Mary held back the flap of the tent and motioned for me to exit. Before I ducked under, I saw that the tech on the back of my hand was glowing. Travelling hadn’t damaged it this time.
When I emerged, I saw Asa waiting outside. True to his word, there was a man positioned at each corner of the tent, each toting a long-barreled rifle that was fitted with a bayonet at the end. As I exited the tent, those blades were quickly pointed at me.
Asa didn’t ask them to lower their weapons. Instead, he took his time, looking me over, making my skin crawl. “You did well, Mary,” he finally approved, smiling in her direction.
“Thank you, sir,” she beamed. “I’ll just finish packin’ my things.”
He nodded to her once in dismissal and held out a hand to me. “You look lovely, darling.”
I almost snarled at his use of the endearing term, but his eyes dared me to open my mouth and give his regiment any indication that I was anything but what he said I was. Asa wouldn’t hesitate to have me shot. He wanted all three of the Assets dead, which was why I wasn’t sure why he was keeping me alive for now. Probably because he wanted information.
I took his hand and ignored his crushing hold. He finally settled down after we’d passed a company of at least twenty men and women, all busy packing their supplies, taking down tents, and loading horses and wagons. His grip loosened and he put my hand in the crook of his arm. “You’ll ride with me.”
Tied to a low, wide branch that swept from the thick trunk toward the ground before turning toward the sky, was a beautiful horse whose mane and tail were the color of dark chocolate and Asa’s eyes.
“I want my stakes back,” I gritted.
Asa chuckled. “So you can stab me with them? I don’t think so.”
“They’re important to me.”
“And my life is important to me.”
“So, you’re afraid of me?”
He untied the horse and swung into the saddle, again extending his hand and loudly announcing, “Come, darling. It’s not safe to linger. The enemy will come for their dead, and we don’t want to be around when they do.”
“You’re afraid of them, too—OOF!”
He leaned down and scooped me up like a child, placing me on the saddle in front of him. Both my legs were on one side, and I was basically sitting in his lap. “I can’t ride like this.”
“Oh, you’ve ridden before?”
“No, but I know I can’t ride like this. I want to ride like you, with one leg on either side.”
Asa pinned me with a look. “Ladies do not ride in that fashion.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I’m not a lady.” I’d barely gotten the word out when he snapped the reins and kicked the horse’s belly. The horse trotted forward, and by the time we reached the others who had been packing only moments before, they were also mounted and ready to ride away. Most had their own horses, and one man was leading a few without riders. “Can’t I just have my own?”
Asa, I learned, didn’t mince words. “No.”
“Why?”
“I don’t travel with spare horses for those of you who might land at any given moment.”
“Gather around!” he yelled, and those under his command did as he asked. He was definitely in charge. I couldn’t tell unless I saw their fangs, but at least half of the people in this party were vampires. William made eye contact with me for a moment before glancing over my shoulder and quickly looking away.
“Stay together,” Asa barked. “Keep your eyes open and your weapons ready.”
The militia maneuvered their horses into a well-rehearsed formation. My eyes caught on William and his dark-haired friend, who were definitely human, and on Mary, who wasn’t anymore.
“No one believes I’m your fiancée,” I whispered.
“Actually, they do. You’ve followed us before, darling. Or have you forgotten?” he smirked. “It’s my duty to see you home unharmed.”
I didn’t know what game he was playing, but I needed answers. “Why would you care about protecting me?”
A growl rumbled from his chest, vibrating against my back. “Say another word, and I’ll let you find out how well you’d survive without my protection.”
He ordered a burly man to ride in the back of the line and alert them of any threat, while a vampire woman with hair so black it was almost blue took the lead. The others fell in line in front of, beside, and behind us. Asa was cloistered in the center of them all, and for some reason, I was with him as they surrounded us.
During the ride, I had time to think. I remembered a dream I had after landing in the battlefield of discarded corpses. A disturbing dream. A dream that felt so real, it hurt. It replayed over and over in my mind in an incessant loop. It had to be fake.
I remembered my mother. I remembered the store. The beam of sunlight. It felt warm on my skin, until the light began to fade into nothing but a sliver. Only then did the cool touch me. I remembered it. It was real. At least, I thought it was.
Throughout our ride, I kept quiet for hours, waiting as late afternoon faded to evening, and catalogued my long list of discomforts. My ass hurt from riding side-saddle. The gown he’d insisted I wear was too small. My abs ached from sucking them in just to keep from ripping the fabric, and don’t get me started on the painful stays. I thought bras were uncomfortable, but I humbly stand corrected.
“You’re squirming. Stop it,” he growled.
“My ass hurts.”
“My ass hurts, too,” he retorted. “But I manage to keep still.”
“Ride in my lap and see if you can keep still after this many hours.”
He seemed too normal, and I was afraid of that. Enoch hated Asa. He loved him and respected him, but I also knew he harbored an intense hatred for his brother. There had to be a reason for it.
I remembered Terah’s comment on Enoch’s ship; how she had asserted her strength, comparing herself to Asa, when Enoch quipped that although she was as strong, she wasn’t nearly as evil as Asa. Those words kept pounding through my head. Enoch wouldn’t lie to me, and his sibling agreed with his statement about Asa’s character.
Maybe Asa was just acting civil in front of these people, and all bets would be off when we got to wherever we were going. “Did I mention that my ass hurts?” I needled him. It was so hard not to.
He didn’t even acknowledge the complaint.
“Will we meet up with Enoch?”
“When?” he asked.
“When we get wherever we’re going.”
Asa shrugged. “I’m not sure when he’ll be there.”
“Where is Terah?” I need to find Titus.
“She is where we’re going.”
He smiled as I fumed. He was infuriating. “Which is…?”
“A little over an hour away, so stop complaining about your ass.”
Chapter Three
Titus
Chicken feathers floated all around me. The hen house I crash-landed into now had a man-sized skylight. The fat birds clucked and squawked and flapped all around. I wanted so badly to cover my head with my hands, or to move my tongue and lips to get the dust and feathers settling on them the hell off. But I needed a minute. Or sixty.