by Aral Bereux
Caden stepped over the rotting branches scattered on the ground, putting himself between Julianna and the offender. She glanced over; Devo was in Bastiaan’s embrace. He was healing the cut on her head and protectively searching for any stray bumps or scratches. There weren’t any; once he was convinced, his attention was drawn to the soldier kneeling in the clearing. He slammed his fist down alongside the nocturno’s face.
The nocturno stared from his kneeling position.
‘Where’s everyone else?’ Devo asked. Her tone wavered Bas shook his head silently. He leaned in to give her a tender kiss on the hair and he embraced her again.
‘We’re it?’ Julianna’s voice boomed louder than intended. A moment ago, they were forty-five strong – now reduced to three men, two of whom were hell-bent on fighting each other, and a kid. She reeled from the news. ‘Fuck me,’ she said in a lower voice, and pocketed the bloodstained knife she still unintentionally swung about.
‘We take him or waste him?’ Daniel asked.
Caden cocked an eyebrow. Julianna watched his finger twitch the trigger as he deliberated Daniel’s question.
‘Oh, there’s no waste in what I’m about to do,’ he replied coolly.
Julianna stepped between his gun and the noc. ‘What information do you have about the Summit in Sector One?’ She ignored the stunned looks from her audience. The soldier narrowed his eyes and she focused on him instead. The Lieutenant sergeant rank on his shirt suggested he’d have some knowledge about certain things. She was sure of it. His expression confirmed it. His eyes narrowed more and his yellow teeth hid behind his snarl.
Caden glared. ‘Does it ever stop with you?’
‘We should take him with us,’ Julianna said.
‘It’s not your decision,’ Caden replied firmly. We’ll talk about this later.
She heard his whisper. ‘Yeah it is, and no we won’t.’ The look he directed cut through her. No more ‘sweetheart’ tonight; Caden was furious.
‘No. We’re not taking a prisoner.’ He kept the Glock pointed at the noc as he turned to address her. ‘Who’s the commanding officer here?’
‘I think we’re on equal ground right now, Madison.’
‘Some defiance amongst the ranks,’ the prisoner mocked. His smile displayed his fangs.
Caden pulled the trigger. The prisoner howled as he clutched the hole that Caden tore through his shoulder.
She opened her mouth, but he raised a dismissive hand, cutting at the air, and she could feel his intrusion while he read her. He wasn’t interested in discussion on the matter, and so she stood still, letting Caden invade her personal space, hoping to Christ he didn’t stumble on anything more delicate.
The prisoner got to his knees, studying his new battle scar between ragged breaths. He caught Julianna’s gaze long enough to part his lips and show his unruliness. The disgust she felt was enough to push Caden away.
He holstered his gun into the back of his pants. ‘He comes with us.’ His look cut through her. ‘For now.’
The nocturno sneered. ‘Wasting your time, Commander.’
Daniel pulled the prisoner to his feet as Caden approached.
The prisoner swung his head forward, using his weight to propel him. The knock narrowly missed Caden and the prisoner stumbled against him instead.
Caden darted a you’ll keep look at Julianna, before swinging his fist into the prisoner’s stomach, following it with another into his nose. The prisoner slumped from Daniel’s grip and face planted into the dirt.
‘Happy now, sweetheart?’ Caden said as he pushed past her. ‘Who said chivalry’s dead?’
Julianna looked down at the unconscious prisoner that Daniel struggled to pick up. Bas leaned in and helped Daniel swing him over the shoulder. Daniel started the trek to the road behind Caden and she followed.
Caden called over his shoulder. ‘J Rae!’She looked up. He was in the distance. ‘You’re riding with this guy, not me.’
Julianna rolled her eyes and felt a sharp slap to the back of her head. It was Bas shaking his furrowed expression.
They’ve just lost their full crew, she thought, and all they care about is me rolling my eyes.
Typical fucking watchers.
Chapter 19
0600 HOURS.
IN-COUNTRY.
The stream weaved between the trees while Caden crouched over to catch its water, disregarding his open shirt to the wet sprays he was sending against his face and chest.
A twig snapped underfoot and she stopped when he released a loud sigh. ‘Still pissed at me?’
‘Just trying to get my head around you, is all.’ He used his knees for leverage to stand.
‘Coming from the king of mental bitch-slapping.’
He wiped his face dry with the edge of his shirt. ‘Haven’t heard that term in a while. How about the term physical bitch-slap instead? You familiar with that one?’
‘Be sure to put me down.’
‘I’ve never experienced as much stupidity crammed into one day as I have with you, and I’ve lived a lot of years, Julianna.’
‘I suppose you have, old man.’
His eyes darkened under his furrowed brow. ‘Is it any wonder your father wants you assigned to a watcher?’
She froze where she stood, wide-eyed and unable to move a muscle. ‘And did he ask you the favor?’
His thick eyebrows arched in. He moved off-center and when he returned, his eyes were seething and his hand was raised. A sharp sting bit into the side of her face, sending her against the pebbles. She looked at him towering over her, tasting salt on her lips. The second hit wasn’t as forgiving and she collapsed into the water.
‘Maybe...maybe by the chance of a miracle, you’ll think before you act next time.’
She propped against the wet ground and watched his long strides carry him through the grass in the direction of their temporary camp. He glanced over his shoulder before the trees swallowed him up, taking in her tearful, doe-eyed expression.
She blinked heavily.
Next time, obey a direct order.
She said nothing to his whisper.
Come and get some sleep by the fire.
She could hear his regret.
Not sorry, though.
‘Urgh!’ she yelled.
She slapped the icy water and the stream splashed into her face, returning the favor. The blow he’d delivered had been aimed to hurt, and hurt it did; bruises were already forming where she had landed. Her mind went into a spin and she tripped as she stood; with the tears stinging her eyes, and her body screamed in protest from the fighting – it was all too much on an already bitter morning.
‘Not gonna cry,’ she whispered to herself, and surveyed the tightness of trees surrounding her. The small trickle of water that ran through the landscape was barely a meter wide by deep, but she’d found it against the odds, and her pants soaked through to her knickers.
Definitely no crying.
The crushed grass was curling to its natural sway of the wind. It’d be a struggle to find the camp if she didn’t hurry to follow its closing track. She rubbed her backside, keeping an eye on anything left that wasn’t natural, and started her walk back in, taking large steps over the undergrowth. A permanent spell wasn’t needed where they were, but his chants left the area disorienting. Every tree bowed in the same direction, every rock appeared to have the same form and landmarks disappeared.
She parted the scrub, and moved toward the smoky scent of their campfire. The trees in the area were thick and the rocks difficult to climb; they were safe enough to get some sleep before the evening came, and she was exhausted when she arrived at their camp.
Caden was outstretched, his shirt and jacket pillowing his hand behind his head in the bed he had made. The others slept, circling the fire for its warmth. Bas spooned Devo with his jacket draped over her. Daniel stirred before rolling onto his other side. The prisoner was limp and unconscious, tied to a tree, and her skin burned under the wet c
lothes clinging against her.
She stared at Bas, turning her head a little to the left, cocking it to the right, as he slept soundly. An attacker would be hard-pressed to find Devo’s small body in the grapple of his large arms and protective legs.
‘He’s not a bad guy, you know.’
She turned. Caden was watching from his bed. The blanket they’d managed to salvage rested comfortably over his waist, displaying his bare chest to the breeze, showing no sign of the cold. His brows angled in with his smirk.
She said nothing and stretched her freezing fingers to the comforting warmth until a cold sweat broke through her skin again.
‘I did what I did with your permission. You told me to put you down, so I did. Who am I to argue with someone like you?’
Caden winked at Julianna’s pout over her shoulder and he lifted the large blanket, inviting her in. The small fire struggled to penetrate her dripping clothes and her body trembled as the wind swirled around. She shook her head and returned to the hypnotic flames; they danced low and sent a curl of smoke into the branches above. The breeze pinned the grey haze down, forbidding it to pass above the thicket of the trees. He’d picked their location and it was a safe one.
‘Warm over here,’ he said. ‘You’ve had a rough night.’
Her tongue poked at the cut his slap had delivered and she shivered some more. He was draping the blanket over himself when she looked again. The side of his face settled into the crook of his arm and he glanced back with heavy eyes. The wet clothes clung to her like a second skin and the tiredness was swaying her balance. She desperately needed to sleep – and to feel warm. The sickness she had felt earlier was creeping in again, the same feeling she had in the cot in the tent.
Caden raised the blanket again. It was his final offer to share his warmth that made her fold. The feeling that ran through her body wasn’t reassuring her that all was well and she hoped sleep would take it away. She sat quickly beside him and fumbled to unlace her wet boots. He propped himself on an elbow to watch.
‘One request.’
She felt herself blush under his touch on her arm. She focused on the last sock, tugging at the wet material until it released her ankle. She draped it over her boot.
‘Pants off.’
Julianna frowned.
‘Wet clothes aren’t my thing,’ he offered. ‘I’ll even look away if you like.’
She unzipped her pants and held her black knickers tight as she peeled the thin, wet material away from her legs. She slapped them over the large rock beside the fire, sending a spray of water over Bas and Devo. Bas flinched. His legs and arms tightened in his sleep around the young girl’s lithe body, and Devo rolled over to curl her hands and face into his chest.
Caden lifted the blanket for Julianna and she settled under his protective arm, feeling his heat spill over. The shirt he used for a pillow pushed gently under her head. His arm rested over her waist as he pressed against her back. She rested under Caden Madison’s defensive watch, the thought gave her some comfort.
He nuzzled the back of her neck. ‘You’re burning up’ he muttered.
‘Your belt’s cold,’ she said.
‘I’ll take it off, then,’ he whispered in her ear.
The brush of butterfly wings fluttered wildly inside her stomach, searching for their escape. His hands tugged the worn leather snagging at the loops before his force could toss the belt into the dirt. She studied its stretched third hole and the scratched-up buckle while Caden’s hands still moved. With the zip open and the button abandoned on his pants, his firmness pressed against her back when his arm draped over her again.
‘Let’s sleep clean,’ he whispered. His fingers scratched her bloodied singlet until they found the edge, and he lifted it over her head. It landed beside his old belt, browner with her dried blood than black.
His fingers caressed her curves, straying over her waist and her thigh, to her arms that she held close to her chest. The blanket rested over their legs, exposing them to the elements from their waist-up, and a light breeze made her skin rise into small lumps despite her fever.
‘You don’t need to hide yourself.’ He loosened the knot her arms made.
She let him, and fixated her gaze on Bas, as Caden traced her again with his warm hands, running them over her shoulders to tease her bra straps and the leather string around her neck. She’d forgotten about the pendant in all the fighting they’d done.
She nodded. ‘I know.’
‘I know you do,’ he whispered, and slipped his hand lower. It caressed her waist and soft belly as his sigh reached the nape of her neck.
‘You did well today,’ he mumbled. It was a sleepy mumble. One she barely made out. Caden’s hand relaxed and she felt his fingers fall against the edge of her knickers. ‘So warm to touch.’
The fever was taking her over, interrupting her thoughts on the one question haunting her.
Is he my appointed watcher?
She heard the first of his rhythmic breathing as she opened her mouth to ask.
So quiet, she thought.
Caden was fast asleep.
Chapter 20
1730 HOURS.
IN-COUNTRY.
Julianna tried to empty her mind during the nap she took, but she kept returning to Taris and the words he had spoken. She was dozing, asleep but aware of the noises around her as they blended into her thoughts and the heavy arm around her waist curled into a more possessive grip.
His breath was gentle on the nape of her neck and she felt herself wanting to smile at the tickle, but Taris disapproved, lowering his aviators. He planned your initiation. He knows you well.
She stood in the living room of the family estate. The sun shone through the large windows overlooking the expansive property and an owl perched outside, peering through the glass. Taris stretched out on the main sofa, staring at her as she moved the curtains to admire the landscape. She’d forgotten how beautiful the estate was in spring.
The window propped open and the curtain billowed in her hand. The owl cocked its head but its dark eyes exchanged a knowing look with its mate who flew in to join him. They nodded and took flight and when she turned into the room again Taris was gone.
The curtain billowed again and touched her ankle, caressing it gently as she left it for the photos on the wall. She touched one frame holding a faded photo of Taris, Doug, and Caden, all smiling during happier times. Another beside it showed Bas and Caden during a family gathering. Her father’s hand was in the background, barely visible but for her mother’s name tattooed on his wrist. She frowned. The images were familiar – she’d seen them before, but the memories were clouded. Everything weighed down, blocking her vision, covering her eyes from a terrible truth she wasn’t ready for. The heaviness clung to her chest, dragging her down with each room she explored, each perfectly decorated in old European furniture.
She ambled along the hallway, running her fingers along the dust-covered tables and furniture in reach. Ornate decorations from across the world marveled her eye, centuries’ worth of antiques rested under her fingertips, the wooden carving of the red and white striped rocking horse warmed her heart. She cupped the delicate carving in her adult hands, tracing its worn leather saddle with her touch.
An icy breath of air licked at her skin and a rough hand clawed at her shoulder.
She opened her eyes, startled.
The house was gone, the rocking horse a faded memory. The curtains didn’t billow out to lick at her ankles, but the cold breeze against her bare skin as Caden stole the blankets sent her body into a shiver. She pulled them over; he stirred and his nails dug at her skin again as he slept.
He’s dreaming, too.
She uncurled his fingers and laid them flat against her stomach.
‘Family estate’s beautiful this time of year.’ Bas smirked and took a chunk out of the first quarter of apple. He chewed it loudly. ‘Used to sit on the floorboards and play with that rocking horse for hours as a baby.’
Julianna flicked her attention up. Bas watched her from across the fire while cutting an apple into quarters. Everyone else still rested. More apples sat at his feet.
Caden’s arm was heavy and stubborn. She propped as far as his dead weight would allow, seeing Bas through the wave of heat from the freshly-stoked fire. An apple rolled into her arm and she picked it up to take a bite. He didn’t say another word; the look that swept over him as he studied his brother told her he didn’t approve.
She laid back and took a second bite while staring up at the dusky sky. They’d slept the day away undisturbed. The next breeze flowed across her bare arms and damp face, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. The evening was warm for their travels.
Yeah, but the company’s cold. She glanced back to Bastiaan’s narrowed and fixed eyes.
‘How about you and me take a walk.’ He finished the second quarter whole. ‘Clear the tension. Rid you of the IDM.’
Her heart skipped its beat. There was the clincher: the identification marker. She couldn’t agree more, but Bas wasn’t the one she wanted at the end of a sharp blade digging away at her side. Not with the grudge he bore.
She lifted the heavy arm away and reached for her pants. They were still wet and clingy when she wiggled into their legs, stealing away the warmth Caden had given her.
Bas stood, holding her singlet out to her, looking away, slightly embarrassed. She snatched it and quickly pulled it over her head, the heaviness of dried blood and dirt scratched through the material onto her skin.
‘Shall we?’
The last of the apple disappeared into his mouth. He started through the trees, expecting her obedience. They bowed and parted to his authority without his touch, closing tightly around him before she could follow. The plant life protectively tightened its weave, making her trek impossible through its grasp until he turned around to discover her delay. His lips thinned. The long grass parted beneath her feet. He waited so they could move farther into the woods without interruption.
Lazy.