Salvation: Saving Setora Book Seven

by Dark, Raven

  “I wish I could.” He drew me close to him. “I have a hundred and one things to do for Sheriff.”

  That and he’d probably sooner stick himself in the eye with a fork than put himself in the same room as a bunch of Yantu warriors. I kissed him on the lips.

  “I gotta go.” He patted my ass. “Behave yourself.” He waved at Ali’san and left.

  “Your men have a fixation with your backside, Liberator.” Ali’san grumbled. “Doesn’t that get annoying?”

  Humiliation rolled over me in a wave. What was I supposed to say to that?

  The door opened a crack, and Steel called my name, thankfully saving me from responding. “Setora, we have visitors.”

  I heard several low male voices along with Steel’s. The sian. My stomach tightened.

  “Are you ready?” Ali’san asked gently, taking my shoulder.

  I shook my head jerkily. “No, but I suppose we’d better get it over with.”

  Ali’san squeezed my shoulder and followed me out of the room. “It’ll be all right. You won’t be alone in this anymore, Setora.”

  I nodded.

  Out in living room, three Yantu stood near the couch with Steel, waiting. The warriors were all dressed like Hawk, in ceremonial garb. All looked as powerful and lithe as my warrior master, and all with the same yellow eyes. None of them wore swords or looked to be armed, except one. Taller than the other two, his blond hair shone like gold, and he wore a small blade in a scabbard on his hip.

  Ali’san nodded to them. “Setora, these are Master Leif’s apprentices.” She held her hand out toward the tall man. “This is Tai Dan Savak. He will be carrying out the examination.”

  Tai Dan Savak gave me a nod.

  “And these are Apprentices Toral and Gi. They’ll be assisting him. Tai Dan Savak, this is Setora.”

  The three of them shook my hand, and Savak shook mine with both of his. I couldn’t miss the impressed look in his eyes. “It’s a pleasure to meet you at last, Liberator.”

  A flush went from my neck to my hairline. He said the word with the same unsettling reverence as Ali’san.

  “No, please, just Setora.”

  “Is she always this modest, Mister Steel?” He looked at my master.

  “Oh, yeah.”

  I rolled my eyes and his face split into a grin.

  Savak put his hands together as if in prayer and bowed his head to me. “As you wish...Setora. Please, have a seat wherever it is comfortable for you. This initial examination will be a while.”

  I blew out a breath and sat on the couch, while Savak seated himself on the one opposite. His assistants remained standing, one to each side of him. Ali’san slipped off her scabbard and sword, propping the weapon against the couch, then sitting beside me.

  “Master, is Hawk going to be here?” I asked Steel.

  He shook his head. “He had business with Master Leif at the temple or something.”

  I hid my disappointment, focusing on Savak.

  “Mister Savak, what will this examination entail?” I knew he wasn’t a doctor, but the idea of any sort of examination always made me nervous, especially after Doctor Olan.

  Before he could answer, someone knocked on the door. Steel opened it and Doc stuck his head in with a smile for me. “Anyone mind if I sit in on this?”

  Doc!

  The tension flooded out of me, and I waved him in. I looked at Savak, making sure it was alright for Doc to stay.

  Savak shook Doc’s hand and introduced himself before turning to me. “You may have as many here as you wish, Li…Setora, for this part.”

  “This part?” Doc asked before I could. Steel sat on the opposite side of me to Ali’san, and Doc sat beside him. I couldn’t help feeling grateful to Doc for being there. He knew better than me what to ask.

  “Yes.” Savak put his hands together between his knees. He met our gazes, making it clear his words were meant for all, even though he spoke to me directly. “For now, we’ll only be checking your vitals and your health, asking a few preliminary questions about you, and about this Julian presence. Afterward, we will leave for an hour to let you eat, then come back for the second part. You’ll need a light meal, something high in energy.”

  The one called Gi held up a small bag he’d been holding, inside which must have been whatever they wanted me to eat. He looked a little older than Savak, with light hair, almost white, and a friendly smile.

  “Gi will begin checking you over now.” Savak motioned to him.

  I swallowed, but nodded as Gi crossed to me, set the bag down on the table and took a stethoscope, a blood pressure strap, and a few other things out of the bag. He checked my blood pressure first.

  “Wait, this second part… what will that be, exactly?” Steel set a protective hand on my knee, his voice a little rough.

  It was impossible to blame him for his lack of trust in these men. Master Leif had agreed to help me, but as long as he wouldn’t let any of his warriors help Sheriff, and especially considering their reason why, Steel would never give them much latitude.

  “Setora’s answers to our questions will help us to decide how to proceed when we return. Rest assured, Mister Steel, Setora and anyone with her will be aware of what we’re doing at any given time. We won’t put her in any more danger than necessary.”

  Steel scrubbed his hands through his hair but said nothing more. I rubbed his arm, feeling the tension in him ease a little. This whole process scared me to death, but if we wanted a chance at understanding how Julian did what he did or of stopping him, we didn’t have a choice.

  Gi listened to my heart.

  “So there is a danger then.” Doc leaned forward, watching Gi for a moment before focusing on Savak.

  “What she has been experiencing is dangerous enough.” Savak nodded to me. “What’s important here, Setora, is that we discover how the connection is being formed and exactly what happens when that connection is utilized. The second task will be for us to find out as much as we can about this Julian, what he wants and how best to sever the link.”

  I rubbed the goosebumps off my arms. “And if there isn’t a way to sever it?”

  “There is,” Ali’san said firmly. “Or at least a way to keep him from using it on you.”

  Savak nodded in agreement. “It’s just a matter of teaching you how.”

  Gi finished his examination and retuned to Savak’s side. “She’s very healthy, Tai Dan Savak. Strong vitals. Whatever Julian has been doing, he doesn’t appear to have caused any long-lasting effects. She should be able to handle even the most intense testing.”

  “Testing?” My voice came out too high. I cast a nervous glance at Doc.

  “What kind of tests?” Steel demanded.

  Doc shook his head at him.

  “Thank you, Gi.” Without answering either of us, Savak leaned forward in his seat. “It’s important that you answer all of our questions as openly as possible, Setora. The more we know about what’s going on, the better.” He took out a pad of paper and a pencil from a pocket inside his silken tunic.

  I sighed and nodded.

  The questions went on for almost two hours.

  Savak was always pleasant and friendly, but the questions were exhaustive. Savak wanted to know every little thing about Julian. When the dreams about Julian began, how often I had them, and every detail about them. I told him about the lettering that always appeared when the nightmares came, the strange letters in a language I couldn’t read. I told him about the garden and the way it burned, about the voices that said the same words over and over.

  Savak paused at this, his pencil poised above his pad, his yellow gaze intense. “That’s exactly what they said? Revolution is coming?”

  I nodded numbly.

  He hummed in his throat and went on, asking about what happened when Julian took over, which, apparently, Ali’san must have informed him about. I told him about the three times it happened, about the way he’d made me attack Steel and Hawk in attempt to
force me to come to him.

  At this, Savak’s expression remained as impassive as Hawk’s, but I didn’t miss the slight way his brows lifted. For him, I had a feeling that was as good as a gasp.

  “This question is for Mister Steel, and it’s important. Did the way he make Setora attack…did his movements look like the way a Yantu moves? Like Hawk, for instance?”

  “Yeah, like a trained warrior.” Steel shuddered. “I’m no Yantu, but I can kick some serious ass, and she almost knocked me out. She broke my fingers.”

  Doc nodded. “I shot her with a tranquillizer dart, Savak. She just snapped it in half and kept going.”

  Ali’san’s gaze whipped to him. Savak said nothing and wrote it down.

  “And sometimes when he took over,” I told Savak, “he made me say those words. ‘Revolution is coming.’”

  “How did it sound?”

  “I don’t remember when it happens. The guys told me after it happened. I’m not aware of it when it does.”

  More questions. I told him about Serena and the other women at Lord Falnar’s, the way they’d stopped dead and stared like mannequins. “They were like puppets. Like machines under his control.”

  Savak wrote faster.

  “Oh, Setora, the babies,” Doc said. “Tell him about Adeline’s babies.”

  “Maker, I forgot about that.”

  “Babies?” Savak asked.

  Shivering at the memory, I told him about the way I’d been compelled to go to Adeline, and the way I’d taken her mind into my garden. And the way I’d turned the one baby around inside her.

  Savak and the other two apprentices looked at each other, their faces masked with stoicism. Except Gi. His paled.

  I told him about the men Julian had sent to Damien’s compound, what they said, what they looked like, and above all, what Julian apparently wanted from me.

  “He thinks you’re his mate?”

  “Yes. He called me Cama Di. His queen.”

  Savak rubbed his chin and put his pad and pencil down slowly. “All right. This is all very helpful.” He put his palm on the middle of the table, and when he spoke, his voice was low. “Setora, one more question. When he takes over, what does it feel like? You said you weren’t aware of it, but what do you feel when it happens? What do you see or hear? Anything at all?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Think hard, Liberator.” There was a hint of intensity there that took me aback.

  I closed my eyes, trying to remember having seen, heard, or felt anything, but it was just a blank. “To me, it’s as if it didn’t happen. In the dreams, he takes me to that strange garden, and once, I saw what must have been his… residence. I was inside it, like I said. But when he takes over, there’s nothing.”

  “Like you aren’t there? Not like you’re pushed aside inside yourself, but you can’t do anything?”

  “No. There’s only nothingness.” His profound interest in this single point was making me nervous. “Is that different than what happens to anyone else, Ali’san?”

  “Yes. With others I have communicated with, it’s as if they are both there, in one body at the same time. Two minds. With you, it sounds as if he shuts you down completely. It’s important that we find out how and why.”

  Goosebumps rose up on my arms again. Steel must have sensed it, because he rubbed them away on the arm closest to him.

  Julian was shutting my mind down, but he didn’t do that with anyone else? How? Why? I had no idea, but they were right, it was important.

  “All right, that should be enough for now.” Savak pocketed his pad and pencil.

  I slumped in my seat, relieved. I’d never felt so exposed. Savak was easy to talk to, but I couldn’t help feeling as if I’d been interrogated.

  “We will be back in an hour, after you eat.” He reached into the bag, pulled out a couple of apple-sized purple fruits and set them down on the table. “Eat those, along with some water and bread. You peel the skin off those. They will give you the energy you need for the tests. Sleep, if you wish. Do you have any questions before we leave, Setora?”

  Even if I had, I wouldn’t have had the brainpower for them.

  Savak and his two assistants spoke with Doc for a few minutes, writing down all the medications I was currently taking, and finally, the Yantu departed. Doc and Steel stayed with me, along with Ali’san, who prepared the light meal the Yantu had brought for me. She insisted on it, no matter how much I wanted to do it myself.

  Pretty Boy returned briefly, sitting with us and watching Ali’san peel the purple skin off the fruit and slice up a few pieces of bread for me. In fact, all the men watched her with quiet wonderment. If she was bothered by their interest, she gave no sign, talking and laughing with me, even though they watched her the way one might watch a dog walk on its hind legs.

  “What are those anyway?” I asked, picking up one of the wedges she’d cut the fruit into. Without the skin, the wedges were pear-colored, a pale white-ish yellow, with small black seeds in the center.

  “They are called wahi.” She handed me a wedge. “You must eat all of them.”

  Steel reached for a wedge.

  Ali’san slapped his hand away lightning fast without looking up from her task.

  Steel grunted and withdrew his hand. “Touchy.”

  “She must eat all of them.” Ali’san pointed the knife she used at him.

  I snickered with a look at Doc, who’s eyes were sparkling.

  “See?” Pretty Boy’s shoulders were shaking. “Told you your stomach would get you into trouble one day, Steel.”

  I found myself wondering how Ali’san would react dealing with a man as forceful and alpha as Sheriff. Or, for that matter, how he would react to a woman as fiercely independent and bold as her.

  The thought of Sheriff made me sad, that he may never be able to see her, making my stomach knot. I wished he could have been here with us, but the guys still insisted I not be allowed to see him. I shut the thought down. I had enough to handle with this test I was about to have.

  Pretty Boy disappeared to get the men sandwiches from a restaurant in the village. Alis’an made herself a sandwich from the rest of the loaf and jam from the jar Bear had left for Pretty Boy and Steel. We ate and talked. I loved the guys for the way they kept things light, none of them bringing up Julian or the coming test, whatever it might be.

  The hour that passed was the longest, and the shortest, of my life. It raced by, and yet it couldn’t have ended soon enough. The moment Savak knocked on the door, my stomach unclenched, but then immediately grew tighter.

  “It is time.” Alis’an wiped the crumbs off her hands and stood, going to the door to let him in.

  I stood as Savak strode into the room, and everyone else followed suit.

  Pretty Boy scowled at Savak and his assistants. “That’s my cue to be elsewhere.” His voice was rough. He pulled me into his arms.

  I shook my head at him. “Give Sheriff a kiss for me.”

  He snorted. “I’ll get right on that.” He snatched a quick kiss and put his mouth to my ear. “If you need someone’s ass kicked, you call on me, Princess.”

  He departed without looking at any of the Yantu.

  Doc shook his head and muttered a curse. Steel grunted a laugh.

  If not for Savak’s raised brow at the closing door, I might have thought he hadn’t heard Pretty Boy at all. When he looked at me, his face was a mask that easily matched Hawk’s stoicism.

  “So…what happens now?” I asked him nervously.

  “We presented everything you told us to Master Leif. He requires that the tests be conducted inside the temple. If you are ready, we will bring you there now.”

  My heart sped up. “In the temple?” I wasn’t sure whether to be excited or scared. “I thought non-Yantu weren’t permitted inside.” Or women—with the exception of Ali’san, of course.

  “In the temple, yes. We have everything we need there, no matter what happens.”

  That
didn’t sound good. “Why, what will happen?”

  “What are you gonna do?” Steel’s hand seized my elbow, though I hadn’t made any move to follow them.

  “Savak, Setora is not going in there without one of her men or me,” Doc said.

  “Master Leif didn’t expect her to, Doctor. He has requested the Gladiator accompany her.”

  “He requested Steel?” Doc looked between Savak and Steel. “Why?”

  I thought I knew why he was asking. Whatever they were going to do, if warriors as skilled as these, and in a temple filled with them, wanted a man of Steel’s uncommon size and strength present, it meant whatever they had planned had to be extremely dangerous.

  “You will understand when the time comes,” Savak said evasively.

  I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. It seemed typical of Master Leif and his men to keep things a mystery whenever they could.

  “I am coming with her.” Doc didn’t wait for Savak to agree. “Steel, make sure they wait for me while I get my kit.”

  Savak watched him go and shrugged. “He may join us if he wishes. Master Leif finds the concept of an MC doctor fascinating.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Steel snapped.

  I didn’t blame him for being miffed. I wasn’t sure what Savak meant, but I knew by his tone, it wasn’t a compliment.

  Savak didn’t answer, gesturing for us to lead the way out of the hut.

  Doc joined us at the door, his white doctor’s smock covering him from neck to knees, medical kit in hand.

  Ali’san slipped on her sword.

  “Let’s get this done,” Steel growled.

  “Oh, one more thing.” At the door, Savek nodded to Doc and Steel. “You must remove your cuts and all MC paraphernalia before you enter the temple.”

  I scowled, cocking my head at Ali’san. She gave a helpless shrug. I wanted to argue the point, but I wasn’t sure if the rule was something Master Leif put in place just now, or if it was temple law.

  “To hell with that,” Steel said, grabbing my arm and starting out of the hut. “Taking off my cut won’t change what I am, Savak. Your master will just have to live with it.”

  “Steel.” Doc grabbed his arm and pulled him back in. “Don’t make trouble.”