Arkas cut through the town on his way back to his pale blue base.A wooden carving in a store caught his eye as he blasted past the boutique.Stopping abruptly, he backtracked and stared through the huge window.The carving was almost as tall as he was.It was a giraffe that had been sculpted to perfection.Peering around, a grin tugged at his lips when he saw all kinds of animals on display.“I’ve got to take a closer look at them,” he decided and tried the door.It was locked, so he gave it a hard shove to snap the bolt.
Stepping inside, the warrior looked around in sheer wonder.His wooden carvings looked pathetic in comparison.He was observing the work of a true master.It was probably someone in their sixties or older who’d spent an entire lifetime honing their skills.
“They’re beautiful,” Arkas murmured, looking up to see a variety of wooden birds hanging from almost invisible wires.Deer, rabbits, horses, lions, elephants and all sorts of local and exotic animals were crammed onto shelves.One stood out from the others.He crossed to the pedestal to examine it more closely.
“It’s pricy,” he said when he checked the price tag.The artist had carved a stag with a magnificent rack of antlers.The beast’s head was lifted and it wore a wary expression as if it could sense it was being watched.Only a foot tall, it was small enough for him to take as a souvenir.“I’m definitely taking this with me,” he decided.Why was a mystery, since their wars didn’t usually last very long.None of the knights could take anything back to the Void with them.
Arkas reverently picked up the stag, tucked it under his arm, then left the boutique.He sped back to the property a few miles away, disappointed that he still hadn’t sensed his commander yet.
He stopped in the front yard and sent his senses into the house.It was devoid of intruders, so he let himself in, then locked the door.It was a paltry defense, but would give him a split-second extra time to flee if the soldiers located him first.
“This will look good right here,” Arkas said, placing the stag on the coffee table in the attic.He admired the perfectly smooth dark wood and keen detail, then glanced at his own carving.“I suck,” he said in dejection.Still, he picked up the oak branch, sat down on the sectional and began whittling again.He got up long enough to find a wastebasket to catch the shavings in, then resumed his work.
Chapter Eight
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OAKLIE QUICKLY FOUNDshe couldn’t keep up with the gorgeous stranger.He left her in his proverbial dust, but he was heading straight for town.“Don’t get too excited,” she cautioned herself as she followed in his wake.“You don’t know if he’s mentally stable, or if he’s a total nutjob yet.”
Sensing him as she neared her town, she stopped a safe distance away and hid from his view.She kept an invisible cloak around her power, clamping down on it tightly so he wouldn’t be able to detect her.“I don’t even know what skills he has,” she whispered.Not even her mom had known what sort of being her own daughter was.
She watched the stranger as he spied on the townsfolk as if they were highly interesting bugs.Flinching when a shot rang out, Oaklie stayed put.She’d seen this scenario play out before and knew what was coming next.Two men battled to the death until one of them became the victor.His shout of triumph ended their fight.
“I hope it was worth it, loser,” she muttered, hearing him search the empty store.Like her, the handsome guy she was stalking wasn’t impressed.He shook his head before moving on.
“What’s he doing?”she asked after following him for a few hours.Staying out of sight, he’d approached the occupied buildings in and around town, moving outwards until he’d gotten close to all of them.“Is he taking a census?”she murmured, then snickered quietly.
Her amusement fled when she caught a glimpse of his expression when he packed it in for the day.He looked almost lost as he headed back to town.She was glad he hadn’t extended his search.Just the thought of him finding her home made her uneasy.He was an unknown entity as yet.She still hadn’t worked out if he was safe enough to approach.
To her surprise, the hot guy came to a sudden stop when he reached the boutique that sold her carvings.He broke into the store and began looking around in sheer wonder.“At least he has good taste,” Oaklie said, then took the opportunity to move closer.
Sidling up to the back door, she cautiously sent out her senses.He definitely wasn’t human, but she still didn’t know what he was.Unlike everyone she’d met since the Rapture, his soul wasn’t black or gray, but white.“He feels noble,” she whispered incredulously, then figured it had to be a trick to lure idiots like her into a false sense of security.
Backing away, she hurried back to the front of the store and watched him from hiding.He wasn’t faking his admiration as he perused her art.A shiver of pleasure worked its way down her spine.She’d never seen anyone so entranced with her woodwork before.He came to a stop at the stag last.It was her finest piece, or it had been before she’d created the naked statue of the man she hadn’t completed yet.
“Hey, that’s worth eight hundred bucks!”she whispered in anger when he picked the stag up and tucked it under his arm.She watched him steal the statue in impotent fury, then followed in his wake.“I should have broken in and taken it back,” Oaklie chastised herself.Money had no meaning anymore, so it wasn’t like anyone was going to pay for her hard work.The stag was the one item she would have chosen to rescue and the stranger had just made off with it.
