The Hellion (The Lady Knights of Barony Book One ) (5 page)

It was just as she was having these thoughts and missing her parents, that Ava heard the soft crunch of footsteps behind her. She didn’t slow or stop, but she did put her hand on the hilt of the dagger in her belt. Every muscle in her body, fine-tuned for battle, was coiled and ready for action. Her hands were steady and her breath was as serene as her stalker’s. She waited for the inevitable lunge, waited for the person behind her to make his move.

The slightest change in his pace was her signal, just the slightest shuffling of feet and the hitching of his breath in his throat as his arm came out toward her. Unsheathing her weapon, Ava swerved away from his grasp. Her left hand came up to take his arm into an iron grip, while slashing at his appendage with the weapon in her right. A hiss, a grunt and a low growl were the only sounds that came from her assailant as she moved to strike again with her knife.

With surprising speed, her attacker ducked away from her knife while grasping her wrist at the same time. He squeezed painfully, forcing her to drop her blade, but didn’t see the fist speeding toward his jaw before it was too late. Flesh wrapped around her knuckles, and the bones in her hand vibrated as they connected. A swift kick to the shin had her opponent on the ground before he’d barely recovered from her blow to the face.

A smirk of triumph flashed across Ava’s features just before another, much stronger arm came around her waist. Her body was pulled back against another, much harder one with a rough jerk. A coarse fabric clamped down over her mouth and nose, effectively smothering her. As she kicked and struggled against the hard male body, her feet came clear off the ground as the arm tightened. A foul smell filled her nostrils. Her eyelids grew impossibly heavy. The fight left her muscles and her body went limp. The dark night faded into complete blackness as she lost consciousness.

The first thing that Ava noticed when she gained consciousness was the dry, rough texture inside of her mouth. It took a few moments for coherence to set in and she realized that she’d been gagged. A few more seconds of lucidity confirmed that there were bindings at her wrists and ankles. For some reason, her capturers had wrapped something soft around her appendages before tying her up.
How very thoughtful of them,
she thought dryly.

Despite the discomfort of her position, lying on her side with her hands behind her back with a strip of cloth soaking up every drop of moisture in her mouth, she forced herself to focus and remain calm. Because it was still dark, she assumed that her kidnappers hadn’t gotten far with her. She heard the distinct crackling of fire nearby and turned her head to find the source. The small blaze cast an orange glow on her surroundings.

Ava craned her neck at the most advantageous yet most uncomfortable angle and was rewarded with the full view of a campsite. Two pallets were on the other side of the fire. Ava suddenly realized that she was laying on the third. Two horses dozed while tethered to nearby trees. A small kettle, barely even the size of a small cooking pot, was hanging over the fire. A few feet away from the blazing fire and kettle were two men.

She could clearly see the face of one, her first attacker, she guessed by glancing at the dingy fabric wrapped around his left forearm as a makeshift bandage. A head full of wild, flame red hair fell around his ears in disarray and his
tan, leathery skin suggested that he spent a lot of time outdoors. He was frowning down into the bowl in his hands and shaking his head.

“I’ll have your silence Julian,” he said to his companion, the great hulking beast of man sitting across from him. That he was comparable to a towering oak was evident, even by just his silhouette.

“I don’t know, Simon, it’ll make for such a damn good story!”

If Ava wasn’t mistaken, the beast’s shoulders were shaking with laughter. Simon did not look amused.

“What kind of friend does that to his mate, his partner in crime, I ask you? A great big horse’s ass, that’s what kind!”

This caused the beast’s shoulders to shake uncontrollably and roaring laughter to ring out through night’s dark blanket.

“It’s not my fault you were bested by a woman and had to be rescued.”

“Your plan, your fault.”

“My plan, your miscalculation. We were warned that the girl had some skill, recall.”

Girl?
Some skill?
Ava scoffed inwardly. If the beast wanted proof of her skill, he need only release her from her bonds. A wicked grin tugged at the corners of her mouth as she thought of digging into the man’s chest with her knife, but it was inhibited by the gag. She glared daggers at him with her eyes instead.

“Who’d have expected a girl to come flying at a man with a dagger like that? Honestly, even you can’t say you were expecting that Julian.”

The beast shrugged one shoulder fluidly. “I suppose not. You held your own. Besides, we were lucky to have found her alone instead inside of that compound full of banshee she-devils.”

Ava’s fingernails bit into her palms.
Just cut me loose you big lout and I’ll show you a she-devil!
She was surprised her skin didn’t burn red hot. It certainly felt as if her blood was. In that moment, the beast’s back stiffened and he began to turn. Had she made some sort of sound? She was certain she hadn’t, but there he was, staring at her over his shoulder as if he’d heard her thoughts.

That’s ridiculous
, she told herself as he stood and made his way to where she was trussed up like a Christmas goose. He stopped and glanced down at her, amusement glistening in his eyes. She perused him briefly and took in a few details as he sank to his haunches in front of her; leather boots, dusty but a good quality, brown trousers hugging powerful thighs and a strip of naked chest where his white shirt was partially undone. Ava peeled her eyes away from the exposed flesh and nearly choked on her gasp.

In regards to his form, calling him a beast had been an accurate assessment. He was as large as her father had been, taller than most men she knew, with a chest as wide as a barrel and biceps like tree trunks. The fabric of his shirt was nearly stretched to its limit across the shoulders. His neck appeared to be too thick for even her long-fingered hands to wrap fully around. Large hands sported scarred knuckles, undoubtedly caused by fist fighting.

As far as his face went, well, there was nothing beastly about that. In fact, he was downright beautiful. A strong, prominent jaw and chin, a decidedly aristocratic nose and coal black eyes were a potent combination. His hair was as black as hers and fell in soft waves to his shoulders. His only flaw was a scar slashing along his upper lip, probably an old cut from a knife or dagger.

This Julian was unquestionably a dangerous man. Even with all of her strengths and abilities, Ava knew better than to underestimate him.

“Well good morning to you,” he said with a smooth, rich, baritone voice. “Or should I say good evening? You’ve been asleep for quite some time. Perhaps you’d like to join my associate and myself for a late dinner? I’m sure Simon would be happy to share, despite the vicious stabbing.”

Ava could do no more than glower at him. What did he expect her to do with a gag in her mouth? She refused to make even the slightest sound. He watched her silently as if waiting for something. When Ava’s expression went from anger to rage, he chuckled.

“No? Are you certain?”

A kidnapper with manners, what a rarity
, she thought sarcastically. Outwardly, she maintained her vicious stare, topping it off by raising her chin a few inches.

“Oh, it’s like that is it? Well then, suit yourself.”

With that, the beast rose up to his full, intimidating height and made his way across camp. He turned his back to her once more and resumed eating and talking with his friend. Ava could tell by the tension in his shoulders that he could feel her eyes on him. Well good, she hoped he disintegrated from the heat of her anger.

How dare he take her like a common thief? Did he have any idea what he was getting himself into? She was a lady knight of Barony and he would pay dearly for his crime, she would make certain of it!

In the meantime, Ava didn’t even know why she’d been taken. She didn’t know what this man meant to do to her. Until she did know, she intended to remain on her guard.

Julian glanced over his shoulder to find that their captured hellion had finally fallen asleep. She’d been watching them—well, him to be exact—with fire in her gaze from the moment she came out of her drug-induced slumber.

He’d been on the opposite end of a female’s cunning wiles before and didn’t expect anything less from this one. Add to that the fact that the woman knew how to throw a punch and wield a dagger and Julian’s trust was whittled down to nothing. He didn’t dare let his guard down for a minute, despite the fact that she was obviously not going anywhere fast.

“I thought that Blake fellow called her a beauty,” Simon said, peering at the sleeping wildcat over his shoulder. “Perhaps there is something wrong with his eyes.”

Julian couldn’t help but agree. He was sure that beneath the layer of grime and ash that covered her face and the thatch of short, black hair, was a face as ugly as sin. He supposed the flashing silver eyes he’d looked into were appealing enough, but how could it matter when the woman was wearing a shapeless bag of a dress covered by a dirt-smudged apron and looked as if she’d been sitting too close to a fire?

“To each his own, Simon,” Julian said with a chuckle as he took a long swig from their shared bottle of whiskey. He passed the bottle to Simon. “It makes no difference to me, as long as we get paid, which we will. Something tells me that Blake won’t be backing out of the deal. Did you see his face when he described the girl? He wants her, Simon, though I couldn’t figure out why to save my life.”

Simon shrugged and took his turn with the whiskey bottle. “Just a means to an end, eh Julian?” he said as he stood, swayed, and left the whiskey bottle on the rock beside him.

“Of course. Did you think that this one would be different?”

Simon shrugged again, his eyes bleary and unfocused from drink. “Perhaps because we know this girl didn’t do anything to deserve Blake.”

Julian snorted. “Actually, we don’t know that.”

Simon sighed. “I don’t know, Julian.”

“Why are you suddenly so squeamish? We’ve done jobs like this before.”

“Yes, but those were runaway spouses or dishonorable men trying to outrun their debts.”

Julian’s jaw tightened. “Nothing has changed, Simon. We do the job, deliver the girl, take the money.”

“If you say so,” Simon retorted as he turned toward the heavy line of trees to their right.
“Going to the privy.”

Julian watched Simon disappear into the woods and sipped at the whiskey bottle absently.
A means to an end.
That was how he had to think of these jobs. Just one more step on the path to the life he’d always wanted. After all, being born the bastard son of a noble hadn’t offered him many other choices.

He glanced at his sleeping captive once more. The amount he’d charged Blake for the kidnapping was twice his normal rate, but Julian was ready to end this phase of his life and
move on to the next. A house, a piece of land, cattle and a comfortable existence; all of these things were what he was working for.

One scrawny, soot-covered girl was certainly worth it.

The moment Julian’s eyes closed, Ava’s popped open. She narrowed her gaze on him from across the nearly extinguished campfire, her jaw clenched to the breaking point.
A means to an end
, that’s what he’d called her. She wasn’t a person, someone’s friend, or someone’s daughter. He was nothing more than a middleman for Dorian Blake and she was a trophy for the abductor of women.

The thought filled Ava with fury, but she was calmed by at least knowing why she’d been kidnapped. In fact, this development might serve her in the arrest of Blake. King Serge had charged her with finding the man and this Julian was taking her straight to him.

With at least that knowledge to pacify her, Ava fell into sleep; real slumber this time, not the act she’d been putting on for Julian and Simon.

When morning dawned, she felt much better, though slightly cramped from sleeping so awkwardly. She was annoyed at having to wait for one of her kidnappers to notice that she had awakened, as she was still bound and unable to even sit up on her own. Ava’s stomach growled noisily and rolled violently as she thought of the meal she’d missed out on the night before. She was starving, she was uncomfortable and she needed to relieve herself, but she’d be damned if she was going to make even one little sound. Ava contented herself with staring at her capturers until Julian finally noticed that her eyes were open.

“Well, well,” he drawled slowly as he approached, sinking down to one knee in front of her pallet. “Our little hellcat has risen.”

Ava stared at him silently, her teeth clenching brutally around the gag between her lips. His hands clamped around her shoulders and pulled, manipulating her like a rag doll until she was seated with her legs folded beneath her. The sudden rush of blood to her limbs caused them to tingle.