by DC Little
He watched her closely, letting the grin that tugged his lips spread across his face. “Yeah.”
She nodded, a sad smile turning up her perfectly full lips.
He shifted his weight before lowering himself down next to her.
“I can’t believe you came all this way,” she said as she gave the deer one last sliding pet. “You won’t be able to walk tomorrow.”
“It will be worth it.”
She glanced at him, reading his eyes. “You won’t…” She looked away and then back at him. “You won’t tell anyone?”
“What? All I saw was an exceptional hunter at work, best in Zion, right?” He playfully punched her arm.
“Thanks,” she said, gracing him with a less sad grin. “Well, since you’re here, you might as well help.”
“At your service.”
“Just stay there, off your leg. I’ll bring you the saplings and you can cut off the branches. You brought a knife, didn’t you?”
“What and break the rules? Your dad hasn’t cleared me for carrying weapons.”
“Oh, yeah. We’ll have to eradicate that rule.” Mercy stood and walked toward a couple saplings..
“Talk about big words,” he said, hearing the smile in his own voice.
Orion couldn’t stop the rush of heat that filled him. Sure, the wet ground froze his backside, his hands were icy and burning, but none of that mattered. Having Mercy look at him that way meant everything.
Together they pulled the deer back toward Zion. It felt right being by her side, contributing to the camp, working together. It felt like it was meant to be.
“You know, I might get us both into a heap of trouble,” he said as the granite maze came into view.
“What’s new?” she said without pause. “Don’t worry, I’ll make you pay for it.”
“Would think less of you if you didn’t,” Orion said with a laugh.
Yet, as they came toward camp, the sentry, no longer Tucker, barely looked in their direction. A soft clamber of excited noise came from Zion. He glanced at Mercy, who quickened her pace. Orion’s heart raced as he waited in the maze and watched Mercy run back to sweep their trail away. He could feel his leg swelling up, but it didn’t matter. Not only was it worth it, there was something going on at camp...something that had his insides churning.
“Orion,” Mercy said, her face only inches from his. “I need you to know that your dad...he’s pretty banged up, and he’s incredibly masculine, but he’s going to cry. Seeing you is going to make him cry…”
Orion took in a breath. How she knew the excitement meant his dad was back, he didn’t know, but he felt it. A tornado of emotion swept through him as they appeared from out of the entrance. When people noticed them, a hush traveled through the group, and they parted, leaving a path directly to a tall, tough-looking man with his right arm in a sling and his mouth set in a firm line.
His dad.
The large man swayed, and Chantry landed a heavy, stabilizing arm on his friend. Everyone watched, Mercy held her breath, and everything faded into the background as he stared at his father. Mercy nodded, and they laid the travois down. She rested a hand on him in support, then nudged him forward.
His dad came toward him as well. His dad’s lips flat-lined until his mouth opened and the strangled sound that escaped, Orion recognized as his name.
“Orion,” his dad called, and as the distance closed, Orion saw tears streaming down his dad’s face. He looked at the man, deciphering familiar characteristics, as his own eyes burned.
His father’s arm stretched out as they came together, and Orion let his dad’s good arm wrap around him. As it did, Zion cheered, though the sound muted, disappearing under his dad’s sobs in his ears.
His eyes burned, but Orion couldn’t release the pent-up emotions. He had sworn against crying, against the weakness of emotions, and was so used to stuffing them and hiding from them, they lodged in his throat, stopping the words he had always wanted to tell his father.
His dad grasped his shoulder and pushed him back as his wet eyes scanned Orion as if trying to memorize every angle, every line, and every curve of his face. “You...you came.”
“I…” Orion swallowed. “I was told you were dead.”
“They tried, my son, but they didn’t quite succeed.” He pulled him into another hug, then released him to wrap his arm around his shoulders and lead him toward camp. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you arrived.”
“I was unconscious,” Orion said, grateful he had found his voice and his humor. “You didn’t miss much.”
His father turned to look at him again, studying his eyes, then let out a roar of a laugh. “Oh, my son, we have so much to catch up on.”
“Yes...Dad,” he tried out the name. “Yes, we do.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
>>>—MERCY—<<<
Mercy wiped her eyes, burrowing further under the furs. She didn’t need Tucker to see her tears and ask her what was wrong. Every time she remembered the meeting of Orion and Uncle Butler, it brought tears to her eyes. The moment itself had almost had her falling to her knees, their emotions were so overpowering. They had left her breathless, clutching her chest in an effort to breathe.
Tucker had come to her then, one of the few people who understood how she felt what others feel. She had clung to her brother, not letting her eyes waver from Orion. As much as it hurt, she wanted to feel this with him...with them. Butler’s eyes had met hers over Orion’s shoulder. His gaze reflected his emotions of gratitude.
She knew she shouldn’t, but when Orion walked away toward Butler’s shelter, the release of emotions left her feeling abandoned and empty.
Tucker hadn’t left her side until she had fallen asleep. Even now, the dwelling felt empty, missing Orion’s presence, his soft sleeping breath, his quick humor, and his ever-watching blue eyes. She poked her head out from hiding and sucked in a breath. Dawn had barely lightened the sky. She watched as it continued to brighten, digging deep to find the motivation to leave her furs.
Footsteps crunched the frozen ground in front of their dwelling, and she held her breath as a soft scratching preceded the door being quietly pushed aside. The blast of cold air stung her eyes. She blinked through the sting to find the twilight eyes she had missed over the last twelve hours.
“Hey,” he whispered, glancing quickly at Tucker before coming to her side. “You okay?”
She pushed up to her elbow. “I should be asking you that.”
His lips quirked into a half smile. “It’s a lot to take in, but yeah, I’m good.”
“It’s not every day you get to meet your dad.”
“No, especially when you thought he was dead your whole life.” He plopped back onto his backside. “So…”
“So,” she returned with a smile.
“Feel like a walk?”
“I’m surprised you can,” she said, nodding at his leg.
“It’s been better, but isn’t as bad as I feared.” He stood and reached down a hand. “Come on, lazy bum.”
Mercy let him pull her up, and he didn’t release her hand for several moments.
“I have a lot to tell you…” he said.
And he did. Orion told her about his father’s sobs when he found out he had a daughter he had never met. He shared the anger that raged through Butler when he learned that Meyers had taken his wife and children as his own. And he shared about the girls that he had left hiding in the top of the library...a building full of books no longer read.
The release of the truth removed any anger she had toward him. Though she did not know where that left them, she knew now that the connection they had would never be severed.
From that day, they were hardly separated, except at night when he took his place next to Butler’s side. Mercy missed hearing his soft snores, but she couldn’t blame him for spending that time with his father after so many years of not having him.
She continued to train him and teach him the ways of Zion, like today, their h
ands deep in the dirt preparing their winter plants for seeding.
“So, you really can grow things year round?” he asked.
“Well, only a few plants can survive the snow, so we have to harvest and store many of the vegetables to eat in winter.”
“That’s why most of what we eat right now is dried.” Orion nodded. He stood, dusted off his hands, and stretched under the warming sun.
It hadn’t snowed in almost a month. The ground had remained dry since that first hunt they went on together. Since then, they had gone on two more hunts. She heard the whispers from the others and understood their surprise and disbelief. She had always hunted alone. How could she explain to them it just felt right having Orion along? Besides, he had to learn somehow, and he didn’t make fun of her for crying.
A low, warble call sounded through the ravine, instantly putting Mercy in stance and at the ready. It seemed like forever since they had a drill. The shouts came at her, warning her of the guys’ intent. As always, they came for her.
She looked at Orion as dawning traveled across his features. “A drill?”
“Yeah, and this time, you’re in it.” She watched as he fumbled with his bow, the string getting caught on his head as he tried to slip it over.
“I’m holding you back. Go!” he shouted while watching the guys advance.
“And leave you to the wolves? You’re mine to protect, remember?”
“Ugh,” he said.
“I know, you don’t think you need protecting, but,” she swung her bow in front of him, smacking an arrow out of the air that was meant for his chest, “you do. Move!”
He ran, and even amid the chase, she smiled at the tiny existence of a limp. He had healed well, but he still had much to learn.
She ran up beside him, “The boulders.”
They veered toward the boulders, and she marveled as he vaulted over the rocks and down into the river canyon. He had shown her a few moves, but she was not confident enough to try them at a dead run while being chased by a mob of ego-filled men. Jumping behind a boulder where Orion waited, she leaned out, released two arrows, marking two targets.
There. She showed her involvement.
She squeezed in next to Orion. “Shoot one of them.”
He fumbled with his arrow, his hands shaking too much to nock it. Their pursuers’ footsteps pounded toward them. With a growl, she snapped off the blunted practice tip colored a yellow green.
“What are you doing?” he yelled, panic filling his voice.
“Can your sling handle something this big?”
A wicked grin filled his face, and within a few seconds, he had launched the powdered tip, hitting Darius smack dab in the face.
Orion whooped. Mercy pulled him down right as an orange blunted arrow narrowly missed his head.
“Come on. We’ve shown our involvement. Now let’s go. I don’t think they are going to give up.”
No one else could move as quickly as they on the boulders. They hopped, vaulted, and otherwise scrambled through the labyrinth, ending up by Tucker’s hidden spot before she even realized it. The voices of the guys came to her, and without another thought, she pulled Orion down into the hidden spot that only she and Tucker knew about.
Water rushed in a roar over and past them, splashing them with spray.
“Where are we?” Orion raised his voice over the din of the waterfall.
“Behind a waterfall,” she said, her heart racing. For a moment, she worried about Tucker being upset that she had brought him here.
Then Orion moved closer, his scent filling the moist air, and she found it difficult to breathe. “Why are they so intent on killing me?”
“It’s not you,” she said into his ear, breathing his scent in further, leaving her knees wanting to buckle.
“You?” he asked. “Why do they want you?” His breath on her neck sent ripples of delight through her, causing her to shiver.
She put her lips closer to his ear. “It’s almost Choosing Day.”
Shouting from outside filtered in, barely registering over the roar of the waterfall. She pulled away and put a finger to her lips. He nodded, but his eyes didn’t leave hers, holding her in a trance. They stood like this, close, eyes imploring the other until a large form splashed through the waterfall into their haven.
“Tucker,” Mercy said, hoping he gave her a chance to explain.
Tucker didn’t yell, he didn’t even widen his eyes as he looked from her to Orion and back to her. “So, it has begun.”
“What has begun?” Orion shouted, his voice barely reaching them.
Tucker held Mercy’s eyes in a lock of trust, and she knew exactly what he meant. Her body quivered, and if Orion hadn’t grabbed her, she would have collapsed to the wet granite they stood upon. Tucker’s vision of her and the blue-eye man in the waterfall...she hadn’t even thought of it until that moment. And this moment, according to Tucker, would start everything...whatever that meant.
They stood together, the three of them with only the roaring of the waterfall. Finally, Tucker snuck to the opening that Mercy and Orion had dropped into and came back with a nod. All clear.
They carefully made their way out of the hidden spot, tearing off their outer clothes and wringing them out. Orion followed suit without a question, but on their way back to camp, he looked at her with a query in his eyes.
“So, what just happened back there?”
Mercy shrugged. It wasn’t her place to share. That secret was Tucker’s, and he alone would share it with those he knew he could trust.
Mercy turned toward her brother. “Will that mob stop after Choosing Day?”
Tucker eyed her, glancing at Orion briefly, then focused on the rocky trail only they knew how to follow. “In a way. Once you’re mated, you won’t be a part of these drills.”
Mercy’s heart fell. She despised these drills, but thinking about the others continuing them while she sat at home filled her with a great sadness.
“Mated?” Orion grabbed Mercy’s arm. “What is this about you being mated?”
“It’s Choosing Day.” Tucker stopped before them, watching and reading Orion. “When a woman turns twenty-one, she chooses a mate.”
“You mean like marriage?” Orion’s mouth dropped open.
“Yes, exactly,” Tucker said.
Orion dropped her arm and shoved his hand through his lengthening hair. It distracted her for a moment as she realized she liked it longer. It made his eyes stand out even more.
A low warble sounded through the air. “We have to hurry.” Mercy pushed Orion, and they followed Tucker back up the boulders, making it to the line just in time.
Her dad strode through the line, noting colors and nodding his head. He stopped in front of Darius, his lips twitching as he peered closer at the yellow green covering his face.
“See the medics to make sure your eyes are thoroughly clear of that powder.”
“Yes, sir,” Darius grumbled.
When her dad made it to them, he reached out to finger her wet hair briefly, and noted the wetness on all three of them. “Interesting strategy, but it’s kind of cold for a swim, don’t you think?”
Mercy shivered with recognition, realizing that she was cold and that the two men by her sides shivered.
“Welcome to the team,” her dad told Orion, giving him a nod of approval. He leaned in further and whispered, “Nice mark.”
Orion stood taller, a smirk pulling at his lips.
She swallowed the laugh that bubbled forth, watching him as her father dismissed them. “Not too bad for your first drill.”
“Well, I had a little help.” Orion knocked into her.
“We need to make you some powdered, padded stones for this purpose.”
“It would make me invincible,” Orion said with a smile.
“No one is invincible, brother.” Tucker squeezed his shoulder and traipsed off toward their dad.
Her brother’s words sent a ripple of fear careering down he
r spine. Had that been a warning? Her heart felt broken at the thought, stealing the breath from her, and making her realize something she hadn’t wanted to believe. She looked at Orion, wondering what this meant, for her, for him, and for all of Zion.
She looked at Orion with new eyes, knowing exactly whom she wanted to Choose.
>>>—ORION—<<<
Orion lay on his back, watching the sky, waiting for it to lighten enough for him to take Mercy out on their morning walk. His legs twitched with the need to move. These last two months sleeping in warmth and without fear made him drag his feet on what he knew he needed to accomplish.
He saw his dad’s mind working over the issue as well. The guy was pretty incredible, and he felt his chest fill with pride that he came from that stock. Sure, his dad couldn’t see out of one eye or use his arm, but it hadn’t stopped him from participating in the survival of Zion. His stomach tweaked with the reminder that it had stopped him from rescuing his family.
Life was hard, and if Orion sat there to think of all the things he could be angry about, it would overwhelm him until he walked around like surly Big Al. He shook his head. No. It was better this way. Knowing his dad had done his best.
There were still so many unanswered questions, but every time he tried to figure them out, a pair of green eyes and red hair would draw him away.
Choosing Day was coming soon. Mated. The words left his chest hurting from the pounding of his heart. He had to tell her...she couldn’t be mated. His stomach cramped as he thought of how the guys watched her. Did she already know who she would choose? Beads of sweat broke out on his forehead. He rolled out of his furs, tugged on his jacket and new moccasins, and fled his dad’s dwelling.
The air, though crisp, had warmed to the point he could barely see his breath. Tucker called this false spring. It left a taste of warning in his mouth. Time went too fast. His sister’s own day of coming of age came fast. His mind warred, making his head feel like it would split in two.
“You couldn’t sleep either?” His angel stood before him and his head immediately felt better.
“Yeah, too much going on inside here.” He tapped his head, which had become a fuddled mess.