Chapter 6

Blade

I pushed. That’s what I always did, much to my brother Rover’s frustration sometimes. Secretly, I knew exactly when to do it and when to hold back; I’d learned to read him like the back of my hand at an early age. With Hannah, it was just as easy to read what she wanted, what she needed. Now was not the time to press her for answers, and I was starting to think I already knew what she was hiding, anyway. That made it easier to be patient.

My saddlebags held plenty of supplies and I gave her the time she needed to pull herself back together by turning for them to pull out dry clothing. I’d smelled the blood in the air, a fine mist of it drifting away on the stream’s current when she’d had her coughing fit. It was my priority to get her into warm things again and then to the safe house I had in mind for us to spend the night. She’d be comfortable there, and maybe I could convince her to finally talk to me.

“Here, put this on,” I said briskly and pushed a thick pair of pants into her hands along with one of my long-sleeved shirts. She shot me a suspicious look that morphed into faint amusement, her pale cheeks gaining a hint of pink. I turned around with a grin. “Fine, I won’t look.” But she could look at me all she wanted. I stripped out of my underwear with brisk moves, hoping that it was her gaze I could feel on my ass. It was very tempting to turn and give her a bit of a show; my cock rising eagerly at the thought. That wasn’t helped by the sound of her rustling clothes, I was instantly picturing her naked.

Then another sound caught my attention: a sudden silence fell over the forest, but leaves rustled in the distance. The sound was out of sync with the wind and could only mean one thing. I yanked on my pants and boots in a hurry, then ignored my tempting human’s indignant squeak when I assisted her in pulling her coat back on. “We’re about to have company,” I warned her.

Hannah was still damp everywhere, and I’d glimpsed the soft globes of her breasts just before she’d yanked the shirt down. Her body was chilled to my touch when I bent down to slip her feet into her sturdy boots. No time for the laces, but I made sure her feet would be warm when we went up into the air again. “More of those flying things?” she asked with a frantic look over her shoulder. As soon as I dropped her foot, she was already climbing onto my hover bike and I was struck with just how lovely a sight she made.

“No, worse,” I said. I tried out a reassuring smile, but I couldn’t quite muster one. The sounds were getting closer and my bike would make noise; they’d hear us take off. There was no other option, but I did not like it much.

I snatched a blanket from my bags and tucked it around her shoulders, then settled behind her on the saddle. My thigh pressed against the holster with my ax. I’d use that if it came down to it. “The Overlords and their guards,” I told her. My body would have to keep her warm and shield her from them should they try to take extreme measures. I did not think they would. They usually liked to make a spectacle of the humans they caught, but one never knew.

My bike revved loudly as I flicked on the engine and took us up into the air. It startled a flock of purple and pink birds to our left, sending them winging wildly into the air and cawing loudly in anger. I muffled a laugh at the sight of several of them keeping up for a short while and giving us indignant glares.

“You are crazy,” Hannah accused me, but her eyes sparkled with laughter. That only lasted until she glanced down and saw who was chasing us. They’d leave me alone if I abandoned her, but that was never going to happen, and they’d leave her alone when she agreed to be my mate. All I needed was to stall for more time while I wooed her. “Who are they?” she whispered, “They look like minotaurs.”

“Because they are,” I agreed. “The Minotaur are our overlords. They rule the planet.” I said it lightly, but I saw her eyes sharpen. She sensed the underlying discontent I felt with the situation. It wasn’t right that we orcs made up most of the population but had no voice when it came to ruling the planet and making the laws. It was one of those things that Rover and I thoroughly agreed on, but he was the politician, not me, and he had decided there was nothing we could do.

“The overlords have recently installed a new scanning system,” I recalled out loud. Rover had talked about it, but I’d ignored the information because I couldn’t see why it pertained to me. Past me was an idiot, and I vowed I wouldn’t be so lackadaisical about new intel in the future. “I think they might be able to differentiate species now. Which is bad news.”

Rover was a very suspicious son of a bitch. He always made sure our clan homes were kitted out with the newest safety features. That went for the safe houses scattered throughout our territory, too. I just needed them to lose their visual line of sight on me, and then I could still take her to my intended destination. The stream had been just outside of the Ironheart lands, but now I determinedly swung back into it. The stones were on the border, and we’d been traveling along it, but a few hours extra to our travel time wouldn’t matter.

“Hang on tight, my lovely little human. I’ll take care of this.” It was gratifying when she clung trustingly to my arms, no sound leaving her lips as I sent my bike soaring and tumbling through the sky and dipping in and out of the woods. They were on the ground, moving much slower than we did, and soon we’d outrun them.