Chapter Nine
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ENGROSSED IN THE SECOND book of the alien warrior romance series, Ramiel jerked in alarm when pain suddenly blossomed in his right thigh.
He dropped the book and leaped to his feet, then shoved his jeans down.
“What the hell?” he asked with a frown. His skin was unblemished, but it felt like he’d just been shot by a large caliber bullet.
Twisting around to peer at the back of his leg, it felt like there should have been a gaping exit wound, yet he was unmarked.
He pulled his jeans up again and sat down.
The knight had never experienced anything like this before.
He’d been feeling uneasy for the past couple of hours.
The sensation that something bad was about to happen had peaked just before his phantom pain had appeared.
Ramiel quested outward with his senses. He was alone and no one was within his range. The sense of doom was fading rapidly along with the pain. “Did I just feel someone else being injured?” the warrior asked incredulously.
While he was linked to Amaros and his brothers, he’d never shared their pain when they’d been injured before.
This was a new and unwelcome development.
Somehow, he knew it was linked to the being he could sense slowly moving closer.
“It has to be Amaros,” he told himself yet again.
It was a mystery why his commander was taking so long to reach him.
Picking the book up, Ramiel felt too restless to continue reading. He put a scrap of paper he was using as a bookmark in it, then decided to visit the nearby town. It was overcast this time, but there was no sign that rain was coming as he sprinted the twenty miles to his destination.
Sensing a large group of people in the church, the knight entered the empty house next door to listen in on the conversation. Just as he’d expected, the townsfolk were in an uproar about the females he’d rescued.
“I can’t believe Father Ingle turned out to be so evil,” a woman said in despair.
“He’s not a real priest,” one of the victims Ramiel had saved said in a tone that hinted she was repeating herself.
“He and his buddies lied to us all.” She was one of the women who’d been kidnapped from the town.
None of them had known she’d been taken only a couple of miles away.
Some of the others had been gagged and bound right there in the settlement.
“How can we trust outsiders ever again?” a male demanded. “Everyone who was truly good is gone. The rest of us are either evil or we’ve done too many bad things to go to heaven.”
“Who’s going to lead our town now?” a female asked. She sounded older than the others. “We need someone to be in charge.”
“Maybe we should have an election,” a young man suggested. “People who want to lead can put their names forward. The rest of us can vote and decide who we want to become our new leader.”
“That’s a good idea,” someone agreed. “If we don’t like the job they do, we can fire them and pick someone else from the list.”
“Let’s do this today,” another human suggested. “Who wants to lead us?”
A few people replied and an intense discussion began. While Ramiel was glad democracy hadn’t died, it was as boring as hell listening to the townsfolk electing a new leader.
A group left the church and he glanced out through the window. It was the females he’d saved. They moved in a fearful huddle, heading for the doctor’s office. Curious, Ramiel exited from the house and skirted around to the back of the building without being seen.
“Come in, girls,” an older man said in a weary tone. “I know you’re all anxious to be tested after what Ingle and his friends did to you,” he said once they were all crammed into his waiting room. “I’m afraid I don’t have the sort of equipment needed to run any tests here.”
Groans of disappointment and fear came from the victims. “We could die from the diseases they might have given us!” a female said in despair.
“I have enough antibiotics and medication to cure common diseases,” the doc said. “Only time will tell whether you’ve contracted something I can’t treat with my supplies.”
“I wish that stranger hadn’t killed Ingle,” one of the females said bitterly. “I wanted to kill that monster myself.”
“We could have a death sentence hanging over us right now,” one of the women said, then sobbed.
While the doctor’s soul was gray, he wasn’t a bad guy. He soothed his patients as best he could, then began treating them.
Ramiel wished he could do more for the victims, but he wasn’t a healer.
He’d brought the villains to justice and had done what he could for the townsfolk.
Getting involved further would be a mistake.
Their kind usually turned on anyone who was different from them.
The humans could try to kill him if they discovered he was an alien.
Leaving the town, the warrior returned to his lair, but he still felt restless.
“Should I leave and head towards Amaros?” he asked, standing in the living room indecisively.
It was standard protocol to stay where he was and wait for his commander to come to him.
“It doesn’t usually take this long for my boss to find me,” he murmured.
His phantom pain was gone, but not forgotten.
He was tempted to go in search of his leader, but he decided to stay where he was.
None of his brothers appeared to be in this area.
Maybe he’d accidentally landed in the wrong place this time.
Then he remembered the tiny pond Fate had dropped him in.
She’d deliberately sent him to this location, which meant he was supposed to be here.
“I hope Amaros will turn up soon,” he said as he picked the book up again. “It’s getting old sitting around doing nothing,” he complained, then began reading again.
Getting up to turn on a lantern when the sun set, Ramiel stretched and sat back down. He could read without the light, but he felt strangely lonely sitting in the dark. At least there was some semblance of normalcy with a light on, even if the former inhabitants of the house were long gone.
Ramiel was glad he didn’t need to eat, drink or use the facilities.
He wished the water was running so he could take a shower.
Feeling sticky from his earlier run, he decided to take a dip in the pond.
“I might as well wash my clothes, too,” he figured.
He found detergent in the laundry and a basket to carry his clothes in.
The knight only had a few changes of clothes.
He carried the basket to the pond, then stripped naked.
Washing the clothes by the glimpses of moonlight that shone through the clouds, he waded in to rinse himself off when he was done.
A curious squirrel chittered at him from a tree as he returned to the house. It was good to see not all of the wildlife had perished.
Ramiel draped the damp clothing over the dining chairs and dried himself with a towel.
Pulling on a fresh set of clothes, he sat back on the couch to resume reading.
He was glad Fate had imbued him with the ability to read.
He would have gone out of his mind from sheer boredom by now without the novels to keep him occupied.