Kraven groaned. “Fantastic. That means we’ll have to take them back to our clan, where he won’t be able to get to them.”

“I know.”

“Decker will try to get them back by force.”

“I’d rather we have to fight Decker’s clan than Aveoth’s. We have a chance of winning.”

“What if he tells Aveoth we have them? Father would have to hand over the sister to avoid a fight with him.”

“Let’s worry about that after we get them to the safety of our clan.”

“One problem at a time.” Kraven nodded. “Right.” He paused. “You understand that taking them home will put us all in danger, don’t you?”

Drantos reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. “Of course I do. I’d rather deal with Aveoth directly over Decker. He’s not insane.”

“Are you certain? It’s been many years since we’ve spoken to him. He’s changed a lot since then.”

“Aveoth has honor.”

“We hope he still does. Who knows what happened to make him take over his clan. I mean, he killed his own father to do it. That’s pretty cold.”

One of the passengers started to raise hell. Drantos cocked his head, listening to what the man was ranting about. He was starting to panic the other survivors about being attacked by wild animals or dying if the wreckage wasn’t spotted by rescue teams.

“I’ll go deal with that,” he announced. “You work on getting them fed.”

Em's EORD

Chapter Three

Bat collapsed on a blanket near Dusti hours later. The wind had picked up, leaving a definite chill in air. Dusti had watched her sister keep busy helping Kraven pass out the food after he’d dragged the deer carcass into the clearing. It had been impressive watching him roast meat on sticks over the fire. Afterward, Drantos and Bat worked together to get everyone comfortable enough to sleep.

“I’m never going to look at venison the same way again. It’s really disturbing how good that man is with a knife.” Bat smirked.

Dusti glanced around looking for Drantos, and found him standing too close for her comfort, dumping more wood into a pile by the fire. She still wanted to warn her sister that he was crazy. It seemed he was never going to give her a perfect opportunity so she just needed to do it. She lowered her voice.

“Remember my friend Greg?”

Bat nodded. “The nut.”

Dusti winced. “He’s bipolar. So is Drantos.”

Bat stared at her. “What?”

Dusti nodded. “Keep your voice down. He doesn’t want me to say anything to you but he’s off his meds.” She glanced at Drantos and found him staring at her. She waited until one of the passengers said something to him and he broke eye contact with her. “Don’t say anything, because I’m afraid it will set him off, but he thinks our grandfather is some alien or something. He hates him and plans to use us to get back at him somehow.”

Bat paled. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Damn.” Bat frowned. “That runs in families sometimes, doesn’t it? That means the brother might have the same condition.”

“Did you hear what I said? We’re in danger!”

“I heard. I have some clients like that. Just be cool and go along with anything he says. We’ll be rescued and the paramedics can sedate him until they get him the help he needs.”

Dusti nodded. It was sound advice.

“This sucks. I kinda like the brother.” Bat glanced anywhere but at Dusti. “He’s different. I’ve never met anyone like him before.”

Dusti worried. “You’re attracted to him?”

Bat held Dusti’s gaze. “Nothing can come of it long term but he’s definitely one-night-stand material. I admit I’m thinking about it.”

“No,” Dusti whispered. “Trust me for once. He went along with Drantos’s crazy plan of grabbing us on that plane. What does that tell you?”

“He’s probably used to dealing with the nut job and just placates him. It’s what you do. How many times have you visited Greg, only to find him wearing his metal helmet so aliens can’t feel his presence or some such nonsense? You actually told him you found an alien-free zone to trick him into going to see his doctor, so they could admit him to the hospital and put him back on his medication until he was stable again. You even wore one of his spare helmets to drive him so he felt secure that they couldn’t read your mind to find him.”

“He wouldn’t get in my car otherwise.”

“But you do it. That’s my point. And he’s just your friend. Kraven and Drantos are brothers. He probably just plays along when Drantos is having an episode of whatever the hell is wrong with him. At least he’s still functional. He helped set up this camp and built a fire pit. I bet Greg would be screaming that aliens were going to kidnap us if he were with us right now, and trying to make another helmet out of the plane wreckage.”

She couldn’t deny that. “I—”

“We have enough wood to last us all night.” Drantos suddenly dropped to his knees on the edge of Dusti’s spread-out blanket. He shot her a warning glance before he turned his full attention on her sister. “The temperatures are going to drop lower tonight but everyone will be fine with the fire burning. What were you two talking about?”

“Dusti is worried about her friend at home. She likes to call him every day to make sure he’s okay, but of course she can’t since we’re here. He’s sickly. I was just telling her someone else would check in on him,” Bat said without missing a beat. “It’s so cold already. Don’t tell me it’ll get worse?” Bat changed the subject and wrapped her arms around her waist, hugging her middle. “The wind is already icy.”

Movement had all of them glancing toward the woods in time to watch Kraven step out of the darkness. He’d gone to clean up after cooking the deer. He strode to the pile of things taken from the destroyed plane, bent, grabbed two blankets, and then approached. He spread one of them on the ground.

“The area is secure. There’s nothing near us that could become a danger.” He winked at his brother. “The bear didn’t enjoy being chased off but he’s far north now.”