Found Read online

  Barnes drew back, his meaty face suddenly pale. “Wow, Rast she’s spooky! How does she do that?”

  “I have no idea and no interest in finding out.” Rast frowned. How the hell had the girl known so much about Barnes and his family? Could it be just a lucky guess? He looked at Nadiah. “Let’s go.”

  “Where are you taking me?” She stood her ground, arms crossed over her breasts. “I’m not going until I know.”

  “To see some giants,” Rast growled, grabbing her hand. “Come on.”

  * * * * *

  The ride through downtown Sarasota was charmingly foreign. It was also a little frightening. Nadiah had lived in grottos and enclosed spaces her entire life. Being outside, on the surface of a planet, with such a high, open sky above her in all directions made her feel rather like a tiny bug crawling under a blue bowl. Detective Rast’s vehicle was what he called a “convertible” and the warm wind blew through her hair as they drove through the city.

  It was hot and humid—almost oppressively so, especially compared with the frigid climate of Tranq Prime. But Nadiah felt it was worth it to be someplace so completely different and new—someplace so wonderfully foreign. She was glad, however, that she was visiting during the “cool” part of the year—at least according to Sophia. She couldn’t imagine what the temperature might be like during the hot season.

  Regardless of the temperature, downtown Sarasota was exciting. There were tall buildings everywhere and the road they were traveling on was lined with a type of vegetation called palm trees. The people all wore light, casual clothes and pants which stopped above the knee. Many of the women had footwear on which exposed their feet—shocking to someone who had grown up on Tranq Prime, but obviously no big deal here on Earth. Clearly the natives were used to the heat and dressed accordingly. Nadiah wished they could stop the car so she could get out and explore—there was so much to see!

  “You keeping looking around like that, your eyes are going to pop out of your head and roll down the street.” Rast gave her a sidelong glance as he steered the vehicle.

  “Excuse me for being excited,” Nadiah said icily. “This is the first foreign planet I’ve been on. It’s exhilarating to see someplace so completely different from my home world.”

  “Too bad you’re not here for a better reason.” He sighed moodily and looked back at the road.

  “Yes, I guess you’re right.” Nadiah felt suddenly guilty. What right had she to enjoy the sights and sounds of the foreign city when the whole reason she was here was to find evidence about a missing girl? A girl who was probably still being held and tortured by the AllFather that very minute. Just thinking about it brought a lump to her throat and tears to her eyes.

  “Hey.” Rast threw her another glance and then looked at her more fully. “Hey, don’t cry.” He sounded almost panicked. “Look, I’m sorry. I know I’m a bastard sometimes. I just get so wrapped up in the case and I don’t think before I talk.”

  “I’m not crying because of you,” Nadiah said with as much dignity as she could muster. “I’m thinking of Tabitha. Of what I saw in my dream last night.”

  Rast frowned. “Back to that again, are we?”

  “And you’re back to denigrating my gift.” Nadiah was suddenly furious. “I warn you, Detective Rast, I won’t put up with it. Either treat me with respect or turn this vehicle around right now and take me back to the HKR building.”

  “Okay, sorry.” He gave her a look of grudging respect. “You sure know how to stand up for yourself.”

  “I’ve had to,” Nadiah said grimly. “If I didn’t know how to stand up for myself I’d be back home right now mated to Yo-dah and having ugly babies just like my parents want me to.”

  He frowned. “Is that some kind of an arranged marriage thing? They still do that where you’re from?”

  “It’s more than that—stronger than that. A blood bond.” Nadiah sighed. “Never mind, you wouldn’t understand.”

  “Maybe not completely,” he said, steering the car around a bend. “But I do understand being told to do something by someone in authority that I knew in my gut was wrong.”

  “What did you do?” Nadiah asked, interested despite herself.

  “I left,” he said shortly. “Struck out on my own.” He gave her a glance. “I’m guessing you did to.”

  “I did.” She nodded. “But I’ll have to go back eventually. My problem isn’t one I can run away from completely. Soon I’ll have to face it.”

  “Face what, exactly?” He sounded genuinely curious.

  “The blood bond. It’s…never mind.” Nadiah shook her head. “It’s complicated.”

  “Okay, you don’t want to talk about it. I get it.” He shrugged. “But did you actually say that the guy you were supposed marry is called Yoda?”

  “Yo-dah,” Nadiah said, and frowned when he laughed. “What is it? Why does everyone find his name so funny? It’s a very old and well respected family name where I live.”

  “Where you live,” he said dryly. “In a galaxy far, far away, right?”

  “Well, yes.” Nadiah crossed her arms over her chest. “But so what?”

  “Nothing.” But there was a small smile playing around the corner of his mouth. “It’s from a movie. Maybe if you’re here long enough I’ll show it to you.”

  Nadiah raised an eyebrow at him. “Why Detective, are you asking me to a social event?’

  “You mean like a date? I never said that.” He frowned again. “Forget I said anything. It was a stupid idea.”

  “Not necessarily. And anyway I—oh! Oh!” Nadiah popped open the restraining harness that was holding her in place, stood up in the car and pointed. “Look! Look there they are!”

  “Hey, stop that! Get back down here!” Rast tugged at her tharp which twitched slightly at the feeling of a strange hand on it. “That’s against the law,” he yelled. “Not to mention damn dangerous. Sit down!”

  But Nadiah was far too excited to hear anything he said. “The giants!” she said, still pointing excitedly. “There they are! They’re just exactly like I saw them in my vision.”

  Rast pulled the car into a parking space and stopped with a jolt. With a scream, Nadiah toppled over backwards and sideways. Her head hit the steering mechanism and she somehow landed in Rast’s lap.

  “Ouch!” she gasped, looking up at the stern look of disapproval on his face. “Why did you do that?”

  “To prove a point—you can’t stand up in a car while it’s driving.” He looked anxious. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, though. Is your head all right?”

  “I think so.” Nadiah touched her forehead lightly with her fingertips. “Ow.”

  Rast swore. “Damn it, you’re bleeding. What am I going to tell your cousin?”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll tell him it was an accident.” Feeling suddenly uncomfortable at the intense way he was staring at her, Nadiah struggled to sit up and put some distance between them.

  “Come back here.” Rast grabbed her by the arm. “You’re not getting out of the car until I do something about that.” He reached across her and fumbled around in a small compartment located right above where her knees had been. “Here, I always keep this handy.”

  “What is it?” Nadiah asked as he opened a small white box with a red symbol on it.

  “First aid kit. Hold still.” Working with surprising gentleness, Rast captured her chin in one hand and proceeded to dab some soothing ointment on the cut above her forehead. For some reason Nadiah’s heart started pounding faster and she found she couldn’t meet his eyes. Goddess, she wished he didn’t smell so good! Warm and spicy and somehow completely male.

  “Don’t worry about Sylvan,” she said, looking down at her hands as Rast worked. “He’ll understand. I was always getting into trouble when I was younger. He always said watching me while my parents were away made him more nervous than fighting a hungry vrana. He—” Realizing she was babbling, she made herself stop. “Are…are you almost done?” she asked,