Pursued(89)

Damn it, look at me! Fucking look at me! he thought, wishing their artificial bond functioned more like a real one. If he and Elise had actually had a true Kindred soul bond between them, they would have been able to hear each other’s thoughts easily. As it was, their fake bond seemed to act as a one-way street, allowing Merrick to feel her emotions but not transmitting any of his thoughts or feelings to her.

How am I going to get her attention? The sun was hot on the back of his neck and he felt a trickle of sweat cut through the urgot paste. Damn it, he’d forgotten how miserably hot Rageron was. Even though the sun was close to setting, it was still baking him, making it hard to think. If only—suddenly, he had an idea.

Turning his knife blade to the side, he worked with the small patch of sunlight in front of him, which had somehow made its way down through the canopy to reach the jungle floor. He caught it just right and flashed the light briefly at Elise’s frightened brown eyes.

The flash of sunlight gave the desired effect. Elise blinked and looked to see where it was coming from. To his great relief, Merrick finally caught her eyes.

“Merrick,” she mouthed his name, clearly surprised to see him.

“The billib,” he breathed, nodding at the tiny blue animal in her arms. “Let it go. The xenox should follow.”

Elise frowned. There was fear in her lovely brown eyes, but also determination. With a short, swift motion, she shook her head and cuddled the little billib closer protectively.

Merrick felt a surge of irritation. What in the seven hells was wrong with her? If she’d just let the fucking thing go, the xenox would leave and no one would get hurt. Well, except possibly the billib, but those little guys were natural xenox chow—that was just the law of the jungle.

Catching her eye again, he made a more forceful motion. “Put…it…down!”

“No!” she breathed back, her eyes positively blazing.

He gritted his teeth, the muscles in his jaw clenching. All right, they were going to do this the hard way. But if I get killed for a fucking billib, I’m going to have a few choice words to say to the Goddess when I see her! he told himself.

Turning, he focused on the crouching xenox. It was a large one—he estimated it would be in the neighborhood of ten feet tall when it stood on its hind legs—with a reach twice as long as his own. Taking down an animal this big with just a knife was going to be interesting, but then, Merrick had always loved a challenge. He felt the killing frost fall on him—the chilly calm that dropped over his body like a blanket whenever violence was imminent—and his fangs grew longer to become razor sharp points. Taking a deep breath he raised the knife, gripping it delicately between his thumb and fingertips.

One shot, he thought, focusing on the side of the xenox’s thick neck where he knew large arteries pulsed beneath its coarse blue-black fur. One shot to kill it. And if you miss…if you only piss it off instead of mortally wounding it…

He didn’t let himself think about that. Centering himself, he drew back and let the knife fly. The black handle and silver blade flashed end over end but this time the sunlight betrayed him. A flicker of silvery blue glanced off the flying blade and shone in the xenox’s yellow eyes. At the last moment it turned its head and took a step toward Merrick.

The knife hit and stuck to the hilt—but in the beast’s thick shoulder, not its neck. Merrick knew at once it wasn’t a killing blow. And then the xenox bellowed in agony and hurled its huge bulk toward him, forgetting all about its prey as it determined to kill the source of its sudden, agonizing pain.

Merrick stood his ground. He felt no fear—only a fierce kind of joy and the knowledge that the killing was about to begin. The only question was, who would be left standing when it was over? Him? Or the xenox?

* * * * *



Elise shrieked in horror as the massive beast launched itself at Merrick, but neither he nor the xenox seemed to notice her cry. The billib in her arms neighed in terror and pressed its head between her breasts, as though seeking shelter. Elise tightened her arms around it and watched numbly as the two huge forms collided in a tangle of limbs and fur.

They rolled over and over on the forest floor, the xenox snapping and biting, and Merrick barely avoiding the slavering jaws. Elise watched, her heart pounding, as they came closer and closer to where she was crouching. If she didn’t move soon she might be flattened, but somehow she couldn’t so much as twitch. She was frozen to the spot, unable to do anything but watch as Merrick wrestled with the huge beast.

But as she watched, Elise felt her heart sinking. The Kindred warrior was big, but the xenox was truly enormous. Though Merrick tried to avoid it, somehow it had gotten its long, furry arms wrapped around him and was squeezing him, pulling him ever closer to those horrible fangs. Like a grizzly bear pulling him in for a killing hug, she thought numbly.