Page 15 of Taken By Raider Kings
“Zach’s what?”The primary kidnapper was at the door suddenly, his shadow filling the entire aperture, and the other two fell silent.“Coffee, Eric.Courtesy of our new shaman.Isn’t she sweet?”
“Breakfast?”Julia arrived, fresh as a daisy, her glossy hair combed and her face pink from scrubbing.Sophie’s skin crawled; her mouth tasted like ashes.“Where’s mine?”
“You don’t get any,” Zach said, pleasantly enough.“I told you to watch her.”
“She’s right here.”Julia’s lower lip stuck out; the girl looked supremely confident that she would get her way.
“Get in the van.If we lose our shaman like we lost our alpha, I’m holdingyouresponsible.Even if it’s not on your watch.”Zach’s smile didn’t change, but something in his face shifted, and the morning grew fractionally more chilly.
Sophie eased back into the van’s almost-comforting cave, suddenly very sure something awful was about to happen.She’d felt this sensation before, whenever Marc was a certain type of quiet or smelled too strongly of malt liquor when arriving home.
But Julia just bowed her head and hopped into the van.They all moved so gracefully, it was unreal.The remaining kidnappers piled in as well, and Sophie was suddenly squashed in a press of warm bodies.
Zach thrust a steaming foam cup into her hands.“Cream and sugar, sweetheart.And then we’ll figure out getting you a toothbrush and everything.You’re probably not ready for life on the road.”
That is such an understatement.Sophie stared at him.The van door heaved shut, blotting out the parking lot—might as well be the surface of the moon, and did her exactly as much good.
Weird crackling quiet folded over all of them.She was about to say something—plead, maybe, or point outagainthat they were kidnapping her, or something equally useless.But the odd silence filled every corner of the van, stopped the words in her throat.
The engine roused again, and she found herself on the bench seat once more, huddling against the vehicle’s far wall, coffee cup trembling in her cold hands, her face aching and feet nearly blue with cold.
She was trapped.
At least, for now.
eight
A day’sworth of driving had them a safe five hundred miles away, even with bathroom and food breaks.Far enough that Zach couldn’t avoid having them stop, but a reasonably comfortable distance from a rabidupirattack.
They kept the Silence save during mealtime, and there seemed no reassurance capable of getting the new shaman to open up.She didn’t even respond to Brenn’s gentle mealtime questions.
She outright refused to eat, just huddled against the wall under his coat and stared reproachfully at them all.When the Silence returned she trembled and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.It was a good try, and he let her keep the illusion.
Julia loftily ignored the girl except for a bathroom break, and Zach saw his sister pinch her arm as they hurried toward another rest-stop bathroom.
He let that go; at least he’d persuaded her into socks and a pair of Brenn’s old trainers.Another night in their company, smelling them, would trigger her—if proximity hadn’t started the biochemical processes already.Found shamans took much longer than born to adjust to Tribe life, to the responsibility and the shock of finding out the world held more than just regular old bleeders.
Then again, most found shamans were taken into a regular Family and trained by another of their peculiar kind, finding and shifting to a Family of their own later.They weren’t taken off the street right after anupirattack by a half-wild shamanless Family who had just lost their alpha.It was the very worst possible scenario.
And there was another thing.The instinct that had compelled him to grab her was circling the bottom of his mind even now, whispering other things.
Like, Look at that hair, even all tangled up it’s pretty and it smells like sunshine.Or, Those hips have a nice curve to them, don’t they?
Or how about, Her lips look pretty kissable when she purses them like that.
And something less pleasant.We’re being followed.
Dusk fell in cold streaks of scarlet and orange, the Silence fraying naturally on its own.Clouds massed on the horizon along with the glow of a good-size city; a hotel on the fringes wasn’t hard to find.They were damn near flush with cash, so he sent Eric in to get a room, then shepherded his weary Family up the stairs to a nice little room with two queen beds and a kitchenette, not to mention a television Julia immediately turned on and a bathroom the new shaman looked longingly at.
The flannel shirt was far too big for her, though it was his.The sight of her wrapped in something he wore regularly was guaranteed to distract him—just like the her tantalizing aroma mixing withhissmell, rolling off the fabric.Right into the middle of his skull, in fact, and hitting him right below the belt as well.
Brenn hopped out to get food; Julia and Eric were sent to get toiletries, things the new shaman would need.That left him alone in the room with her, and as soon as the silence closed around them she edged for the bathroom, shutting the door with a bang audible even through the television’s yapping.
He turned the squawk-box down and drew the curtains, spending a few minutes watching the parking lot.The animal at the bottom of his mind crouched, watchful and tense.There was no real proof they were being followed… but there it was.The itching between his shoulderblades and the nagging in his gut just wouldn’t go away.
Trust that feeling, son,Dad’s voice rumbled inside his head.It’s your best friend, and it’ll keep you and your Family safe.
His father.
