Chapter Twenty-Four
It took everything Kaspyn had to fight the tears that threatened to come. Kerik had her Thrasher. And he was hers, no matter how much he tried to deny it.
She stared at Vaughn as he mentally conversed with Thrasher.
Tony finally opened his eyes.
“Tell me!” Kaspyn demanded, grabbing onto Tony’s arm.
“He told me to leave him there. Kill the one to save the thousand.”
Kaspyn’s stomach lurched. “What? We cannot leave him there. I will not!” She moved to gather up her weapons. She would rescue Thrasher by herself if she must.
“I’m not leaving him there,” Tony ground out, falling into step beside her. “He’s the only friend I had for a lot of years. I would give my life for him.”
“As would I.”
Tony glanced at her in surprise. “I’m pretty sure he needs to know that.”
“Tell him,” Kaspyn demanded, hurrying toward Oz’s house. “Tell him now.”
Tony shook his head. “He’s closed off to me.”
Kaspyn’s heart froze in her chest. “Is he…?”
“I don’t think so,” Tony answered in a tormented voice. “Kerik will want to drag that out as long as possible.”
Kaspyn fought hard to stay in warrior mode when all she wanted to do was fall apart and scream until her world stopped spinning.
Carmen opened the door. “They’re down in the basement gathering weapons.”
Without thinking, Kaspyn bent and kissed the girl’s forehead. “Many thanks.”
If Kaspyn lived to be two hundred years old, she would never again discriminate against a person for being different than her. If leaving Arkadia had taught her one thing, it was that love knew only one color, the color of blood. Love doesn’t recognize the differences in social status, or how much money a person has. Love sees only the heart. And if one were really fortunate…it might just see the soul.
Kaspyn rushed down the steps with Vaughn tight on her heels. She stopped in front of the far wall, snagging weapons as she went. “Ammunition?”
Oz jerked open a large cabinet between the bed and the desk. “Grab all you can carry.”
Rykaur glanced up as he loaded his weapons. “Thrasher lives. I can feel his heartbeat.”
Kaspyn had never been so relieved in all her life.
Tony look more than a little relieved himself. “You’re gonna have to teach me that trick.”
“We must hurry,” Kaspyn breathed, loading her weapons as fast as she could go. “If something happens to Thrasher…”
“Nothing will happen to him,” Zyen assured her, moving to grab some ammunition of his own. “Thrasher is one of the strongest males I have ever known. He is a survivor. And one I wish to call friend.”
Kaspyn met the massive warrior’s gaze. “I am sure you will get the chance. Now, let us go.”
“How long has it been, now?” Kaspyn asked Tony as he ascended the stairs behind her.
“Four hours.”
Nausea rolled through her. Thrasher had been in the clutches of Gerald Kerik for four hours. Her mind conjured up all sorts of horrific scenarios.
Stepping out into the fading sunlight, Kaspyn took off in the direction that Thrasher was last seen in, expecting the others would follow.
Tony quickly caught up to her. “We need to circle around behind them. Though they won’t be expecting us, Kerik will still have men watching just in case.”
“They will not expect us to come for Thrasher?”
Shaking his head, Tony avoided her gaze. “It was me they were after. Kerik knows the Bracadytes wouldn’t risk their king’s life or his children for the sake of a human. But if that human were mated with the king’s daughter, that would be a different story.”
Understanding dawned. Thrasher would be considered insignificant. Which meant that they had nothing to bargain with, no reason to keep him alive. Kaspyn’s heart cracked in half.
“How long will it take to circle around behind them?”
“The camp we located was approximately ten miles from here,” Tony informed her. “That’s a three-hour walk. We have to circle around, staying far enough away as to not be seen. That’s going to take an extra two hours…give or take an hour.”
Kaspyn’s mind rejected Tony’s words, even though she knew he spoke the truth. “By the time we reach that camp, Thrasher will have been in their clutches for ten hours or more. He will be dead by then.”
“We can’t know that, Kaspyn. Thrasher is the toughest man I’ve ever worked with. If anyone can survive the odds stacked against them, it’s Escabar.”
“Escabar?”
Tony nodded. “That was the name I knew him as before he became Thrasher. Melvin Escabar.”
Kaspyn loved the name. She loved the man. “We must hurry.”
Oz, Brant, and the rest of the Bracadytes soon caught up with Kaspyn and Tony. Oz’s face appeared pale and drawn. “I sent Maria and Carmen to a friend’s place. They will be safe there until we return.”
Glancing at Tony, Oz suggested, “We should probably circle around behind them, come up on the west side. They’ll be expecting us to come up from the east.”
“That’s the plan,” Tony stated as he strode forward, ducking through the low-lying branches of the trees. “Did you tell any of your men where we were going?”
Oz shook his head. “No. And I left lights on in the house so it would appear that I am home.”
“Smart move.” Tony glanced back at the rest of the group. “Regardless of what anyone thinks, Kerik will not expect us to return for Thrasher. Thrasher is as insignificant as a bug to that asshole.”
“Then they will kill him,” Rykaur snarled, his face turning red with rage.
Tony continued his fast pace as he responded. “Yes, they will eventually kill him, but not before extracting as much information as they can get first.”
“Thrasher will not talk,” Kaspyn bit out, terror seeping from her very pores.
Tony quickly met her gaze. “I know he won’t. And that is the only thing that will keep him alive until we get there.”
* * * *
Kaspyn had no idea how long they’d been traveling through the woods, but night had fallen long ago and the sun’s rays were beginning to peek over the horizon.
Tony held up a hand, his voice a low whisper, “There.” He nodded toward a heavily wooded area along the beach. “Their camp is about a half-mile that way. Step lightly and keep your eyes open at all times. There will be scouts moving around in all directions. Nobody fire a weapon or we’re done for.”
Kaspyn ground her teeth. “I do not need the human weapons.”
“I know,” Tony returned. “And we will most definitely need your abilities to get Thrasher out of there. But there are over a hundred armed men in that camp. You can’t take them all out before they mow you down with high-powered automatic weapons. We’re going to have to split up, infiltrate their camp, and take out as many as we can as quietly as we can.”
“We’re going to have to wait for the cover of darkness,” Brant stated, stepping up next to Tony.
Kaspyn balked at Brant’s suggestion. “We cannot wait. Thrasher has been at their mercy all night. They will continue to torture him!”
Tony laid a hand on her arm. “I need you to stay focused. If we go in there now, guns blazing, we will all die…including Thrasher. His only chance is if we don’t screw this up.”
“Vaughn is correct, my princess,” Zyen, who had remained quiet for most of the hike through the woods, spoke with a conviction that surprised Kaspyn. “We will do Thrasher no good if we charge in there and die ourselves.”
Kaspyn turned away before any of them could see the tears of frustration that sprang to her eyes. She would have to wait for nightfall to rescue her mate. And he would be her mate, of that, she was sure.