by Marjorie Liu
Maybe regret showed on her face. Evie’s smile faded, as if she suddenly realized she had made a mistake, that Soria would take all this the wrong way. But before the girl could stammer out an apology, Soria said, “My mom loves that picture. I haven’t seen it in a while. That was a good summer.”
Evie looked down, still a bit pale. “Is it true, that you can speak any language in the world?”
“I haven’t been everywhere in the world. But … I seem to pick things up.”
Evie nodded, ready to ask another question, and then seemed to think better of it. Her mouth snapped shut, and she pulled up an empty browser screen. “I hope you have a Yahoo or Google account for your e-mail.”
Soria did, and took the computer from her. Evie stood immediately, and began moving to each child, checking their studies and murmuring in their ears.
The Internet connection was slow, but it worked—a small miracle, given where she was. She tapped out a short message to Roland.
Alive. Hope Koni was able to contact you. Heading to Ulaanbataar to follow a lead. I want to know what’s going on with Long Nu. Next time I call, don’t hold back or else I will sink you.
Up yours,
Soria
She was finishing a note to her parents when the door opened and Karr peered inside. Her heart gave a deadly little twist. He looked at nothing, and no one else, but her.
Evie waved at him. “About time you showed up.”
Soria could not tell whether he understood—it made no sense that he should—but after a brief moment of hesitation, he squeezed himself through the door into the ger. Near the center, where the roof sloped upward, he could stand at his full height; but he stooped nonetheless, as though he felt the walls touching him. Certainly, the entire space felt smaller with him in it; and it was not just his size, but the energy of his presence. When he stood beside her, Soria felt lightning race over her skin: charged, wild, dangerous.
The children all sat up, staring at him with huge eyes. Evie held out the jar of candy. He gave it a curious look.
“Take one of the brown ones,” Soria said. “Remove the wrapper. I think you might like it.”
He raised his brow, and tried to reach inside the jar. His hand was too large. Evie laughed, and shook some out into his palm. “Dude. I think you must be a football player.” Karr gave her a quizzical look, but she had already turned to face Soria.
“What language was that?” the girl asked. “What you were just using with him? I’ve never heard anything like it.”
Soria hesitated. “It’s a rare dialect. Karr is from northern Russia. Very northern. Way out there.”
“Huh.” Evie’s eyes narrowed. “How’d you meet?”
“Fate,” she said, hoping the young woman would leave it at that.
She did, but not before giving them a speculative look that made Soria uneasy. Evie was a smart girl. Too smart to spend much time around, no matter how enjoyable her company.
“I’m going to see about finding him some clothes,” she said, gathering up the children. “You guys can stay here tonight. I’ve already radioed someone I know who has a truck. He’ll be here tomorrow to take you to the nearest town. It’s not too far. Twenty miles or so. You’ll probably have to pay for gas, that’s all.”
“That was kind of you,” Soria replied, meaning every word, even though the idea of being driven to a populated area filled her with peculiar dread. But there was no way to simply disappear in the night. Not really. Evie knew her real identity, and she had contact with the outside world. It wouldn’t take too much to raise an alert that would bring way too much attention to Soria—and to Karr.
Of course, she could just tell Evie that they wanted to walk, but she doubted that would go over well, either.
I should have lied and given her a different name. Except, she hadn’t expected that anyone would recognize her. It had been over a decade. This girl would hardly have been out of diapers at the beginning of all that hoopla.
Evie left with the children. Soria placed the laptop back on the card table. When she turned around, Karr was standing directly behind her, so close she ran into him. His hand grazed her waist but she stepped out of his reach. Bumped into the table behind her. Had to crane her neck to meet his gaze.
“I am sorry,” he said. “About earlier.”
“You were trying to help.” Soria swallowed hard, and nodded to the chocolate in his hand. “You ought to try that.”
Karr frowned. “I did not mean to frighten you.”
She fidgeted, desperate not to have this conversation. “You did not.”
“I was referring to the things I told you, about me and what I did.” He swayed closer, but there was nowhere for her to go. “I could expect no one to—”
He never finished. Soria took the Snickers bar from him, bit down on the corner of the wrapper and tore it open. She handed back the chocolate, and he stared at it—and her—for one startled moment. Then he said, the corner of his mouth tilting ever so slightly, “Let me guess. Poison.”
“You wish,” she replied, glad to have changed the subject. “But no. There are some things we take for granted in this world, at least where I am from. That is one of them.”
Karr gave the chocolate a tentative sniff, and then his tongue darted against it. He savored the taste for a moment but did not look impressed. Indeed, after a nearly nonexistent nibble, he handed the whole thing back.
“You,” she said slowly, “have just committed an act of sacrilege against my people.”
“If that is sacrilege,” he replied, with a faint smile, “then I want nothing to do with your people.”
Soria finished off the tiny Snickers bar in two bites, and wiped her hand against her thigh. “Did you understand what Evie said?”
“Not everything. The terms she used …” Karr reached out and rubbed his thumb against the corner of her mouth. “Unfamiliar.”
Soria’s breath caught. He held up his hand, and she saw a spot of chocolate on his finger. His gaze was intense, dark, and held a hint of pain that was not her imagination. It was hard to think when he looked at her like that. Bits and pieces of her body that she had forgotten existed began tingling, and a flush of heat rode over her skin in a slow wave that made it impossible to start breathing properly again.
“She hired transportation,” Soria finally managed to say. “I am afraid we may need to take it in order not to draw attention to ourselves.”
“Too late,” he rumbled—and then, even softer, “I do not want to hurt you.”
“I know.”
“I am afraid,” he said. “What I did was unforgivable.”
Soria closed her eyes, briefly; then she pushed away from the table, craning her neck to stare into his face.
“No time for that. Life is too short. I wasted the past year of mine on idiot things. Like, being afraid of how people would see me. Or worse, being afraid of myself. Not being able to forgive myself.” She yanked on her empty sleeve. “I still have not. This is my fault. Right here. I was stupid.”
“I doubt that.”
She shook her head, on the verge of telling him what had happened, how she had lost her arm. “I am still afraid of making mistakes. I may never forgive myself. But I suppose I will just have to keep on living. Same as you.”
“I murdered—”
Her hand took on a life of its own, covering his mouth before he could finish. He was very tall, and it was quite a stretch. Miles of muscle that she had to lean on to reach his mouth. His lips were firm against her palm, and his hand rose slowly to encircle her wrist. His other hand touched her waist. All the while, his gaze never left hers, and the longer she stared at him, the more she felt herself drifting, as if her feet were floating off the ground and she was made of air.
“I should not feel the way I do about you,” he murmured against her palm. “I should be stronger than what I feel.”
“Whatever,” she said in English, touching his lips with her fingers, marveling at
the pure masculine heat of his eyes and body. “I think you should kiss me.”
Golden light flared in his eyes, and in moments all that quiet thoughtfulness was consumed by hunger. Karr bent low, grabbing Soria around the waist, pulling her off the ground until her feet dangled. He bowed his head and kissed her so hard she could not breathe. She had never been held so tightly, with such strength, but rather than feeling trapped she felt as though she fit for the first time in her life; that if humans could be puzzle pieces, then she was matched perfectly with this man.
His mouth was hot, relentless, and when his hand grazed her breast the pleasure that rocked through her was so fierce she gasped, squirming closer and forcefully rubbing against his growing hardness. Karr broke off the kiss, a low growl rumbling from his throat. His eyes were glowing, his mouth wet. He licked his lips, and she darted in for another kiss that ended with a long, slow tease of his bottom lip. He made a startled sound, his hands sliding up her back with possessive force, snaking beneath her shirt to touch bare skin.
Control, she told herself, dazed; but she was wet and aching, and it was difficult to think when for the first time in a long while she wanted to reach inside a man’s pants and ride him full and flush. She cupped him over the outside of his clothing, her thumb sliding, stroking, savoring the feeling of his straining body. Karr hissed through gritted teeth, muscles straining in his neck.
Soria suddenly found herself sitting on the edge of the table, placed there by Karr. He leaned over, massive, a giant, his large hands braced on either side of her, and lowered his head until their brows brushed. She stayed still, trying to catch her breath, listening to her thundering heartbeat. Every part of her body was tingling, and she suffered the startling, overwhelming urge to laugh.
“Forget science,” she muttered in English. “I’m donating my body to magic.”
“What?” he breathed.
Just saw it on a T-shirt once, she wanted to tell him, but shook her head, biting her bottom lip—which felt deliriously swollen. “I want to do more of that.”
His laugh was quiet and ragged. “I am not certain I would be able to stop.”
Soria pressed her cheek against his, closing her eyes. “I would never dream of asking you to.”
His breath caught, and she felt something unfurl inside her mind: a sweet light that was small but warm. She did not know what it meant, but moments later she sensed another tickle, and suffered a sensation of falling, down and down, into the rough edges of Karr’s mind. She saw no memories, but felt his emotions—raw, wild, aching with loneliness and desire. All of which her presence eased, like that sweet warm light.
A light he was afraid of crushing.
His fear cut her loose, and she tumbled back into herself, flinching as she suffered the same plummeting sensation as in a dream—waking just before impact. She opened her eyes and found Karr watching, his face slightly more leonine, his skin radiant with golden tones. He still looked like a man, but an extraordinary one, breathtakingly striking. Not made from any modern mold, but something far more primal and dangerous.
Soria heard a shuffling sound outside the tent. Karr straightened smoothly, moving with liquid grace, and was standing over by the stove by the time Evie poked her head in. The girl’s gaze was sharp, knowing, as she glanced between them, but her focus settled on Soria and was not entirely friendly.
“What kind of e-mail did you send?” she asked.
Soria blinked. “Just letting people know we were okay. Why?”
Evie frowned. “You better come with me.”
Dread filled her. She glanced at Karr, and found him looking troubled. His hands were curled into fists.
Outside, the night air was cool. Soria stood braced against the wind, but did not see anything out of the ordinary. Karr said, “I hear something.”
After a moment, so did she. A chop-chop sound. A helicopter.
“If you go to the other side of the camp, you can see the lights,” Evie said, beside her. “You’re not really tourists, are you.” It wasn’t a question.
Soria gave her a sharp glance. “What?”
But the young woman continued on as if she had said nothing strange. “I need to warn the others. We have to lock down the livestock, or else those choppers will frighten them into running.”
Soria grabbed her arm. “We have to go before they get here. Thank you for your help. Please, tell the others how much we appreciated it.”
Evie hesitated, and then hugged her hard—a surprising gesture that brought equally unexpected tears to Soria’s eyes. “Don’t be a stranger,” whispered the young blonde woman, who then turned quickly on her heel and began running through the camp, shouting.
Karr’s hand clasped Soria’s shoulder. “What is that sound?”
“Trouble,” she said, craning her neck to look up at him. “Or help. But either way, I do not want to find out here, with these people around.”
It was too late. Somewhere close, a woman cried out. It was a muffled sound, choked off at the end, distinctly startled and afraid.
Soria flinched. Karr took off running. She tried to follow, but he moved like a ghost, hardly seeming to touch the ground as he flowed through the air. Golden light flickered over his skin, scales flowing like pearls. And then the light went out and he vanished in the darkness.
Soria staggered to a stop, her eyes unable to adjust. Except for bare glimmers from the pale gers, she felt blind. She heard goats bleating on her left, and Evie’s voice ahead, on her right, movement inside the tents—but all those were safe sounds, and she had the sudden chilling sense that she was not alone with anyone, or anything, that was safe.
She took several tentative steps, mouth shut tight, willing her eyes to adjust to nothing but starlight. There had been campfires earlier—she had burned that damned bloodstained sheet in one of them, much to the consternation of all who watched—but she saw no hint of flames now. Everything had been stamped out.
Air whispered across the back of her neck, replaced by something cold and hard. Soria resisted the urge to clutch her chest, and took a deep breath. “Who sent you?”
The gun barrel pressed harder—and then she sensed rather than saw a ghost fly out of the darkness. She heard a whuffing sound behind her, and the gun disappeared.
She heard a loud crack, like that of a breaking bone, and she turned and found Karr—naked again—towering over the crumpled body of a man. Dead, she thought, and felt no twinge of remorse.
He reached for her hand, but just before his fingers closed around her wrist, Soria heard a popping sound. Karr staggered sideways, grunting. More pops filled the air, small impacts thudding against him. He dragged Soria into his arms, and began running. She yelped as something hard and painful hit her back. A rubber bullet.
For a moment, all she could hear was the harsh rasp of Karr’s breathing; and then shouts trickled through, and screams. Dogs started barking, drowning out the frightened wails of children.
A loud whistle cut through it all. Karr went down. Soria flew out of his arms, rolling over rocks and grass. It seemed to take forever to stop, and another eternity to move again. After an intense, dazed struggle, all she managed to do was prop herself up on her hand and knees, ready to vomit.
She crawled to Karr, who was struggling with the tangled netting wrapped around his legs. His claws were out, but that seemed to be doing him little good. Metal wire, Soria thought. Almost thin as thread, cutting into his skin.
He saw her coming, and snarled. “Soria, go. Run.”
She ignored him, just kept struggling to reach his side. She got to Karr just as men came racing from the shadows, and threw herself over his body—thinking, maybe, that might protect him. He tried to push her away, but she wrapped her arm around his neck with suffocating strength.
“Soria,” he rasped.
“Shut up,” she muttered. “All we have here is each other, remember?”
His gaze blazed golden hot, and in one quick move he rolled over, p
inning her to the ground, shielding her with his massive frame. He stared at the men surrounding them, and a snarl tore free of his throat—which was shimmering, shifting, fur chasing scales over his skin as his muscles contorted. Fangs appeared inside his mouth.
It was hard to breathe with him on top of her. Soria craned her neck, trying to see what was going on, and saw two bare feet step close. A moment later those feet were joined by a hand, knees, and a familiar sharp face, eye patch neatly in place. Serena peered at them, crouched low, dressed in a seamless black body suit. She held a cattle prod.
“Still alive. And looking cozy,” she remarked.
“Fuck you,” Soria replied. “He’s not what you think.”
“You don’t know what I think,” Serena said, and stood. “Get them in the helicopter.”
Chapter Fifteen
Karr could not fight them. He tried, but the leopardess stabbed him in the back with a long rod, sending a paralyzing jolt through his body. He collapsed, twitching, choking on his own spit and fury as his hands were bound behind his back with the same thin metal wire that had become tangled around his legs.
Soria was dragged away from him. The men were rough with her. Karr could see little of their expressions, but their scents were acrid, angry. One of them—bald, pale, and hard-jawed—grabbed her braids and yanked back her head so far and with such strength that Karr thought her neck would break. Soria’s breath rattled, but she reached up, clawing at his eyes. He raised his fist—
The leopardess barked out a single word.
The bald man shot the shifter a cold and deadly look, still ready to punch Soria. “I lost friends because of them,” he growled.
“Your friends were stupid and careless,” Serena replied. “If you continue showing the same traits, I’ll kill you myself—and then pay the rest of your men triple for the privilege.”
Hate filled his eyes, but the bald man let Soria go. She staggered, and the leopardess caught her arm. Soria did not fight her, but looked down at Karr with unflinching determination. Serena yanked her away.
Karr tried to watch, but the bald man and several others hooked a thick rope to the bindings around his legs and began dragging him across the grass. Metal wire cut into his flesh, as did rocks. The pain burned through him, but he clamped his mouth shut and did not make a sound.