Chapter 8

"Your debt? What debt?"

Kara gave H'zim a confused look and he began to pace restlessly, his hands clenched at his sides as he tried to wrestle his emotions under control. His intention to keep his distance hadn't even lasted a day, but he hadn't been able to resist comforting her. He shouldn't have held her soft, trembling body in his arms. He shouldn't have enjoyed it so much or found the fact that she had turned to him so satisfying.

Perhaps it had been that trust, or perhaps it had been that brave attempt at a smile when she looked up at him, that had led to him kissing her. A kiss that had escalated even more rapidly than the one the previous night. Even now his cock throbbed painfully, the memory of her soft flesh filling his hands making him hunger for more. Thank the gods he'd at least mustered the control to pull away before he did something incredibly stupid - like bend her over the porch steps and until she was sobbing again, but from pleasure this time.

His cock jerked at the thought but he forced his attention back to her question, staring down at the note still in his hand. He'd known this day would come, but he hadn't expected it to come so quickly. And he hadn't expected it to be here on the farm. His muscles tensed as his head snapped up to scan the horizon. The scene was as peaceful as it had been the day before but now he was even more convinced that he was being watched.

Kara was looking at him uncertainly, her face still pale.

"I made a bargain," he said harshly. "This is a reminder that I will have to pay."

Her eyes widened.

"Who are you indebted to? A loan shark?"

He barked out a laugh, but there was no humor in it.

"This wasn't that kind of bargain." A loan shark would have been much less of a problem.

"What are you going to do?" she asked, putting her hand on his arm and giving him a worried look.

He looked down and their eyes met. For a moment they stared at each other, the air thick with unspoken emotions. Her touch sent a surge of longing through him, but he finally shook his head and turned away.

"I don't know."

He spun on his heel and strode off, leaving her standing alone on the porch. His boots crunched on the dry grass as he headed away from the farmhouse. He couldn't shake the feeling of helplessness that had consumed him in that prison cell.

Memories flooded his mind like a dam breaking. He remembered the man who had come to see him in his cell. That in itself was unusual - all official visits were conducted in the visiting rooms - and argued a considerable degree of influence. He was a big man, at least for a human, and carried himself with the confidence of a fighter.

The stranger had studied H'zim's face with a calculating gaze as he told him that his imprisonment had been arranged by another male, a male who held a grudge against H'zim. His words only confirmed what H'zim already knew, but perhaps he had other answers as well.

"What's his name?" he growled, his anger simmering just below the surface.

The man smiled, a cold, cruel smile.

"Let's just say he's not happy about losing a large sum of money to you. And even less happy about Ayyla leaving him for you."

His gut twisted with anger and shame. He had been so blind, so trusting. Ayyla had played him like a fool, using him to get back at her former lover.

"Why are you telling me this? Has she confessed?"

"She's dead, H'zim. And the one who set you up will never confess."

"Dead?" The knowledge made him reel. He'd been so busy plotting his revenge against her, he'd never considered the possibility that she might be permanently beyond his reach. And somewhere beneath the shock was a whisper of regret, regret for what she had seemed to be, for the relationship he had believed they could have. "What happened to her?"

The stranger shrugged.

"She pushed him one too many times and he'd had enough. A fitting end no doubt."

"Then why are you here?" he spat out, the words bitter on his tongue. "Why even tell me if she's dead and can't help me?"

"It wouldn't have made any difference if she were alive. You're still guilty in the eyes of the law." The man regarded him thoughtfully. "But there may be an alternative."

Anger and disappointment still simmered in his chest, but the stranger's words caught his attention.

"An alternative?" he repeated skeptically.

The stranger shrugged again, his expression unreadable. "I can arrange for you to be freed."

Freedom. It was all he had thought about since his imprisonment. But at what cost? He knew better than to trust strangers, especially ones who appeared out of nowhere.

"What do you want in return?"

The stranger smiled, a cold, calculating smile.

"I don't want anything, but my employer has a small request. Nothing much - just a favor to be called in at a later time."

His instincts screamed at him to refuse. He knew he would regret it, but desperation clawed at his belly, whispering the promise of freedom in his ear. Freedom from the dark cell and the endless nights.

What kind of favor would he worth the price of his freedom? Almost anything, he decided.

"Fine," H'zim growled. "I agree."

The stranger nodded, his eyes glinting with triumph.

"A wise decision. I'll make the arrangements." The stranger turned to leave, then paused, looking back over his shoulder. "Just remember that these arrangements can be undone just as easily."

He stared after the man as he left, dread twisting his stomach. "A favor to be called in later." He knew that sooner or later, the stranger would come to collect.

And now he's here, he thought, returning to the present. He'd reached the end of his land and he stopped, blindly scanning the horizon. The sun was setting, casting a golden glow over the hills, but his mind was still consumed by the past, by the memories he couldn't shake.

After the stranger had left, his emotions had finally settled enough for him to work out who had been behind his arrest - Bextor, a relatively small-time gambler but one who had a lot of connections. H'zim had been plotting his revenge ever since, determined to make it as slow as painful as his three years in jail had been.

First his agreement to return to the farm with S'kal had delayed it, then his decision to set up the farm for Kara, and now this still unknown favor. The anonymous message was almost worse than knowing the price, leaving it open to too much speculation, but perhaps that had been the stranger's intention. Was he somewhere in those hills even now, watching the turmoil he had caused?

He'd been an excellent tracker once. Perhaps I should go after him…

He dismissed the idea almost immediately. The search could take days, even assuming the stranger was still there, and he didn't want to leave Kara alone and unprotected. Kara. He turned to look back at the farmhouse just as a light came on, a comforting glow against the dusk. The beacon of her presence drew him like a magnet and he started back across the fields.

Since there was nothing he could but wait, he would use the time to make as much progress as he could on the farm. In case I don't return, a voice whispered but he refused to listen. Right now was all that mattered.