Huntress

by S. J. Sanders

  “You can’t kill me—I am the chancellor!”

  Heidi laughed again and leaped up on to the bed, straddling him, her blade unerringly finding its home just above his throat. She grinned down at him. “And I am the Night Huntress, Erik’s right-hand assassin—or I was. Pity he didn’t think to warn you of me. Sweet dreams.”

  “I am unarmed!” he shouted just as she pinched her lips together and sank her blade home. Blood splashed on her and his body shuddered beneath her as she held it through its final twitches. She grinned down at him as she swiped a thumb over her bottom lip. Her eyes trailed down his body, pausing on his arm. Her grin widened as she turned to get a better look. There, tattooed on his forearm, was a coiled serpent.

  “Gotcha,” she whispered.

  Jumping off the bed, she strode over the door and yanked it open. The sounds coming from the ballroom were of a party in full swing. She smiled in the direction of the staircase as she made her way over to the room that the males were left in. She tapped on the door three times and it swung open just before arms snatched her roughly inside.

  Orth nuzzled her as he swung her around in his arms, and she let out a small happy hum of pleasure as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He hugged her close until she was plucked from his grip, and she found herself cocooned in dark, warm fur. She tilted her head back to squint up at the male who had her. Gund’s entire body nearly vibrated with tension as he held her within his arms. She traced her hands along his arms, willing him to relax.

  “Hey, it’s all right,” she said.

  He shook his head and stared down at her, his yellow eyes over-bright. “I think you want to kill me or prove to me just how empty and miserable my life would be without you,” he rumbled.

  She arched a brow. “Oh yeah? Your life would be empty and meaningless after me only leaving you for twenty minutes versus you leaving me for days.”

  He had the grace to wince. “I have much to atone for.”

  She blinked and looked up at him, ideas forming in her mind. “That could work. I understand that you and Tah were getting pretty close while I was away. Will you atone for that too?”

  Surprise registered on his face, and just behind him she saw Tah stiffen with an unhappy expression, but Gund shook his head. “I love Tah. I cannot regret what pleasure we shared, even if it was ultimately unsatisfactory. Would you punish me for that?”

  Heidi snorted. “Don’t be stupid. I think it’s fucking awesome. But we are going to have to shelve this for later, because we have little time to find the Master and I have a feeling that I know where he may be. Seems that he and the chancellor were part of a very special, nasty little brotherhood.”

  Her eyes cut to the woman watching them from the bed. “Do you know where the menagerie is?” she asked bluntly as she kicked off her shoes and, with her knife in hand, began to cut away the longest length of the dress. She hated to destroy Viv’s hard work, but it couldn’t be helped.

  The woman at least had the sense not to lie to her. She bobbed her head in a rapid-fire nod, but then shook her head with the same nervous energy. “I can’t take you there—Theo will kill me if I tell anyone.”

  “You aren’t going to have to worry about Theo killing anyone ever again. Now take me to the fucking menagerie!” Heidi snapped.

  “I advise you do as she asks. My mate is a little unstable at times. I love that about her, even if it scares the hell out of me, but you might not want to push someone coated in blood too far,” Tah said.

  Theo’s wife—Anita, she believed was the name—nodded and scampered to her feet. “It is this way. I know where it is because I once followed him, curious to see where he disappeared to with his special guests. He beat me when he found out, but I remembered. It requires two keys to access. A code and a key. I have neither.”

  Heidi grinned and patted her bosom. “I have it covered. Just point me in the right direction.”

  34

  It turned out that Tah didn’t like being in the large human dens after all. It was nothing but long, boring halls that swept by numerous rooms. There was hardly anything interesting within the space at all—nothing except Heidi, who strode out at Gund’s side, blood coating her face and arms. His heart warmed at the sight. She destroyed her enemies without mercy, and seeing the aftermath released the last weight from his heart. If she had wanted to kill him at any time, she probably could have. No doubt his brothers would have destroyed her for her trouble, but she was a merciless bringer of death like the Father Hunter, first mate of the Mother. She acted against her instinct when he’d pushed, and avoided killing him.

  Seeing what she was capable of and the truth of her love for him made him want to sweep her up in his arms and rut her against the wall until neither could move. But not yet. They had one thing still to attend to… then there would be groveling… and then hopefully copious amounts of rutting and a mating bite.

  Heidi turned her head to meet his eyes, no doubt feeling the weight of his attention on her. He tried to give her an encouraging look but Ragoru expressions weren’t always as clear as those of humans. Still, she seemed to understand, because she smiled before returning her complete attention ahead of her once more.

  “This way,” Anita whispered as she pushed open a door that led to a long descending staircase. The female stood in place, shivering as they entered. It was clear she was terrified to go anywhere near the menagerie. She would not accompany them, but they no longer required her guidance. The smell of fear and the stink of waste and spent seed wafted up from below, turning Tah’s stomach. He heard the door creak open and shut again, and he knew without looking that Anita was gone.

  Together, as one cohesive unit—as they should have been all along—they walked down the staircase until they came to a heavy door with a wheel and a series of dials. Heidi shook her head as she looked at it.

  “Locked up tighter than gold in a treasury,” she mumbled as she slipped her finger and thumb into the crevice between her breasts to fish out the key and slip of paper she’d brought. “All right. Let’s crack this.”

  Leaning forward to see the dials clearly, Heidi began to spin one to the first symbol, and then going to the next one in line, following the code on the paper. Once all symbols were in order, she stepped back so that Gund could grab the wheel and turn it hard. A scraping sound echoed all around them, and then as the lead pulled back on the door, it groaned in protest but soon opened to reveal a long, dark passage.

  Orth stared ahead and wrinkled his nose. “It is like being under the hill again.”

  Tah chuckled and wrapped an arm around his triad brother. “At least nothing is threatening to bite off your ear.”

  “That we know of,” Orth responded darkly with a light shove against his arm.

  Heidi squinted down the hallway, but then her face relaxed into a smile as she stepped through. “It is an optical illusion to make it look endless, but the gate is just ahead. Come on.”

  Tah nodded and darted through after her to demonstrate his faith in her lead. She smiled back at him, and then at Orth and Gund as her eyes moved to them, before turning to lead the way down what was actually a short corridor with a large locked door at the end. The door had the emblem of a serpent on it.

  “The second lock, to keep out everyone except those who possess very specific keys. No doubt the Master had to have a new one made on his arrival,” Heidi snorted as she set the key in the lock. With a twist, the lock clinked, and Heidi pushed the door open.

  Tah didn’t know what he expected to see, but it wasn’t the Master, reclining in a chair, waiting for them. A small female sat on his lap; her body completely nude as she shuddered weakly under his hands. The male’s eyes narrowed as he pushed her off him onto the floor.

  “Heidi,” the Master greeted.

  “Erik,” she returned.

  The male sighed. “I see that I have finally lost your adoration.”

  “You lost that long ago with your madness. All you had was my l
oyalty until you betrayed that.”

  The male wagged a finger. “I do believe it was you who did the betraying first, my pet.”

  “I did just enough to ensure that an innocent girl didn’t have her future ruined.”

  The Master’s brows raised. “Is that what you imagine happened to you? You had nothing. You were starving in the streets when you were found. The Order gave you purpose!”

  “What kind of choice is that to give a child?” Heidi spat.

  “I never said that your choices were fair. They have consequences, as I think you realize. How many times will you be forced to learn this lesson, girl?”

  Tah’s lips immediately pulled back into a snarl, but the male had the gall to laugh and clap his hands.

  “You know, I did wonder how you were able to survive as long as you did. This, you with the Ragoru, was unexpected. At first I thought you hadn’t made it out of the Black Hills, but when I received word from the Mintars that they captured you, I knew that I had been mistaken with my assumption. They were supposed to keep you for me, but somehow I knew you would find your way here to me,” he observed. “I will have to punish them when we are done here.”

  “You won’t have the opportunity, Erik,” Heidi insisted.

  “And that will be your last mistake, Heidi—thinking you can successfully challenge me.”

  Tah barked out a warning, leaping forward, but not in time to intervene as the Master sprang up from his chair. He was fast, but so was Heidi. She dodged the intended blow, bringing twin knives up to slash at him as they circled each other in a dance of metal. Tah wanted to rip the Master apart, to feel his flesh under his claws and taste his blood well up into his mouth, but he had no opening without risking his rya sustaining serious injury. Growling in frustration, he paced as he watched them fight. Heidi ducked beneath a blade, her body flowing as she spun out of the path of another, despite the dress hampering her movements. Every strike she avoided she returned as they fought what appeared to be an evenly matched battle, despite her shorter blades.

  The battle dance, so different than the direct Ragoru methods of fighting, moved back and forth across the narrow floor space in front of the cages. Females gathered from various areas of their cage, working their way to the front, their eyes wide as they watched in confusion—some with heartbreakingly empty eyes—as the fight ensued. Without a sword, and with nothing more than her long daggers, his mate was woefully lacking in weapons. Her smaller blade lacked the reach of the Master’s sword, and yet still she fought valiantly, the sweat pouring off her body and mixing with blood from every little cut the Master managed to get through her defenses. Tah hurt for her with every pained gasp of the blade slicing into her skin. He recoiled as if he’d experienced the wounds himself until he couldn’t bear it anymore.

  Stepping forward, his eyes following the fight, a loud growl rattled in Tah’s throat. He was eager to join in, his teeth gnashing with the desire to destroy and tear flesh as his eyes sought an opening to attack, but Gund’s firm hand held him in place. His brother looked at him solemnly and shook his head.

  “This is not for us. We will fulfill our oath here and see to it that the Master dies. Otherwise, allow our rya her vengeance, Tah. She will not appreciate our interference in this.”

  Staring, he tasted bitterness at having received such a command, but he stilled and watched and waited. Tah couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her shorn golden gown whirled around her in beautiful arcs with every thrust of the blade that she offered. A handful of times she scored on the master, but there were more times than Tah could bear that the Master scored against Heidi with his blade, drawing narrow slices on her skin. Somehow, however, she’d been able to avoid the killing strikes while delivering her own sharp sting in the process. But even so, he could see her slowing as her small wounds bled. He growled plaintively, needing desperately to take that pain for her.

  His muscles trembled with anger, unable to endure the dance any longer. His heart cried out as the Master tried to sink his blade deep into her side, feeling relief when Heidi rolled away, stabbing fruitlessly upward with her knife. Back and forth they went as Tah’s worry wound tighter and Orth’s anxious sighs filled the room. Heidi’s blood began to paint the floor with tiny droplets, and her bare feet slipped as the Master swung his sword. Forced to dodge the sword, Heidi didn’t see the boot barreling toward her head. Tah raged as the male’s foot made contact, and the Master’s sword swept down, burying in her side. A roar of unimaginable pain swelled through Tah, his rage pouring out of him as he burst forward in a flurry of movement.

  “Now it is your turn to sleep, favored assassin” the Master pronounced as Heidi stared at him with hatred in her eyes. He yanked out his sword and kicked her, sending her sprawling on the floor. Heidi hissed with pain as she rolled to her side, her arms sliding against the surface as she pulled herself across the floor.

  The male was stupid to even partially turn his back on a Ragoru.

  Howling out his rage, Tah sprang upon the human.

  The huntsman turned, his sword arcing into Tah’s flank as he bore down, his teeth snapping. He heard Orth snarl, but he felt the impact from the other male’s body slamming against the other side of the Master as they both attacked at once. Their combined fury was unstoppable.

  They raged, using their claws and teeth to shred his skin bit by bit. Not enough to kill him, but enough to make him suffer as their rya watched. The human’s angry cries shifted into screams until even those died. Eventually, all he could do was gasp and twitch, his body a bloody mess of exposed tissue and bone, barely clinging to life, when Tah and Orth finally stepped away. The Master could do no more than gurgle as Gund’s massive body stepped forward. With one hand, he picked up the Master by the hair and looked him in the eye before his fangs snapped and tore out the huntsman’s throat.

  As Gund dropped the huntsman on the gore-encrusted floor, Tah and Orth rushed to Heidi’s side. She grimaced in pain, whimpering foul curses as they helped her up. Leaning against Orth, she turned her head and smiled wanly at Tah. His hand skimmed over her, his gut churning at the blood seeping from her side. Growling, he turned around, searching the area until a female in the cage waved him down and pushed a long, thin cloth through the bars. He inspected it; it wasn’t terribly clean, but it would do. Tearing off a long strip, he nodded his thanks and returned to Heidi.

  “I think you were worried for a minute there,” she rasped. He eyed her as he began to wrap the cloth tightly around her wound.

  “Perhaps a little,” Tah admitted as he lifted one hand and cleaned a smear of blood from her face.

  She hummed as she looked him over, her eyes finally trailing to the horrible mess on the ground. “A little overkill there, boys? Erik looks like something chewed him up and spat him out. This is not going to help your reputation any.” She snickered weakly. “But it does give me a warm feeling that you went all out like that for me.” Her gaze turned speculative. “Although I bet you really regret pushing me away now. I mean, you did almost lose me. It can make a male think,” she suggested, wincing as he tightened the bandage.

  “Yes,” Tah agreed without hesitation. “I regret it more than you’ll ever know. I was stupid, and I paid for it every day—missing you and then getting mad at myself for missing you. I left you feeling unwanted, and I was continually mad at you and mad at myself because I could never let you go. I punished both of us for my own fears, sabotaging everything that was good between us. You are everything to me, rya, and I am sorry for the lost time. I swear that I will never forget what a gift you are in my life”

  “You are sorry, then?” she asked, her lips curling.

  “I am sorry,” he agreed.

  Her smile widened. “Are you going to grovel?”

  He smirked. “No.”

  “No?”

  He shook his head. “I will do better. I will swear never to let my fear allow me to do such a stupid thing again… And if it looks like that is the way it is h
eading, you can have Gund beat some sense into me.”

  “I can see I am going to be kept busy,” Gund said dryly. Tah shot his triad brother an irritated look.

  Heidi laughed and whimpered, clutching her side. “Don’t make me laugh, you brute. Take the key and let everyone out.”

  Grunting, Gund accepted the key from her and opened the cage, swinging the door open wide. The females stared at it for a long moment before they began walking out to congregate in the open space just outside the cage, most of them disdainfully walking over the Master’s remains. As Tah watched, he noticed that they were nearly all humans, save for the last. The last to emerge was a thin, sickly-looking Atlavan, her crest damaged and missing handfuls of feathers. She eyed them nervously as she attempted to duck behind other females.

  Orth’s ears pricked forward as he called out. “It is okay, Atlavan female. We are here to help. Are you by chance sister to Levanth?”

  A curious, soft gaze met them as she glanced at them shyly. “You know Levanth?”

  Tah nodded. “Levanth and Randik. If you can be patient, we will take you back to your home.”

  “My home,” she sighed, a happy expression on her face. “Yes. Thank you.”

  “But first,” Heidi growled, “we need to break up the Fool’s Ball downstairs before someone gets the idea of trying to crown a king.” Her eyes wandered to Gund. “Gund, my love.”

  He started, his expression warming as his ears tilted forward. “Yes, my rya?”

  “Would you mind handling it? There is a particular fool who is dead in his bedroom and is waiting to be delivered to his guests.”

  “Of course,” Gund rumbled, a pleased smile pulling at his mouth as he turned and stalked away.

  Heidi poked Orth. “Hurry up and follow him. I want to see everyone’s faces.”