Hannah's Warrior: Cosmos' Gateway Book 2 (24 page)

Chapter 17

Borj and J’kar were traveling along the steep
ravine Core had pointed out in the holovid. They were making good
time. One group reported finding an abandon glider almost forty
clicks to the southwest. One of the men was a tracker and was able
to follow a step of single tracks but only for short distance
before they disappeared. The tracks were headed northeast towards
the mountains. Core and Merrick were heading that way in an attempt
to cut Amurr off. Teriff and Te’mar would back them up.

Borj wiped the sweat off his brow before
reaching up to grab a large rock overhead and pull himself up.
J’kar was about five paces behind him. Borj was just about up when
he felt Hannah’s scream and horror. He fought for calm as he pushed
up over the ledge and rolled onto his back and closed his eyes.
J’kar moved up quickly and knelt beside him. Borj shook off J’kar’s
hand as he focused on Hannah.

Borj felt her horror as
Mazzum touched her and her revulsion as he kissed her. Inside, she
was screaming and struggling to distance herself from Mazzum’s
touch. Borj’s fists clenched into tight fists as he sent wave after
wave of comfort to Hannah in an attempt to help her. He was
breathing heavily as he felt the pain radiating through her as
Mazzum pinched and fondled her.

“I am with you, Hannah. You
are not alone.”
Borj said softly.
“Focus on my voice. Do not think about what is
happening. Hear only my voice, feel only my warmth surrounding you.
I will not let you go through this alone.”

“I can’t do this. I can’t
do this.”
Hannah whispered softly.
“Take me away from here. Please Borj, take me
away from here.”

Borj’s soft cry of torture
escaped at Hannah’s helpless plea.
“Come
with me, Hannah. Let me take you with me to my home near our ocean.
We will walk along the pink sands. You will love the wildness of
the waves breaking along the shores. There is a small cove nearby
where we can swim and no one will bother us. The water is warm and
clear and you can see forever.”
Borj
whispered back imagining he was brushing Hannah’s long hair back
from her face so he could see her beautiful eyes.
“We will watch as the birds and water mammals
play. I will show you the sea dragons. You will love them. They are
very colorful and love to play in the waves.”

Hannah focused on Borj’s
voice as he told her about the sea dragons forcing the feeling of
Mazzum’s touch out of her mind as she wrapped herself in Borj’s
warmth. She could vaguely feel when Mazzum seemed to realize she
had withdrawn into a place he couldn’t reach her. She heard herself
reply to whatever he said but it wasn’t until he actually stood and
moved away from her that she came back to her surroundings. When
she saw what Mazzum was doing to Bachman she wished she could
escape back into the world Borj had taken her. Unfortunately,
Bachman’s anguished screams then quiet sobs made it impossible. All
Hannah could do was close her eyes and hum while she tried to
picture being back with Borj.

“We will get her back soon.”
J’kar said as he watched Borj’s face twist in anguish.

Borj sat up and braced his head against his
knees as he fought the devastating rage and pain racing through
him. He felt Hannah’s sudden withdrawal as whatever was happening
to her became too much for her to block anymore. Her horrified
screams filled his head before everything seemed to stop and a soft
humming took its place. Her mind could not handle what was
happening any longer.

Borj wiped a hand across his cheek surprised
when it came away damper than from just sweat. He stared at the
traces of his tears on his palm. Closing his hand around it, he
looked up into J’kar’s sympathetic eyes.

“I am going to kill all
three of those bastards. I seek the Right of Justice. It is my
right to end their lives for what they have done to my bond mate.”
Borj said quietly.

J’kar nodded his head. “You
will have the Right of Justice. I will let the others know.” J’kar
promised.

Borj rose to his feet with
renewed determination. He listened as J’kar spoke into his comlink
quietly telling all the members that Borj was demanding the Right
of Justice. There was silence on the other end for moment before
each group reported back in agreement. None of the men would be
killed unless there was no other way. All the men knew that a
grievous injustice was done for a Right of Justice to be declared.
The men’s deaths would be long and brutal to justify the crime
committed against a Prime male’s bond mate or family.

Neither man spoke again as
they continued on moving even faster. It would be dark soon and
they would have to move slower. Borj hoped on the one hand that
with two humans, Mazzum would be forced to stop for the night. On
the other hand, he feared what Hannah would go through if they did.
His gut turned at what she had already gone through. A cold calm
settled over him. He promised he would be with her through it all
and he would. He refused to allow the guilt or pain take hold.
There would be time later for him to confront it. Right now, his
focus was on one thing and one thing only, getting Hannah back into
his arms where she belonged.

Hannah focused on putting one foot in front
of the other. Mazzum had untied her when it was time to leave.
Hannah ignored his chuckle when she jerked the remains of her top
together and tied it in a double knot. She froze when he ran his
fingers across her cheek, refusing to give him the satisfaction of
feeling her horror at his touch.

“
He was not nearly as satisfying as I
imagine you will be.” Mazzum murmured.

Hannah simply stood still and waited. She
focused on the pain in her wrists where the ropes had cut deep
welts as she struggled to get free when Mazzum had finally left her
and Bachman alone for a little while when he went to get cleaned up
in a nearby stream. She could still see him but he was a good
twenty-five feet away. Far enough for her to get a head start.

Hannah had cringed when she
looked at Bachman. He had a dazed expression on his face until he
saw her looking at him. Then, a look of pure hatred and rage flared
in his eyes causing Hannah to work on the ropes even harder. She
watched in horror as he rose stiffly and walked towards her.
Hannah’s head fell back against the tree when he knelt next to
her.

“
You are going to fucking get me out of
this hell, do you understand? I’m going to kill that bastard and
when I do, you are coming with me and leading me to wherever in the
hell we have to go to get off this fucked-up world.” Bachman
whispered hoarsely in Hannah’s ear.

Hannah looked at Bachman out of the corner of
her eye. “And if I do? What will you do for me?” Hannah asked
looking back to where Mazzum was naked and washing himself in the
stream.

“
I’ll kill you quick.” Bachman said
softly. “If you don’t, I’ll make what he did to me look like
child’s play. I’ll draw every last scream out of you before I let
you die.”

Hannah’s eyes jerked back as she felt the tip
of a blade against the underside of her bare breast. He didn’t
press enough to break the skin but enough to let Hannah know what
he planned to do if she didn’t cooperate with him. Hannah nodded
her head briefly. She had a better chance of getting away from
Bachman in this type of terrain than she did from Mazzum.

“
What do you want me to do?” Hannah
asked looking back at where Mazzum was beginning to get
dressed.

Bachman stood gingerly and stepped back
around the tree so Mazzum couldn’t see him near Hannah. “Nothing
yet.”

Hannah let her head drop
forward as she bit her tender lip where Mazzum bit her early. She
was trapped between two insane murderers. If she didn’t find a way
to escape before crazy number three showed up she was totally
screwed. She would have to hope a chance came soon.

Mazzum looked over at where
Bachman stood with his head down and grin. The human male was not
so full of himself now. Mazzum looked down at where the human
female was still tied to the tree and felt himself growing hard
again. Her breasts were small but he found the darker tips very
arousing. He knelt down next to her sliding a knife out of his
boot. With a quick flick, it sliced through the rope. His eyes
narrowed on the raw skin on her wrists. He would have to wrap her
wrists before he tied her again. He did not want to have her too
damaged. He liked the feel of her smooth skin against his fingers.
He let one of his hands brush her breasts as he moved to her other
wrist. He couldn’t hold back the chuckle when she jerked her shirt
together, tying it tightly, as soon as her hands were freed. He
pulled her into a standing position running his fingers down along
her soft cheek. He noted with satisfaction she did not pull away
from him as he did it. His eyes narrowed on the long scratch along
her neck and his eyes flickered to the human male who put it there.
He would have to die. Mazzum would wait for his older brother but
even if Amurr was against killing the male it wouldn’t matter. He
would still kill him.

“
Move.” Mazzum said nodding his head to
the northwest. “We have much to cover before it gets much darker.
You both move to slow. Female, if you cannot move faster I will
carry you over my shoulder.”

Hannah jerked her head in a stiff nod to let
him know she understood what he meant. If she did not move faster,
he would not only carry her over his shoulder but other things as
well. Hannah pushed past Bachman without a word and started moving
through the dense undergrowth with more determination. She did not
want the bastard to ever touch her again. She didn’t think she
would ever feel clean again.

That had been over three hours ago. It was
dark now and she could barely see her hand in front of her face.
Mazzum finally motioned for them to stop and Hannah felt her knees
tremble with a combination of exhaustion and fear. Mazzum nodded to
Hannah to sit next to a tree. She reluctantly slid down the trunk
barely holding in a groan of despair. Mazzum nodded to Bachman to
sit next to her. Bachman flashed Mazzum a look of pure hatred
before he sat down next to Hannah.

Mazzum chuckled as he quickly tied them both
up. “You are not so demanding now, human. But I did not like the
look you gave me. Perhaps you need a reminder of who is really in
charge.” Mazzum said with a ruthless chuckle as he tapped Bachman’s
face hard.

Bachman flinched at Mazzum’s threat but
didn’t say anything. Mazzum nodded in satisfaction. The human was
learning who his real master was. Mazzum looked at Hannah for a
moment before he said anything.

“
Hold your hands out.” Mazzum demanded
harshly. “You will not fight your bonds. I do not like to see your
skin damaged. If you fight again, I will knock you out.”

Hannah sat still as Mazzum
wrapped each of her wrists tightly with a length of fabric before
he tied her wrists together behind her. Hannah sat still while he
tied the remaining length to his own wrist. He then moved over to a
tree across from them. Without another word, he closed his
eyes.

Hannah stared up at the stars peeking through
the canopy of trees above them. Throughout the night she listened
to the soft snores of Bachman who finally fell asleep in the early
morning hours. Several times she would look to where Mazzum was
leaning against the tree across from them only to discover him
looking at her. She would turn her gaze back up to the glimmer of
sky.

She couldn’t understand why
Mazzum wasn’t concerned with her talking to Borj until she
overheard a comment by Bachman to one of Mazzum’s questions. Mazzum
didn’t think she could talk to him since she was a human. Bachman
told him humans couldn’t communicate telepathically. Mazzum spent
every moment since they started out again asking questions about
humans. He wanted to know how males protected the females, how many
young they could have, what Earth was like, what ways could a human
female take a male and how often before she became too damaged to
accept any more. The questions were bad enough but Bachman’s
answers to some of them were so horrible that it took everything in
Hannah to not turn and confront him. When he described the things
he did to other women, Hannah couldn’t help but be happy he had a
taste of his own medicine. He was one sick
son-of-a-bitch.

They didn’t stop again until
a few hours ago and that was because it was too dark to continue.
Hannah was thankful for Amurr’s threat. He was larger and appeared
to be the leader of the two brothers.
He
also seemed meaner,
Hannah thought in
despair. Hannah knew she was running out of time. So far, her gut
wasn’t telling her to do anything. She hoped her internal alarm
would start giving her some type of signal soon because from the
heated looks she was getting from Mazzum she wasn’t sure how much
longer she could depend on Amurr’s threat to keep him away from
her.

“
Sleep, female. Tomorrow will be an
even longer day and you will need your strength. As soon as Amurr
is here, I plan to have you…many times.” Mazzum said quietly with a
twist to his lips.

“
Why are you doing this?” Hannah asked
in a frozen voice. “What makes a man like you?”

Mazzum just grinned darkly. “Sleep, female.
If you survive, I might tell you.” Mazzum said as he closed his
eyes again.

Hannah knew she would get
nothing else out of him. Closing her eyes, she sought out Borj
needing his warmth to help her get through the night. She let her
mind open and she pictured the pink sands he talked about wishing
she could see it, feel it, and let it run through her
fingers.