Screams boiled up, anger and regret that she pressed into the muscular chest. If she had realized sooner what attacked them. If she had taken a boat and crossed the river for help. If she had done something other than walk right into the middle of it all, getting herself captured. Could she have saved one life? Could she have spared one woman? Annabell didn't know.
Lost in herself, she missed the obvious signs of danger."Stupid is as stupid does."
She wept at every accusation of her mother's voice. Wept past tears and energy until she fell into silence. She tried to turn her head away from the body and male holding her after a few moments of jagged breathing. Tried to turn in on herself and shrivel up with all of the emotion that had no place to go.
The Orki's hand came up, so big it cradled her whole face. His thumb traced small circles over her cheekbone, small to wide swirls, while the fingers reached back, cradling the back of her head. The action distracted her from the heavy, dark feelings inside. Over and over, that same circle as the war beast covered the land, racing through the night with the other hunters. Coupled with the rumble in his chest, she lost her grip on some of the raging emotions storming over her heart.
Her breathing was even when the circles stopped, and his hand moved to the back of her neck. Massaging. Gentle, firm pressure moved to the base, his fingers finding the swollen stressed muscles on both sides of her spine and rubbing back and forth. He went up into the base of her skull, finding sore spots she hadn't known existed. The touch was everything. Felt everywhere. Tethering her to him. To the world around them. She wanted to drift away, but he would not let her.
His surrounded her, his hand in her hair, massage ING her scalp, neck, and shoulders. He was heat, safety, comfort. It hurt and felt good, the same way that sound in his chest felt good. His touch pulled out the poison of the last few days turned her liquid and languid, taking her back to helpless acceptance.
Annabell tried to fight the peace. She had to hold on to that guilt—she deserved it. She had survived. She had to remember what had happened. Remember every feeling. They deserved that. After failing them in every way, she could not fail in remembering the sharp edge of horrors her village and family suffered at the hands of murderers.
"You did this. Stupid is a stupid does. Thoughtless. Dilly, dally, dawdler. This is your fault."
As if the Orki could hear the thoughts in her head, his fingers chased each one down over her scalp, the side of her face, back to the base of her skull, down her neck, and even to her shoulders. Wherever he could reach, rubbing and smoothing. Pushing on muscles and tension.
His hand smoothed over the front of her face—petting her eyebrows. Her eyelashes down the plane of her nose over her cheekbones, so gentle it didn't even hurt where she knew she was still bruised. His fingers drifted over her lips to her bottom lip. Until he cupped under her chin and his thumb brushed back and forth over her bottom lip.
It was too intimate. So personal and familiar, the gentle touch started her heart to pounding in her chest. Opening her up with his fingers and palm, reaching into Annabell's raw and wounded being. No one touched her like this. No one. She tried to move but there was no place to go, no place to escape. She squirmed, but his other arm tightened, holding her. Resting his hand, he kept it just there on her neck. She inhaled his scent as her oxygen. Feel his skin. Hear that noise. All of him surrounding her.
As if he were a dream come true.
Her breath came out in shudders and waves as he fought a battle against her grief and guilt and won. Thumb moving across her bottom lip, touching the mist of air from her mouth. Sweeping back and forth, back and forth, relaxing her into a daze.
Chapter 8
Drink This
The Child climbed over the horizon, banishing Mother and Father moon for the night.
A jolting hop from the war beast shifted Annabell forward and back. They were going up. The trees shrank with the altitude change. The sky in this place opened up above her head, a carpet of fading stars and misty clouds. Maybe this was a dream, and they would all ride into the air, chasing the memories of her ancestors and the fresh shades of her family members. The pale Orki had come to her as a harbinger of death, to deal the final blow.
In an abrupt shift, they crested the hill, reaching a plateau of rock and sky. The war beasts exchanged noises, with perfect back-and-forth timing. Annabell sensed their urgency, a hunger in their calls. They wanted to get where they were going. Following a path Annabell couldn't see, the group arrived at the open mouth of a volcanic cave.
Two riders entered it holding torches, casting light and strange shadows behind them. She'd read about Dorsus's volcanic caves in books. Natural groundwater cistern caves existed close to the mountains and one or two of the river villages had natural wells, but Annabell had never been inside a real cave, as common as they were said to be. She didn't know anyone who had.
The shape and size of the cavern was remarkable. She wanted to look everywhere. The Orki blocked her when she turned her head toward the other warriors, only allowing her areas where no other male stood. Annabell saw supplies neatly stacked against the walls. Her stomach growled. She hoped there was food. The war beast under her must have heard the noise because it wheezed and chuffed in amusement.
This place was a frequent stop, smelling of wood smoke and wet war beast fur. The beast had walked around an old rock-lined fire pit at the cave entrance where smoke could escape to the back of the natural lava chamber. Extra firewood lined the walls, and she saw places to put torches. The camp space looked ordered and clean.
Shifting in his seat, the Orki rocked her in his arms as he dismounted from the back of his beast. The unexpected movements and spinning disorientation caused a surprised panic. Kicking and bucking, she wanted to jump away from him and take control of her own limbs.
Powerfully strong, the male heaved her onto his shoulder like a flour sack, ignoring her struggles. Head down, bottom up, Annabell's panic increased. His shoulder in her belly cut off all of her air and sent pain rushing to her sore, bruised areas. Spots bloomed before her eyes.
He put her down, facing the wall away from the others around them. With a pat on her shoulder, he went to unpack and unsaddle his war beast. Catching her breath, Annabell took the chance to examine the unique shape of the cave's wall. Growing up, she had loved the study of anythingnotrelated to becoming a farm wife. She'd been the only girl in class to know the names of different rock types like basalt. There were places on the walls where the heated lava of long ago had cooled in waves, reminding her of thick cake batter. The Orki didn't share knowledge with people. Everything known about Dorsus and its caves came out of the steel cities, from the big corporation surveys. Using the developer's advanced technology, they had scans her that schoolbooks said were seventy-three percent accurate.
Behind her, the white-eyed Orki and his war beast moved, setting up for the rest. So tired she fell unconscious at their feet, Annabell still felt groggy. Not like herself. Exposing herself and her grief had been cathartic. Having someone to hold her while it happened unsettled her and calmed her emotions at the same time.
"Annabell Roe, are you coming or going?"Mama asked.
"I have no clue," she said, tracing the ripple of rock on the wall.
Hearing a flapping noise, she saw the war beast shaking itself, the spiky ruff on its neck rolling and its jowls shaking. The ridiculous dog-like sight made Annabell smile.
A sudden piercing noise startled a gasp from her; reflexively turning, she looked for the cause of a woman's screaming. White Eyes appeared, crowding her against the wall, blocking her view. One hand at her shoulder, sliding over the muscle to cup her neck and the other tipping her chin up. The blunt tip of his finger tapped her eyes. Annabell blinked. Fearsome, the kindness in his usual expression was missing.
"Is that girl okay? You don't know what we've been through. No idea what they suffered. Is she being taken care of? Did I see Lurann?" She looked for some softness in his face, but his lips thinned.
