Tyler's Story (Tales of Quelondain) by Mireille Chester Read Free Book Online Page A

his idiotic plan.”
    “But if she gets caught up with a pack of
rogues…”
    “She’s with us.”
    The blond man opened his mouth and Tyler growled.
    “You’re not listening to me. She’s with me. I found
her; she’s mine.”
    Heidi caught a glimpse of the blond man from between
her protectors’ shoulders. She was shocked at how pale he looked.
His eyes never left Tyler’s. Even the few of his comrades she could
see looked uneasy.
    “You’re not taking her.” Though Tyler’s voice didn’t
sound any louder than it had previously, the tone of it made it
very obvious that he meant every word he had just uttered.
    “You’d fight a pack of your own kind to keep a human
girl?” One of the men at the back shook his head incredulously.
    “I don’t care what she is. She hasn’t done anything
wrong.” Tyler’s hand was still over his dagger. John’s pose was
almost identical to his.
    The blond man’s hand moved his blade as well. “Orders
are orders.”
    “Try not to kill any of them.” Tyler’s voice was only
loud enough for John and Heidi to hear. “We don’t need the whole
pack after us after this.” John nodded.
    Tyler’s free hand moved back so that it touched
Heidi’s arm. “Heidi, I’m going to boost you up a tree. Get up high.
If anyone tries to reach you, cut them.” He felt her shaking behind
him.
    John glanced at Heidi then gestured to her with his
head before returning his gaze toward the small pack in front of
them. Tyler turned, trusting John to warn him if any of the men
came forward while he wasn’t looking. His eyes met Heidi’s and he
smiled reassuringly. Her grey green eyes were saucers in her head,
her skin a strange pale shade of green as she shook with fear. He
cupped her face in his hands.
    “Heidi.” He bent and kissed her forehead softly.
“Just get up in the tree. I won’t let them take you.”
    She took a long shuddering breath and gazed into his
deep brown eyes. The hard look in them softened slightly and Tyler
ran his thumb over her cheek. Could she trust this man? She’d only
known him a day. Of course, he’d never shown any indication that he
might be a danger to her.
    “Heidi, trust me.”
    She inhaled once more and nodded. Her heart jumped
into her chest at the growl that exploded from John’s throat. Tyler
grabbed her by the waist, threw her toward the lowest branch on the
tree and ducked under her so she was standing on his shoulders. She
lost her balance as he moved sideways. His left hand caught her
ankle to steady her. She looked down and caught a glimpse of one of
the other men stabbing his dagger toward Tyler’s chest. He managed
to deflect the blow with his own dagger but hissed as the other’s
blade slid across his side. Without letting go of her leg, he
kicked forward and she heard the dark haired man’s breath leave his
body in a huff. Tyler turned and placed his hands under her feet,
pushing her into the branches.
    “Climb!”
    The tone of his voice left no room for argument.
Heidi scrambled as high as she could and glanced down. She fought
the urge to scream as the dark haired man lunged at Tyler. Her
self-appointed guardian knocked the man’s dagger to the side.
Tyler’s elbow connected with the man’s nose, quickly followed by
his knee as Tyler brought his opponent’s face down to meet it. The
Maj dropped to the ground and Tyler turned his attention to the
blond man who had been leading the pack. Heidi looked around for
John and found him backing away from two well-built men who had
obviously seen more meals in the past little while than he had. She
caught her breath as he pulled his dagger and threw it with such
speed she wasn’t sure he had until one of the men advancing
screamed in pain. He fell to his knee, his hands grabbing at the
hilt of the dagger that had impaled itself in his foot and pinned
him to the ground. John pulled a knife from the side up his boot
and aimed it at the second man’s chest. The latter paused,