Xandros glanced back at Atlana who'd picked herself up off the floor. “They'll kill you. You sense it, don't you?” The Brotherhood's hatred of the Ardasians was well-known.
Atlana's nostrils flared. “Yes."
"I'll cover for you. Get out of here."
For a moment, those eerie green eyes held his. Then she crept toward the back of the house. Xandros rose, using his bulk to fill the front door. Carina tried to yank him back into the house.
What he saw shocked him. The Brotherhood had sent four priests, not Primarian soldiers. That was a mistake. The villagers surrounded the four men who seemed to have no idea they were outnumbered. Perhaps they thought the small community wouldn't help the escaping couple.
They obviously didn't know much about this planet. They certainly weren't aware of the legend on Nariad that had forced Xandros to prove his mated status.
"Surrender the messenger, Xandros Jasper."
He shoved Carina back into the dark recesses of the hut. “She's my bounty. The price on Rina's head exceeds anything the Brotherhood has offered me."
A laser pistol appeared in the priest's hand from inside the voluminous folds of his robe. “I offer you a chance to live."
Xandros snorted. “Once you have your assassin back, I'll be dead anyway.” He shook his head. “No, my friend. Go back to the good father and tell him I plan to get my money's worth from this bounty."
One of the priests edged around the back of the hut, and Xandros sent a quick warning glance to Carina. As if he'd spoken words, she nodded and kept her gaze on the back door. For a moment, he reveled in that connection, that ability to communicate, and then he focused on the weapon-wielding priest. “Come back when you have a better offer.” Hopefully, they'd be long gone.
Suddenly, things shifted. The priest that had sneaked in the back grabbed Carina. His mate could defend herself, but Xandros couldn't control the rage. A red haze dropped over his eyes, and he attacked.
In a blur, he dispatched the threat and flung the unconscious form at the leader of the invaders. The priests only had time to see their danger, but not enough time to react, before Xandros was among them. The two who flanked the leader didn't have a chance to draw a weapon before Xandros took one down from a downward chop to his throat and the other was doubled over from a blow to his gonads. The leader picked himself up off the ground where he'd fallen when his brethren had slammed into him. He aimed the laser pistol and had Xandros in his sites.
One of the villagers kicked his arm, and the leader howled. Then Xandros picked the man up, seeing the priest through a red film. “Go back to your boss and tell him to go fuck himself."
The priest choked and sputtered. “You're her marked mate."
"Very good, asshole.” Xandros shook the priest like a rag doll, the rage still bubbling in his veins. “I'll kill anyone who touches her. Understand?"
Xandros threw the man across the street, and the villagers moved out of the way, letting the man roll several feet. He lay there, stunned, for a few minutes. Then he slowly rose to his feet and glared at the group of villagers. “The Brotherhood will decimate you,” he spat.
"Make sure you come back with your Primarian monkeys, priest,” Xandros taunted. “You'll all die."
The man's dead eyes focused on Carina standing behind Xandros. “'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,'” he said in a low, vicious tone.
Xandros started after the man, but he scrambled backward and sprinted out of the village.
It was time to get these people to safety. “Atlana?” he called.
She appeared as if she'd been standing there the entire time. Xandros nodded to the two dead priests and the unconscious one. “I've brought trouble to these people. The Brotherhood will bring Primarian soldiers. You know what that means."
Atlana's green eyes focused on the only priest still living. “I have a contingency plan. I'll take care of this."
"You have a hiding place, then?” Xandros scanned the forest and wondered where the hell they could hide.
The Ardasian nodded. “I've prepared for the day the Brotherhood discovered the Nariadians.” She spoke to the village in their tongue. Immediately they rushed, packing and gathering their things to leave. No panic, no questions. It was amazing.
"I'm sorry, Atlana.” He knew the Primarians would burn everything, destroying whatever history these people had.
"You'd be surprised how resilient the Nariadians are, Xandros Jasper.” Her gaze held his. “You are not what I thought you'd be."
"Why is that?” he said as he collected weapons from the dead bodies.
"What we heard of you wasn't complimentary."
"I'm sure it wasn't.” He glanced at Carina who stared at him. “There was a time I would have collected the bounty on Rina in a heartbeat."
"Before she was your marked mate.” Atlana's glance slid over Carina's mark. “But you believe it was fated."
He froze and blinked. “What?"
"I see it in your mind,” the woman said calmly. “She has always been your ideal. That's why you searched for her four years ago."
He glared at the Ardasian. “That's ridiculous."
Carina gripped his arm. “You looked for me?"
"You were Shanie's little sister,” he said. “You disappeared after Shanie was murdered.” He shook Carina's hand off his arm, unwilling to make more of the moment than it was. “I failed, didn't I?” he said bitterly. “I searched for you, but I didn't find you. Instead, I found I liked the money better than the frustrating search for a sixteen-year-old brat who didn't want to be found.” What the hell was wrong with him? He noted she winced and recoiled. Why was he lashing out at her? She didn't even remember any of it anyway. They were his choices, his path, his fuckup. It wasn't her fault.
"Perhaps you should have turned me over to the priests.” Her dead tone made his blood run cold.
He faced her and took a deep breath. “No. I'm sorry, machinka.” He ran an agitated hand through his hair. “I made my choices, and they weren't good ones."
"And then there was your father.” Atlana put in.
Xandros glared at her. “She doesn't remember any of it. Why bring it up?"
"Tell me,” Carina demanded.
He closed his eyes. Bleakly, he realized there was a sick part of him that didn't want her to remember, to be reminded of all the reasons he was such a bad choice for her. “My father betrayed Nyral military secrets to the Primarians. Thousands died because of his greed, his desire for power.”
And I'm no different.
"You are different,” Atlana insisted.
"No. For gain, I stole, I located people, and then didn't care what happened after that. I killed men because they threatened my security.” He shook his head. “I know what I am, Ardasian. I'm the trash of the universe."
"Don't say that,” Carina said sharply. Her face was white, and she was trembling like she had when she'd remembered something.
Xandros caught her just as she started to crumble. “Carina,” he said softly.
She gazed at him for a moment. “You spanked me,” she said incredulously and then passed out.
When Carina finally came to, her head hurt, and her vision was fuzzy. Something was definitely wrong with her. Even though she had no clear memories, she knew it was strange for her to faint. She glanced up and found Xandros's grim face above her. And they were moving. He had carried her unconscious body while they escaped the doomed village.
"I can walk.” She shifted in his arms, but he tightened his hold.
"Not yet.” He glanced down at her and then focused ahead. “Listen to me, Carina. You were mind wiped. They essentially lasered out your memories. Even with the most modern equipment, it's never been fully reversed. Never.” His lips tightened. “But you're remembering things they wiped away. You haven't had any treatments, nothing, and you're remembering.” He shook his head. “I don't know what that means, but it isn't normal. So I want you to rest. You passed out. I know you, and you're not a fainter. But you did, and that can't be good."
"You're worried about me."
"Hell yes, I am,” he burst out. A muscle in his jaw flexed as he clenched his teeth. “You don't deserve to be stuck with me through this, but that's the way it is."
"Xandros.” How could he not know? Even though she'd forgotten everything else—her home planet, her family, her life—part of her still remembered him.
"I should have left you alone, never marked you. All I've done is fucked it up worse.” He sighed. “The best thing I can do is make sure you don't get killed."
She stiffened. He regretted marking her. Why not? Her slightly hazy memory implied he'd viewed her as a child, a brat. And his previous statements had only reinforced it. She ducked her head and wouldn't look at him. “Put me down."
"Shut up, Carina. The Brotherhood has called in the Primarians, and they're not going to give up until I'm dead and you're their puppet. I can't let that happen."
"I'm sorry I'm such an inconvenience. I'm sure your friend Shaun would have done much better with all this shit."
"My friend Shaun is why all this shit happened in the first place,” he snapped. “And I'm going to fuck him to within an inch of his life as payment for it."
"And what do I get out of this deal?” she said in a harsh voice. “Who do I get to punish for being used like this?” She ignored the way he winced as if she'd kicked him.
"When this is all over, Carina Tao, if we're still alive, I promise you can have your pound of flesh in whatever form you want."
"Done. I'll hold you to that."
For a moment, a glimmer of smile lifted his lips. “I can't imagine what a natural submissive would want to do to exact revenge."
"I have an excellent imagination,” she answered.
"I have no doubt of that,” he said drily.
They both remained silent for a long time as Xandros hauled her down a forest trail. Atlana and the other villagers were ahead of them. They reached the base of a huge mountain just as darkness was setting in.
Black clouds gathered, and Atlana urged them to hurry. Xandros finally dropped her to her feet. “You'll have to climb this trail on your own, machinka. I have a little job to do."
He disappeared back from the way they came, and Carina stared after him. Atlana touched her arm. “He's going to cover our trail, mislead the Primarians. Hurry."
"No. I can help him.” She started to follow, but Atlana gripped her arm and held her still.
"He's good at this, Carina."
Carina glared at the Ardasian. “How do you know?"
Her smile was sad. “I know many things about Xandros Jasper. You need to come with me."
Reluctantly, Carina followed the villagers through twisted trails and a deep canyon that marked the space between two peaks in the huge mountain range. Then they dipped down, canopied by huge evergreens, and trudged in the darkness illuminated only by three lanterns. The villagers used a long rope to keep them all together in the dark.
Even with the rope, Carina found the going difficult. And she wondered how Xandros would be able to find them. But the conversation earlier had implied he was some kind of a tracker, so maybe he'd be all right.
Atlana led them to deep recesses in the mountains that held several caves and tunnels. Quickly, she dispersed them into different caves. “Be careful exploring the caverns. They were created to hide us, but we can be lost just as easily as our enemies."
They headed for a dwelling next to a rushing river that roared down from the mountains above. Its spray wet the entrance. Just as Atlana and Carina entered the last cave, lightning flashed, and thunder rolled as the sky opened up. Rain poured down in slanted sheets. Carina helped start a fire within the cave with the wood piled against one of the back stone walls.
All around on the stone surfaces drawings decorated the black rock. Vivid depictions of people, animals, strange happenings involving light and power filled the spaces on either side. Familiar markings made her stomach ache. “What do these say?” she asked.
Atlana's green gaze met hers in the firelight. “Are you sure you want to know?"
Did she? A strange sensation swept over her as she stared at one of the pictures. She'd seen it before. She was sure she had. “Yes, I want to know."
"Thousands of years ago, when this planet was populated only by animals and plants, a man crash-landed here. With him was what the Nariadians call the First People.” Atlana poked the fire. “He drew these pictures.” Carina gazed at the drawings as Atlana explained. “He was a seer, a man who had seen the future, and he wrote it here.” The crackle of the fire was the only sound for a moment. “I came here to study these pictures. They are part of the Star Prophecy, a series of writings from Dormrela, a distant planet several million light years from here.” She shook her head. “Somehow, the prophecy ends up here."
"I don't understand.” The Star Prophecy? The name sounded familiar.
"The Blueshift Brotherhood studied the Star Prophecy. But the Dormrelian version they have is incomplete. It is said that the writer of the prophecies left Dormrela to seek answers, to find the future. He ended up here. The Nariadians have been the keeper of these prophecies ever since.” She stared at the walls. “The Ardasians discovered their existence by accident when one of our seers saw your coming."
"Me?” Carina squeaked. “Why me?"
Those green eyes were like lasers boring into Carina's soul. Atlana remained quiet for a moment. And then, she said, “Because you are the messenger. You and your mate destroy the hold the Brotherhood has over many people. Though you will not deliver the death blow to the Blueshift Brotherhood, you will be responsible for the one who does."
"Cryptic bullshit,” Carina snapped.
"No. Look.” Atlana pointed to a particular drawing. “See the mark on this figure?"
"It's a winged figure. It could be anything.” But Carina knew what it depicted. A herwalk, identical to the mark on her arm.
"Perhaps. But I don't believe in coincidence. You don't remember, but the circumstances around your meetings with Xandros are suspect. Fate has stepped in."
"What do you mean?” Her head started to hurt, sharp pain ripping through her temples.