortune! And it was a bloody frightening one at that. Why do I think that she’s responsible for all these gut feelings you’ve had over the past few days? Why do I feel like you knew she was going to be here on this planet? She and the kid aren’t acting the least surprised that a troop of ETF soldiers just broke them out of prison. You’ve never treated me like an idiot before, and you damn well better not start now, sir!”
Bronse waited for several beats while Lasher caught his breath and calmed down enough to hear past what was no doubt the massive roaring of his blood pressure in his ears.
“I have never and will never treat you like an idiot. I wanted to explain, but we’ve been pressed for time,” Bronse said efficiently. “As far as what Ravenna can do, you now know as much as I do. She seems to see the future. She told me mine too; that was how I knew we needed to stick together.”
“But you’d never met—”
“In a dream. I met her in a dream. Several of them, I think. I don’t remember all of them. I would dream her telling me the prophecy, and it would sublimate into those gut feelings I was plagued with. I didn’t know until after we talked about it that night. I was a little afraid to tell you any more than that. I wasn’t sure I wasn’t going nuts, and I didn’t want you or the crew feeling that you couldn’t trust me.
“Don’t ask me to make sense of it because neither one of us will be able to. We have no experience in this. It wasn’t till I busted into that cell that I was sure she was real and not a figment of my imagination. Not until then did I realize I wasn’t going out of my mind. I’m sorry, but after that I couldn’t leave her behind to suffer. I felt her suffering before we got here. I knew they’d whipped the hell out of her.” Bronse swore softly, brushing his hand through his hair in agitation. “That’s it. That’s all I know. You know everything else. I’m learning as I go just like you are. I … I’m sorry I took her out of there for personal reasons. It was … I know it was wrong, and it was worse not to tell you.”
“If you’re going to endanger the crew for your personal reasons, Bronse, don’t you think they deserve to know that? Hell, don’t you think I need to know? I mean, I could guess just by the way you look at her, for the Great Being’s sake!”
“I don’t … I can’t…,” Bronse protested helplessly.
“Oh, please!” Lasher chuckled and shook his head with amazement. “Chapel, I don’t need any more explanations, but you better not sit there and deny you look at that woman like a catabee looks at pole cherries. You would gorge yourself on her until you popped, too, and it’s written all over you.”
“Lasher, damn you,” Bronse grumbled without enthusiasm, “you’re a real bastard sometimes.”
“An intuitive bastard.”
“An intuitive pain in my ass,” Bronse corrected harshly. “Now, are you done grilling me? I don’t like leaving them alone like this.”
“I’ll be done when you promise me no more secrets on this trip.”
“I can promise you that I will make my best effort to keep you fully apprised of our situation at all times. How’s that?”
“Good enough.”
They calmed for several beats, each man silent as they began to walk back toward the others.
“Do you want to tell me why you took off before?” Lasher asked him.
Bronse laughed in a short, sharp burst. “That, my friend, is a discussion we will never have. But I am curious about what Ravenna told you. She had a premonition?”
“If that was what that was. She grabbed hold of my neck and chest. She’s lucky I didn’t clock her,” Lasher said with a grin. “For a minute there, though, I thought she was coming on to me, so I decided hitting her would be contrary to promoting romance.”
“Nice. Cut to the chase, smart-ass,” Bronse said dryly. But then, all lightness flew from Lasher’s expression, and Bronze had a sick feeling in his gut that he wouldn’t like what he was about to hear.
“She talked about the attempts on your life. That they aren’t over. That I’m meant to protect you. She said that someone … some woman I might ordinarily trust, will try to take me out so I can’t be there for you.”
“Well … that really sucks,” the commander understated. “What the hell is going on around here? I want to know just exactly what I did to deserve this. There must be something. Maybe some information I have that I don’t realize I have.”
“I think we’d better find out. Fast would be nice. I’d hate to think I’d be afraid to get laid until we do.” Lasher smirked at Bronse.
“You know, I’m so glad my impending homicide is such a source of humor for you,” Bronse said.
“Hey, it’s my impending homicide I’m talking about. But seriously,” Lasher’s tone switched to suit, “do you think the others are in danger in the same way?”
“I think we are all expendable. JuJuren has more than proven that. I also think the team has figured that out by now.”
“You’re talking in the field. I have a feeling I’m looking at danger during downtime. Off-mission. It will be the next step. If they can’t kill us on-mission, they’ll try for off.”
“Then we better hope that Trick has some information when we get back. I have no intention of dodging any laser fire that I’m not already being paid to dodge.”
“Copy that,” Lasher agreed enthusiastically.
“But you’re right. Tell the others to consider themselves targets until otherwise noted.”
When Bronse stepped into the makeshift rest stop, his eyes tracked to Ravenna like magnets to metal. She was already looking at him, but it didn’t last long. Color stained her cheeks, and she turned her face away. Bronse felt a surge of excitement in response. He’d almost convinced himself that he had been mistaken; that he had, through some perversion of his own desert-baked brain, turned an innocently caught chill into some kind of reaction of arousal because of the touch of his hand. But her blushing innocence told him she had indeed felt much more than a chill in that moment.
The very concept baffled the hell out of him. He had meant nothing by the touch, he was certain. Not only that, he’d been tending her for bruises left by cruel, abusive men. How could she possibly find the touch of any man anything but repulsive at this point? And how was he going to keep his hands off her when her blushes and blatantly curious topaz eyes kept following him as he moved? By all that was holy, she could tempt a saint to reconsider.
She was leaning a shoulder against her brother, nibbling at a piece of local fruit, but she was all eyes for him. And he for her, he realized, as he caught himself staring at her.
He realized then that he couldn’t carry her again. He could not be that close and concentrate on their lives and safety. The entire trek had been spent in a daze of thoughts that had no place in his mind during such a dangerous situation. Thankfully, everyone else was on guard, but it was an untenable state of mind for him to be in. Too many lives were at stake.
“Ender, Lasher,” he broadcasted as he strode firmly into their midst. “Carry the girl. Justice, take point. I’ll take the rear. Kith, stay between us and keep your eyes peeled. Tell Justice where she’s going. Let’s move. We’re working against the clock.”
His eyes drifted to Ravenna before he could help it. Less than an hour of pain block. Then what? A litter, he supposed, would be best. He would have to keep his eyes peeled for materials to improvise with. Damn it all, why did he want to go over there and touch her so badly? Brush back that infernally glorious hair; touch just one fingertip to the creamy soft cheek and its perfect smooth tan.
Bronse reached blindly for the rifle that Lasher handed off to him. He automatically checked the weapon, the routine soothing him and refocusing his attention. Within five minutes they were off again. He concentrated on the terrain, ignoring the back
of the girl riding between the men in front of him.
Ravenna was swimming in a sea of misery. She had pulled Kith aside earlier and told him that, no matter how much he felt her pain, he was not to betray her. If she could bear it, so could he. He had gotten that stubborn tilt to his chin and said of course he could bear it, but why should she? It was simple. They would move faster, and she would be aware enough to help them if they needed it. The danger had not passed. She was sure of it. Oh, danger was following them, of course. Searching for them. She knew that. But that was behind them. Pretty far behind them if she was sensing it right. No. This danger lay before them.
The forest had become thick and blindingly dense around them. She knew they were headed the right way, just as Kith did, but nothing was yet familiar to them. It was exhausting to look for just one familiar branch or path that would indicate that home could not be too much farther ahead. The only thing that these branches seemed to do was hide unknown dangers. Great beasts lived in the wild places of the wilderness. Even the villages weren’t always safe, though the forest creatures tended to stay clear of settled places.
So she gritted her teeth, breathed as evenly as possible, and forced down any and all sounds of pain. She used her hair to shade her face from the grimaces she could not resist, keeping Lasher, at least, unaware. Ender had already caught her silent agony twice, but he seemed to understand her determination to stay in charge of herself. Sweat was soaking through her clothes, and the terrain was beginning to blur, but she had made it well past the time that Lasher had given her for the block to wear off. He had asked after her health several times, and by some miracle she had convinced him that the topical and bandages had made all the difference.
She was infinitely pleased with herself right up to the very moment she passed out.
Ender and Lasher both made a misstep as all of the weight of their burden was flung suddenly forward. Only their grip on her arms over their necks kept her from taking a full header onto the forest floor.