Pursued(84)

“You don’t have to,” Shuura said quietly. “If you’re not back in one solar week from today, we’ll come.”

Tongs grinned. “Exactly. I don’t know if we’ll find anything, but we’ll at least look.”

“Thank you.” Merrick nodded formally. “I’m not asking for myself but for Elise. She must be returned in time for her joining ceremony. I swore an oath that it would be so.”

“We’ll make sure you haven’t given your word falsely,” Shuura said. “And now you’d better go.”

“As should we,” said Tongs.

“Goodbye,” Elise said but both of them had turned away. As she watched, they left without looking back once.

Merrick obviously saw her puzzled look. “What—did you expect them to wait around and watch us walk off into the sunset?” he asked roughly.

“Well, I thought they might at least have waited until we were out of sight.” Elise frowned. “After walking us all the way here it just seems like such an abrupt parting.”

Merrick shook his head. “It’s bad luck to watch someone you care about walk into the jungle—it means you won’t see them walk back out again. Come on—we need to make some miles if we’re going to reach the Deep Blue before dark.”

Elise followed him into the jungle as he strode ahead, apparently following a path only he could see. “But I thought this was the Deep Blue,” she protested, ducking to keep a springy branch from slapping her in the face.

“Not even close, baby.” Merrick threw a glance over his shoulder. “This is just the town’s backyard. You’ll know it when we get to the Deep Blue.”

“How? How will I know?” she asked, scrambling over a huge fallen tree which Merrick simply stepped over.

“You’ll know,” he murmured and would say no more.





Chapter Nineteen




They walked for hours in silence, Merrick following the scent trail through the blue-gray leaves with Elise close behind. He could feel her hunger growing with every step but he studiously ignored it. They weren’t at the danger level yet and he was in no mood to be rejected again.

He ached when he thought of how she’d pulled away that morning when he was only touching her face. There had been nothing sexual about that touch—nothing threatening or frightening. Elise had even seemed to enjoy it at first. Then he’d felt the hunger turn into something else—something more intense—and suddenly she went stiff as a board and jumped back as though his fingertips on her skin had burned her.

What the fuck? Merrick thought angrily, shoving the thick vines and creepers out of the way and holding a springy branch of soothoom bush back so it didn’t slap Elise in the face. What the hell does she want from me? Now I can’t even touch her non-sexually, even though she needs it so bad she was about to go fucking crazy back there. Though he hated to admit it, her constant hunger was affecting him too—making him short tempered and irritated at every little thing. It was like an itch he couldn’t reach to scratch, not to mention a constant reminder of her absolute rejection of him.

Why was she acting like this? Did she really care that much about her stupid fiancé? Yes, she’d agreed to join with him, but from what Merrick had seen, there didn’t seem to be much of a connection between them—nothing like what he and Elise shared. Of course, that was from an artificial bond, he reminded himself. Could that be the reason she was keeping her distance? The fear that everything they had would go up in smoke the minute the bond was dissolved? Or was there a deeper, darker reason, as Merrick had long suspected? What happened to you, baby? he thought, casting a quick glance over his shoulder to see her trudging along behind. Who hurt you and what did he do?

He had a billion questions but Elise’s stubborn silence offered no answers. She didn’t even speak when they stopped along the way several times for a brief rest and a drink from the water bottles Merrick carried in his pack. Since she remained obstinately quiet, he maintained a stony silence as well.

He’d packed light for the journey—just the water, some nutrition-dense dried protein strips, and a first aid kit. Anything else would slow them down and the jungle could provide almost everything they needed if they knew where to look—and Merrick did. He’d spent hours out here after fleeing from Tranq Prime, wandering, lost in more than one way and trying to come to terms with what he’d done and what he’d seen. He felt the old pain like an ache beneath his ribs and stroked his scar thoughtfully, as though trying to rub the memories away. Gods, he tried not to think about those days but he couldn’t help it now—the jungle brought everything back all too clearly…