Chapter Seven
Safe Haven
They took us to a guard shack, where I learned we would be spending the night. The plan was to take us to Oxbrough at first light. I was guessing Oxbrough was a settlement. From what little I could overhear, I was to be sold in an auction to the highest bidder. Aries would be put to work. I didn’t need my PhD to figure out the kind of ‘work’ they had in mind. Several of the men were already eyeing her with dangerous intent, but Carlo ordered her to be left alone for the rest of the night.
“Lydia won’t take her if she’s damaged,” Carlo decreed. How considerate, I thought bitterly.
“We’ll be careful boss.”
“Lydia pays top dollar for her girls,” he snapped. “No one else touches her tonight.”
“Well, what about her then?” The man jerked a stubby finger in my direction.
“Go ahead.”
“She’s a virgin,” Aries told them quietly. It was the first time she had spoken in hours, and her voice was barely audible.
“Speak up, girl.”
Aries seemed to gather her courage as she lifted her head and cleared her throat. Her eyes sparked a little as she stared at the men.
“I said, she’s a virgin.”
The men made appreciative noises and Carlo’s sharp eyes settled on me. I tried not to squirm. What the hell was Aries doing? I turned and pinned her with a searching look. It didn’t do any good. Her eyes were still on the guards, steady and defiant. I glared at her. That didn’t do any good either.
“Is this true? Are you a virgin?”
I stared back at Carlo with wide eyes, not sure how to answer that. Was I supposed to be?
“Yes.”
The guards were definitely in high spirits at that news. I clutched my bag and went for the zipper. To hell with it, I decided. I jumped to my feet and kept one hand in the bag while I pointed wildly at the guards.
“Touch me and I’m going out in a blaze of glory, assholes!”
The group fell silent. Carlo raised one eyebrow, and Aries groaned. Then the men began to laugh, and Carlo dismissed us all with a cool look and a wave.
“Sit down, little warrior. You will not be harmed.”
“You’re going to make us all rich,” someone else added.
“Virgins are worth a considerable sum,” Carlo confirmed, raking me from head to toe with another bold gaze.
I dropped back to the ground and kept quiet until I was sure the guards weren’t paying attention to us.
“Aries?” I whispered.
“What?”
“Why?”
“What are you talking about?” she whispered back without looking at me.
“Why are virgins so valuable?” I had visions of ancient sacrifices and tried to stay calm.
“They can be sold as brides,” she shrugged.
“Can be?”
“You will be sold for top dollar at the auction, to your future husband.”
I frowned.
“But you are safe for tonight,” she added.
“Thank you.” I didn’t want her to think that I was ungrateful.
“You’re welcome.” Her smile was haunting. I stared at the dirt for another full minute.
“Are you okay?” It was a stupid question, yes, but it was also one that I had to ask.
She didn’t answer. But then, I hadn’t expected her to.
“Where will you be going?”
She gazed straight ahead for so long, I didn’t think she was going to answer that question either.
“The brothel in Oxbrough is where they will take me,” she finally murmured.
“Why didn’t you tell them you were a virgin? You know…back there.” I had to know.
“Because then it would have been somebody else.”
“Oh.”
“It doesn’t matter now,” she whispered, looking through me.
I took her cold hand and squeezed it tight. “I’ll get you out of here. Don’t worry.”
And I would too, I vowed. I took another long look at the girl who had said ‘because it would have been somebody else’ and knew that my promise would not be empty.
“Claire!” Aries was whispering urgently now.
I snapped out my private thoughts and twisted around to see what had her so upset.
“What?” I whispered back, still looking around at the quiet dusk of the forest. Where was the fire? I wondered. Fire…my eyes lit up and I sat up a little straighter as an idea occurred to me. I could set the guard station on fire. I could lock the door and set the guard station on fire. It was perfect. We were saved.
“Claire!” Aries hissed.
“What? Listen, I’ve got a plan to get us out of here. I’m going to lock the bastards in the guard shack tonight and light it on fire.”
“Oh, that’s brilliant.”
“I know!”
“So, after we set everyone on fire, we run for it?”
“Exactly!”
“Of course, but—Claire?”
“Hmm?”
“One question?”
“Sure.”
“Do you have a lighter?”
“Do I have a—”
“Yes, a lighter, or matches. Do you have either one?”
“Well, no, but—”
“And there’s no lock on the guard shack.”
Well, damn. See what stress will do to you?
“Then we will tie the doors shut and rub sticks together.” I gave Aries a look that dared her to argue with such logic.
“Uh huh,” she grunted and shifted her back against the tree behind us. She crossed her arms over her chest and a sad, wistful smile curved her mouth as she shook her head.
“It’s still a good plan, damn it.”
“Sure it is.”
“Now, what was so important a few minutes ago?”
“You had that look in your eyes.”
“Excuse me?”
“The one that says you’re about to do something stupid—”
“I don’t see what’s stupid about trying to get us out of here,” I snapped.
“Like take on twelve armed guards with a twist tie and a match,” she finished.
I glared at her for a minute before I was forced to concede her point.
“Okay, maybe so, but if that guard shack had a lock and I had a lighter, those asshole-bastards would be in serious trouble.”
“Damn straight they would.”
“Yeah.”
“Your brother, he had that same look in his eyes.”
I turned my head to stare at her. “When?”
“The day that he left; when he told us he would be back. He had that look in his eyes, too.”
I considered that for a moment. It was even more proof to my suspicions. Something had seemed off about his promise to return. And I was pretty sure I had just figured out why.
“Aries, what do you think he meant?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you think he was going to try and find Kahn?”
“Oh, no…no.”
I sighed. “My thoughts exactly.”
“But, he wouldn’t. He could not think that he had a chance…”
“No, it’s not his normal style,” I admitted. “Aries, it’s none of my business, but…” I paused. As much as I wanted to know what, if anything, had happened between her and Mike, it felt wrong to ask.
“What?” she prompted.
“Were you close with my brother?”
“He endeared himself to all of us. He is very kind.”
“I see.” At least, I thought I did. I supposed that all depended on ‘endeared’ having the same meaning here that it did back home.
“He offered to help us in any way that he could while he was with us. Usually, we stay in our protected area. But there are times when we have to venture out—or want to. He insisted on accompanying us on every outing; for protection,” she explained with a gentle smile as she reminisced. “I stay
ed up late that last night, talking to him. We just talked all night.”
“You care about him, don’t you?”
Finally she sighed. “It’s silly, isn’t it? I don’t even know him.” She fixed her eyes on the dirt and closed her eyes. It wasn’t hard to figure out what she was thinking.
“It’s not silly.” I slipped an arm around her slumped shoulders.
“He’s been gone a long time.” Her voice was muffled.
“I will find him…somehow.”
“He—he wouldn’t want me now,” she confessed in a broken whisper.
“Shush…don’t talk like that. Of course he would. I know my brother, okay? He’s made of stronger stuff than that.”
“You think so?”
“Sure.”
“Let’s go, you two!” A red-faced guard stood in front of us and dug his toe into the dirt.
“Where are we going?”
“Bedtime,” he bit out.
I was shocked to notice that it was dark and I was sore. We must have been sitting for hours. There were only three guards in our immediate vicinity, I noted with budding hope.
“Hey, Aries?”
“Claire?” She cast a nervous glance from me to the guard and back again.
“You know what would have been an even better plan?”
“What’s that?” she asked hoarsely.
“This!” I shoved her as hard as I could. She stumbled forward several feet and turned around to face me with wide eyes.
“Claire! Stop it!” she begged.
The guard with the ruddy complexion was behind me then. His fingers bit into my arm, but he still looked more bored and irritated instead of worried.
“Go!” I screamed at Aries while I threw my free elbow into the guard’s midsection. I landed a second blow to his groin and he slumped to the ground. After another brief, horrified look, Aries ran. I started to follow before I saw the other two guards. One was coming at me while the other chased after her. Their angry shouts were attracting the others. Choices, I thought. It all came back to choices. And at that moment, a voice in my head seemed to scream ‘choose,’ and I abandoned all hope of my own escape.
I picked up a semi large branch and swung hard at the man running at me, then scooped up my bag and took off. There was only one way to stop the man chasing Aries: I shot him. The gun discharged twice before a bullet finally hit him. The weapon felt cold and heavy in my hand and behind me, the guards were advancing quickly. Thinking fast was the name of the game, and all that was left to do was whip the thing into the small river to my left. It teetered on the bank before splashing into the water. The last thing these people needed was to have the guards start carrying guns. My eyes squinted, trying to pick Aries out in the growing darkness. When I didn’t find her, I breathed a sigh of relief, right before a heavy weight slammed into my back and pitched me into blackness.