Authors: Marie Harte
“He
has a lung problem.”
“So
boil the leaves and make him lean over the pot to inhale the steam.”
He
couldn’t stop himself from envisioning his father hale and whole. “Thais, if
this works…”
“Then
you will be in my debt, I know.” She looked smug. “But I do not know if they
will help him. In any case, the person to thank is Yara. She insisted we take
plenty of herbs and seeds on our journey.” Her joy faded. “It seems so long ago
when we left our village.”
“Yara?”
He quieted, wanting to know more. She’d mentioned her village a few times, but
nothing more than the names of those she hunted. He still didn’t, for one
minute, believe she came from Temeco. But to consider she might be a warrior
woman from a mythic tribe? He just didn’t know.
Thais
studied him before she spoke. “Yara, Isadora and Luiza. My best friends, my
sisters. We are joined by grief, by love, and by a common purpose.”
“To
find the woman with the flower and Bartel. To find justice.”
She
hesitated. “Yes.”
“So
what’s the deal with the flower? I thought only whores painted themselves. But
I get the feeling the woman you’re hunting isn’t one for pleasure.”
The
cold look in Thais’s eyes told him as much. “She’s not. Pilar is very much the
opposite, in fact.” Thais sat down and crossed her ankles. “What I tell you,
not many know.”
“Who
do you think I’m gonna tell?” he asked wryly. “It’s just you and me out here. And
I rarely get by to see my family.”
“And
Dee?”
He
was surprised she remembered Dee’s name. “Ah, DeeDee and I don’t talk much when
we get together.” He grinned at her scowl. “’Course, I see her maybe once,
twice a season if she’s lucky.”
“Arrogant
male.”
“Honey,
you know it’s true. Hell, you ought to consider yourself lucky. Most women would
kill to be this close to me at any given time.”
She
muttered something under her breath, but he could tell he’d amused her.
“Come
on, Thais. Tell me. I only want to help.”
She
exhaled loudly, as if coming to some decision. “Where I’m from, most of us aren’t
used to men at all. Before I’d come to—ah, to settle in Temeco, I’d seen very
few of your kind. And those I’d met did not speak well for your sex.”
He
had a feeling he knew where this headed.
“Men
came into my village. They raped my friends, my family. They slaughtered old
and young alike. Babes, girls. Even our animals. They left few alive, and all
suffered at the hands of Aaron Bartel and his men.”
“Except
for you,” he said slowly, trying to reason out this puzzle.
“Except
for me,” she whispered, her eyes haunted. But she didn’t look away.
He
wanted to ask exactly what had happened. The pain in her gaze stopped him. “And
Pilar?”
“Pilar
helped him. Against her own sisters, she and her friends betrayed us all with
that man.”
“So
you want revenge. I get it.” He had more in common with her than she knew.
“Not
revenge. Justice. And something Bartel stole that does not belong to him.”
They
regarded each other in silence.
He
wanted to slay her demons. To do for her what he’d never been able to do for
his family. Unlike his situation, with Thais, they had a lead. Pilar. Bartel.
Holding
out a hand to help her stand, he waited.
It
seemed like forever, but she finally reached out and placed her hand in his. He
gripped it tight. “Partners?”
This
time she didn’t hesitate. “Partners.”
Thais
did her best not to look at Hinto again as they bargained with one of the
whores behind the filthy bar. It was early enough that only one man had
staggered along the empty street when they walked through town. The mare and Beast
waited on the outskirts, to attract as little attention as possible.
As
Hinto spoke with Annie, Thais studied him, trying to find the answer to a
puzzling question. Why had she told him so much this morning? Granted, she
hadn’t given many details, but an accounting of the tragedy had ripped open the
scarred wounds deep inside her. They hadn’t healed after almost four years and
probably never would. Hinto had to have seen her pain.
Instead
of trying to exploit her in any way, he’d given her his hand. His trust.
She
still didn’t know what to make of him.
Never
had she wanted to believe in a man so much. Even with Chow Yen, full of
fatherly advice and ancient wisdom, a man who’d saved their lives and taught
them about the Territories, she hadn’t given her full confidence.
Yet
with Hinto, she continued to see more of his strengths and less of his flaws.
He
prized the precious seeds she’d given him, surprising her that he’d actually
recognized the value of her gift. And he said nothing of what they’d done last
night. He’d kept to his word and taken the pleasure then left her alone, except
to hug her. Such comfort. Had he known how much she treasured their embrace? Did
he feel the same wonder in sharing with another? Or was it all just a huge,
jumbled mess in
her
mind?
“Come
on, Annie,” he murmured and glanced around them. “We’re alone. Help us. You
know what an ass Gregor is. We just need a little information, and maybe a
chance to distract him away from his friends. Think Thais could borrow
something to wear Gregor might like? I swear, if you help us, he’ll never bother
you again.”
“Until
his brother finds out.” Annie bit her lower lip. The dark circles under her
eyes and the faint bruises on her cheeks made her look fragile, despite her
sturdy frame. “You don’t get it. Gregor’s brutal, but he don’t try to kill
everyone he beds. Butch… He sees into you. Finds your weaknesses and plays on
‘em.” She faced Thais. “Gregor’ll beat on you some, and he’s rough when he take
you. But that’s it. Butch’ll beat you bloody—to the bone—when you can’t give
him what he needs. If you’re lucky, you might live through it.” She rubbed her
left shoulder, her thoughts far away.
“And
what does he need?” Thais asked quietly.
“I
don’t know. Hell, I don’t know if he knows.”
Hinto
cleared his throat. “Butch won’t be an issue. We’re after Gregor. By the time
we’re through, Butch won’t know what the hell happened. Now how about you find
us something he can’t track to any of you girls in particular. Hell, just make
a fuss about somebody stealing your clothes, if you have to. By now he’s
already suspicious of Thais anyway. She clocked Freddy and Cedric yesterday.”
Annie
brightened. “That’s right. I heard about that. So you really think you can kill
Gregor?”
“Yes.”
“Hell.
If you’re so sure, who am I to stop you? Hold on a minute.” She disappeared and
reappeared moments later with a swath of sheer, white fabric. “Try this out. But
like I said, I don’t want nobody saying I helped you.”
Hinto
kissed her on the cheek.
To
Thais’s amazement, the woman blushed.
“You’re
a good woman, Annie McCabe.” He placed a gold nugget in her hand.
“Get
out of here,” Annie said in a gruff voice. “I probably got customers waitin’.” She
smacked Hinto on the ass before she turned and left.
Hinto
held up the thin dress and clenched his jaw. “Shit. This is gonna wreck me for
sure.” Before she could say anything, he stilled and looked all around him.
She
immediately went on alert. “What—”
“Shh.”
He cocked his head and his eyes seemed to glow, no longer blue, but an
incandescent white filled with power. “Four coming from the church, three from
the east, and another two from where we left Beast and your horse.”
“But
how can you know?” She had no doubt he knew.
“We
need to move.”
She
followed him away from the bar without question, though the logical place to
make a stand would have been against the cover of the building. Thais didn’t
want to risk anyone inside getting hurt because of her. Apparently, Hinto felt
the same. They raced to take cover against a cluster of thick trees standing
beyond the bar.
“Soon
as we leave here, the pair by Beast is going to see us,” he whispered and
tugged her to crouch behind him.
She
glanced over her shoulder and saw the four men he’d mentioned walking down the
street like they owned it. They hadn’t spotted her and Hinto yet, but it was a
matter of a few paces at most.
“Stay
with me, Thais. We’ll take on the ones guarding our horses. Our best chance is
to outrun them.” He held tight to Annie’s white dress as they raced for Beast.
Shouts
rang out behind them. The sound of gunfire. Hinto swore and stumbled, and just
as quickly leapt to his feet and pushed her in front of him.
She
reached Beast before he did and came face to face with the wrong end of a pistol.
Not
thinking, she reacted. Knocking the gun away, she drove the flat of her palm up
and into her opponent’s nose, shoving shards of bone into his brain. Hinto took
care of the other man, who dropped like a stone.
“Fuck
me,” Hinto swore and threw himself on top of her as gunshot preceded more
unwanted guests. He flinched above her, and she wondered if he’d been hit.
Beast
rose up on his back legs and struck one man down.
“Dammit,
you stupid vore, take off,” Hinto shouted.
The
vore screamed and galloped away. The mare followed, leaving them unprotected.
Surrounded.
“Sorry,
I didn’t sense the others ‘til it was too late,” he whispered in her ear. “The
minute you see an opportunity, get clear. I mean it.”
Hinto
had nothing to apologize for, but she didn’t get the chance to tell him. They
dragged him to his feet and smacked the butt of a rifle into his forehead. He
dropped to the ground, unconscious as she quickly rose.
She
managed to kick one male between his legs, strike another in the throat and had
almost wrestled a third man’s gun away when pain exploded in her head.
Thais
didn’t feel herself fall as darkness overtook her.
Chapter Nine
The
past overwhelmed her with a vengeance.
In the wake of such tragedy, Thais
spent the next weeks with the others, cleaning up the village and nursing the
few remaining Amazons to health. The princess had taken a turn for the worse,
succumbing to a fever that only the Goddess could ease, for even Yara’s healing
hands had done no good.
Despite
the hard work Thais poured into salvaging what remained of their tribe, she
knew it would never be enough. She’d burned her mother’s body that first night
back.
Aliane was the last to fall.
She couldn’t stop
envisioning her mother outnumbered and wounded, still fighting, still doing her
duty to protect and defend. All alone.
Thais
closed her hand around a broken piece of black rock, what remained of her
mother’s spear, a chip off the tip. The shard cut into her palm, and she
squeezed harder.
A
glance around the village told her what she needed to know. She could do no
more here. She’d been given a task by the new queen, to bring back the Amazon
crown. And she’d do it, or die trying.
Thais
packed up what meager belongings she still possessed, those she would need for
a trip to hunt down the demons that had brought such chaos. She left her bundle
in her hut and sought the queen.
Princess—Queen—Estefina
lay as still as death, the heavy rattle of her breathing all that filled the
silence. Thais would have cried if she’d had any tears left to spend.
She
knelt and bowed her head. “I will do as you’ve bid, my queen. By my oath, you
will have your crown.”
“And
the head of the man who stole it,” Luiza added from the doorway.
Rather
than argue in the queen’s presence, Thais lifted her fist to her heart and prayed
to the Goddess to heal the tribe’s heart—their queen. She stood and left the
building, Luiza in trace. When she stopped to confront the younger hunter,
Isador joined them with two packs, her bow, and a quiver of arrows.
“We’re
going with you.” Luiza frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. Isadora
nodded next to her.
“And
I’m going, too.” Yara met them, her pack and a medical bag in hand. “Don’t
think to deny any of us our due, Thais. Guardian you may be, but we all
shrugged our duty. The queen tasked us all.”
“She
tasked me.” Thais felt the burden. The leader of their small group, she should
have known better than to shirk her duty. She should have listened to her
instincts.
Luiza
shook her head, her blonde braid flying. “No. Estefina spoke to us all. We all
heard her. And we’re all going. We are Amazons; we will do our duty by our
queen.”