Chapter 2

“She’s coming around.”

I rolled, my stomach clenching violently. I breathed through it, wondering what they’d given me to make me feel this ill. Beaten and bruised was bad, but apparently making me throw up was allowed. The guards were standing a few feet away looking around. It was starting to get dark. I’d either lost track of how long I’d been in that room, or I’d been knocked out a long time.

“Remind me again why we have to walk up.” Blondie asked the one with his nose bandaged up.

“Something about wards and only royals can port in..” His voice was so nasal, I almost laughed.

My face was throbbing, reminding me of the blows I’d taken in the last few days. Neither man bothered to look at me, so I took that opportunity to look around. I didn’t see a car, so that left out that option of escape. All I could see were trees and grass. Run long enough in any direction and eventually you’d find a road. It could be worse; I could still be in a room with no windows.

When I went to move my arm to push me up, the clank of a chain reminded me why they’d been trying to get hold of me in that room. I was shackled. So much for running. Getting away from them was going to be a challenge. I flexed my foot to confirm there was a cuff around my ankle too. This was going to be a workout without being able to kick. I owed blondie for the dart, and I always paid people what they were due.

Pushing myself up, I sat there and waited for the light headedness to subside. “Can I get a drink? What the hell did you shoot me with?”

Blondie turned and smirked at me. “Just enough to get those on without you getting another shot in.” He motioned to the cuffs on my arms.

I held up my hands. “Take them off and I’ll let you get the first shot in.”

He snorted, “I have nothing against sparring with women, but you take it to the extreme.”

I glared at him. “Gee, I don’t know why.”

“Give her a drink so we can get going.” He turned and looked around again.

The one with the busted nose came over and set a bottle of water a few feet away from me, then backed up.

It was hard not to smirk, but I knew I needed to play it cool and try not to offend their delicate feelings until I figured out where we were. Getting to my knees, I picked up the bottle and checked the seal before opening it. Thirsty or not I wasn’t going to drink something they’d tampered with. Taking a few sips, I looked around. I still couldn’t see anything different. “So, is this like recess? Just out for some air?” That’s when I noticed they were wearing swords on their hips. What. The. Hell. I couldn’t even process why they’d need those. The weapons didn’t scare me, I’d been around enough of them that the fear of them wasn’t for that reason. The why they had them concerned me though.

Blondie grinned, “Lots of exercise.”

I touched my lip, feeling how swollen it was. “I’m good there, the last few days with you guys have taken care of that.”

“We need to get started.” Nasal mumbled.

I looked the direction he pointed, then down to my feet. “Don’t suppose you stopped to consider how hard it’s going to be to walk in long grass with chains dragging.”

They both looked at my feet.

I shrugged, “it’s going to be slow going.”

“Twenty minutes until we reach the road.” Blondie said. “You’ll just have to deal with it.” He motioned for me to start moving.

I had to take short steps, so the chain didn’t trip me up. Every few feet I had to stop and pull the grass out of the chain. “So where are we going?” I asked tossing the handful of grass to the side.

“Up there.”

I turned to see where he was pointing. In the low light all I could make out was a mountain and what may have been a road winding up it. “Seriously? On foot?”

He smirked. “Unless you can fly.”

I scowled at him and looked back at the mountain. I had to get away from them before we reached that. Running down a mountain, chained, wasn’t something I wanted to do. Blowing out a breath, I started walking again.

“Stop.” He touched my shoulder.

I froze, debating on using my elbow on his face, but doubted he was going to squat down so I could reach it. They were both looking away from me, swords drawn. I listened, and squinted, trying to see what had them so spooked.

Crouching down, blondie pointed and the other one nodded and started to move in that direction quietly.

I looked again and could make out two people on horses. Where the hell were we? I didn’t know who they were, but if these guys didn’t want to be seen by them, that meant I wanted to be. Reaching down slowly, I grabbed the chain between my feet, so I could turn without getting hung up. This might be my only chance. Adjusting my footing, I paused when blondie glanced at me over his shoulder.

“Stand there quietly and I’ll take those off,” he motioned to my feet, “after we deal with these two. They’ll drop you in the cells and forget about you.” He whispered.

That made me pause. So far, I’d been abducted, locked in a room, drugged and shackled and the two on the horses were worse? Something my mentor said popped into my head, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. I hope he was right.

I nodded, so blondie would look away from me again.

He gave me a brief look before turning to watch the other guard moving slowly through the grass.

Shuffling closer to him, like I was scared by his words, I waited for him to turn his attention back the two men. When he did, I dropped the chain and straightened up, raising my hands together. I’d never done a double elbow move before, but I couldn’t get enough momentum with my arms attached. He turned the second I was dropping them. “Hey! Over here.” I screamed at the same moment my elbows connected with his face.

“Son of…” He growled and lunged for me.

I backed up and tripped when the chains got hung up. Keeping an eye on the sword in his hand, I waited until he bent over to grab me and kicked up with both my feet into his face. I heard the sword hit the ground beside me as he dropped to his knees. Scrambling to my feet I got up and picked up the weapon. It took both of my hands to lift it. I pointed it at him. He was too busy holding his face to move.

I glanced in the direction the other one had gone and heard the clang of metal on metal before I saw him. He was fighting one of the men from the horses, and the other one was running toward me. I looked back to blondie; he was still hunched over holding his face.

The man slowed when he was a few feet away, he also had a sword half the size of my body. He held out his other hand, showing it was empty, the sword pointed at the man on the ground and not me.

“It’s okay.” He said softly. “I’m here for him.” He sheathed the sword on his back without hesitation and held his other hand out.

My arms were starting to shake with the weight of the sword.

“Leone.” The other man barked. “He’s over here.” The man in front of me said without taking his eyes off me.

The second man came running toward us, then slowed a few feet away. I glanced from the first one to him to see him put his weapon away. He held his hands out from his body. “You’re safe now.” He said softly.

I jerked the sword toward blondie. “He said you’d toss me in the cells.”

Blondie moaned and then coughed.

The second man shook his head slowly, a sneer on his face. “That’s his fate, not yours.” He moved another step in my direction.

I had to turn my whole upper body to aim the sword toward him. I wasn’t going to be able to hold it up much longer.

“Leone, grab him.” He said calmly, still moving in my direction.

Leone nodded and stepped away from me and grabbed blondie by the back of his jacket. “Oh shit, Michael, she messed up his face good.”

Michael nodded, his eyes not leaving me. “Other one was recently patched up too.” He jerked his head in the direction they’d come from. “Get him out of here. Call Arius and tell him the doc is needed at the intake cells.”

Leone dragged blondie away.

I tried to widen my stance to support the weight of the sword, but the chain ran out. “I just want to go home.” I told him.

He nodded. “We’ll get you there.”

I looked at him, trying to see in the low light. “Are you a cop?”

“Yeah. You’re safe now.” His tone was calm, soothing.

I jerked my chin toward the swords sticking up on his back. “Since when do cops carry hardware like that?”

He smirked, “fight fire with fire.” He looked at the sword I held. “I can stand here all night until you decide to trust me, but I can see how fatigued your arms are getting and how your body is shaking from the shock and cool air.” He held out his hand slowly, palm up. “Let me help you. We’ll get those chains off you and patch you up.”

I went to bite my lip and weigh his words, then winced when my teeth connected with the swollen flesh. “Don’t touch me.” I warned him.

Michael nodded slowly. “I won’t.” He stepped closer, his hand nearer to the weapon. “Let me take that.”

I looked at my hands and the way my arms were shaking and let the weight of the sword drop my hands toward the ground.

He grabbed the handle and tugged it from my grasp.

Leone came back toward us slowly. “Arius says he’s looking forward to meeting the woman that laid a beat-down on those two.” He stopped and looked from Michael to me. “You’re safe.” He pointed to Michael. “My brother and I will take you back and get those chains off you.”

I straightened up, but wasn’t about to relax and let my guard down. I tasted blood and realized my lip was busted open, probably from my fall. Raising my chained hands together I wiped at it.

“Go get the horses.” Michael told him. “Porting her right now isn’t going to help her trust us.” He held out the sword to him.

Grabbing it, Leone nodded and spun on his heel.

“Porting?” I frowned, then glanced around. “Where the hell are we?”

He stood, his eyes moving slowly over my face. “That’s hard to explain.”

I looked around again and it hit me, there were no lights from the city and the air was the freshest I’d ever smelled. “But I get to go home?”

He nodded. “If you want to.” He pulled out his phone. “Are you injured anywhere else?” He motioned to my face.

I shook my head. “Few bruises. They got a couple bumbling shots in yesterday.”

His brows creased, then he looked to his phone. Tapping it, he raised it to his ear. “Yeah. Not yet. We’re going to need keys or someone that can get shackles off.” His eyes never left my face. “No. Just one.” His mouth quirked like he wanted to smile. “Wasn’t from us.” He shook his head. “We’ll take the horses back to the guard house, I’m not sure she’ll cope well with transporting. Bring Paisley or Bethany, I think we’re going to need the female touch.” He nodded, “see you shortly.” Tucking his phone in, he motioned to my feet. “You’re going to have to ride with us, unless you can sit side-saddle.”

“Side what?” I gave him a wide-eyed look. “On a horse?”

He nodded. “Can you ride?”

I turned to see Leone leading two horses back. I didn’t see blondie and his friend. There must have been more men out here then and I had seen. “I’ve never even seen a horse up close.”

Michael held up his hand and Leone came over and put a strap in his hand.

I gawked at the beast on the other end of the thin strap. It was massive and beautiful at the same time.

“He won’t hurt you.” Michael said in that soft tone again. Motioning with his head for me to come closer, he reached up and grabbed the harness on the horse’s head. “This is Hachi.” He rubbed his hand along the animal’s large jaw. “Hachiman.”

I bent down and picked up the chain, so I could move. “Like the Japanese god of war.”

Michael gave me a surprised look. “Yes, well, god of warriors.”

I nodded, “my mentor used to tell me stories.” I stepped closer, not sure if I wanted to be close to the man or the beast. Dropping the chain, I raised my hands up toward the animal’s nose. It sniffed at me, then its large lips nuzzled my hands.

“He likes you—what is your name?” Michael made no move toward me.

I smiled up at the horse. I was touching a horse. “Autumn.” I said quietly not wanting to spook the animal that could crush me without effort.

“Autumn, you’re going to have to ride in front of Leone or me. With those chains on you’ll bounce off the back.”

I looked from the horse to him. I didn’t have a lot of options. I wouldn’t get far with the chains on, and with the length of legs on the horse, I couldn’t outrun it. I turned and looked at Leone, he watched us, patience his only expression. Shifty people, I’d learned a long time ago, always looked impatient. I looked back up at Michael and nodded. “Okay. Just don’t drop me.” I looked back up at Hachi and rubbed my hand on his nose. “I don’t want to get stepped on.”

Michael smirked, “I’ve never dropped someone before.”

Leone snorted. “Not true, you dropped me on my face that time.”

Michael looked over at him. “You deserved it.”

Leone shrugged. “Maybe.”

Moving cautiously, Michael backed the horse away from me, then swung up into the saddle.

I stepped back. He looked even bigger sitting up there.

“Give her a hand up.” Michael told him.

With a nod, Leone dropped the strap for his own horse and came toward me. “I’ll just pick you up and set you up there.” He stopped and looked at me.

I looked nervously up to where he’d be setting me. “You guys ever hear of cars? Safe metal things you ride in not on?”

He grinned. “Little hard to drive them out here.”

I looked around at the grass and sighed. “Valid point.” Nodding, I held up my hands. “No wandering hands, just lift me up there.”

Leone lifted his hands. “Beth would blast them off if they even thought to wander.”

I nodded. “Okay.” I was more nervous of being on the horse then being touched. He stepped in front of me and it suddenly dawned on me how big he was. When he grasped my waist, I tensed and held my breath until I was sitting in front of Michael, a lot closer then I would have liked. I looked down at the ground. Okay, maybe close was good so he could stop me from falling off.

Hachi moved around a bit and I grabbed Michael’s arm like a sissy.

“He’s just adjusting to the extra weight.” He rested his hand on my waist, holding me where I was.

I nodded. “Tell him there’s a novice up here and to dance smoothly.”

Michael’s mouth twitched. “He knows. I’m going to have to pull you closer, so you don’t bounce off.” He held his hand away from me, watching my face until I acknowledged what he said. Moving his hand slowly, he reached behind him and pulled something out. Holding his arm out away from us, he motioned to it with his head. “You can hold this knife and if I do anything out of line, you have my permission to stick me with it.”

Leone snorted and got on his horse. “I didn’t get a knife.”

Michael didn’t look away from me. “That’s because you would have stabbed me just for fun.”

I reached and took the knife from his hand and looked at it. “Okay.”

Michael looked at it. “Point it away from me so I don’t get stabbed if we gallop.”

I looked down then turned it away from us.

He slowly circled my waist, pulling me tight against his chest. “Lean into me and swing your legs over mine, so I don’t have to squeeze to keep you here.”

I took a shaky breath and leaned against his hard chest. “How far are we going?”

He jerked his other arm and Hachi turned. “Fifteen minutes.”

Hachi started walking. It was the weirdest feeling, sitting on a creature as it moved.

“Let me know when you’re ready to try something faster.” Michael said, his voice rumbling through his chest as he spoke.

Leone was beside us, looking around.

All I could think was that if I fell and Hachi didn’t step on me, Leone’s horse would.

Leone pulled out his phone then answered it with a smile. “Hey, love.” He looked at me. “Bit taller than Paisley.” He grinned. “Everyone is bigger than you.” He nodded. “See you soon.” Tucking it back in a pocket, he looked at Michael. “I told Arius to get Victor to send a patrol out here. If this is where they’re landing it will make our lives easier.”

Michael sighed. “If Autumn hadn’t called out, we would have ridden on by.”

“I can’t believe they’re dumb enough to bring them here on our land.” Leone mused quietly.

“It’s the last place we’d look.” Michael answered. He leaned back and looked at me. “Ready to try a bit faster?”

I inhaled and blew out a breath trying to summon some courage. I nodded. “Sure, give him the gas.”

He gave me an abrupt nod. “Hold on.”

Gripping the knife in one hand, I made sure it wasn’t aimed at any body parts before I turned my head into his chest and squeezed my eyes shut. I was thankful it was dark enough so no one would be able to see my face and know I was being a wimp. Hachi’s stride increased and the first few bumps were alarming, then as I relaxed as I picked up the rhythm. Michael’s arm held me firmly against him, even though this was far closer then I was usually comfortable with, I was glad he held me in place.

“You can see the lights up ahead.” He said quietly, leaning down by my ear.

I turned and looked where we were going. There were a lot of buildings lit up. It was the best thing I’d ever seen after never having been out of the city, I was way out of my comfort zone without lights and buildings.

I almost forgot I was on a horse until we rode into a yard and Hachi stopped. The lack of movement took me by surprise. Michael turned him and then released my waist. I looked to see about a dozen men standing there looking at me. Even from atop the horse, I knew they were as big as Leone and Michael. Where the hell was I that men were this big? I moved my legs and kicked, jumping down. I landed in a crouch for a second, then straightened up.

A man with long black hair started toward me, then spotted the knife I held. He glanced up to Michael, questions in his eyes.

“Don’t crowd her.” He told him.

The man stopped and moved his hands out from his body, showing me they were empty.

Hachi nudged my shoulder. “Thanks for the lift, boy.” I told him.

The men moved, and a tiny redheaded woman appeared. “Give her some room guys, it’s bad enough when it looks like land of the giants when first seeing you guys.” They backed away. She turned and looked at Leone, giving him a quick once over.

Releasing the reins, he went over and kissed the top of her head. “Stay out of her reach, Beth, she beat the holy hell out of two guys.”

Beth smiled at me. “Good.” She glanced briefly to the knife in my hand, then motioned to a door. “I’m Bethany. Come in and let’s get those chains off you.”

I looked at Michael quickly then to the door.

“How did she get the knife?” The one with the long hair asked Leone.

He smirked. “Michael gave it to her, so she could stab him if he got touchy-feely.”

The dark haired one looked at Michael. “I don’t see any blood.”

“Guess he didn’t get touchy-feely with her.” One of the others said.

Bethany glared at them, “you guys aren’t…”

“Hey, I heard—”

A tall blond came out of another door to my left, I spun and crouched, flipping the knife into a defensive position.

He threw his hands up. “Whoa, take it easy. I just came to talk to my brother, Michael.”

Moving only my eyes, I glanced to Michael, he was side-stepping, moving in my field of vision. His hands were open and empty.

“As much as Rafael deserves to have some woman stab him, I’d prefer it not be with my blade.” He held his hand out. “No one here is going to touch you.” He nodded slowly. “And you don’t need a knife to do damage.”

I looked back to Rafael, he returned my look with a steady gaze. He was tense and ready, but there was no sign of impatience in his expression. Straightening slowly, I held the knife toward Michael.

He extended his arm, his palm up and let me set it on his hand. “Let’s get those off you and get your injuries looked at, Autumn.”

I touched my mouth, then shrugged. “Just a busted lip and bruised cheekbone. I’ve had much worse.”

In the light I noticed how blue his eyes were, right now they were assessing my face with a look of anguish in them. He motioned to the door again, then snarled at the men standing near it. “Back up and give her space.”

I looked to see all of them comply, leaving Bethany standing there alone. She gave me a soft smile and nodded.