by Zoe Forward
“Can you use this if you need to protect yourself?” he asked.
She blinked at him with obvious shock. She nodded. “What will you use?”
He watched the top of the incline for movement. “Give me your knife.”
“No. Take the big one.” She pushed the machete back into his hand.
“I’m trained for this.” His gaze shifted off the incline to her.
She handed over her small knife, wimpy but functional. “Stay here under cover. If they come for you, pop away to your other place. If you can’t get away, then use the knife. I’m going hunting.”
“I guess that’s not a random hunter shooting at us?” Jen whispered.
“Not with a tranq dart. If it’s the show again…this better get on fucking tape.” He was already moving away from her, even though he wished he could stay by her side. His best option was to turn the predator into his prey.
When he glanced back, her wide-eyed terror twisted something deep inside his chest. Whoever attempted to abduct her would die.
He moved back to her and reached out to push some stray hairs off her face. “I need you to be safe. I couldn’t handle it if anything happened to you. You get that, don’t you?” He had no choice but to succeed.
She nodded. “Be careful.”
He moved noisily but erratically to draw their attacker away from Jen. A dart whistled through leaves into a tree near him. He halted and soundlessly backtracked uphill in a circle, coming up behind their stalker. He wondered who would attempt an attack with all the candid cameras. And who knew their location?
Someone on the show sold them out. Maybe even Owen, the shit, was in collusion with Anaïs. Why force Jen onto the show when she could’ve been captured before they auditioned? Instinct warned him this attack wasn’t just about her. It might be about him. In addition to Jen he worried about Shannon’s safety. They hadn’t seen her since her bathroom break.
He navigated the dense woods, keeping his head low. Movement would attract his attacker’s eye, and he wanted no part of his body easily visible to a sniper, even if the person was only shooting darts. Whoever they sent after them had to be good to brave the jungle. Few assassins were stupid enough to accept this kind of a job.
But they wouldn’t be good enough. He allowed himself a moment of grim amusement. They had no idea who they were fucking with. In a world of kill or be killed, there were few like him, and none like his brother. He wondered if Alexi was nearby. He mentally scanned the area, bumping into Alexi’s mental signature. And Serenity.
Excellent. Now things would get interesting.
When arriving at the embankment above Jen, he lay low and visually picked out the path he’d take, if he was the attacker. He studied each section of the woods, waiting for movement. The dense overgrowth gave an almost nighttime feel to the jungle floor in this area, even though it was morning. Motion just ahead of him caught his eye before blurring into the trees. He plotted his intercept to approach his target from his side. Just as he began to move, he spotted a second, then a third subtle movement.
His heart contracted painfully. It was a setup. A spotter and two snipers. That signaled a professional hit team. Darts instead of bullets suggested kidnapping might be their goal.
Shit.
He reached out a search to pinpoint Alexi’s position, finding him behind the second and third stalkers. He’d have to trust Alexi to take out those two. Hopefully, Alexi’s ability to do a short read into the future would allow him to see his plan. He’d go for the spotter.
He put the knife between his teeth and eased toward the spotter. The guy knelt next to a tree and gazed through a scope, scanning the top of the embankment.
Nikolai moved out of the cover of dense foliage. He had to get close. Very close. What he wouldn’t give for a decent gun. Knives required the kill be intimate.
He relied on his stealth to remain invisible. Moving inches at a time allowed him to keep from drawing the sniper’s attention, although the sniper surveyed the area in which he moved once.
Finally close enough, Nikolai struck, hitting the man in the back—kidney strike. The spotter dropped to his knees. Nikolai easily disarmed him and threw the dart rifle out of reach. He headlocked the hostile and held Jen’s knife against his jugular.
“Who ordered you to attack us?” Nikolai demanded.
“Go to hell.”
“You’re already on your way there. I can make your death painless or let it be a slow, agonizing kidney death.”
Realization of truth passed through the man’s gaze. “She said…there’s a message on my cell.”
Nikolai ended the man’s life, doing his best to make it a clean kill with the pitiful knife. Blood spattered across the trunk of the tree when he swiped the guy’s jugular. He waited a few moments afterward. Without emotion he reached down and felt the man’s wrist to confirm no pulse. He wiped the blade clean.
A cell phone was in the guy’s vest pocket. Dread slithered through his brain. One touch and the screen lit up with the words “Hello, Nick.”
Not good.
He pushed the play button.
Anaïs’s generous lips curled into a feline smile. She reflected top-notch genetics and exceptional plastic surgery, a living sculpture of the idolized human form. He’d never found her attractive. How he’d been into the bitch enough to perform in bed remained a mystery, but he suspected she’d drugged him, or used some form of magic.
“Hello, mi amor,” her video image said, with the lilting tones of her Spanish upbringing slithering through. She flipped long blonde hair over a shoulder in a playful move meant to draw attention to her long neck. “I missed you, Nicky. It seems you killed my retrieval team. Such a resourceful man…so dangerous and talented.” She shivered as if delighted. “That pitiful girl will never satisfy you as well as I can. She’s so disappointing to be the one your gods chose for you. But no need for you to fret, darling.” She smiled slow, predatory. “You must stay in the game, Nicky. If you don’t, I’ll kill her. And your pesky, lurking brother. Alexi’s death would mean you become so much more powerful.” She rubbed her hands together and laughed. “Maybe I’ll send an anaconda to drag little Jenny underwater and suffocate her. Or maybe I’ll send bullet ants at night to attack Alexi…so painful. For now, keep making hot TV.” The video ended.
He swiveled when he detected movement behind him, ready for attack.
“Tai aš.” It’s me, Alexi said. “It’s a message from her, isn’t it?”
Nikolai released a lengthy exhale as he brought himself down from kill mode. He nodded. “You got the other two snipers?”
“There were three. You should be flattered she sent so many. Serenity and I eliminated another team earlier today planning to take you out or capture you while you were unconscious. Did she say anything important?” Alexi’s gaze darted to the phone.
“She wants me to stay in the game.” He tossed Alexi the cell.
After Alexi watched the message, he pulled the phone apart and removed the SIM card. “Psychological bullshit. This is about her controlling you. Her arrogance makes her sloppy.”
Nikolai asked, “In what way was she sloppy?”
“Three teams. She expected them to fail, obviously. The whole point was to get you the phone message. But risking discovery on television? Stupid. Now that she’s linked Jen and you, I expect her to attack again while you’re out here.”
“I want us off the show,” Nikolai said.
“We’re so close to her this time. I can almost taste her death.”
“We can’t control things out here. She can do things…send things after us like she threatened. I…can’t let anything happen to you or Jen.”
A dart whistled past his head and struck the tree behind him. They both ducked.
“You pick up anything?” Nikolai whispered.
“Nothing other than the women coming up the hill. There’s a note.” He pointed at the tree where the dart stuck deep into its trunk.
Nikolai plucked a small piece of paper off the dart. The note read: I could’ve killed her at least three times already walking up the hill. Keep playing.
“Fuck,” he whooshed out, and handed over the note. “Any visions?” Alexi read the note impassively.
He nodded. “I saw my death while protecting Jen. We’re indoors, a cave, or something like that. I think it’ll happen soon.”
“I won’t let it happen,” Alexi said, cool confidence in his voice.
“I didn’t see you in the vision. This could be it for me.”
“You’re not going to die this month. With you being the one for Jen, we’ll do everything we can to make sure you survive.”
Moments later, Shannon, Serenity, and Jen appeared, giggling and smiling, as if out for a stroll.
Very low, Alexi said, “I have info, but you’ll get it later.”
Serenity glanced down at the dead man. In her smooth British accent she said, “You boys look to have had so much more fun than we did. I only got one hostile who was going for Shannon.” She plucked at her dark field shirt. “It’s so bloody hot out here. The insects are vicious. You guys want some bug spray?” She removed a mini sprayer from the pocket of her dark cargo pants.
Alexi and Nikolai shook their heads.
“I’ll take some,” Jen said.
Shannon shot her a double eyebrow raise.
Jen put a hand on her hip. “Really? We just almost got shot and you consider a little bug spray to be cheating?”
“Go on. Whatever at this point.” Shannon shrugged.
“You okay, Jen?” Nikolai asked.
She nodded. Then she grabbed Serenity’s ring finger. “Oh my God. This is gorgeous. Alexi finally got you a ring? Last we talked, he hadn’t yet. You’ve should’ve emailed me a picture. I love the woven bands.”
“Let me see,” Shannon said, grabbing Serenity’s hand from Jen. “This is nice.” Her gaze shot to Alexi. “Good choice.”
“Are they seriously gushing over a ring right now?” he asked Alexi in Lithuanian.
Alexi’s cheeks colored and he shifted on his feet.
Nikolai heard Jen ask quietly, but the words still drifted to him, “So, what’s Alexi like? He’s…quite something.”
Jealousy pierced its vicious fangs into Nikolai’s brain.
“He’s a pain in the ass.” Serenity smiled wide in response to Alexi’s scowl. “But his other skills make up for it. Most of the time.”
Jen stepped toward Alexi and held out her hand. “I’m Jen.”
“Good to finally meet the woman to whom my brother can’t say no.” Alexi briefly shook her hand but didn’t smile.
Jen frowned and backed away. The aura of potential death surrounding Alexi, a by-product of his status as the right hand of the death god, Hades, must’ve hit her.
Serenity put her arm around Jen and pulled her in for a reassuring hug. “He won’t hurt you. I know what you’re detecting and it…it’s a part of what he is. He can’t help it, but he’s a softy at heart.”
“I am not a fucking softy. I’m deadly,” Alexi gritted out.
“He’s deadly,” Serenity said in a tone dripping with sarcasm.
Jen smiled uncertainly. “Nice selection on the ring.”
“Thanks,” Alexi muttered, scowling at Serenity.
Nikolai said low to Alexi, “Enough with the damned ring.”
Jen folded her arms over her chest. Her smile fell. “Why is someone trying to dart us? Someone who Serenity thinks has nothing to do with the show?”
Nikolai’s gaze shot to Alexi.
Alexi said, “Tai jūsų sprendimas jai pasakyti.” It is your decision to tell her.
“Serenity, why were you with the girls?” Nikolai asked, desperately trying to understand what happened and to distract Jen from her question.
Jen frowned.
Alexi scanned Serenity from head to chest with a gaze hot enough to scorch her clothes off.
Serenity’s breathing hitched. She broke eye contact with Alexi to answer. “I took out the person going after Shannon and then located Jen.”
“How did you find Jen?” Nikolai needed answers before Alexi dragged Serenity off to fuck her against a tree. Their inability to keep their hands off each other annoyed him.
Serenity smiled. “We girls kind of know when there’s another of us close by. We can feel each other’s energy.”
“We’ve got to get you two back on camera,” Shannon said.
“You’re idiots to continue this,” Alexi warned.
Nikolai shot a questioning gaze at Jen.
She sighed. “Will they let us off the show, Shannon, if we can prove someone is now shooting darts at us, even if we don’t know if they were from the show or not?”
Shannon chewed on her lower lip. “I doubt it. You guys have been really good for ratings. Really, really, really good. Your chemistry together translates into amazing audience interest. I think if you weren’t causing such a sensation in the TV world, they’d have left you in the medical recovery ward after they drugged you last night. They were really scared you guys were going to die. If Eli hadn’t been there…well, I’m glad he was. I think the producers will force you to stay in at this point.”
“Even if we had it in our contract we get off if they shoot at us?” Jen asked.
“Do you have a copy of that with you?” Shannon asked.
“I sent a digital copy to Alexi,” Nikolai said.
Shannon scrunched up her face. “I think they’re going to make a huge fuss.”
Frustration drummed through Nikolai. He wanted them out of this jungle, but with the complication of a necromancer’s threat, they were cornered. “Fine.” He turned to Alexi. “Will you stick around?”
“We’ve got a boat upstream. We’ll set up camp—”
“With mosquito nets. Giant triple-draped nets,” Serenity interrupted, batting at the insects around her. “Why aren’t these little bloodsuckers bothering anyone else?”
“They agree with me—you taste good.” Alexi grinned.
Serenity’s cheeks flushed. “You’ll pay for that one.”
“I look forward to it.” Alexi’s smile turned lascivious.
Jen smothered a giggle.
Serenity muttered, “Masochist.” She marched away from them toward the river.
“Later,” Alexi said, as he rushed to catch up with Serenity.
“Back to the show?” Shannon asked.
…
Hours later, they put the final fronds on the roof of their makeshift platform bed. The rain had been dripping for hours, dredging up the musty smell of decaying organic debris and wetness. Their sleep area leaked, but it would hold them for a few minutes, if she lay on top of Nikolai. Between the rain and sweat, Jen’s jungle outfit as provided by the show in one of the backpacks stuck to her body like a stinky second skin. The shirt was little more than a see-through button-down and the pants were so tight in her hips that she feared splitting the back when she bent over. The pitiful water slippers sucked for rain forest movement. A hole had already started on her right big toe.
Nikolai rolled up the sleeves of his fast-dry field shirt and glanced toward the camera. “Time for bed. I’m drenched.”
“Shouldn’t we do dinner?” she asked.
“Do you have the energy to hunt for food right now? We’ve probably got minutes before dark. Between the hike, which was pitiful at best, and building this while puking, I’m beat. Besides, we can’t cook anything now that it’s raining. You see any edible plants close by?”
“We didn’t do very well today. I think we probably only made it a quarter mile of that several-mile trek to the major river crossing.”
“We’ll come up with something tomorrow.”
Shannon said, “Camera’s off. They’re pulling me out for the night to rest. Someone else will be stepping in. If you want privacy, then, Jen…” She glanced toward a commotion to her left. “Replacement’s here.”
“Thanks. See y
ou tomorrow?” Jen asked.
Shannon nodded.
Nikolai eased into the platform bed made of horizontal branches and held out a hand to her.
Jen eased in on top of Nikolai. He grunted when her knee hit his crotch. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “Maybe we should’ve made it a little bigger in here.”
He flicked the leaf curtains closed and whispered, “Do your thing, Angel. I need water.”
“What about the tracking ankle bands?” she asked.
“Let them wonder why they disappeared. We’ll probably get an instant replacement set tomorrow.”
She nodded and hoped a modified version of her standard protection spell would suffice to keep Shannon’s replacement from peeking. With closed eyes she meditated for a few seconds until she felt the magic thrumming through her. She intoned,
“Great goddesses of day and night.
Protect our temporary house with all your might.
Let none venture near until we return.
Lest they do they feel your might’s burn.”
One repeat added extra insurance it’d take effect.
She chewed on her lip, second-guessing what she’d promised to do. Warnings from her mother flashed through her mind about the danger of dimension-hopping another person unless he was her forever guy or her child. Instinct urged her to go.
She whispered into his ear, “I’ve never hopped two people before. I’m not sure we should…very dangerous.”
“At least one of us might die before the end of this show. This risk sounds pretty okay from my perspective so long as you guarantee me clean water to drink.”
“I’m not sure how this will go.” Please let this work.
Chapter Twelve
“I can’t see anything.” Nikolai took a few deep breaths to ward off panic. He couldn’t protect her if he couldn’t see.
He felt Jen’s small hands grip each arm around his biceps where she still lay on top of him. “It’s temporary. It means the dimension-hop worked.”
“My eyes burn.” He blinked several times, willing his dysfunctional retinas to work.