Given

by Elin Wyn

  Still. Not my problem. I already had one crusade. Someone else would have to take this one.

  The furthest location on the list Xavis had provided me of possible places to find the girl was an old diner, nearly on the other side of the city.

  I headed that way, letting the noise and the chaos of the city wash over me, stretching my senses to filter it all. It was all information, pattern, and flow. Even in the wreck of a city like this, normal people went around doing their normal things. It was the disturbance to the flow that could be interesting.

  And then I heard it, the murmur and mutter of a small crowd gathering, not far from my destination. I put on more speed, winding my way through the packed streets.

  The restaurant only earned a quick glance; it was empty, silent, window to the kitchen shuttered. The sound of the crowd came from a short distance behind the restaurant, in the warren of back alleys.

  As I rounded another corner, I saw them, less than ten people, muttering to themselves, pointing at something on the ground by the wall of a building.

  No. Someone. Between their legs, I could see the shape of a woman. Copper skin, dark hair.

  Of course.

  I edged around the group. An old man and a young boy hunched over my target. She lay crumpled on the ground, a smear of blood in her hair matching one on the wall, one leg twisted to the side at a bad angle. But her breathing was better than expected, given her injuries.

  I pushed my way towards her and the crowd melted, eager to fade before more trouble started.

  Her eyes fluttered open and the old man helped her sit up and lean back against the building. She blinked again, looking at her two rescuers, and then she noticed me.

  Her eyes widened, the deep golden brown iris surrounded almost entirely by white. The boy noticed first, spinning around to face me.

  "Leave her alone," he snarled, or would have, if it hadn't come out in a high voice, tense with fear. What he lacked in years, he seemed to make up with intensity.

  A low, raspy voice called him back. "Bani, I need you."

  He instantly went to her side, still glaring at me.

  "Help me stand, kiddo." Between the boy and the wall, she pushed herself upright. The strain was written clearly on her face, but she didn't fall.

  The old man, gray hair plaited down his back, moved between us. "Sir, whoever you're working for, surely you can see that she's injured. Give her time to recover, please."

  The girl may have pissed off Xavis, but she wasn't short of defenders. They wouldn't really do her any good, but it was a nice thought.

  "Artin, can you get Bani some food?" the girl asked, apropos of nothing. "I promised him a feast, and I'd hate to go back on my word."

  The boy protested, whispering hotly.

  She nodded and moved her hand from his shoulder to lean entirely on the wall. "But I need you to help Artin. I need someone I trust, Bani."

  She grinned, and the slight twist of her lips transformed her entire face. Not a beauty, not polished like the fancy girls who roamed Xavis' complex, but a spark that shone brightly. "I can trust you, right?"

  Low blow, but it worked. The boy bit his lip and looked down, scuffing his feet in the dust.

  She hit him, just a light tap on the arm, but it seemed to be enough to get her point across. He tapped her back, then moved to the old man who still stood before me.

  "Kara says that you need help in the shop," the boy muttered. "And that I need to eat more."

  The old man glanced behind him, and the girl mouthed 'please.'

  He nodded and put his arm around the boy. "And she's right. All this fuss has probably cost me customers." They moved away, and the old man took another long look at Kara, eyes sad, but accepting. "If you're good, I'll tell you about the time Kara tried to help with customers and ended up setting the shop on fire."

  "Really? Cool!" the boy's voice faded away as they turned the corner.

  Kara sagged against the wall. "You're from Xavis, aren't you?" No fear, just flat resignation.

  "I'm to bring you to him, yes."

  "Well, he's been waiting all day, I guess he can wait a little longer. It's going to take me a while."

  She pushed away from the wall and took a tentative step. Her face paled, but she forced another.

  "Don't be stupid," I bit out.

  "It's been a stupid sort of day," she snapped back, then her leg crumbled beneath her.

  For a fraction of a second, I considered letting her hit the ground, see if the pain would shock the stubbornness out of her.

  It would have been the smart thing to do.

  Instead, I grabbed her without thinking more, holding her tight against me. Beneath her curves were lean, strong muscles.

  For the first time in far too long, my wolf strained for a different sort of chase.

  Kara

  I hate being weak.

  But when the soldier held me to him, there was no question of his superior strength. My face buried in his broad chest, I couldn't help but get a taste of his own scent - strange, spicy, like something I'd never had before, but wouldn't mind a taste of it.

  What the hell was I thinking about? I shook my head to clear it and winced at the shooting pain in my skull.

  With a quick swing, he pulled me up, one arm gently supporting my knees, the other wrapped around my back.

  "I'm not a child," I snapped.

  He was already moving off, down through the alleys.

  "Obviously."

  My face flamed. While I had been getting a sense of him, how much of me had he felt?

  He moved quickly through the twisted passages, deftly dodging piles of trash.

  As we rounded one corner, I heard a clatter above us, but, before I could think to cry out, he bent over me, shielding me with his own back.

  Unnecessarily, since he twisted away so fast that the rubbish missed us entirely. I blinked. Who moved that fast?

  But bending over gave me a better look at his face, rather than just the underside of his chin.

  Lightly tanned, his face had the same unlined look as many long-term space voyagers I'd seen passing through the city.

  A broad jaw and sharp cheekbones brought attention to his bright green eyes. His hair was cut short, almost military. A grey knit top did nothing to hide the muscles of his chest. The soft fabric invited me to relax, and I almost rubbed my cheek against it before I caught myself.

  I decided this was all the fault of the concussion.

  “It’d be faster if you went down the main roads,” I mumbled. I didn’t want him to. Didn’t want to get to Xavis’ faster, didn’t want people to see me carried like an infant down the streets I thought I owned.

  But it would get me out of his arms faster, away from his maddening scent.

  “Not likely. You have too many friends. I don’t want anyone deciding to stage a rescue.”

  “Afraid you’ll lose your prize?”

  He laughed, short, brisk, more like a snort, really.

  “They’d slow me down, but not much. Just don’t want Xavis taking the cost of any collateral damage out of my fee.”

  “You’re pretty damn sure of yourself.” Cocky bastard.

  “I have reason to be.”

  There wasn’t much answer to that.

  “You don’t need to worry about a rescue. There’s nowhere to run to,” I whispered.

  He didn’t reply for a block or two.

  “You should rest. We’ll be there soon.” His voice was softer than the words, and for the first time today, I realized there was nothing I could do, nothing I could fight. No reason to keep myself tense in his arms as if I was going to spring out at any moment. I wouldn’t make it five steps. I forced myself to relax, and he gently readjusted his grip on me.

  "Who are you, anyway?" The gash in my skull stabbed at me again, and I gritted my teeth. Nothing to be done about it now. "I thought I knew all of Xavis' soldiers."

  "New in town. Traveling through."

  O
f course he was. And of course, this was how I’d met him. I’d bet he wouldn’t have taken my savings, like Juda. I drifted off, half-dazed by the blow to my head, almost lulled to sleep by his steady pace.

  Who had been that guy that took my haul? Another stranger, passing through? And what was with the stupid helmet? Our recyclers weren’t great, but the air here was perfectly breathable.

  Ghelfi City got a lot of traffic, but mostly folks looking to get rich as miners, or gamblers, hustlers. Not many folks that registered as military. Odd that today I’d run into two.

  “Hey,” I murmured, “Are there others like you?"

  His step faltered, and the grip on me tightened. "What do you mean?"

  Ugh. I really needed some sleep. "Sorry, that didn't make sense. Did other people come here with you?"

  He didn't say anything, didn't really react, but I could hear his heart speed up, just a bit. A muscle twitched in his jaw before he answered. "I'm alone. There's only me."

  I'd heard that a lot here. When most people said those words, they sounded bleak, empty. Lonely.

  He sounded angry.

  "What's your name, anyway? I'm pretty sure you know mine."

  "Davien."

  His hold on me relaxed again, and I drifted off into the sounds of the city around us. Delivery kids shouted at newbies to get out of the way, mini-bike horns blared. The grinding sound of repair machinery, trying to eke a few more years out of buildings that should have been discontinued. A man's voice shouted, surprised, and I heard the muffled laughter of kids up on a nearby rooftop.

  "What are you smiling about?"

  I rubbed my eyes. "Hadn't realized I was. Just nice, listening to the city."

  "It's chaos."

  "Yup. Chaos, and for once I don't have anything to do with it, or about it. Kinda nice."'

  The thought of a feast of noodles and spicy Shao sauce, pungent enough to make my tongue burn, wrapped through my mind. We must be passing by another restaurant. Nothing smelled as good as Artin's cooking, but I had to confess, there were times I'd strayed to other noodle stalls, just to try.

  Puffy steamed buns, filled with chopped mushrooms. Golden fried rolls, hot enough to burn your fingers when you dipped them, tall cold glasses of...

  "Ow!" I grabbed my head, the pain jolting me fully awake. "You shook me!"

  "You can't go to sleep, not with a head injury." He didn't sound remorseful at all. "Don't you know better?"

  "I always sleep it off when I get hurt. What are you going to do, kiss it and make it better?"

  Davien

  I stumbled at her words, and she winced at being jarred.

  "Sorry about that." What the hell was I doing, apologizing to prey?

  Just traveling through, I reminded myself. Not getting involved, even if her scent was unlike any other I'd found on Neurea. Tired, in pain, an edge of despair, but whatever fear she had wasn't of me.

  She remained silent the rest of the way.

  As we entered the ground floor of the complex, she struggled in my arms. "Let me down," she whispered. "I can stand on my own."

  I kept my grip and entered the tube, striding past the low-level minions waiting for new orders. No one tried to join us in the car. The retinal scanner ID'd me. "Sub 7," I answered the chime.

  As we descended, I lowered her to her feet. She put weight on the left leg gingerly, then pulled back sharply. "Broken?" I visually examined it through the tight brown leggings she wore. The cosh on her head could have masked the smell of other injuries, but I didn't see any other spilled blood.

  She rocked back to her left leg, then the right. "Just twisted, I think." She shrugged. "But it's not really going to matter."

  Something about her flat acceptance of her fate crept under my skin like an itch I couldn't scratch.

  "You're not even going to fight for your life?" I taunted.

  She stared at me, anger burning in her eyes. "What the hell did you think I was doing?"

  The tube chimed again, signaling our arrival. She pushed past me, shoving open the doors, then stopped cold.

  Xavis reclined in his hover chair, legs splayed open to accommodate the head of the scantily clad brunette kneeling before him. Hands fisted in her hair, he fucked her mouth savagely.

  The sucking sounds filled the room, underscored by her muffled gags. Xavis kept his eyes fixed on her face, and I idly wondered if he was as excited by her humiliation as her work on his cock.

  Either way, he finished quickly and waved us to the base of the dais while the brunette cleaned him up and shuffled away.

  Xavis focused on Kara, sharp gaze missing nothing. “You're wounded. Medic!”

  From a side door, a pale man emerged, carrying a small black case. He knelt to the side of Kara and began to examine her.

  Once summoned, Xavis ignored him. “You can explain while he works.”

  I stayed silent by her side while the medic activated the scanner, then pulled out a basic regenerative cuff. Kara leaned against me, trying to keep her weight off the leg. Xavis might have assumed I remained close to execute his judgment. He could think whatever he liked.

  “You've never been late before. What happened?” His voice was tinged with the slightest worry, something I’d never heard from him before.

  “There was... a complication.” I could feel her tense against me. Something she didn’t want to reveal. Interesting. The medic moved to heal the crack on her head, and I could see her thinking, using the distraction to decide how much to reveal. “My funds weren't as solid as I thought.”

  “What aren't you telling me?” Xavis asked. Again, not a stupid man.

  “Nothing.” She bit her lip. “It doesn’t matter. I had a backup plan.” For a moment, her sparkle was back. “You would have loved it. Slow-timed acid mini-bombs. Been working on it for a while.”

  “Hmm... anything I might hear about from another source?”

  She flashed a grin, then flinched as the medic manipulated her knee again. "Maybe. But there's no trace on antonium dust."

  “Antonium. Really.” He almost purred. “How much did you get?”

  He smiled, and I began to relax. Maybe this would work out. The girl would be safe, I'd get my payment and be that much closer to getting off this rock.

  “Eight vials.”

  Xavis brought the hover chair down to her level. “My girl, I knew I was right to put my trust in you.”

  The medic bowed to Xavis and scurried away, job done.

  She rocked back and forth on her legs again, testing, before she answered.

  "I don't have it anymore." There it was, the braced posture from the holo.

  His eyes narrowed. “What do you mean, my dear?” The ice had returned to his voice.

  She took a deep breath. "I had it, had it stashed safe. But when I came back to it, some weird guy had found my stash.”

  Xavis shook his head. “I taught you better than that. A sloppy job, no doubt.”

  “No!” she flared. “It was well and truly hidden. I don’t know how he found it, sensors for the dust, something. And there was something odd about that guy. Wrong.”

  Xavis waved a hand, obviously bored. “So many things in Ghelfi are wrong. Luckily the Waste is always available to erase these little mistakes.”

  “Wait!” she cried, fear slicing through her voice. “I’d know this guy again. Black uniform, totally new, no marks. And a helmet, too dark to see through, but he wore it around like he needed it to breath.”

  I froze, for the second time today caught off guard. Mind spinning, I only half heard the next lines.

  “Fairy tales and lies are no good.” Xavis snapped, and two enforcers stepped forward. “Escort my ex-protégée to the Waste. She should have learned there’s no room for failure here.”

  They were halfway across the room before my brain snapped back into gear.

  “No.”

  Xavis looked at me, brow cocked. “I must have misheard you in my sorrow. Please repeat yourself?”
/>
  The idea only half-formed, I plunged ahead. “You’ve obviously invested in the girl. Why waste all of it? Just punish her instead.”

  His eyes narrowed, considering. “I suppose you’ve thought of a suitable punishment? Something that will ensure no one else follows her example?”

  I grinned, baring my teeth. “Give the girl to me.”

  I felt the shock run through her body. She moved, but I pulled her back in front of me, pressing into her, ignoring her fists as they rained on my shoulder.

  “No one willing to play with you, Davien?” he chuckled.

  I pulled her to me, thrust my mouth onto hers. She struggled against me, and I could hear Xavis’ breathing getting heavy as he watched us. My tongue forced open her lips, ravishing her mouth until she gasped against me. She tasted of blood and strawberries.

  I stood straight, crushing her to me. “I’ll take her, use her, get your dust. I’ll keep half.”

  Xavis licked his lips, calculating.

  “You’ll have made an example of her, and be ahead. Or, you can toss her into the Waste and have nothing.”

  She struggled. “Xavis, no. You know I’ll be good for the tithe. Don’t do this…”

  But he wasn’t listening to her anymore.

  “Take her. You have three days. And then I’ll send the rest of the enforcers after you both.” Xavis’ grinned evilly. “I don’t think you’ve made many friends during your time here.”

  With a speed that surprised me, Kara pulled away, making a break for the door. I caught her, pressed her against the wall, her tight ass nestled against my cock. Rings, the scent of her was going to kill me. I grabbed her wrists and held them in one hand, over her head, while the other hand bent her head towards me.

  “Don’t ever run from me,” I whispered. I licked the outer curve of her ear, then bit lightly, just enough to make her quiver beneath me. “You don’t want me to chase you.”

  Kara

  The shock of his words nearly brought me to my knees. He backed away from the wall, giving me just enough space to fall back against him.