His gaze snapped to her face. “What?”
“Don’t ask me how I know. Choose another route and ride like hell. I’ll be right behind you.”
“No.” Before she could argue, he grabbed her mount’s reins, pulling her horse into a gallop beside his. “They must be jamming my link.”
“Yeah, we’re on our own.” She looked behind, saw nothing. “How long will it take going this way?”
“Roughly forty minutes, but there’s cover if we need it.”
For several tense minutes, they raced over rough ground toward a forest area with a rock face on the right side. Brig was wondering why her senses hadn’t picked up on the danger while the guards were being killed. All she could think was the sex had temporarily dulled her receptors.
Let that be a lesson to you, Monroe.
“Rocky ground ahead,” Cameron said as they neared the bluff. “We’ll have to slow our pace for a few minutes.”
Simultaneously, Brig felt a rush of malevolent energy hurtling toward her. “Get down! Take cover!” In a blur of motion, she was off her horse with twin blasters firing streams toward the bluff. A split second later, a quiver of arrows hissed through the air.
Cameron was already off his stallion, using zigzagging motions as he moved to hit the horses’ rumps and send them out of harm’s way.
Brig had no fear for herself, she could move fast enough to dodge the arrows, but Cameron couldn’t. Keeping her gaze on the ridge, she kept firing as she moved backward toward him, surprised when he passed her, as if to shield her again. “Get behind me, damn it, I here to protect you, not the other way around.”
“I don’t see it that way.” He pulled her toward a large tree, and they crouched down behind it, breathing harshly with their gazes trained on the top of the bluff. “They’re using air-jet powered arrows instead of lasers.”
She nodded. “So they won’t attract attention from the mining camp, or anyone else who might be around, and whoever’s up there didn’t kill your bodyguards.”
He glanced at her. “I was thinking the same thing. They couldn’t have gotten here and climbed the bluff so quickly.”
“Which means the person or persons behind this knew the routes you would take and had assassins waiting on both courses.” She looked up at the rock face again. “I reckon there are at least six of them up there, maybe more.”
Cameron gave her a penetrating look. “How do you—”
He broke off as another hail of arrows whooshed through the air, hitting their tree. Cameron pushed her behind him.
“Will you stop treating me like a girl?”
“Never.”
“Okay, then we need better cover while we figure out a plan. You know the countryside, any ideas?”
“Caves.” He pointed to an area in front of them, about two thirds along the rock formation.
Brig narrowed her gaze and saw a small opening beneath a rocky outcropping. “Take my weapons,” she said. “I have a spare strapped to my leg.”
“Hang on to them and cover us when we start moving.” He stood upright.
“Get down! Don’t be—” She broke off, staring with gathering astonishment as the outlines of his body appeared to warp. It looked like he was increasing in size. “What the hell—”
He lifted his hands. There was a sound like a swarm of angry bees, then a streak of light speared outward, A few seconds later, sections of the bluff fell away as if they’d been blasted. “That should give them something to think about.”
“Holy shit, Cameron, what are you, an alien?”
“Come on.” He caught her arm, and pulled her with him into the undergrowth. Still trying to wrap her head around what she’d just seen, she continued to fire up at the ridge, to keep the attackers pinned down, but an arrow finally found its mark, striking Duncan on the upper arm.
“Damn it,” she hissed. “We’re almost there.”
“It didn’t go deep.”
Moments later, they flung themselves into the dark cave and sat for a several moments leveling their breathing. Brig glanced over at Cameron. His vivid blue eyes glittered in the dimness. She saw that he’d pulled the barb free, and blood was flowing from his left arm, turning his white shirt red. “After your trick out there,” she said, her voice echoing in the cavernous space. “I don’t think the attackers saw us come in here, but we can’t stay long. Let me look at your wound.”
“I’m all right.”
“You’re not all right. You’re losing blood.” She knelt beside him, bunching up the sleeve of his shirt to put pressure on the wound.
“Give me
a few more minutes.”
“
To do what?”
“I’ll tell you in a few minutes.
In the meantime, why don’t you tell me how you knew the guards were dead and you sensed the attackers before they fired the arrows?”
“You first,” she said. “What did you do out there, that thing with your hands?”
“An energy source I can raise when necessary, but
the power is sustained solely by my strength of will, and only for short periods of time.”
“Huh.” If she’d been fascinated by him before she was riveted now.
“And you?”
She gave a dismissive gesture. “Mine will take longer to explain. Suffice to say, I’m different, and right now, I’m kicking myself for not carrying my healing stick with me.”
“I don’t need it.”
“Stop saying that.” She was thinking she could dash to the mining camp in short minutes and get help. In fact, it wouldn’t take her much longer to travel to the palace if she went at full velocity, but she didn’t want to leave Cameron as he was. Though she was strong enough in huntress mode to carry him, she wouldn’t be able to run flat out, not for very long, anyway. He probably weighed close to two-sixty. If she could find a safe place for him to hide, then she could go for help. At the same time, she was wishing there was a way to get through to her sisters, and they could time travel to help her. She and her twin, Lexine, had often communicated telepathically over long distances. While it was highly unlikely it would work while they were on different planets, she sent out a mental SOS anyway. Then she looked deeper into the hollow, noting the area was quite large with several openings in the rock wall. “I wonder if any of those cavities lead outside.”
“One does.”
Her gaze snapped to his face. “Yeah?”
“I visited this cave as a boy.”
“Well, chalk one up for the home team. Do you think that beautiful horse of yours will have stayed in the area after what happened?”
“Yes, he’s well trained and, more importantly, he’s strong enough to carry both of us.”
“Do you think he can outrun the attackers’ mounts carrying both of us?”
“Yes, Aberdeen’s fast. Then again, the enemy might be using
airbikes.”
“No,
I’d have heard them
if they were
.
” She pressed more firmly on his wound in anticipation of him walking. “Come on, let’s get you some medical help.”
“
I told you I don’t need it. Lift your hand away.”
Gingerly, she raised her hand a little, and saw the wound had stopped bleeding. “My God, it’s starting to close at each end.” She jerked her gaze up to his face. “You must be an alien.”
A slight smile curved his sensual lips. “No, I’m human with few specialties I inherited from my male ancestors, like speeding up the healing process, but having said that, if the arrow had hit an internal organ, all bets would be off. I’m only a tad invincible.”
She had more questions, but they would have to wait. “Which opening leads out?”
He led her into a dark crevice, leading to a tunnel that was wide and lofty enough that they could walk upright and move quickly. When Brig saw dots of sunlight in the distance, her heartbeat speeded up as she prepared herself for action.
Moments later, they were out, and Brig was looking over the countryside. “It’s clear. Call your horse, and let’s get out of here.”
Duncan gave three low whistles that most humans wouldn’t hear, and a few minutes later, the beautiful black stallion galloped toward them. “The gelding will have high-tailed it home,” he said.
“Sensible boy.”
Cameron swung into the saddle, holding out a hand to help her mount. She
settled herself
in
front of him, and moments later, they were galloping along a narrow path, through a pine forest. When they came out into a clearing and headed up a slope, they heard ground-shaking hoof beats moving toward them from the right.
“Sounds like a lot of horses,” she whispered. “I wonder if it’s help or danger.”
“I’m not staying still to find out.” He kept the stallion moving away from the oncoming group, keeping them out of laser range.
Brig’s keen eyes spotted the leader. “It’s Reid with about…
fifty soldiers.”
Duncan stared at the troops, his gaze turning hard and flat.
“
They’re not wearing Nevisian uniforms. Reid’s behind the whole thing. He’s hired mercenaries to kill me. So he can take over.”
Shit.
While she was all but unbeatable in a fight, even against several opponents at once, and Duncan had proved he could hold his own, he’d also said his gift was only viable for a short span of time. She interpreted that to mean there was a limit to how many of those energy blasts he could summon in a row, which meant it was doubtful they could win against that number of well-trained mercs. Better to use her gift and go at the troops now, try to take down as many as she could.
She turned and caught Duncan’s face between her hands, staring into his beautiful blue eyes. “Listen to me now. Part of what I didn’t have time to tell you back in the cave is my ability to move at great speed. I’m going straight for Reid. I figure h
e’ll call off his mercs rather than die.
In the meantime, I want you to ride like hell. Without me on board, your horse will easily outrun any of theirs.”
“No!” He held her arms, to stop her getting off the horse. “You’re talking about suicide.”
“Yes, I might die, but I do have a chance.”
His expression turned furious. “You think I could run, leaving you to face a small army.”
She laid a palm on his cheek. “I know you’re a brave and noble man, but in this instance, leaving is the right thing to do.”
His eyes blazed. “I not running, and that’s the end of it. You can do what you planned, but I’ll be right behind you.”
They stared intensely into each other eyes while the air between them crackled with frustration, respect and regret.
“Brig Monroe,” Reid shouted.
“You don’t have to die today.
I could use you to head up my security team. Name your price.”
“It’s a trick to separate us,” Duncan whispered, turning his mount. “We’re riding back to the caves before they
get close enough to fire weapons.”
“Yes, go.” She wasn’t thinking of herself at this point, only of Duncan. If he wouldn’t leave her, the best she could do was get him to a sheltered spot and then use her speed to go for Reid.
“There’s another cavern not far from here,” Duncan said, sending the stallion into a full gallop. “It’s large enough to accommodate Aberdeen while we decide what to do.”
As she ducked her head to avoid a branch, she felt a familiar tingle brush the nape of her neck. “Oh, my, God!”
“Jesus, Brig! What?”
She turned her head to look at him. “I sent Lex a message and she got it. They’re coming…time traveling, hurry.”
“What?”
“I’ll explain later. Go back, hurry.”
To his credit all he said was, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
As they raced back toward the troops, Brig’s sharp eyes caught the startled look on Reid’s face. She grinned.
Now, you’re in for it, you evil bastard.
Simultaneously, there was a loud boom and a rush of swirling air, which rose to form a column. In the center of the churning space, five people materialized, wearing black combat suits and wide metallic belts.
“My sisters and their men,” Brig whispered as Duncan halted the stallion. She was glad to see her extended family were fully armed. If they had been jumping back through time, to another era, they wouldn’t be allowed to carry modern weapons.
As the newcomers moved toward troops at a dead run, Brig watched Reid’s face turn pale, as if he realized his soldiers of fortune were no match for what was coming at them.
Grinning widely, Brig slapped Duncan’s leg. “
Now, we’ll see what’s what.”
“Leave
Reid to me,” he said.
In the next instant, the area exploded with violence.
Duncan and the time traveling men fought superbly, but it was the Monroe sisters who’d stunned and terrified the enemy. In full flow, they resembled a synchronized martial arts team—leaping, scissor-kicking, spinning and summersaulting—they downed their opponents with minimum effort while dodging salvos of laser blasts. It was over in less than ten minutes. Twelve mercs were still alive because they’d wisely surrendered, plus Reid, who’d fallen to his knees in capitulation almost as soon as the battle had begun, begging for his life like the sniveling coward he was.
* * * *
Half an
hour
later, Alistair Hay arrived with a platoon of Nevis militia, and Reid and the remaining mercs were transported to a detention center. Reid, of course, was facing the death penalty.
Still high on adrenaline, Duncan was drinking from a water flask while he spoke to his three male saviors. They were all imposing individuals. Max and Brett Jericho had black hair and amber colored eyes, and Blane Sebastian wore his blond hair in a ponytail, his dark eyes smiling into Duncan’s as he patted the prince on the shoulder. “No thanks necessary, Duncan. The
Epochal Monitoring Agency who regulates time jumps
would have ordered the mission, even if Brig hadn’t sent out an SOS. We came to intercede after the fact, because it was all about you.”
Duncan stilled as he finally comprehended Blane’s meaning. “After the fact…. My God…you’re saying I died in the fight…and Brig…”