Captured & Seduced (18 page)

“All done, Captain.” Kaya approached him with a beaming smile. He was grateful for her cheerful presence.

“Why don’t you and Jannike head into the village? We need fresh supplies.”

“Aye, Captain!” Kaya bound off in Jannike’s direction.

“Keep an eye out for my brother or other strangers around the area. We need to watch security.” Ry didn’t trust Talor. He’d backed off and hadn’t followed them into the storm, but that didn’t mean they’d given up the chase. For some reason Talor had upped the ante and started to take risks, attacking them whenever opportunity presented itself. Ry didn’t understand why Talor’s attacks had become so ferocious. He cursed under his breath, wishing he’d had time to do more research when they’d made their last stealthy stop on Ibrox.

Pressure pushed in on Ry. He’d known revenge wouldn’t be easy, but he owed it to his friend Maxmus, the friend
he
had allegedly murdered, according to the law on Ibrox. He owed it to every person crushed beneath Talor’s feet. He owed it to himself if he wanted to walk the streets he’d walked as a youth with head held high. He had to prove Talor had murdered Maxmus.

Ry went looking for Camryn and Mogens. He found them where he’d left them, the scent of herbs strong on the air. Luke ambled over and licked his arm. Gabby let out a harsh yap. Ry had come to think of as her ‘return to me’ yap. Her foal ignored her and licked Ry again. Luke nuzzled his chest until Ry gave in and scratched him behind the ears. The foal snorted and sneezed, sending spray over Ry’s shirt.

“Enough,” he said, pushing the animal aside to squat beside Camryn and Mogens. “How is she?”

“I’m awake,” Camryn snapped. “I’m not dead.”

But she could have been—sucked into the war with his brother like his crew. His gut bucked at the idea, guilt growing. Yep shouldn’t have died.
His fault.

“She will be sore for a time but should recover well.” Relief shone in Mogens’ eyes, but his skin color swirled with an uneasy mix of black and white.

Ry scanned Camryn’s wan face. She was in pain. “Maybe we should call this off. Take Camryn home to Earth and start up in another universe.”

“No! Not after all the trouble we’ve gone to. We have to see this through for Yep,” Camryn said.

“I agree,” Mogens said. “We finish for Yep.”

Ry wasn’t so sure but didn’t argue. “Can you stand?”

“It’s my shoulder, not my legs.” She pushed away from Ry and stood with a grimace. “Are the yards ready?”

Gabby yapped and shook her head so hard her mane flapped.

“She needs to stretch her legs and feed,” Camryn said.

“I’ll do it,” Ry said. “You need to rest.”

Camryn slanted him a quick glance before she looked away, a wave of color slashing across her cheeks. “Gabby doesn’t like you. I’ll have to do it.”

Ry acknowledged the truth of her words, although he didn’t like it. He stepped back to lean against the wall, well clear of the hell-horses. Camryn shuffled down the ramp and gave a soft whistle. Gabby’s head jerked up and she trotted after Camryn. Luke scuttled after his mother, and they clomped down the ramp without the trouble Ry had envisaged. Mogens followed. Luke sidled up to the seer, nudging him for another scratch behind the ears. Ry grinned at the foal’s obvious antics—he adored attention from all of them.

“I’m going hunting to feed the hell-horses,” Ry said.

“Might I suggest you take Nanu with you? Order him to accompany you,” Mogens said. “He needs to keep busy.”

Ry agreed. He strode back into the tender to find Nanu beside Yep’s shroud. Again.

“Attention!” Ry barked.

Nanu jumped to his feet, startled by Ry’s harsh tone.

“Bring your weapon. We hunt now.” Ry waited, tapping his foot impatiently. “We will scout a resting spot for your brother.”

“No, I take him home.”

“You would put us all at risk?”

They stared at each other for a long moment until Nanu shook his head.

Relieved, Ry indicated the engineer should exit first. After a brief hesitation, Nanu exited the tender. He blinked at the fierce brightness of the light and stared about him like a blind man who’d regained his sight.

“Yep would have liked it here.”

Across the broad expanse of the lake, snow-topped mountains were visible through the light violet cloud cover. The steep slopes glowed, the bright light casting purple and slate gray shadows. Trees circled most of the lake. The distant sound of voices in song traveled from the village.

“He would,” Ry said.

They returned to camp two hours later bearing a brace of birds each. And better, they’d decided on a resting spot for Yep. The funeral pyre would burn on the morrow.

“Feed four birds to Gabby. Mind your hands when you give them to her,” Ry said. “I need to check on Camryn.”

He strode up the ramp into the tender and found Mogens had fashioned a pallet for her. “How is she?”

“Sleeping. ’Tis the best thing for her. She has been under much stress during recent times.”

Ry nodded in silent acknowledgment. “Jannike and Kaya have gone into the village. Why don’t you take some free time? I’ll watch Camryn. Hopefully she’ll recover in time to attend the race meeting the day after tomorrow.”

“The clouds have proclaimed it so. You promised to return her to Earth when the racing is done.” Mogens’ color edged toward black, telling Ry far more than his words.

“I did.”

“Do you intend to keep your word, Captain?”

Ry wondered when he’d become so transparent. Holding back his impatience, he lied through his teeth. “I intend to keep my promise.”

Mogens scrutinized his face and finally nodded before leaving. Ry felt worse than ever, culpability punching him in the chest. He’d let his feline rule his heart and now it was too late. He couldn’t live without Camryn, couldn’t imagine life without her. Ry suspected she’d never forgive him.

Chapter Nine

Racetrack, Ornum Township, Two days later.

The races weren’t like any Camryn had witnessed before. Men. They were everywhere. Men who looked like humans and others who were…different. Extra arms. Weird skin colors. Strange protuberances from their heads. Extra heads. And everyone seemed to wear bright clothes. With color everywhere, their group stood out because of their black-on-black color scheme. Of course Mogens flashed between white to gray to black, but since he edged toward pure black at the moment, it was obvious he belonged with them.

Camryn sidled closer to Ry, trying not to let her unease show. The noise levels made her head ache. Bookies—or at least that’s what Camryn presumed they were—stood on platforms, screeching out names and odds. Punters thrust quid notes at them and received tickets in exchange.

“Hell Fire! Odds nine to one he won’t finish the race. Bat out of Hell! Odds two to one he won’t finish!” a bookie cried.

Camryn’s mouth dropped open. She tugged on Ry’s arm to gain his attention. “They’re laying odds on the horses not finishing the race?”

“Yeah. I’d heard they did that.”

A blare of trumpets sounded and a wave of punters hurried into the stadium. Camryn swept along with the tide.

Jannike checked the tickets they’d purchased. “Our seats are this way.”

Camryn followed in bemusement. The stadium reminded her of the old Roman amphitheaters. Seating surrounded the dirt racetrack. No grass, greenery or any of the beautiful gardens they had at home. And the smell. After the first whiff of rotten meat and blood, she breathed through her mouth.

The crowd behind jostled her, impatient to find their seats. Ry wrapped his arm around her waist, drawing her against his side to protect her with his greater bulk. She noticed the flair of his nostrils and realized he didn’t think much of the stench either.

Eventually they found their seats. Camryn sat between Ry and Mogens, and for once, she didn’t protest Ry’s possessiveness. He soothed her edginess with his presence and subtle touches. His leg jostled hers, distracting her for an instant. Her eyes closed to focus on the sensations streaking through her—the elevated breathing, the prickle of her breasts and the moistening between her legs. Sighing, she opened her eyes again, no longer surprised but still perturbed by her reaction to this alien man.

Mogens touched her arm, his brows drawn together in a frown. “Is your shoulder giving you pain?”

“It’s fine,” Camryn whispered, her gaze drawn to the hell-horses parading through an opening in the arena. Her shoulder felt stiff, although the pain had receded. She’d have to take some of Mogens’ wondrous salve home with her.

An announcer, hidden somewhere high in the arena, rattled off the horses’ names. “That’s number six, Little Lucifer, the current champion from Grenfinch stables coming through now. He’s won his last ten starts and is a hot favorite for today’s premium race.”

The horses pranced at the end of leads. Many of them bore obvious scars, white and silver marks peppering their dark coats. Painted entry numbers on the animal’s sides aided identification. Camryn noticed the handlers wore protective vests. They sparkled in the sun and reminded her of old-fashioned chain mail. They kept a wide gap between each horse. Not difficult to see why. One hell-horse yanked hard on its lead and lunged at another, dragging its handler across the ground. When the man lost his footing, the crowd cheered. No one rushed to his aid until the distracted hell-horse attacked another with teeth bared.

“Lucky Henry is loose. It looks like Henry is intent on knocking out the opposition before the race starts. If they don’t catch him soon he’ll be disqualified.”

The hell-horse ran a tight circle and bugled at the audience taunting him. He leapt at them, brought up short by a barrier. Camryn had wondered about the metal fence between the track and the public. Obviously for safety reasons.

“Are all the races like this?” she asked in a faint voice.

“This is the first I’ve seen.” Ry watched the proceedings without expression.

“Time has run out. Lucky Henry isn’t so lucky today. He’s disqualified because he wasn’t captured within the allowable time.”

An armored cart drove into the arena and sped after the loose hell-horse. When the driver caught up with Lucky Henry, a mechanic arm bearing a noose shot from the side of the vehicle. Lucky Henry slid to an abrupt stop and the vehicle departed the arena, the hell-horse scampering alongside. The crowd jeered.

“We wanna see blood,” a man hollered from behind them.

Blood? Camryn didn’t like the sound of this race meeting.

The handlers led the horses into starting barriers, one by one. The barriers were similar to the ones used on Earth although solid to avoid the horses seeing each other.

“I can’t believe they just let them run on their own,” she muttered. “Barbaric.”

“Pies. Get your pies here!”

“I’ll take four pies,” Ry said, signaling the vendor. He handed over two quid notes and selected four pies. He passed them to Camryn to distribute to the others while listening to her mutters. The high fences separating the crowd and hell-horses pointed to one thing—a fight to the death, much like the gladiator arenas on the planet Mykolnos.

He watched while the last horse entered the starting gate. The thumps and trumpets of displeasure coming from the hell-horses were clearly discernable.

Ry reached over to take Camryn’s hand. He thought she might reject his touch because she’d avoided him during the last two days even though the attraction burned between them stronger than ever. She didn’t. She squeezed his hand and moved closer. The feline purred with pleasure.

“I’m not going to like this, am I?” Camryn didn’t take her eyes off the track.

“I don’t think it’s gonna be pretty,” he said, striving for honesty.

“I don’t want Gabby to run.”

“I know.” Ry smoothed his fingers across the back of her hand.

“I’d like to read the rules again. Maybe there’s some way we can get creative with the interpretation.”

“Not too creative or we’ll be disqualified,” Ry said.

“And they’re off!” the announcer screeched to the crowd’s roar.

The hell-horses sprang from the starter’s gates but instead of racing to the finish line, the creatures circled each other, searching for openings to attack.

“Oh heck,” Camryn said faintly. “This isn’t a race, it’s carnage.

A loud explosion from behind the starter’s gate startled the hell-horses into action. They leapt forward, continuing to snap and snarl at each other. Camryn’s hand tightened on his, her fingernails digging into his flesh. Her gaze remained glued to the battle in the arena.

“Looks like Sprightly Teddy is down,” the announcer cried. “At the moment it’s Hell Frozen Over in the lead. The record race is twenty-five mins but the pace is off for this one. Looks as if the time will be a slow one. No doubt the creatures were rattled by the early break by Lucky Henry.”

“I’m not subjecting Gabby to this.” Camryn faced him with defiance. “No way. This is a blood fest.”

“Ry,” Jannike whispered, leaning past Mogens to peer at him. “Check out the VIP boxes down by the finish post. Talor’s arrived.”

Ry took his attention off the race to study his brother. His group contained all men apart from Meghan. He still didn’t understand why they hadn’t married.

“I don’t think I want to eat my pie,” Camryn said.

“I’ll have it,” Jannike said. Camryn handed it over.

“Looks like Fiery Heat is out,” the announcer called.

From behind them came a large groan and secs later, white betting slips sprinkled over their heads like soft rain.

“Ice Cold has made a break but Little Devil is chasing hard,” the announcer called.

“Go, Little Devil. Run, Little Devil, run,” a man two seats away called.

“I can’t watch,” Camryn said, hiding her face against his chest.

Ry didn’t inform her he intended to go ahead no matter her feelings on the subject. There was too much at stake. He stared at the VIP boxes. Talor held responsibility for two murders. His brother would pay but first he wanted to know why.

“Just look at Little Devil! He’s cleaning up. This hell-horse is monstering his way through the rest of the field.”