by Joy Spraycar
Maximillion gathered her into his arms, hugging her shivering body against the warmth of his massive chest. She nestled closer. His breathing quickened. And the pounding of his heart bumped against her shoulder. Her lips curled into a smile, and she hid it against his skin. Knowing that his body reacted to her closeness thrilled her.
Taking her back to the bearskins, he laid her down and gently covered her up. “Stay in there. The hides will pull the water away and warm you up. I will get you something to eat, then we will get you dressed.”
“I think I can figure out how to dress myself,” she snapped.
His lips pressed together, forming a grim line, and shock shone in his eyes.
Pain pierced her, right at the breastbone for insulting this gentle giant of a man. He hadn’t done anything to deserve her speaking so harshly, yet she inflicted a wound as surely as if she had sliced him with a blade.
“I’m sorry.” She dipped her chin to her chest, her eyes refusing to meet his. “You’re right. I don’t know how to put them on.”
A stroke from his thumb across her cheek brought her gaze back to those fluid eyes. He smiled. And just like that, all was forgiven.
Zalphia marveled at how quickly his mood changed. Platy would have struck her for such an outburst, but not Max. Hmmm. Max. She liked the shortened version of his name.
“Then call me Max,” he said as he handed her one of the large hunks of meat he’d set out to cook during the night.
“All right, Max.” It sounded even better spoken aloud.
Zalphia sat up and chewed on the meat. Then she noticed everything was gone. All the rest of the meat, the deer hide, and anything else that gave any indication they had been there except the burned-out fire, the bearskin, and of course the knife she’d left poking out of the ground. How long had he been awake before she finally rose?
She wolfed down the meat while the skin warmed her to the core. When she’d finished, she stood.
Max retrieved the garments from the log, and she stood before him. His jaw muscles bulged in a quick rhythm as he held out the one resembling a dress.
“Raise your arms,” he commanded.
She complied, and he slipped the dress-like garment over her arms and head then pulled it down. His hand lingered for a moment at the curve of her waist before straightening the bottom out.
The second garment he held in front of him and motioned for her to step into it. She complied. He slid the skin up her legs and over her rounded bottom. At the same time, he sucked in a quick breath and shuddered. For a moment, he closed his eyes. Then seeming to gain control, he finished pulling it up before tying a strip of hide around her waist.
He held a second strip of hide with a pouch and sheathed knife attached which he slipped under the top garment, slid the ends through two slits just above the bottom, and tied them in front of her stomach. Groping with her fingers, she finally worked the pouch loose so she could see it. She loosened the strings that held the mouth closed. Inside sat a narrow, hollow stick and a handful of sharpened twigs. She reached for one of them, but Max grabbed her hand.
A quick gasp escaped her lips.
“Do not touch the sharpened end.”
She studied the contents of the pouch. All the small darts were laid side by side with the points together.
“Each sharpened end contains poison,” Max said.
“Poison? What’s it for?”
Max took a similar pouch and stick from his own clothing. “Come. Watch.” He crept into the trees, silent as a speck of dust dancing in the sunlight.
Zalphia followed close behind. Even here, amidst the trees and undergrowth, he remained calm and unaffected by all that seemed strange and foreign to her. Now he was sharing more of himself that she hadn’t glimpsed on her trip into his memories.
Sliding one sharpened twig into the hollow stick, he then crept into the thick brush with her close on his heels. His hand rose. Freezing mid-stride, she looked where he pointed but saw nothing.
She shrugged.
He motioned toward a clump of brush beside one of the towering trees.
There, crouched in front of the foliage, sat a strange creature with ears as long as its body. The animal rose up on its back legs and sniffed the air. Max raised the stick to his mouth and blew. The small twig sailed through the air and hit the animal. It jumped straight up, took two hops, and fell over.
Zalphia took a step back. “What is this strange magic?” she asked.
“Not magic, poison. Each twig will cause the one pricked by it to be frozen for many moments. That gives you time to kill your prey or get away from those who might be hunting you. But if you prick yourself, you will be the one unable to move.”
She surveyed the contents of her own pouch, wondering when she would get the chance to use these. Would she be able to hit a target like Max did?
“Not to worry,” he said, resting his hand on her shoulder. “In time you will be as proficient as I. You have the instinct of a hunter, so this will not be difficult.”
She pulled the strings tight and returned her pouch to its place on the strip of hide.
“Max, you have so many strange things. How do you know all this?”
He retrieved his twig from the creature and returned it to his own pouch. Looking toward the sky, he sighed then his blue eyes met hers. “I told you. Simeon, the Elder from Selestia, taught me what I know about reaching into people’s minds, and about you and our mission. But this!” He held up his pouch. “This I learned from my human father.” He replaced it on the tie at his waist.
“Your human father?”
“Yes. You see, we are not like the others in this world. You and I came from the same place as the Elders, the Selestial sphere.”
“The what?”
“Selestia. The Selestial sphere. Have you never even heard of it?”
She shook her head.
“We were sent to end the terror here, but you were lost before we could be together.”
So many things were different about him. He knew things, could do things she’d never imagined. And yet, the two of them shared the same mind powers. Although he seemed much more competent at using them than she.
He tilted his head to one side. “You do not understand because you were lost. Simeon said this would be so. He told me how to rescue you. And now that I accomplished it, we will end what this has become.” He swept his hand wide.
“This?”
“This world. This place has not developed as it should. You have much to learn before we can combine and overcome.”
She’d never heard of things like he talked about. Other spheres. Missions. Rebellion. Would she ever understand? Right now, it didn’t matter whether she did or not. Something inside spread calm and comfort from head to toe. He would show her, teach her. And she would learn all he wanted her to. She desired to experience everything he showed her in the arena. She’d give anything, do anything, to have that with him. Her Maximillion. The man who saved her. She liked him. No. What had he said?
She loved him.
He lifted her hand and threaded his fingers through hers. “Come, we must erase our presence and move on.”
They returned to the burned-out fire, and she watched in awe as he hid all evidence they had been there. He piled dirt over the remnants of the fire, scattered the stones, and then used fallen leaves and twigs to hide them. He also used a tree branch to fluff the grasses where they’d lain during the night. When he was done, the place looked totally undisturbed. The last thing he did was pull a vial from his belt.
“Stand back. This will not be pleasant.” He carefully wriggled the cork from the vial and sprinkled two drops on the ground.
A shock wave rolled across the grass and entered the tender lining of her nose.
Her hand flew up to stop the onslaught, but it was too late.
The odor burned her sinuses, and tears coursed down her face. Even her ears seem to be affected, rumbling like thunder in the distance.
Pressing her hand against her mouth and nose, she tried to force her eyes to open, but they refused. The smell continued, turning her stomach. She fell to the ground as the meat she’d just eaten made its way back out.
What was in that vial? It left her lying on the ground, unable to right herself, open her eyes, or even call out.
Max scooped her trembling body into his arms, and she could feel him moving quickly from the campsite.
The smell and its effects lingered for some time. When Zalphia could finally open her eyes, Max put her down.
“Forgive me. I should have had you go off a way. Skunk can be horrible if you’re not used to it.”
“And you’re used to that horrid smell?”
He laughed low and rhythmic, soft and supple. “Yes, for most of my life I lived near them. My father’s hounds would chase them and come home reeking.”
“Hounds?”
He shook his head. “Another time I will explain more to you. For now, the smell will hide our scent and foil the trackers’ attempts to follow us.”
She’d forgotten about the trackers. Men who could smell their quarry, follow footprints, and read bent foliage to find anyone who tried to escape. Would they be near? Of course, but hopefully Max’s tactic would buy the two of them time.
Max seemed to know exactly what to do, what would happen, and how to achieve the freedom they desired. He was so much more than she could hope for, more than a dream deep in the night. This dark warrior was her protector, the person she desired to rest against, and the man she would kill for. He would make sure the trackers never found them. But if they did, she’d die saving him. She shook her head.
“I know. You don’t understand how I know what I know. While I lived here, on this planet, I was taught about our lives on Selestia.”
“Our lives?”
“Yes. I learned about us and our family, the one you and I had before we came here. And then, of course, I learned from my human family. You have only memories of here and being human, although you dreamed of us in Selestia.”
She had? She had dreamed about living free and doing things she had only heard about. But could those dreams be memories? Memories from a different life?
“I don’t understand.”
“I lived with you before, before we came here to save them.”
“Save who?”
He furrowed his brows, but a smile cracked his face. “Did you ask this many questions of your trainer?”
Platy’s frustration at her many questions leaped to mind. “I did. Drove Platy mad. But in asking, I learned how to never lose a battle. My questions made me the fighter that I am.”
“The best, I understand.”
Zalphia hung her head. “No. Nothing compared to you.”
He raised one brow. “Oh, you misjudge. You could have beaten me had you really desired to. Only you decided that you did not wish to win. You wanted me to accomplish my goal. I would gladly die by your hand over and over before ever harming you. It was torture to wait until we could be pitted against one another, until the time I could steal you away from the arena and this life. But we are here now, together.”
“I don’t understand. I couldn’t use my mind to trick you, not like I’ve done before.”
“There would be no need. You are far more powerful than you know. I alone could never have killed an entire arena full of humans. It took the both of us.”
“But I just helped you to do it. You are stronger physically than me, and I’ve seen what you can do with your mind. How could I ever beat you?”
He laid his hand against her cheek. The intensity in his eyes made them a shade darker. “You still do not see how it works, do you?”
She shook her head. He must be mad. It had only taken a couple of minutes for him to best her. “But in the arena, you had me pinned.”
“Yes, because you decided that it should be so. If you had wanted, I would have been the one on my back, and you could rip the heart from my chest. I would have gladly given it, for without you, it does me no good.”
“Max, I don’t understand.”
“I know, but you will. I will help you understand how this all works later. Now we must continue on. Are you sufficiently over your nausea? Will you be able to walk?”
She nodded. Wonder at all he said rolled inside her mind. Would she ever understand?
He shouldered a large pouch, which she assumed held the meat and everything else he’d used where they’d spent the night, and strode off. When she realized he’d been carrying all of that and her besides, her jaw dropped. He truly was something, this man of hers.
Following behind, she gazed at the towering trees, the ones whose smell delighted her.
What was it he’d called them?
Oh, yes, pines.
CHAPTER 6
The thick trunks of the towering trees sheltered the ground from the prying, sultry rays of the sun. Zalphia squinted into a glancing beam filled with tiny motes which floated and danced like small bugs amidst the blazing brilliance of the shaft. The green tips of the foliage reached so high they seemed to be a part of the pale blue sky.
Her gaze dropped back to the brush and grass, and she realized Max’s long strides were leaving her lagging behind. Time to stop admiring the strange scenery and keep her mind on escape. He certainly had his senses peeled and ready as at that exact moment he glanced behind and motioned for her to catch up.
Picking up her pace, she closed some of the distance between them before pain shot between her toes.
“Damn it to Hell.”
Zalphia jumped on one foot as she pulled a long brown splinter out. Max called these blasted things needles. Needles? Ha! More like knife tips. She studied the hole left by the offending point. Blood. See? Needle her ass. These spikes should be used in the arena.
A shocked breath filled her lungs. The arena! Her eyes flitted to where Max stood, facing her and waiting patiently for her to join him. She had to keep her mind on leaving the trackers behind.
“You son-of-a-bitch,” she muttered, tossing the offending needle to the ground.
Max laughed.
Zalphia jumped and tipped off the one foot she perched on. How did he get so close without her hearing him?
“Such sayings should not be coming from you,” he admonished, adeptly catching her before she hit the ground.
“Thanks.” She brushed non-existent dirt from her clothing. “Why? Don’t you cuss when you’re annoyed?”
He shook his head.
“Never?” Zalphia studied his face. Fingers of thought reached in and examined his memories. He stood stone-still, a tiny grin on one side of his face as she combed and prodded her way through his fights and his childhood. He had been hurt before, sometimes badly, but he was telling the truth. Not a harsh word ever passed his lips. But not only that, he never even considered saying what she so often let roll off her tongue with ease.
He was so different from anyone she had been around. Most who spent their days amongst the Glads cursed excessively.
Max laid a hand on her shoulder, a kind look deep in his blue eyes. “It is not our way. It should not be yours either.” He shook his head. “Living amongst the worst humankind has to offer has truly changed you.”
“Humankind?”
“Yes, humankind. They are the ones who inhabit this planet.” He lowered his pack to the ground. “Here, sit. We must rest.”
Zalphia looked around. The ground was covered with many of those needles. Sit? Here? Really?
She glanced at Max.
He rolled his eyes and sank cross-legged onto the bed of knife points.
If he could endure the pointy spikes, so could she. Crossing her ankles, she gingerly lowered herself down. Thanks to the covering over her buttocks, the offending points were held at bay, and she relaxed. If she’d had on just her Glad gear... well, she didn’t want to think about what that would feel like.
“You are humorous.” He chuckled, and she realized she
hadn’t pulled her mind away from his. The channel remained open, but she drew back, closing the door between them.
A quick flick of his tongue across his upper lip and then his teeth raking his bottom one drove all thought of pine stickers from her mind. She wanted those lips again, the same action they’d taken inside the arena.
“Zalphia,” he began.
Her eyes flicked to his, and she was glad he hadn’t just read her thoughts.
“We are not originally from this world.”
“Of course we are,” she said. “At least I was born here, weren’t you?”
“No, I wasn’t. And neither were you. We did come as infants and were placed with human parents as their own children, but we are from another planet. Selestia. We came here to turn these children back to the path they were meant to follow.”
“I don’t understand. My mother said I was her child.”
Max nodded. “You were her child, as much hers as if you came from her own body, but you didn’t”
“How did we get here then?”
“That is difficult to explain. Selestia watches over the lower planets. This one has not developed in the way set out for them. Something changed the path they were following. We...” His finger wagged between the two of them. “We were sent to change that path. The Elders placed us here with our human parents. However, when you were very small, someone discovered your mental abilities, the way you can reach into other’s minds. Because of that, they took you to be a Glad. You and I both would have been taught by Simeon if you had remained with your mother.”
Here he went again, talking about this Simeon character. “How could anyone possibly know about my abilities? I’m not sure I even knew about them back then.”
“That is unclear.” Max shook his head. “It even seemed to stump Simeon, and he sees most of what goes on here on this sphere. As it was, he taught me what I must do to free you, and what we must do together to accomplish our mission. That is when he sent me to be trained as a Glad. It was the only way to get close to you.” His gaze drifted to the ground, and he picked up a handful of needles, tightening his fingers around them.