Page 14 of Born Savage

I snapped my head in his direction, immediately realizing why.

“She’s gone,” he added, nodding down the platform. “You were too busy playing hero.”

After lowering the bloody blade, I scanned the area, although I knew exactly where she was going.

“We have our hands full with her. Or maybe with you as well,” Vicious said as he approached.

“Damn,” I said, exhaling. She was cunning.

“While all that might be true, there is activity at the Empire. The heat seeker picked up a large group heading out.” Wrath quirked his eyebrow.

“How many?” I swung my head in his direction.

“More than two dozen.”

With a slow and steady hiss, I’d glared into the darkness. The Empire, the location where the Borgata leaders and their whores maintained a residence. Their corrupt world had been duly noticed by all those traveling the area. They only ventured out at night if there was much to gain from doing so. The technology we carried alone was worth the danger. “Then we need to hurry. The female will not be captured by them. Understood?”

“You think they’re after her?” Blade asked.

“Yes, I do.” Which was probably why there’d been more of a sense of urgency to find her.

With a toss of my hand into the air, the other quieted so I could listen. While she knew how to remain silent, my hearing was keen, picking up everything.

Rats the size of dogs skittered past, but otherwise, the only other sound was her crossing the tracks once again so she could return to the car where she’d been hiding.

Rock joined me. “Do you want me to go after her?”

“Cut her off at the exit. Ghost, Wizard, ensure she doesn’t get past you on the opposite end.”

Wrath took a deep breath. “The child will be a problem.”

“We’ll deal with it.”

Excess baggage we didn’t need, but if taking the child would create a false sense of trust then so be it. The girl would be dealt with later.

Star.

Her name reverberated in my mind. Star.

A woman who I couldn’t dare desire, but my body wasn’t interested in surrendering to anyone’s rules.

I had no concern that our information was incorrect. She was everything I’d been told to expect. Perhaps even more. What I hadn’t anticipated was the deep ache furrowing in my loins. Yet our mission was clear.

Bring her safely to Eden.

There was no time to rethink how the task needed to be executed successfully. First, I needed to ensure she understood our intentions, although I had a sense that would be far less doable than discovering her location.

We were exhausted from the journey, the weeks of traveling leaving us aching for something that would never occur in our lifetime again. Peace. However, we’d fulfill our duties, prepared for others as soon as we were finished. What weighed on my mind continued to be why her importance.

And why so many had gone to the trouble of saving me and my men when we’d been prepared to die for the cause. Questions that needed answers. Those wouldn’t be on the agenda until this mission had been accomplished.

Whether or not the female agreed, she was ours to protect, ours to imprison if necessary.

I held her sword into the burnt orange light, twisting the hilt in my hand. The piece was magnificent, the markings indicating it was at least a couple of centuries old. The steel blade glistened with fresh blood, but the worn leather of the handle was stained with dated conquests.

All attributed to the female.

“We take her,” I told them. “But I will be the one to do it.”