Do Or Die [Nuworld 4] (21 page)

“Overseeing the courts in Taratown.” Andru listed off one of the many tedious

responsibilities he’d someday be forced to endure. Since Gothman had grown, Darius

allowed Andru to handle most of the decisions over the armies while he visited

neighboring towns to ensure all was well there.

“Syra, you stay here and help Torgo. Andru, I think it would be a good idea to put

some of your armies on alert.”

Andru nodded and Tara turned to leave. Gilroy and Ana met her in the hallway

and she grinned at her daughter’s damp hair. “You must be doing something right,

Ana, if you can get him to bathe you in the middle of the afternoon.” Gilroy didn’t smile

at her comment, but his eyes danced as Ana looked astonished. Tara fondled one of the

ringlets that fell to Ana’s shoulder. “We might have some activity going on north of

here. Come down to the trailer if you like and help us brainstorm.”

“Oh yes, I’ll do that.” Ana was thrilled to escape with her mama. Gilroy didn’t

seemed pleased at all that she’d helped Lara birth the dead fetus and she was in no

hurry to hear what Andru might have to say on the subject.

“Gilroy, I need you to assemble your men.” Andru’s voice made her jump. “Ana,

see me before you leave for the clan site.”

Her heart fell.

Andru turned on his heels and walked down the hallway toward his bedroom.

Ana’s old bedroom, across from his, now had random pieces of furniture in it that

would be transferred to her new house as soon as it was built. He entered this room and

walked through it to open the curtains. The sunlight filtered across the room, sending

dust particles floating upward.

“There are so many choices sometimes.” An old raspy voice spoke, fitting in with

the cluttered room. Andru turned around slowly. He’d entered the room alone but he

knew the voice of the dog-woman and she no longer startled him.

“I see one clear choice.” He met her glassy, round brown eyes from across the

cluttered room.

The dog-woman smiled and shuffled across the floor toward him until she could

tap her cane on the tip of his boot. “And tell an old lady, what is that clear choice?”

“Ana will defeat this clan and force their loyalty or surrender.”

“She’ll do this on her own?”

“Yes, she will. I’ll see to it.”

“Ah, so you will make it appear that she has shown her own leadership. You’re not

dealing with fools. They will see through the charade.”

“No, they won’t. Crator will guide me if Ana is meant to lead.”

“And what if she isn’t meant to lead?”

“Are you saying Crator doesn’t want her to lead the Runners?”

“You put words in my mouth, son. Ana’s heart is pure. She knows only how to

please. Crator sees no fault with her. But it’s not Crator that is questioning her

leadership skills.”

Andru raised his brows at the old lady’s comment. He gave her a shrewd look.

“Crator sent you here to talk to me about reprimanding her. I know what she’s

done and she sabotaged a well thought-out plan. By aiding that woman she put a block

in our first attempt to stop this clan.”

“Crator knows how you view things, Andru. He knows your heart and your love

for your sister. You must guide her toward leadership, not force her hand so you may

lead through her.”

Andru thought for a moment about what the dog-woman just said. Did he need to

teach Ana how to be a leader? He remembered following his papa around when he was

a boy and memorizing his every move, the way he talked, the manner in which he

treated his men. It took many winters for him to feel the confidence and power that his

papa naturally possessed. How could he teach all these things to Ana? Especially when

she submitted so easily.

“Here I am.” Ana stood in the doorway and spread her arms out in front of her.

Andru looked up and felt his heart constrict. How could she get prettier as her

pregnancy progressed? Her arms were long and slender and her protruding belly was

perfectly round against her otherwise slender body. Her hair formed ringlets as his did

when it was wet and her blonde curls fell over her shoulders and accentuated the

curves of her breast. He took her in and almost forgot what he wanted to talk to her

about. Could another woman ever make him feel this way?

“I can see that.” He walked over to her and guided her into the room then shut the

door.

“What did you want?” She turned to look up at him but then looked at her hands

quickly when she realized he locked the door. His fingers soothed the back of her neck

as he guided her over to an ornate loveseat Gilroy’s parents had given them as part of a

claiming present.

“Do you want to tell me why you came home covered in blood?”

“Why do I think you already know?” She stared him down boldly and her lips

spread into a thin line. “I can tell by the way you’re looking at me.”

“Tell me.” He spoke softly and wrapped one of her curls around his finger.

So she did. She told him how she ran into Lara while she was downtown. She

didn’t tell him that she was looking for her but she shared Lara’s conversation with him

and her suspicions that someone poisoned her shortly after she arrived at the clan site.

As she shared this with him she watched his facial expression. His look was hard

and his gray eyes grew darker as she spoke. She paused and stared at him for a minute

and then her hand went to her mouth.

“You did it,” she gasped. “You poisoned her with that laser the morning you went

over to her trailer and threatened her.”

He hated the way she looked at him and he hated what he had to say to her now.

These were the things he wanted to protect her from, not lay out in front of her.

“Ana, she will die, or you will die.” He couldn’t make it more clear.

“No, I don’t believe that.” She shook her head and looked down at her clasped

hands.

“My sweet lady.” He rubbed her chin with his calloused thumb as he lifted her face

to his. “This is how a leader must think. She wants what you have and she won’t

hesitate to take it with whatever means she can. She’s already approached Gilroy and

me—not that you have anything to worry about.” He smiled then, and she attempted to

smile back but then bit her lip.

“I don’t think she’s had a very good life. She’s always believed she was discarded

by her papa and refused a life she felt should have been hers.” Ana tried to help him see

what she saw in Lara.

“And that life is your life.”

“Andru, I’m not stupid. I have no intention of giving her what she wants. But I’d

like her to see that there’s a place for her here other than as leader. Maybe one day she

could be my advisor.” She wasn’t ready to tell him her plot to get close to Lara so she

could take her down. She knew he would stop her and want to do things his way.

Andru looked up at the ceiling and laughed. “Why do I have to change this?” He

cried out to Crator. “This is my sister in all her beauty. You see that too. What should I

do?”

Ana simply stared at her brother. He looked down at her and then pulled her to

him, her growing belly making it harder to get close to her. She collapsed into him so

willingly and he leaned back in the loveseat as she rested on him. He stroked the

stretched skin over her belly and rested his hand low as if trying to hold the child that

was inside her.

“I’d never seen anything like it, Andru. It wasn’t developed all the way but…it was

so tiny…it could fit in my palm.” She shuddered and his strong arm wrapped around

her shoulder.

“Don’t think about it,” he whispered into her hair.

“That baby could have been yours.” Ana shuddered.

“It could have been ten different men’s baby,” he said with disgust. “How many

men could have sired your child?”

She looked up at him quickly. “You know I’ve only been with two men in my

whole life.” She wouldn’t count her Tree People experience.

“I didn’t know that.” He looked sincerely surprised, and she sat up and grinned at

him then punched him in the chest.

“You don’t fool me for a second. If I’d been with anyone else you would not only

know about it—you probably would have arranged it.”

His smile was gentle yet powerful. He knew she was right, but to hear her admit it

so readily, as if she’d have it no other way, made him see he could never turn her into a

leader like himself. And she could never lead the way their mama did. Yet it was their

mama who insisted Ana be heir to all the Runner clans.

“What do you want me to do?” She whispered the words and looked at him

searchingly. He’d let her go, if she made him think he was in charge. She didn’t want to

miss out on the brainstorming and if she kept lying here on top of him the distraction of

his hard body underneath hers would make it difficult to leave.

He simply studied her expectant look and then took his finger and outlined her soft

lips. He sensed she was saying what he wanted to hear so she could get to her

adventure. Her eyes closed against his touch and when she opened them Andru gave

her a crooked smile. “You plan on guiding me through this. That’s why you brought me

here, isn’t it? You don’t think I can lead the Runners without your help.”

“I’ll always be by your side, Ana. You know that, don’t you?” She nodded and then

kissed his fingers. He sucked in his breath and the concerned look in his eyes changed

to something more carnal.

“Is this what Crator wants?” she asked and he knew she was asking about more

than leadership.

“That’s the impression I’ve been given,” he barely managed to utter the words

before she leaned into him and kissed him gently on the lips. He grabbed her arms and

pulled her up his body so he could deepen their kiss and she submitted willingly.

She pulled away sooner than she wanted to but the baby crushed against her lungs

and she couldn’t breathe. She put her hands on his chest and pushed herself to a sitting

position. He looked up at her lazily, making no attempt to hide the desire in his eyes.

“I need to go if I’m going to hear any of the discussion down at the clan site.” She

stood and straightened her clothes.

“Contact me and let me know everything they talk about.” He stood too and then