Page 52 of Hot Zone

They picked their way along the floor of a winding valley. With the exception of plentiful scree, the going was fairly easy. She urged her mare forward, and Cygna obediently moved up next to Polaris.

Tessa arched an eyebrow at Rustam but said nothing. If he wanted to get over his sulk and be civil with her, he could make the first move.

He surprised her by holding out a hand to her, palm up. Without looking at her, he said, “Give me your hand.”

He seemed to be concentrating fiercely on something—something that worried him more than a little. There was a time and a place for picking fights, and one for just following orders. She sensed that this was the latter.

Rather than distract him, she reached out to him without arguing.

The moment their hands touched, that wild swirl of energy leaped and jumped around them both. The horses threw their heads up sharply, but settled quickly. Steady beasts, both of them.

Rustam continued to study the mountains intently. Finally, he muttered, “Greek patrol off to the west. They haven’t spotted us. If we can get out of this valley in the next few minutes, we’ll be clear of them.”

His hand dropped away from hers and the indigo energy between them dissipated. He urged Polaris into a careful trot. Cygna followed suit, and Tessa focused all her attention on helping the mare navigate the uneven ground. They slowed only when Rustam spotted an overhang high up the side of the valley and headed for it.

They had to dismount and lead the horses up the last part of the climb out of the valley. But they made it to the deep shade of a broad rock before anyone came along to spot them. Tessa was breathing as hard as her horse and grateful for the rest as they waited in their makeshift hiding spot.

Rustam held out his hand again. Wordlessly, she laid her palm in his.

This time, standing shoulder to shoulder with him in the confined space, she felt his mind ranging outward, probing the terrain around them. Her own awareness expanded to encompass the local area. She felt the living creatures nearby, tiny pinpricks of energy crawling, crouching and slithering.

There. Off to the west. Three—no, four—large energy sources clumped together, moving toward the north. That must be the patrol he’d sensed earlier.

The scouts were much closer than she’d realized. Rustam didn’t need to tell her to be still while they passed by. The two of them and the horses huddled together quietly, waiting. This time Rustam did not release her hand.

A wave of protectiveness passed through his fingers and flowed over her. As angry as he might be with her, he couldn’t help being who he was and taking care of her. She supposed it came with the territory of being an alpha male. Still, it must be hard to feel responsible for other people.

The Greek patrol passed perilously close to them, but then began to grow distant once more, moving off to the north, no doubt in search of the Persian army.

“No, it isn’t hard most of the time.”

She started. Stared up questioningly at Rustam.

He repeated, “It has its rewards, being a—how do you call it? An alpha male? Better that than some herd gelding who trudges along through life, docilely doing whatever he’s told.”

Okay, then. So now he could pick her thoughts out of her head.

He snorted. “Like you can’t do the same thing to me?”

She jerked her hand away from his.

Yeah, but he didn’t have a massive secret like she did. If he picked up on the fact that she was a time traveler, she didn’t even want to think about how he would react.

An even more alarming realization slammed into her. Sometimes he was able to pick up her thoughts when they weren’t touching. She had to find a way not to think about…that…at all!

Caution dictated that she get far, far away from this dangerous man, as quickly as possible. Small problem, however. She needed him. No way could she navigate this rugged terrain and work her way past not one, but two, armies without his psychic powers of detecting people nearby.

No doubt about it. As soon as they made it through the pass, she had to get rid of him.

He flashed her a sharp look all of a sudden.

Great. Had he heard what she’d just thought?

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