The Royal Hunter

by Donna Kauffman

  Oddly, it was the ferocity of his reaction that enabled her to find her own level of composure. “Nothing, Archer. I already told you. The dog is fine.”

  “No one was in there but you and Stella?”

  “Just the dog.”

  He seemed to relax. Fractionally. “So what sent you running out here looking as if you’d seen a ghost?” Then his expression softened. Well, not softened exactly, but the hard line of his jaw wasn’t quite as hard. “The little bloke’s pain bothered you.”

  She’d just found a tiny bit of balance and he had to go and knock her off it. “Don’t get all understanding on me, okay?”

  Rather than look affronted, he looked amused. “Hey, I’m a sensitive guy.”

  She snorted. But she also took the out he was offering. Until she’d had time to think all this over, find her balance, she didn’t want to talk about it. She wasn’t certain she’d ever want to talk about it. Yet—and this made zero sense—she had an undeniable urge to just lean into him and tell him everything, to trust him. As if he really were an understanding and trustworthy guy. Yeah, right. Still, she ducked under his arm and moved away before she could do it anyway. “I’ve got to finish loading the truck.”

  He tugged her back and turned her face to his. Then he leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips. Her eyes widened. He let her go and stepped back.

  “What was that for?” she asked warily.

  He grinned. “Just wanted to put some color back in your cheeks.”

  “Well.” When she realized that was the best she could come up with, she gave up and turned tail for the kennel.

  Archer watched Talia run away, and grinned despite himself. Christ but he was getting soft. And he thought he’d only been joking about being sensitive. She hadn’t gotten to him, he told himself. Not really. It was just a momentary lapse. He was merely antsy about getting done with this thing.

  And if that wasn’t a crock of shit, he didn’t know what was.

  He thought about her all the time, and, truth be told, many a time it had nothing to do with the mission and everything to do with his growing … what? Respect was the word that had come to mind. Admiration was close behind it. And a balls-aching amount of plain healthy lust all the damn time. His fingers all but itched to touch her. How he’d kept from pulling her into his arms when she’d first come out of the kennel he had no idea. But Talia Trahaern was a strong one. She wasn’t one to go bawling to a man with her troubles. Which just made him want her all the more.

  Ringer chose that moment to show up. What was one more headache to deal with? He looked down at the mutt. “Best you stay that way today, mate.” Ringer merely plopped down beside him, obviously without a care in the world. He should be so carefree. The sooner this day was over, the better, he thought. “And the sooner you get your head back on lookout, the better, too,” he muttered.

  The hairs on his neck had been at full alert all morning. Talia had assured him it was a simple trip to a local park area and she’d be in one spot the entire time with flocks of people about. What could possibly go wrong in the middle of a crowd like that? she’d asked him more than once. Archer grimaced at her naïveté. It might be a simple few hours and they’d return here where he could keep a closer watch. But he didn’t think so. He rubbed a hand over his neck. He had a bad feeling about this.

  Baleweg materialized beside him. “Under way, are we?” he asked calmly, reaching down to scratch Ringer between the ears.

  Archer put a bit of distance between them. The man liked to crowd a person far too much for his liking. “She’s loading the last of them up now.” He looked over at him. “You know I’m not at all comfortable with this little trek today.”

  Baleweg surprised him by looking a bit troubled himself. “I can’t say as I’m enthusiastic, either.”

  Oh, wonderful. Now Archer’s instincts really clamored. “Well, why in the hell didn’t you tell her that? She thinks I’m being an overprotective pain in the ass. A word from you would have gone a long way to making my job easier.”

  “I pondered that, as well.” He turned a baleful eye on Archer. “I’d expected you to make more progress in earning her trust.”

  “And I’d expected you to make more progress teaching her.”

  Baleweg didn’t react to the jab. “It would be best for her to succeed in placing these orphans of hers. It will help to ease her mind when we must leave.”

  Archer caught something in the old man’s tone. “You know something I don’t?”

  “It will be soon, Devin.” He looked at him fully.

  He tried to ignore the weird feeling it gave him to have the old man call him by his birth name. It felt sort of … well, good. Jesus, he really was going wonky. “How soon?”

  “Soon.”

  “And you’re upset because you think she won’t go?”

  “That.”

  “And?”

  Baleweg looked away, and for the first time, Archer was truly afraid that something was going to happen, something he wouldn’t be able to control. “What’s got you all snakey, mate?”

  “She’s going to need someone to count on, someone to be there for her.” He left that statement to hover in Archer’s mind as he turned and disappeared back toward the house.

  “Aren’t you coming with us?”

  Baleweg shook his head. “I’ve done what I can. Now it’s up to you.” He paused long enough to look back at Archer. “Don’t fail her. Or yourself.”

  Chapter 10

  Talia waved good-bye to Mr. and Mrs. Hubert. They’d be a good match for the last pup. Stella was beaming. “We done good.”

  “We sure did.” It had been an outstanding day. She had prospects for all of the puppies, and the little tabby. Best of all, her two older dogs would likely be going to the same family. “It will be busy these next few days. We’ve got a bunch of people coming.” She didn’t release any of the animals to their new owners the first day. All of them had to agree to come to the kennels where she could observe them with the animal in a more relaxed setting and question them further. Plus, it gave the impulsive hearts a chance to have second thoughts. She didn’t want anyone regretting their decision. But she had a good feeling about every match she’d made today.

  “I’m going to go get a snow cone,” Stella announced. “You want one?”

  Talia started to say no, but then abruptly changed her mind. It had felt wonderful to get away from the house. It was a gorgeous day and she’d made a bunch of people and her animals very happy. And she’d spent eight merciful hours not thinking about what lay ahead for her. She should celebrate with some blueberry-flavored ice. She deserved it. Feeling lighter of heart and mind than she had for what seemed like forever, she linked her arm through Stella’s. “Okay, but I’m buying.”

  “Buying what?”

  Talia steeled herself against anything spoiling her mood. Including the wet blanket, otherwise known as Devin Archer. He’d been hovering all day. She’d tried to tune him out, but he was a hard guy to ignore. “Shaved ice. You want some?”

  “You pay for ice? It’s such a commodity, then?”

  Talia darted a look at Stella, but the girl was too busy fluttering at Archer’s accent to pay any attention to what he was saying.

  “It’s flavored ice,” Talia clarified.

  Stella nodded. “You’ve never had any? Don’t they make them in Australia?”

  Archer shook his head as if he still didn’t get the appeal, but gestured with his hand. “Lead on.”

  “I thought you might stay here and watch the dogs,” Talia said. “We’ll be just across the way.” She looked around. “Speaking of dogs, where is yours?”

  “Here and about.”

  Talia sighed. “I told you, you can’t just let him run loose in the park.” With Stella standing there, she was limited as to what she could say. “We have laws.”

  “He’s fine.”

  “Archer—”

  “He’s sacked out in the back
of Stella’s pickup, okay?” He winked at Stella, who all but swooned. “You can keep an eye on the dogs from there. They’re in their pens.”

  Since he was unlikely to let her win this one, and Stella was moony-eyed, Talia didn’t bother to argue. The event was close to over, most people were leaving, so there was no line and they ordered their cones right away. Stella took her lime-green one and went off to check out what was left of the fair. Talia ordered a blueberry one, then ended up ordering one for Archer when he would have refused. The vendor handed him the bloodred cherry ice and Archer took it gingerly.

  Talia hid a private smile as they wandered toward the trees and strolled along the edges of the fair. He surreptitiously waited for her to bite into hers before tackling his own. “You really never had anything like this?” she asked.

  He shook his head and analyzed his mound of ice as if looking for the best place to make a strategic attack.

  She laughed. “Go ahead and bite it, Archer, it won’t bite back.”

  He made a face at her.

  She bit into hers, enjoying herself far more than she’d expected to. It tasted too sweet and the ice was so cold it hurt her teeth. Perfect. She took a few more bites, savoring each one, only to stop in mid-swallow when she caught Archer staring at her. She managed to choke down the rest. “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  She turned her head and licked her lips, hoping she didn’t have a blue ring around them. She looked back to find him still watching her. “You going to eat yours?”

  He looked dubiously at the ice that was starting to drip over the side of the paper cup. She couldn’t say what made her do it, but she stepped closer, covered his hand with hers and guided the cone to his mouth. “Just take a little off the top. It’s easier once you make an edge.”

  His eyes widened, then darkened as he leaned over the cone and sank those perfectly white teeth deep into the lush red ice. All the while his gaze remained locked on hers. She didn’t know who swallowed harder. Then he licked his lips and, when she went to pull her hand away, covered it with his other one, and took yet another bite, then another. All the while looking at her.

  “You’re right,” he said, his accent dusky and rough. “It’s quite good.” He dropped his hand, then took the one of hers that held the cone. “Now you.”

  “That’s o—” The word ended as blueberry ice covered her tongue and lips. Then she simply let herself sink into the sensation of looking into his hot eyes while feeling something so cold and sweet slide down her throat.

  Talia was searching for something to say when Archer’s expression suddenly went stone cold. “Shit!”

  “What?” She swung around in time to see a man launch himself at her, his long black hair flying behind him, a deadly look in his eyes. Then Archer shoved her roughly to the ground, sending both their paper cups flying.

  “Stay down!” he ordered as he propelled himself over her and tackled the man back into trees. They both hit the ground with a sickening thud, tumbling into the underbrush. Before Talia could react, Ringer raced in and she instinctively lunged and grabbed the little mutt, keeping him from entering the fray and getting himself hurt.

  She looked wildly about, trying to hold the squirming dog in her arms, scanning the area for possible help, but everyone was packing up or leaving the park on the opposite side of the field. Archer swore, and she scrambled to her feet and started off into the woods after him. The attacker had managed to break free and was racing through the trees, deeper into the woods, Archer hot on his heels. Should she follow or stay back? What if the man were to circle around and come back for her? Ringer snarled in her arms, as if he’d read her thoughts. She held him more tightly and he stopped fighting to get down, his agitation seemingly more protective than defensive.

  Then Archer came busting back out of the undergrowth, panting hard, his face scratched and dirty, his shirt torn in several places. “You okay?” He looked hard into her eyes, the intensity palpably leaping off him.

  “Yeah. I’m fine.”

  She was still clutching Ringer, so he took her elbow in a firm grip and moved them both quickly back toward the trucks and animal pens. “Come on,” he said, hauling her with him so she had to stumble to keep up. “We’re packing up and leaving now.”

  She couldn’t have agreed more, but a delayed reaction to what had almost happened to her, combined with the very visceral results of what he’d done to prevent it had her yanking them both to a halt. “Wait just a damn minute! What the hell happened back there? Who was that guy?”

  Archer swung around on her, eyes blazing. “His name is Anteri. And I assume he wanted to stop you from coming back with me.”

  Talia tugged her arm from his grasp and let the wiggling dog leap into his master’s arms. Archer grunted, but he stratched the dog’s ears consolingly, which managed to calm both Ringer and Talia down. “He wanted to go after you,” she said. “I didn’t think that was a good idea.”

  “Thanks,” Archer said, his breath slowing, but not his irritation. “Let’s move.”

  Talia matched his stride, looking back at the woods as a shudder crept up her spine. “Where did he go? Is he still out there?”

  “No. He went back home.”

  Home. Talia swallowed. To the future. Jesus. This was becoming way too real for her. She almost laughed. It was that or sob. It was already far too real for her, thank you very much. Now she had cold-blooded killers leaping out of the woods at her. And Archer had willingly, without hesitation, thrown himself at the guy. He wasn’t armed, at least not like the other guy probably had been. She could tell herself that it was all about the money, that he’d only been protecting his paycheck … but the look in his eyes when he’d come back told her otherwise. He’d been angry and autocratic, nothing new there. But in that split second before he’d grabbed her elbow, when he’d demanded to know if she was okay … There was something there and she was quite certain he hadn’t been thinking about the queen or his paycheck.

  “Thank you,” she said quietly. Something in her tone caught at him, and he stopped and looked back at her. She didn’t know what else to say. She reached a hand up toward him, then let it drop away, not sure he wanted to be touched at the moment. “You didn’t even blink.”

  She thought he might give her an arrogant smile, say something cocky. Maybe if he had, she’d have been able to brush the whole thing off, forget that she’d almost been attacked. But he didn’t smile or say anything. He simply looked at her. Into her.

  “You saved my life.”

  He managed a nod, then took her elbow, more gently this time. She looked over at him, wondering if she had actually embarrassed him. “Hasn’t anyone ever thanked you before?”

  He didn’t slow down, only glanced at her. “Generally, there isn’t much cause for thanks in my line of work.” When he looked away, she knew the subject was closed.

  But that didn’t mean she’d stop thinking about it. Or what he’d done for her.

  “I should have taken you more seriously,” she said. “If anything had happened to Stella or the pups—”

  “Yes, you should have and Anteri wasn’t after Stella and the pups. But it is time to get the hell out of here. In case you haven’t realized it, the stakes just went up. This guy wasn’t sent here to baby-sit you, Talia.”

  She already knew that. Had known it the instant she looked into the killer’s eyes. Still, a part of her wanted to cling to the fantasy that all this was happening to someone else. A childhood dream gone horribly awry that she’d awaken from at any moment. “But you said they just wanted to observe—”

  “That was when they thought only they knew about you. And trust me, sweetheart, if they’d known we were on our way, Dideon would have likely kept you from ever being found.”

  She came to a dead stop. “Okay, that’s it. I can’t do this anymore.”

  He gaped at her. “Well, it’s a bit late for that, sweetheart.”

  “I don’t want to play these ga
mes of intrigue anymore. I don’t want to have you hovering about all dark-eyed and mercenary or chasing after bad guys.” She shivered. “It’s not worth learning about my mother, my past, or even about myself. Maybe I already know too much. So, I’ve made my decision.” She looked squarely at him. “I’m not going back with you. I’m sorry. I just can’t do it. I can’t heal anything anyway, so it’s just as well we end this charade right now.”

  His expression flattened. “It’s not that simple anymore.”

  “Maybe not for you, but I’m taking myself out of the game.”

  “You don’t understand. It’s too late for you to make that decision. There are others who will simply do it for you.”

  “Can’t you just—” She flung one hand in the air in exasperation. And not a little fear. “I don’t know, announce to the players on the field that I’m out of the game? I won’t be going back to heal the queen, so I’m no longer a threat. Period, done, game over.”

  “It doesn’t work that way. You were a player the day your mother conceived you. The only way I can protect you now is to take you to court, to the queen. They aren’t going to stop. Class time is officially over.”

  Her trembling increased. “But if I make it clear I’m not going back, can’t I just stay here? If I can’t help Catriona, what threat am I to anyone?”

  He shook his head. “I can’t keep you safe in this time any longer. If Chamberlain sent Anteri, he’s made it clear what he intends and he won’t stop until he succeeds. Whatever Baleweg has taught you will have to be enough. We have to go back.”

  “Back.” She laughed, only it sounded like a faint little chirp. “As in … forward. Really far. Forward.” Her knees began to buckle.

  Archer caught her before she hit the ground. “Come on, Talia,” he said close to her ear. “I know you don’t want a scene.” But it was too late for that.

  Heads turned as Stella rushed over. “What happened? Oh, my God, look at you! Were you in a fight or something? Talia! Is she okay?”

  He tried a reassuring smile. “I think all that sugar went to her head. I was just helping some bloke with his, uh, truck,” he improvised, “and the next thing I know her eyes are all glassy. She needs to eat more regularly.” He turned his lips to her ear and whispered, “Come on, sweetheart. Open your eyes for me. Show Stella you’re okay.” Her eyelids fluttered once, then twice, and suddenly those fairy eyes were looking deeply into his. Stella and the rest of the concerned onlookers ceased to exist.