Lovers in the Woods by Ann Raina Read Free Book Online Page A

And
you?”
    Rayenne nodded to Sajitar.
    “I feel the rain coming, too. Wouldn’t be too
bad to be protected.”
    “And your—”
    “Lead the way, Doyakis.”
    “ Oh, call me Yak. It’s okay. Not so
formal.” He smiled again and, twitching his brows, added, “You
haven’t been out here for long, have you? You look so…clean.”
Another cackle followed. When Rayenne and Sajitar did not reply he
shook his head and turned to the edge of the forest. His limp on
the left side made him sway more than walk. “You two, are you
together? I mean, really together?”
    “No,” Rayenne hastened to reply. “We are… We
took a shortcut through the woods.”
    “Ah.” Doyakis did not believe a word. “That’s
why. I see. I see.”
    Sajitar was certain the old man
had noticed the officer’s uniform. Why doesn’t he comment on it?
    “Have you been out here for long?”
    Doyakis glanced over his shoulder, telling
without words that he took the young man to be one brick short of a
load.
    “Don’t I look scruffy enough for you, laddie?
I’ve been out here for longer than anyone lives. Well, maybe the
Horlyns live longer, but in their circles, and they don’t celebrate
their birthdays with me, ey. I can tell ya, I met some of those
beasts as lads who are old by now. They don’t fly anymore.”
    “You know how to differentiate between single
beings?” Rayenne’s astonishment brought a return of undisclosed
anger.
    “You don’t? Now, missy, if you had been here
longer than a few short hours, you’d understand that there’re a lot
of signs and patterns among these beasts. It’s not like you know
one you know them all.”
    Sajitar’s uneasiness rose. He checked the
surroundings.
    “Did you meet other people around here,
today?”
    “Have you missed a party or what, laddie?
Maybe with your fairies, ey? No, for the sake of my peace in these
woods, there’s not been a soul around here for weeks.”
    Sajitar was off the saddle in one fluent
motion, had his knife out and at the old man’s throat so fast that
there was no resistance. Yelling, the old man went down, flailing
his arms. Pressed hard against a tree trunk, all air was driven
from his lungs. He tried to cough but couldn’t.
    “You bugger! Leave me alone! Help!”
    Sajitar pressed the blade against Doyakis’
throat. His words were clipped.
    “Tell me, old man, who pays you for
this?”
    He stared at him, wild-eyed.
    “Pay?”
    “ Stop this I’m-innocent-babble . I know you work with them! So spit it out! Where
do they wait for us?”
    “I…I…There’s no one! I swear!” The old man
lifted his arms and dropped them in surrender when Sajitar pressed
harder, penetrating his skin. A single drop of blood trickled down
his throat. The old man wailed. “Please, don’t kill me!”
    “Saji, leave him be,” Rayenne said before she
returned to scanning the area, gun at the ready. “Probably he had
no choice.”
    “He’d sell us for some credits to Sanjongy!
Tell me, you bugger!”
    Doyakis swallowed with an effort, then cast
his eyes down.
    “They said they’d come after dark.”
    “To your hut?”
    “Yes.” Doyakis tried to flatten his back
against the trunk to get more air, but Sajitar expected the move.
“Don’t kill me! I beg you!”
    “How many men?”
    “Three. I don’t know if there were more!” he
added fearfully when Sajitar cocked his head, disbelieving.
    “What did they promise you?”
    “Credits.”
    “Lots of credits?”
    “More than I’d ever see now.”
    “Are there more like you? What did you
hear?”
    The old man shook his head. Sweat poured down
his temples.
    “You can’t outrun them for long. They’ll look
for you everywhere.”
    “Bounty hunters, ey?”
    There was a twitch in his brows and his voice
even weaker than before.
    “Who knows? I’m just one and I swear I didn’t
want this to happen.”
    “Do they have tattoos?”
    “How shall I know? Doesn’t everyone have one
today?”
    Sajitar pulled back the