Ki Book One (7 page)

“
Can you walk?”

She looked up, cheeks hot and eyes red.

“
Can you walk?” he nodded down at
her.

“
You’re not serious? You’re going to take
me to prison? You’re not listening, the scouts will return. They
will blast their way in and kill everyone in their
path.”

He put up a hand
. “I’m not taking you to prison.” He pointed
towards Paladin’s Pass. “If we want to get out of here unnoticed,
it’s our best option. We can head around past the mountain range
and into the capital.”

She crumpled her eyes warily.

“
I’m not going to take you to prison. I saw
what those soldiers are capable of. We need to find out where
they’re from.”

“
I told you where they’re from.
Zeneethia.”

He scratched at his nose, pinching the
bridge
. “Zeneethia is a
myth.”

“
You can’t try to help me,” she released
her legs, trying to stand. Again she failed.

“
Why not?”

“
Because you’re Ashkan,” her voice pitched
in desperation.

Her words steeled him. “You’re damn right
I’m Ashkan. And I can help whomever I want. We’re going to head to
the Capital. I have access to labs at the Royal Academy. We can
analyze the device and find out what it is.”

Her jaw was slack, her open lips
sagging
. “There’s no
way—”

“
We have to try. These soldiers have
weapons beyond anything I’ve ever seen. They could be planning a
full-scale invasion, and there’s nothing to stop them.”

“
The Zeneethians aren’t interested in
us.”

“
They are clearly interested in you,” he
crossed his arms in front of his chest, bracing his jaw as he
forced his head forward, daring her to challenge him.

“
There’s nothing anyone can do to fight
them.”

“
You got away from them. And you’re only a
priestess. I’m a scientist.”

Her gaze flared
. “How dare you.” She finally pushed herself to
her feet.

“
You’re standing, well done. Now can you
walk, or am I going to have to carry you?”

“
Men are not permitted to touch the women
of the priestess clan,” as she concentrated her anger on him, she
swayed less and less.

“
I’ll remember that next time you fall into
my arms. Now we need to make a head start before night falls. If we
can make it to the old shack before the pass, we can stay there
until morning. We can stock up before our trek.”

“
I’m not going anywhere with
you.”

“
I have your device,” he patted his pocket.
“And I’m not going anywhere without you. You’re the key to this,
and you fell in my field.”

“
I’m not your property,” she almost fell
over, her response far too desperate considering her
condition.

It stilled him. He saw the fervent look in
her eyes, the way she shook back as she spoke.

“
I didn’t say you were my property,” he
softened his voice, “but you are my concern. I need to find out
what’s going on. And I fancy your chances are going to be better
with me than they will be on your own. I don’t know if you’ve
noticed, but you are covered in Tarkan symbols and you have a real
thick accent. You won’t make it a day in Ashka.”

Her shoulders slackened, her fight falling
from her swaying form.

“
So come on,” he held out his
hand.

She stared at it as if it was a
trap.

He did not drop it. He kept it out. Not
saying a thing.

As a gust of wind caught her long purple
robe, her eyes shimmered with tears. She stared at him for one last
moment until she took his hand.

Her fingers were cold. Icy. But the longer
he held onto them, the quicker they warmed.

He led her up the hill towards the pass.

Chapter Four

Her mind raced as they walked. She had so
much to think about.

Could she trust this man? She hardly knew
him, and of the few interactions they’d had, he’d spent most of
them shouting at her or tying her to a chair.

The day was drawing on. The sun that had
peeped through the mountains high above them had now withdrawn.
Long, dark shadows covered the hills they now walked through. She
shivered against their chill, drawing her arms up and hugging them
close.

He shifted back, noting her move, but he did
not speak.

Ever since their conversation on that grassy
hilltop, he’d hardly said a word. Deep in thought, mouth furrowed
with concentration, he’d simply walked silently by her side.

As the wind whipped up past her, Ki
watched it sway through the pine trees that lay dotted along their
path. They were headed up the side of a steep, scree-covered slope.
Lined with fragments of rock and the occasional boulder, it was
murder on her feet. She took every step as slowly as she
could.

He let out a frustrated puff of air and
turned to her. “Hurry up. We’ve got barely an hour before dark. We
need to get to the cabin before then.”

“
I’m sorry, but unlike you, I don’t have
any shoes on.”

“
I already offered you mine.”

“
You’re at least four sizes bigger than
me,” she landed her hands on her hips and half turned from him. If
he were any other man, she was sure she would be better able to
control her emotions around him. Right now her frustration over his
attitude drove into her like the blow of a hammer.

“
Fine, then stay here and wait for those
soldiers to come back, or for the wolves to come out from their
dens. I’ve travelled these woods at night before, and they’re a
treacherous place.”

“
I never asked you to help me,” she
snapped. She’d already repeated this fact to him, but his response
was always the same.

Turning from her, he let out an angry
laugh. “You Tarkans are so ungrateful. Now come here.”

He moved before she could react, and grabbed
at her sleeve.

“
What are you doing?” she tried to push him
off.

“
Making you some shoes.” With a grunt, he
secured her collar in one hand and the length of her sleeve in the
other, then ripped the fabric down the seam. “Now sit
down.”

“
This is a sacred garment.”

“
It’s not practical,” he mumbled as he
grabbed her other sleeve and did the same.

She tried to push him off, but he shot her a
warning look. Then he stepped back, both her long sleeves in his
hands. Looking down at her feet, he nodded his head sharply at
her.

She immediately brought her long robe
forward, hiding her toes from view.

He shook his head, an irritated look
narrowing his striking brown eyes. “If you’re going to be this much
trouble, I’ll push you off the pass.”

Taking an indignant breath, she turned
without another word and started to head back down the incline, her
loose hair fanning around her at the speed of her move.

As she took another step, she lost her
footing, a sharp rock spiking up into her heel. With a yelp, she
stumbled forward, slipped, and began to roll.

She did not get very far. Jackson leapt to
her side, leaning down and scooping her up before she could fall
any further. “You are a disaster. I was a fool to think you’re a
Tarkan spy; obviously your people were simply trying to get rid of
you.”

As he brought her up, she came perilously
close to his face. She could feel his breath push softly against
her cheek and the fragments of fringe that ha
d fallen over her eyes. Staring up at him,
she snapped her head back, pulling her gaze to the
ground.

He let out another burst of a laugh. “I
forgot, you priestesses don’t like to be touched.” He set her down
and stepped away.

Before she could snap at him to walk further
back, he knelt down and pushed up her robe.

Her legs twitched, and she thrust one into
his shoulder, trying to kick him away.

He caught it easily. “Don’t get too
excited.” He fixed her with a dry, dour look as he brought up one
of her sleeves. Searching around by his side, he found a long and
flat rock. He proceeded to half wrap it in one of her sleeves and
then use the remaining fabric to tie it tightly around her
foot.

He did the same with her other foot, then
stood, clamping his hands on his thighs as he pushed up with a
heavy sigh. Crossing his arms, he stared down at her. “There.
Shoes.” He nodded down at her feet.

Her lips still wide open and trembling, she
purposely snapped her head to the side and stared at a tree across
the way.

This drew yet another of his derisive
laughs. “You’re very welcome, priestess, now get to your feet. We
can’t afford to waste more time.” As he spoke, he drew his head up
and stared at the mountains pulling up before them. The crags and
dips were now darker than ever. The snow that had glinted a pure
white during the day now had the color of dirty chalk. It made it
look all the colder.

Before she could continue her protest, he
leaned down, latched a hand over her shoulder and pulled her
up.

Spluttering, she watched him begin to grin.
The grin froze on his face as his gaze darted down to her now bare
arms though.

“
What are those?” he brought out a hand to
touch her arm.

She slapped it back, panic rising in her
chest. She clutched her arms around herself, trying to hide them
from view.

“
What are those?” his voice insistent, he
tried to pull her arms back.

“
They are none of your
business—”

“
They look like wounds. How did you get
those?” his gaze finally drifted off the circular scars covering
her flesh and up to her face. It was almost impossible to read his
expression, but for a moment concern flickered within.

“
They...” she couldn’t force the words out;
they were trapped in her throat, threatening to choke her as the
memory of those scars rose sharp in her mind.

No doubt he could see as she paled and her
body drew in, her eyes hooding with powerful, unresolved
emotion.

“
Ki,” he used her name, and as he did, he
let his hand drop, “if I’m going to help you, I need to know
everything you do about the... soldiers that attacked
you.”

Had he been about to say
Zeneethians? Had the hardened
ex-soldier finally come around to her version of events?

“
They are left over from their
experiments,” she did not face him as she spoke. Instead she chose
to stare over his shoulder at the grey, rocky world around them.
Sparse and unfriendly, as the day gave over to dusk, the sounds of
the birds all but stopped. In their place she could hear the wind
force its way through the pine trees, scurry over the scant bushes,
and roar into the valleys below. Beyond, she swore it laced with
the cry of an animal. Long and mournful, the prickle up her spine
told her it was a wolf.

Whether Jackson had heard the cry or not,
she could not tell; he did not move from staring at her, his brow
fixed with determination. “What do you mean?”

“
Shouldn’t we push on? You said we had to
get to the cabin by nightfall. I think I just heard a wolf too.”
Pointing in the direction of the call, she felt her hand tremble as
her frantic heartbeat continued.

She did not want to think of what they had
done to her. It had taken all of her years of training in the
emotional and psychological techniques of the priestess clan just
to stay sane.

“
I need to know what we are up against.
What did they do? What kind of experiments?”

She didn’t want to look at him, but her
eyes drifted up as if they were being drawn by a force more
powerful than her.
Managing a trembling smile, she shook her head quickly. “It
doesn’t matter. We need to push on.”

“
Ki, tell me.”

“
I don’t know,” with a heavy, chest-shaking
sigh she gave in. The past day had taught her one thing about
Jackson: he was beyond determined. He possessed guile few men
could. For better or worse, she could not fight it now. “It has
something to do with the devices. They use them in all their
technology. In their ships, to power their weapons, even to keep
their cities afloat,” she turned her head upward, a heavy swallow
shifting her neck back. Her eyes widened against the growing dark
as she tried to distinguish the clouds from the sky
above.

He did not interrupt, and he didn’t he
yank her face down and tell her the Zeneethians and their floating
cities were nothing but a myth.

“
I don’t... think they can use them on
their own,” she latched her hand onto her arm, searching out one of
those ringed scars. Her fingers pushed into the ridged flesh, her
body shivering as a disgusted feeling muddied her mind.

“
What do you mean?”

“
I don’t really know. It’s just a feeling.
They would hook me up to some kind of machine,” her voice drew
light and artificially even. Pretending everything was okay felt
like the only way to get through this conversation. If she allowed
herself to succumb to the reality of it, she would break
down.

“
What kind of machine? What was it hooked
up to? Do you know what it measured?” he straightened, his
attention narrowing in on her as his face filled with a keen
energy. No doubt the scientist was finally making himself
known.