Pursued Read online

  The pony put its head to one side almost like a dog and considered her in what appeared to Elise to be a very intelligent way. Then, apparently deciding she wasn’t a threat, it trotted forward and delicately took the flower from her open palm. As it munched contentedly, Elise dared to stroke its tiny, arching neck very gently with just her fingertips. The pale blue pony tossed its head and neighed, then appeared to decide it liked her attentions. Turning, it nudged her hand as if asking for more.

  Elise was delighted. “You like that, huh, pretty boy?” she said softly. “Would you like another?” Gently, she stroked the pony again and then offered it another flower, which it took with no hesitation at all.

  By this time, the other miniature ponies were becoming interested in Elise. They came forward tentatively, sniffing at her blue leather boots and then happily accepting the flowers she picked for them. Soon, she literally had the whole herd of them eating out of her hand.

  Later, when she thought about it, Elise was certain this was the most magical—and peaceful—part of her journey away from Earth. She felt like she was seven years old again—completely happy and at peace with herself in a way she hadn’t been in years. There was nothing to interrupt her bliss, nothing but the warm, living hum of the jungle around her, the sweet smell of the pastel flowers, and the tiny herd of shaggy ponies surrounding her and begging for more attention.

  She fed and petted them all and had just coaxed the pale blue one to jump up into her lap for a very gentle cuddle when the wind changed. A breeze gusted through the blue-gray leaves around her and suddenly one of the other ponies threw up its head and neighed shrilly—a sound of unmistakable alarm. At once, the entire herd took flight, scrambling madly away as though in mortal fear for their tiny lives. In a second, every last one was gone—all except the pale blue pony. He stayed in Elise’s lap, apparently frozen in terror, though she couldn’t see why.

  “What is it, boy?” she asked softly, stroking the tiny, trembling body. “What’s wrong?”

  A low, ferocious growl provided her answer.

  Feeling like someone had just dumped a bag of ice cubes directly into her stomach, Elise lifted her eyes to look for the source of that terrifying sound. There, across from her and still half hidden by the dense vegetation at the edge of the clearing, was a pair of burning yellow eyes with blue slits for pupils. They looked strangely familiar somehow—or maybe it was just the thing’s shape that seemed to resonate with her. But she couldn’t imagine why. She’d never been to Rageron before—why would any of the animals here seem familiar?

  The thing attached to the eyes slunk slowly out of the jungle and stepped delicately into the tiny pink clearing. It looked like a cross between a grizzly bear and a bobcat, with tufted ears and a short, ugly muzzle wrinkled back in a silent snarl to expose long, razor sharp fangs. Suddenly Elise knew where she had seen it before—the head hanging above the kitchen in Merrick’s uncles’ house.

  She was looking straight into the face of a very hungry xenox, while holding a trembling billib—its favorite prey—in her lap.

  Chapter Twenty

  Something isn’t right. The thought came to him after twenty minutes of walking around in circles, trying to pick up the correct trail and Merrick knew at once it was true. He felt it in his gut and then, just a moment later, a wave of unadulterated fear came through the bond, confirming his instinct.

  Oh, Goddess—Elise! Why had he left her alone? It was safe on the trail, which was clearly scent marked to warn off any hungry predators. But if she’d even stepped a foot off it…

  Turning, he inhaled deeply, orienting himself on her scent. It was as sweet and hot as always, but now there was a new note in it—the tang of pure terror. Merrick took off at a dead run, moving noiselessly through the jungle despite his size, hoping against hope he wouldn’t be too late.

  Blue-gray leaves slapped him in the face and the sun beat down mercilessly overhead, but he concentrated only on her scent. Soon a new odor had joined it—a hot, musky stench Merrick would know anywhere. Xenox.

  Shit! He ran even faster, somehow managing to get the knife from his boot without tripping. He’d left his blaster with Shuura, since such weapons were forbidden in the jungle. The Ancient Ones perceived them and anyone carrying them as a mortal threat and killed them on contact. Now Merrick wished he’d broken the rules. A blaster would have been good to have when facing a predator of this magnitude. He just hoped he was in time to draw it away from Elise and make himself the main focus of its attack.

  Finally he reached them and came to a silent halt, the knife gripped hard in one hand. He could feel rage building in him—a state of altered consciousness that comes over a Kindred warrior when his female is threatened—and fought it off grimly. He needed to be in total control to deal with this situation—not enraged to the point of recklessness. Taking a deep breath, he tried to look at the situation with clear eyes.

  There was Elise, huddled in a patch of sugar blossoms, her eyes wide with fright. Merrick could hear her heartbeat, rapid and terrified, and smell her fear in the air. No doubt the xenox crouched directly across from her, getting ready to spring, could smell the same thing.

  What Merrick couldn’t figure out was why it was targeting her in the first place. Xenoxes were fierce predators, but were also known to be picky eaters. If there was a patch of sugar blossoms this close, it ought to be sniffing out the inevitable herd of billibs that had to be nearby, not wasting its time with an unknown scent which might or might not provide food to its liking.

  Merrick moved a step closer, not wanting to startle the xenox into springing until he could draw it toward himself, and realized Elise was saying something. She was whispering under her breath, but it didn’t look like she was talking to herself. “It’s all right,” he heard her murmur, apparently speaking to something she had cradled protectively in her arms. “I won’t let it have you. It’s okay, little guy, we’re going to be all right…”

  A motion between her arms caught his eye, and then Merrick saw what it was she was protecting—a bilib. No wonder the xenox was after her! She was sitting in a patch of sugar blossoms, holding its favorite meal right in her lap—and refusing to let it go.

  Crouching low in the blue-gray bushes around the clearing, he tried to get her attention. But her eyes were fixed on the xenox, for which Merrick didn’t blame her. He didn’t want to startle the huge beast into springing, but if he could just get Elise to look at him, if he could get her to let go of the billib, the xenox would undoubtedly chase its preferred prey and leave her alone.

  Damn it, look at me! Fucking look at me! he thought, wishing their artificial bond functioned more like a real one. If he and Elise had actually had a true Kindred soul bond between them, they would have been able to hear each other’s thoughts easily. As it was, their fake bond seemed to act as a one-way street, allowing Merrick to feel her emotions but not transmitting any of his thoughts or feelings to her.

  How am I going to get her attention? The sun was hot on the back of his neck and he felt a trickle of sweat cut through the urgot paste. Damn it, he’d forgotten how miserably hot Rageron was. Even though the sun was close to setting, it was still baking him, making it hard to think. If only—suddenly, he had an idea.

  Turning his knife blade to the side, he worked with the small patch of sunlight in front of him, which had somehow made its way down through the canopy to reach the jungle floor. He caught it just right and flashed the light briefly at Elise’s frightened brown eyes.

  The flash of sunlight gave the desired effect. Elise blinked and looked to see where it was coming from. To his great relief, Merrick finally caught her eyes.

  “Merrick,” she mouthed his name, clearly surprised to see him.

  “The billib,” he breathed, nodding at the tiny blue animal in her arms. “Let it go. The xenox should follow.”

  Elise frowned. There was fear in her lovely brown eyes, but also determination. With a short, swift motion, she shook her