Chapter 11 Alisha
ALISHA
Iwake Hrad, and he lets me take over his warm blanket.
After being up for hours, I’m grateful for the heat.
My eyes want to close, but I watch as he stretches and disappears into the shadows.
I try to keep my eyes open until he gets back but fail.
The next thing I know, he’s shaking me awake.
I open my mouth, and his fingers press against my lips.
It’s not morning, but the shadows are soft and I can see more than his solid shape.
He taps his ear, and I turn on the comms device that I’d switched off while I stole not nearly enough sleep. For a moment, there’s static in my ear, which is odd.
I push upright.
Hrad is crouched next to the blanket, staring at me.
Then I hear it. It’s Erica. “Please don’t hurt me. I don’t know what you want.”
“Tablet? Where is it?” I whisper and hold out my hand, listening to Erica. In amongst her pleading there is information.
Hrad hands me the tablet, and his fingers remain on my hand. Five warriors. Hugh is dead. I have not responded to her. Charlie’s team is also silent. So either they all turned off their comms to sleep or they have been found.
Shit. I need to respond to Erica, but that means speaking aloud. Is it safe for me to respond?
He tilts his head and grimaces. I’m going to take that as a no.
We need to let her know we have heard and are coming.
Hrad nods and makes a kind of whistle that could be an animal sound.
There’s silence for a second, before Erica responds. “I don’t understand. Say again.”
It’s clear that she’s talking to us. Hrad makes the whistle again.
“If you’re close. Please hurry,” she pleads. “No, don’t take it.”
There’s a rustle and her device goes quiet.
“Shit.” I murmur. “We need to move.”
Please don’t speak.
I glare at him. Fine. We need to do something.
There are five warriors. I cannot take on five. Two if they are unmated. You need to call Charlie’s team back, and we need to leave.
Leave? We cannot abandon Erica. What will happen to her?
Hrad is silent for several seconds. Without the whisperer, she won’t be able to communicate until she learns the language. They will be curious and worried about the stranger on their land.
He’s too fucking calm. They killed Hugh.
I run my hand over my head. Fuck. How did this all go to shit so fast? How did they discover we were here? I want to scream my frustration. I want answers.
Hrad stares at the ground, a frown pinching his eyebrows together. If they find him, they will kill him for being banished. And if they find me, will I share Erica’s fate?
What will they do with the ship?
Is it smarter to leave while we still can?
What happens when I go home and report the loss of my entire team?
I get up, needing to move, and stalk around our tiny campsite. We should’ve kept walking through the night, then we would’ve been there when the warriors arrived and perhaps the four of us could’ve fought them off…
Killing the people we want to learn from is not a good start.
Hrad grabs my arm, and cups my cheek. We can go to the settlement. I can talk to them.
My heart thumps against my ribs. “No. They will kill you.”
I bite my lip, realizing I shouldn’t have spoken, even though my words were soft. But he’s right. I can’t go to the settlement by myself, and he is the only one who speaks the language. We need a plan.
And that plan isn’t going home and getting reinforcements. Reinforcements means guns, and they will not be helpful. I stare up at him. The way the light catches in his amber eyes, making them appear as if they are illuminated from within.
I need to find a solution, and I need it now.
I needed it yesterday, when we should’ve kept walking. Then we’d have been there. Exhausted from being up all day and night and from all the walking. Hrad would be dead, as they’d have killed him on sight for being banished.
And if he wasn’t banished…
My eyebrows pull together. You can return to a tribe if you bring a woman?
His eyes narrow. I can return to my tribe if I bring a woman. We are a long way from my tribe. They will not help us.
It wasn’t their help I wanted. Though now I wonder if we could seek help from one of the other tribes. Are any of the nearby tribes friendly?
He shakes his head, and his hand falls away. I grab his fingers. There must be a solution. I am not abandoning my people.
Take me to the village as your prisoner.
No. I will not condemn him the same way his tribe did. I tilt my jaw and hold his gaze. If you have a mate, you are no longer banished?
He frowns. I suppose that is true.
Then, I will choose you as my mate.