Authors: Olivia March
“Please what, female?” he asked quietly.
“Please don’t hurt us,” came the reply as the woman clutched
her daughter even tighter. He could tell holding eye contact with him was a
significant struggle for her, but she maintained it. Helion would have
respected her for that if he wasn’t so offended she thought he would harm a
female and her babe.
“If we could just leave…” she continued.
Helion cocked a brow at that, incredulous. Did the woman
really think he’d allow a helpless woman and child to wander around this
Scourge-infested city alone? She was under his protection now and he took the
responsibility seriously.
“Leave to where, female? This city is crawling with Scourge
battalions. There’s one dying outside this hovel as we speak. Where is it that you
wish to go?”
The woman was skittish, he noted, shifting her weight a few
times and roving her gaze over his face, as though looking for something. There
had been a touch of mockery in his question, and no little arrogance, so her
instincts were spot-on.
“I’ll find somewhere for us—” she began, but Helion raised a
hand, in no mood to hear it.
“As amusing as that idea is, I have no time to indulge your
fantasies. My men are killing the Scourge battalion outside these walls but
more will come. This city isn’t safe for you to wander around with no
protection, stumbling into battle lines unknowing. You will come with us now. We
will take you somewhere safe.” Helion beckoned her forward with his free hand,
ready to conclude this matter and start planning the next engagement.
“No, we won’t go with you. There is no safe place you can
leave us, there’s no safe place anywhere on Earth anymore. I’m grateful for
your help but if you would just let us go now—”
“There is safety to be had, human. I will escort you to a
refugee camp for your kind. They are protected from Scourge attacks. You will
be safe there.”
Helion stopped then, amazed when a surge of terror came over
the woman’s face. She backed farther away from him, shaking her head, her eyes
wide and pleading. He turned to look at his men and saw the same confusion on
their faces.
“Please, not a camp, don’t force us to a camp, we’d be
better off dead. Just let us go, we have a better chance of survival on our
own, please!”
The woman was close to having a breakdown. Helion could
smell her terror and anxiety, could hear her heart beating madly. He also heard
the little one squeak in distress, her mother suddenly holding her too tightly.
With two thousand years of experience under his belt, Helion
was a good judge of character and of a person’s honesty. This girl was
terrified of going to a refugee camp with her own people. But why would that
be? He made a mental note to investigate the refugee camps. Another branch of
Keepers was in charge of keeping their perimeters safe and supplies coming in
but the camps were organized and governed by humans themselves. He’d not given
them much thought other than making sure not to engage the enemy near them, but
if this woman was terrified to go there…
Now this situation had become even more difficult. He couldn’t
disregard the woman’s terror and potentially send her into another dangerous
situation. But neither was he willing to let her roam unprotected around the
city where other Scourge battalions were scouring for human victims. That left
only one option, though he was loath to take it. He had no time to babysit a
female and her infant but he was pragmatic. The Keepers would soon have this
city secured and with order restored, it would be safe for the girl and her
child to go their own way. Until then… He sighed.
“Fine, female, if you won’t go to a camp with your own kind,
you will come with us to ours. There you will stay until we secure the city or
find someplace safe for you both. Come.”
He beckoned again with his free hand, impatient to leave. He
sensed the fighting outside was wrapping up and he was eager to move on to
killing more Scourge. But to his annoyance, the female once again shook her
head.
“We’ll be safer on our own, we don’t need your protection.
Please just leave us alone!”
Helion clenched his hand into a fist, the only outward sign
of his temper, but one the woman seemed to observe with fear. It was a struggle
not to be offended once again. She was a small, fragile woman and had nothing
to fear from him. But the taste of her terror was coating his tongue, curling
his lips with distaste.
“You don’t have a choice in this, female. You will come with
us now. I do not have the time or the inclination to argue with you,” Helion
drawled, frosty with displeasure. He stalked toward the girl, ignoring her
attempt at retreat and the wild glances she threw around the room as though
looking for an escape. There was no escape and best she learn that quickly.
“Do not fight me. Think of your offspring and behave
yourself,” he said as he cornered her in the far side of the small room. Small
whimpers were erupting from her throat and her gaze darted from his eyes to his
naked blade. He sheathed it, hoping to lessen her terror before grabbing her by
the arm and pulling her with him as he exited the room. Unsurprisingly she dug
in her heels and tried to pull away but he ignored both efforts and gently
dragged her out of the building.
His men formed a protective circle around the woman as soon
as they exited the building but there was no real need. Helion saw nothing but
huge piles of dead Scourge. So he’d missed the rest of the fighting. That was
no surprise—his men were extremely efficient killers. They’d even begun the
process of stacking and burning and it looked like there was minimal damage to
the surrounding buildings. Add that to their success in saving two human
females and what they had here was a very good night’s work by all
measurements.
“Good work, men,” he called, receiving their exuberant calls
with a grin. He felt the girl shrink away from the roars and shook his head at
what a frightened little mouse she seemed to be. Considering how pathetically
weak her struggles were, one would think she’d welcome the protection of a
strong male. Her death and that of her child was a certainty without their
protection. Small helpless creatures usually had a better instinct for
self-preservation than this one had.
“Commander!” called Tohran, Helion’s second in command,
jogging up to reach Helion’s side. “All the Scourge have been dispatched.
Nothing unexpected occurred, no casualties on our end,” he added, eyeballing
the human who continued trying to remove her arm from the Commander’s grip.
Helion saw Tohran’s gaze linger on the woman as she
struggled to get free, his cocked brow showing curiosity. Helion kept a firm
grip on the woman with one hand but otherwise ignored her. His men, however,
were not as discreet. They stared with obvious curiosity and Helion couldn’t
blame them. This was the first human female many of them had seen up close so it
was only natural. He’d let them stare as long as they didn’t try to touch. He’d
saved the girl and her offspring, which meant she was now under his protection.
Helion didn’t know if his kind could even mate with her kind but he wasn’t
willing to let anyone experiment with his new charge, not as curiously
protective of her and the infant as he felt.
“Excellent. Let us get back to camp and begin plans for the
next assault,” Helion replied with a grim smile.
“Of course, Commander, but the humans…what’s to be done with
these two?” Tohran asked.
Helion had never been in a situation like this. Usually any
humans they encountered were dead civilians or soldiers. They’d seen some human
females but only from a distance, as their unit was here solely in a combat
capacity, not a diplomatic one. The girl had frozen at the question but still a
fine tremor ran through her body, one he felt through their connection. He was
used to others finding him intimidating, enjoyed it even. But he’d never had
one literally quaking in fear like this one was. He felt the urge to take those
trembling lips with his own and replace all that terror with pure,
unadulterated lust. Now, however, wasn’t the time.
“It appears the human refugee camps might be somewhat…deficient.
We will be taking these two with us to camp. Tell the men to fall back there
now and get food and rest and medical attention if they need it. We’ll move out
again in six hours.” He ignored the surprised look on Tohran’s face, as well as
the renewed struggles from the girl, and turned to his other lieutenants.
“Lightstep back and supervise preparations. I’ll be along
shortly with these two.” He wanted to have a few private words with the girl before
they left for camp. Her resistance needed to be put paid to. It irritated him.
When his men bowed respectfully to him and stepped away, Helion finally looked
back at the stubborn woman.
“What’s your name, female?” he asked abruptly, glancing down
at her averted face. When her head jerked up in surprise, he was treated to
another glimpse of those beautiful eyes set in her dirty face. Tired eyes, but
no less attractive for that. Exhaustion, wariness and fear. He saw all these
things. But deep underneath all that he was surprised to also see a hint of
something else, something new, something perhaps…hope.
“Gwen. My name is Gwen Daughtry,” she replied softly, obviously
fighting the battle once again to maintain eye contact with him. She clearly didn’t
want to go with them, even though they hadn’t harmed her and indeed had even
saved her life. And though she’d tried over and over to slip out of Helion’s grip,
he’d neither reprimanded her or harmed her. He hadn’t even tightened his grip;
it was firm and unbreakable, but he wasn’t hurting her.
“Very well, Lady Gwen, you may call me Helion. Here is how
this will go. You are coming with me now. You cannot escape and if you’re
intelligent, you’ll realize you are much better off with me and my men than out
there alone. You will not be harmed and neither will the child but you are
under my protection. That means you will follow my commands. Once this city is
secured and order restored, I will release you and the child as you desire. Do
you comprehend me?”
Helion followed the motion of Gwen’s throat as she swallowed
hard, and then watched her free hand as it stroked down the mound of her baby
over and over. She betrayed her nervousness with these gestures, but he’d have
known it anyway. The girl’s emotions were prominently displayed on her face and
in her scent. He could tell she wanted to escape him still, perhaps even let
fly some angry words, but she tamped them down out of fear.
“I understand,” was all she said before lowering her head to
the child’s for a sweet kiss. Her love for the tiny girl was clear and it
touched a primal instinct in Helion he hadn’t ever felt in his long existence.
This woman, a mortal, a young mortal, had offspring to carry on her line. That
was something Helion could not boast, even living a thousand years. His seed
had never quickened in any of his lovers, much to his disappointment.
“Very well. Just know if you disobey me, attempt to escape
and put your life at risk, there will be consequences,” he added.
“You said you wouldn’t harm us,” she replied, clutching her
daughter tighter.
“And harm you I will not. But there will be consequences. You
would be wise not to test me in this matter. Understand?” He waited for her
nod, then reached down and swept her up into his arms, baby and all, ignoring
her gasp of alarm.
“Close your eyes, human, lightstepping will be disorienting
for you.” Without waiting to see if she complied, he gathered them close to his
chest and stepped quickly in the direction of his camp.
Gwen did as her captor ordered, mostly so he wouldn’t chance
to see her reaction to being held in his arms. As a plus-sized woman, this was
the first time she’d been lifted in all her adult life. She’d lost a lot of
pounds over the last few months but even so she was no lightweight. But it didn’t
seem like holding her strained him at all—he was freakishly strong. He held her
too close to his gore-splattered armor but she didn’t complain. On the
contrary, feeling his strength all around her drained her own.
Her reaction to him still amazed her. Back in that small
office, this Keeper had stood out from all the others. He was taller than the
rest, with a more compelling presence and an air of command. He also had
glowing white hair, currently slick with the blood and bits of the Scourge. But
it was his eyes that stunned Gwen the most. The color was like variegated jade,
intensely green. But they glowed, actually glowed, with emerald fire. Just looking
into them made Gwen feel strange. She was scared but…not.
She felt safe with him, dangerous as that idea was. It was
just…he felt so solid, so hard. She’d been on her own for so long and it had
been so difficult and so stressful. It was tempting to let someone take care of
her for a change. She didn’t plan to give up—she still planned to escape, but
it was so tempting to just lean on Helion’s strength. But for now, she just
clung tight to Evelyn and kept her eyes tightly shut. Helion had her and her
limited acquaintance with the sexy Keeper assured her she couldn’t get away
while he was determined to keep her.
The idea of being held by these Keepers was only slightly
less terrifying than being taken by Scourge. At least she would know what to
expect from them—horrible torture and a gruesome demise. Keepers, on the other
hand, were a giant mystery. No one saw them operate but they left huge piles of
dead and charred Scourge in their wake. They claimed they were here to aid
humanity against their common enemy but they didn’t cooperate on military
strikes with human soldiers. So far they didn’t seem to be a threat to humans
but who knew what they would do once the Scourge had been dispatched? Gwen
couldn’t risk Evelyn’s life on the big question mark that was the Keepers, no
matter how compelling their leader was.
She had no choice for the moment, however. The wind bit into
her limbs with such force she knew they had to be traveling at a crazy pace but
she didn’t want to look. And all too quickly the rush of air stilled, signaling
their arrival at the Keeper camp. The elusive Keeper camp. As far as Gwen knew
humans couldn’t find these camps on their own. The Keepers had some sort of
cloaking ability that hid them from humans and Scourge alike. She opened her
eyes then with genuine curiosity, wondering what a Keeper camp looked like.
The first thing she saw, however, was Helion looking down on
her and once her gaze was snagged on his, she couldn’t look away. He was like
sex on a stick, but this tasty treat was deadly. How could he have such fire in
his eyes but be so cold and emotionless at the same time? His face was so
expressionless she couldn’t tell anything about how he felt. Carrying her had
to be straining him but his face gave up not even one single twitch of
discomfort.
“Welcome to our camp, Gwen Daughtry,” he said, his voice
bland. Surely he knew the prolonged eye contact was making her uncomfortable,
but he kept at it, as if he was daring her to be intimidated by him.
Gwen pressed her lips together and glared back at the
arrogant tool. What did he expect, a thank you? She was here against her will,
desperately afraid for her life and that of her daughter. And this cold bastard
was having a good time mocking her.
“Could you put us down now, please?” she asked stonily.
Being held so effortlessly against Helion’s chest was… Okay,
it was hot. In any other circumstances if a man did this it would almost be a
panty-dropping moment. But not with this Keeper, never with him.
“Ah yes, there are two of you, are there not? Your daughter
is somewhere hidden under all those wrappings. What is her name?”
His eyes shifted to said wrappings but barely an inch of the
infant was visible. Gwen had made sure of that. Her hands tightened over Evie
again in a reflexive movement. And because she was watching so closely, she
noticed the amusement in Helion’s eyes wither.
“Evelyn. Her name is Evelyn, or Evie,” Gwen replied,
clutching the baby even closer to her chest. “Please put us down.”
“All in good time, Lady Gwen. First I will take you to our
camp healer. I want you both inspected for illness and injury before you get
settled in for the night.”
“We don’t need a healer. We’re not injured.”
Gwen’s protests, of course, fell on deaf ears. The annoying
Keeper would not put them down and walked quickly through his camp, so quickly
Gwen barely got a look at anything before they were standing in front of a
strange tent.
“You will be seen, nonetheless, and Evelyn as well,” he said
on arrival, before finally setting Gwen on her feet inside the tent. Gwen
didn’t fail to notice he stood in front of the tent flap as though to prevent
her from fleeing back through it, but Gwen wasn’t fool enough to try to get by
him. Even if it were possible, she’d only run into hundreds more like him right
outside the tent.
“Welcome, Commander. What can I do for you?”
Gwen threw a quick look at the speaker. This had to be the
healer, though he was definitely like no doctor she’d ever met. He had lavender-colored
eyes, a color she’d never seen before, and dove-gray hair.
“I know you’ve not treated a human before, Nathal, but I
want you to examine this female and her offspring. Check them for injuries,
diseases and overall health. They will be guests in our camp for the
foreseeable future.”
Helion’s voice was bland, as was his expression, as if he
wasn’t requesting Gwen put her faith in a total stranger. As if she wasn’t
supposed to let him touch her and her daughter, no questions asked. Frustration
and fear mingled in her gut unpleasantly but she knew no matter how much she
resisted, Helion would force her compliance one way or another.
“As you wish, Commander,” Nathal replied. Gwen’s mutinous
glare didn’t seem to affect him in the least but that didn’t stop her from
doing it.
“My lady, if you would please unwrap the child, I will see
her first.”
Gwen’s gaze darted between the Keeper with the strange
purple eyes, and Helion. Neither was acting aggressively but to trust them with
her child…she was so scared to do it. But one look at Helion’s face told her
all she needed to know. He wouldn’t let her leave this tent until his order was
obeyed and though she hated him for it, she knew there was nothing she could do
but comply.
“What will you be doing to my daughter?” she asked sharply,
clutching Evie again. The poor thing was no doubt tired of her mom’s nerves but
her only protest was a restless wiggle. Gwen knew she’d need to feed Evelyn
soon but they’d need to get through this current ordeal first.
“Just a scan, my lady. I will cause the young lady no pain
or discomfort,” Nathal replied, holding up his hands to show Gwen he had no
weapons.
He looked harmless enough, as far as he compared to the
other Keepers Gwen had seen that night. That gray hair didn’t deceive her that
he was elderly but it was a soft color and those strange purple eyes reflected
no overt hostility. The healer wasn’t armored and carried no weapons. So,
reluctantly, Gwen began to unwrap her child. The healer drifted forward to
watch the process, curiosity alive in his face.
“May I?” he asked, reaching for the delicate little body.
Though Gwen would really rather not, one more look at Helion’s
implacable face convinced her. She reluctantly pulled Evie away from her chest
and placed her in Nathal’s hands, an almost imperceptible whimper falling from
her lips. The healer was especially gentle though, perhaps sympathetic to the
terrified distress she couldn’t hide.
Gwen focused on her child the whole time, taking in the cap
of bright red curls covering her dainty little skull, and her bright blue eyes
that peered up at the healer when he laid her on the table. One tiny little
hand rose and was immediately stuffed in her little rosebud mouth. That made
her smile and, surprisingly, Nathal as well. Then he gently laid his large hand
on Evie’s stomach and Gwen held her breath.
“You have a beautiful child, my lady, and a perfectly
healthy one,” he said after a moment. “She needs to feed but I sense no
physical ailments.”
Gwen smiled with relief and stepped forward to reclaim her
baby but once again Helion halted her with that damned iron grip on her elbow.
“You’re sure of that, Nathal? The girl child seems very small.”
The dubious way Helion was eyeing her daughter pissed Gwen
off, as did the restraining hold he still had on her arm. She’d done the best
she could to keep Evelyn healthy. And though she knew she hadn’t done well
enough, hearing Evie was healthy was such a relief Helion’s doubts rubbed her
nerves raw.
“I’m positive, Commander. Her small physique must just be
something typical for human offspring. From what I can see, the mother is quite
small herself fully grown. Full-grown humans are nowhere near as robust as
Keepers, so it stands to reason their offspring would also be more fragile than
Keeper get. This child, though, is tiny, weighing no more than ten pounds, and the
pale skin covering her bones is delicate and petal soft. She just needs some
good rest and plenty of milk and I’m sure she will gain weight.”
Helion nodded, his eyes frankly assessing Gwen. Being the
subject of such intense scrutiny was a new and uncomfortable feeling. She
supposed she was small by their standards. Helion was head and shoulders above
her and she imagined a Keeper female would be several inches taller than her
too. That didn’t stop her face from reddening at being assessed in such a way,
however.
“Yes…very well. You may hand me the child and inspect Lady
Gwen now,” he finally replied, releasing Gwen to stride forward and claim her
child. Gwen gasped in dismay but he had Evie in his hands before she could
attempt to stop him. She grabbed his arm but didn’t pull on it, fearing his
reaction. He was holding Evie’s tiny head in one hand and supporting her bottom
with the other, and judging by Evie’s bright eyes, she seemed fine with this.
“Stop fretting, woman, and get on the table,” Helion said
coldly, never taking his eyes off Evelyn. The way her tiny arms waved and her
little feet kicked out seemed to fascinate him. He definitely wasn’t smiling
but Gwen thought she detected a little softening of his expression when he
looked at Evie.
Still, she resisted the urge to pound on the arrogant Keeper
by dint of pure will only. She knew it wouldn’t harm the beast but she also
knew she’d get a lot of satisfaction from it. Instead she allowed the healer
Nathal to assist her onto the table and to lie down on her back. She knew what
to expect now but when Nathal’s hand came down to rest lightly on her stomach,
she felt her pulse hammer in anxiety.
Nathal frowned, something that caught Helion’s attention
immediately. Gwen could see his gaze immediately leave Evie and focus in on
Nathal.
“Commander, this woman is in bad shape. She’s starving, her
body crying out for food and drink. And rest, lots of rest. My senses are
telling me she’s on the verge of a complete physical collapse.”
Gwen was surprised to see Nathal appeared genuinely
distressed she was in such condition. She couldn’t imagine why he cared,
though, when he hardly knew her. The same applied to Helion as well. Why he’d
made the effort to bring her and Evie to his camp, when he could have just left
them to fend for themselves, was a mystery. She was even further shocked when
the news of her condition made Helion’s eyes light with green fire again, but
he didn’t seem surprised. And why should he? Gwen knew she looked like
half-starved gutter trash. Once upon a time her hair had been a glossy auburn,
her skin glowing with health, and her eyes a bright blue like Evie’s. Now she
looked like a half-starved, filthy gutter rat.
“Food, drink and rest she will have, Nathal, I will be
seeing to it personally. Come, Lady Gwen, you may have your child back now,” he
drawled.
Gwen saw him smirk as she jumped as quickly off the table as
if she’d been scalded, to reclaim her daughter. But clearly her little girl
approved, as she smiled and cooed in that happy way she had. Gwen didn’t have
time to enjoy that smile, though, because Helion grabbed their meager
belongings and claimed her arm once again to steer them from the tent.
“Where are you taking us now?” she asked wearily, holding her
girl close to her chest once again. Her anxiety levels spiked as she and Evie
were dragged through the camp, closely scrutinized by Keepers relaxing in front
of their tents.
“You heard the healer, woman. You need food and rest. We’re
going to my tent where I can make sure you receive both,” he replied in a cool
voice, cutting through his soldiers efficiently, not stopping but nodding to return
their bows.
Gwen gasped in dismay, which he of course completely
ignored. They were going to his tent? That’s where he expected them to stay? No
way. That just wouldn’t work—it couldn’t! She couldn’t share a living space
with this huge, frosty, obnoxious Keeper. Not only was he pushy and cold but he
was also…just too damn sexy. He stood head and shoulders over her, had serious
bedroom eyes, and underneath that armor she had no doubt there was a body made
for sin. Her temperature would never get back to normal if she had to actually
live with him. That escape plan she’d started formulating in the back of her
mind was now her number-one priority.
Helion strode into his tent, pulling the reluctant woman
through with him. If he were a lesser Keeper, he’d be annoyed by her obvious
desperation to avoid his company. But as a warrior Keeper and a crown prince of
the Light Keepers of the Deep Forest, he was confident in his personal appeal
to females. Human females might not find him appealing but that was hardly a
negative. His manservant, the ever-efficient Verdun, stood at attention waiting
for him, as he did whenever Helion was present in the camp. As eager as Helion
was for a good scrub down, first things first.