Beloved (3 page)

Kira tried to brush some of the mud off, but only made a bigger mess. “You’re always a little late to come to my rescue, aren’t you?” She looked up at Nigel’s serious expression. “Why is that? You like to see a girl suffer before you step in and become her hero?”

Nigel shook his head, his long black hair swaying from side to side. He reached for her arm, clamped his fingers around her bicep and gave it a squeeze. She slapped his hand and pulled her arm out of his grasp.

“Can’t you make your point without touching me?” She rubbed the place where his fingers dug into her arm. “I get it. You think I’m stronger now that the Crystor is working. But what does that have to do with you not helping? I could have been killed more than once while you stood by and watched.”

Althros snorted, then continued munching on a patch of grass he’d found near Mahli.

Nigel pointed at himself, then at the vast forest. Next he pointed to Kira and flexed the muscles in his arm.

Kira sighed.
I suck at charades
. “I don’t get it. You’re bigger than any of these trees and you’re stronger than me?”
Like, duh.

Nigel shook his head, his brow furrowed in frustration. He took a step toward her and she responded by taking two back. He nodded at her retreat, then drew his knife and moved even closer, his eyes shifting back and forth from chocolate brown to the darkest ebony.

“What are you doing?” Kira’s voice cracked a little as she moved further away, stopping when her back pressed against the stone wall. “Nigel, please don’t, you’re scaring me.”

But he didn’t stop. His eyes flicked to a solid black with no white showing at all, and a sickening sneer crossed his face. Kira drew her knife as he crept closer and closer with each quickening beat of her heart. This wasn’t happening. When would she ever feel safe in this world?

Althros whinnied and threw his head into the air and a juvenile screech-like growl came from Mahli who now stood, poised to attack—her head low, ears laid back.

Nigel sliced the blade of his knife at her face, but she was too slow to block it. The tip caught her on the chin. She grabbed at the sharp pain, then pulled back her hand and sure enough, he’d drawn blood. She healed it instantly, then dropped to the ground, grabbing her quiver of arrows before darting out from under his outstretched arms.

Kira stopped a few feet away as he turned toward her. This time she was ready. She pulled out one of the arrows, but instead of loading it into her bow, she pointed it at Nigel as if wielding a sword. He stopped his advance and looked at her with a curious expression.

“Poisoned arrowheads,” she forced out between her breaths. “It worked on Shandira, I’m sure it will work on you.”

A smile spread across his face and his eyes returned to their normal brown. He slipped his knife back into its sheath and put both hands up in surrender. He nodded, as if giving his approval—of what she had no idea.

Mahli brushed up against her leg, giving Kira a start. Nigel lowered himself to one knee and snapped his fingers at the cub that ran to him.

Traitor
.

He rubbed her behind the ears, then looked up at Kira. He held her gaze for a moment, mostly because Kira had frozen in place trying to figure out what had happened. She slowly lowered the arrow until the point scuffed the ground.

“Why did you do that?”

Nigel stood and repeated the whole charades hand gesture thing again, only this time kept his distance.

Kira thought for a moment, trying to figure it all out. This communication barrier between them was driving her crazy. “You think I’m strong?”

He nodded.

“And I need to fight? Umm . . .
you
?”

Nod.

“But . . .” And then it hit her. He hadn’t been a Darkord as long as Zerek had. It was new to him and maybe the changes, like losing his ability to teleport—or leap, as she called it—would also change other things, like his personality. It was a stretch, but Kira had no other explanation for why he would pretend to attack her.
Pretend? He freakin’ nailed me right in the chin.

Kira dropped the arrow back into its quiver and returned to the boulder where she’d spent part of the morning. She looked down at the blood smeared on her hand. “You’re afraid you might change—that you might turn on me. Is that it?”

Nigel followed her to the boulder and knelt in front of her, lifting her chin with his finger until their eyes met. He nodded again.

“And you let me fight my own battles because you may not always be there to save me and . . .” She swallowed the lump in her throat. She wanted to trust him, but after seeing what Zerek had been capable of, and knowing what Octavion had told her about Darkords, she knew she’d be forever watching her back. “I may have to fight
you
one day?”

Nigel lowered his eyes and nodded one last time before Mahli nuzzled her way between them. They both let the tension out of their shoulders and Kira gave the cub a little rub.

“Well, one thing’s for sure.” She gripped Nigel’s strong shoulder and looked him in the eyes. “No more charades for you. We have to figure out a way to communicate that doesn’t involve you coming at me with a knife.”

Kira brushed the dried, caked-on mud off her clothes. She did the same with Althros, using a cluster of pine branches as a brush. It didn’t get it all, but enough so a saddle could be strapped to his back without causing him too much discomfort. Nigel was more than a little reluctant to help with the saddle, but once she convinced him she had no experience in that department and that she’d keep the horse occupied, he obliged.

While Kira rode, Nigel walked a few feet ahead. For several hours they weaved between trees, jumped fallen logs and tried to avoid rocks and tree roots. Mahli kept up during the morning hours, only wandering occasionally when she caught sight of something to chase or eat, but by midday she’d fallen behind. After listening to all the whining and hissing—and Kira’s constant suggestions on how the cub could ride with her—Nigel finally used the blanket to make a spot behind the saddle for Mahli to lie. The thick wool fabric kept her from digging her claws into the horse’s rump.

When late evening came and Kira was sure Nigel had no intention of stopping before nightfall, she decided she’d had enough. Her butt and legs were sore from all the riding and Althros was getting hard to control. With only a couple short breaks for food and water, it was a wonder he hadn’t buck her off and left her in the dirt.

Kira pulled back on the reins, swung her foot over the saddle and dropped the five plus feet to the ground. “I’m done,” she announced while helping Mahli down.

Nigel stopped several feet away. He turned back and shook his head, motioning for her to follow him.

“No, I’m done. And so is Althros. So unless you want to carry the saddle, we’re stopping for the night.”

Nigel huffed out the air in his lungs, closed the distance between them and stripped the saddle from the horse. Kira kept a tight hold on Althros to prevent him from taking a chunk out of Nigel’s hide.

Now that the thick pad and saddle were off, she unfastened the bridle and lifted it off Althros’ head. She stroked his neck and patted him on the shoulder. “There ya go, buddy. Does that feel better?”

Kira turned to thank Nigel, but he’d picked up the horse blanket and saddle and was now continuing his trek through the forest.

“Where are you going?”

He looked over his shoulder and once again pointed into the trees.

“What? Are you crazy?” She ran to catch up to him, then remembered her bow and the other supplies. She ran back, gathered everything from the ground and took a quick glance at her companions—both looking a little worse for wear. “Come on you guys.”

Althros jerked his head in the air and Mahli hissed. “Yeah, I know. But what can I do?” She threw her quiver over her shoulder, readjusted her load and took off after Nigel, who was so far off in the distance she only glimpsed an occasional flash of his white tunic as he weaved between the trees.

By the time she caught up to him, she panted like an old hound dog. Mahli, on the other hand, was full of energy, pouncing on anything that moved. Althros was nowhere to be seen. She wasn’t worried, though. She knew he’d come around eventually. Or hoped he would.

“So are we walking all night?” she said as she passed him and turned to walk backward in front of him. He had to slow his pace significantly to avoid crashing into her, a look of disgust on his face.

He shook his head and continued walking, forcing her to either speed up or move. She stepped aside and let him pass.

She ran to catch up again, noticing it took two of her steps to equal one of his. “So what’s the plan then?” He made no attempt to communicate with her, just kept walking.

Kira followed him for what seemed like hours as the forest grew so dark only the summoning of her night vision kept her from tripping over every bump in the path. Nigel didn’t seem to have a problem with the darkness, even though she remembered Octavion mentioning that Darkords couldn’t see well at night. Maybe that would come with more time. She wondered how that felt, to know you’d lose every gift you had, even a part of your soul. It made her wonder what his life was like before and what he’d done to fall victim to the curse.

After getting used to hearing nothing but their own footsteps and the occasional animal noise, Kira realized the sounds of the forest had changed and so had the scenery. At first she heard water running over rocks as if a small stream were near. Now there was a rush so loud it nearly masked the pounding of their feet. A few more steps and they’d entered a thick grove of white barked trees whose branches twisted and intertwined with each other. An eerie mist rose up from the ground almost to her knees and the air became humid, making it harder to breathe.

“Nigel, where are you taking us?”

He adjusted the saddle he carried over his shoulder, but didn’t answer. A few more moments and her feet began to slip and slide on the mossy ground. The thick stand of trees parted and she found herself standing next to him looking at the most beautiful waterfall she’d ever seen. It cascaded down a large outcropping of black rocks that sparkled as if diamonds were embedded in them. The water poured into a small pond, steam rolling off it like a hot tub in mid-winter.

“A hot spring?” Kira took in a deep breath, expecting the putrid stench of sulfur or some other strange aroma, but instead, the air smelled like honeysuckle and lavender—nature’s own caldron of potpourri.

Nigel dropped the saddle to the ground along with the other supplies he carried, then took Kira’s load and piled it all together. He pointed to her, then motioned toward the pond.

“You don’t have to ask me twice.” She couldn’t wait to get the dried blood out of her hair and the dirt and grime off her skin. She pulled her boots off and reached for the hem of her shirt before realizing he still stood there, frozen in place, staring at her.

“Um, maybe you should go behind those trees over there and start a fire or something?”

He nodded with an expressionless face, but still didn’t move.

Kira dropped her hands to her sides. “What?”

Nigel slowly reached for her face, but instead of touching it, he took a section of her chopped off red hair and let it run through his fingers. She pushed his hand away and took a step back.

“Why did you do that?”

He held up his hand as if telling her to stay put, then stepped to a nearby bush, yanked it from the ground root and all, and broke off a large black bulb from the main stem. After peeling the outside layer and removing the tiny roots, he cut one end off with his knife. A black tar-like liquid oozed out and trickled down his fingers.

A putrid odor attacked Kira’s enhanced senses and she had to cover her nose and mouth with the fabric of her sleeve to stop the saliva from rising in her throat.

“What is that?” she mumbled.

Nigel moved closer and held it out for her to take, then motioned to her hair.

Kira didn’t need any further explanation. He wanted her to use the disgusting goo to cover the color of her hair. She’d thought a lot about that while bouncing around on Althros’ back. With a price on her head and the way Royal’s shared their thoughts, surely her presence on this planet was known throughout all the kingdoms. There was no way for her to hide or start a new life here if she was the only one on the planet with red hair. She took the bulb from Nigel and nodded that she understood.

The water felt like silk flowing over her body. The natural elements seeped into her pours and washed away every ounce of tension in her muscles and joints—until she had to smother her scalp with the goo Nigel had given her. It took several minutes to rinse the slimy substance from her hair and she still wasn’t sure it covered all the red. From what she could see from her reflection in the pond, she kind of liked it.

Nigel managed to carry off all their supplies, leaving only her personal possessions—the bow, quiver of arrows, and knife. She followed the glow of the fire Nigel built, but stopped short when she saw him leaning against a stump sketching—his long black hair shimmering in the firelight. The pencil paused on the page and he looked up at her and smiled. She smiled back and continued moving closer until she saw a small lean-to tucked into the trees a short distance from the fire. Pine bows and leaves lay as a mattress and their only blanket draped from the log frame. Flames danced in the pit, throwing shadows around the small clearing, reminder her of when Octavion and Lydia had built her a similar shelter. Even though it had only been a few days since she’d seen them, she missed them both terribly.