Marie Harte: The Perfect Creation

“You can have this back later.” He showed her the slim laser and pocketed it. “But Erin, we need to talk about this plan of yours, after we get out of here. No doubt someone’s been watching us since we pulled up, and the Mardu out here love to tell tales.”

“They’ll have nothing to tell about me.” She quickly donned the jacket she’d brought with her, but couldn’t find her hat so kept her head bared.

“You said it never takes long for ‘them’ to find you. Who’s ‘them’?” he grumbled as they both exited the vehicle. A glance around showed them to be the only visitors to the out-of-the-way market tower, but Erin kept her voice low so as not to be overheard when she answered.

She reached back in to grab the small bag she’d thrown together before escaping his house and joined him in front of the rover, facing what looked like a huge tree, but was in fact a trading tower, the last one before they entered the Eron Forest.

“I’m talking about the scientists at Blue Rim. They’ve got connections the System over.

Technology you can’t begin to imagine.” Like that implanted tracking device that had been an absolute bitch to find and destroy. Erin rubbed her side, aggravated at how careless she’d been not to have realised they would have tracked her in the first place. Talk about stupidly naive.

“I look forward to hearing more, after we hike into the Flor-forgotten forest.” He glared at her, and then at the surrounding woods. With a loud sigh, he grabbed the bag from her hands, hefted it over his shoulder, and walked towards the trading tower. “Might want to put those glasses back on.”

She hurriedly did so and followed him, irritated that for all her threats, he still managed to do what he wanted. And dammit, she couldn’t very well knock him on his ass and maintain a low profile. Her senses were on alert, anticipating Blue Rim security or peacemakers at any moment.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t disappointed. The minute they entered the small market, danger surrounded them.

The giant tree they stood within had been hollowed out and floored with stone. Long counters lined the outer perimeter of the place, upon which several items lay. Animal hides, food stuffs, and ammunitions took up much of the rest of the racks and shelves lining the walls and displays in the middle of the room. Large windows allowed the natural light outside to filter through the store, and the added char stones gave the place the illumination it needed.

Several ladders showed passage to the upper, darker reaches of the tree, probably where the merchant stored his warehouse of goods. But it wasn’t the small, rotund, greedy-eyed shopkeeper that caught her attention. The three overly large peacemakers bullying the merchant as they piled more on the counter fixed and held her interest. To her dismay, she’d captured theirs as well.

“Easy, love,” Cheltam murmured just loudly enough to be heard by all. “I told you this place would be safe enough. See? There are a few of our friendly lawmen keeping the outskirts of society protected as we speak.”

Two of the peacemakers chuckled and continued to pocket whatever caught their fancy.

The other kept a wary eye between the merchant and them, and she instinctively knew he’d be the one to watch out for.

Cheltam squeezed her hand.

“Thanks, love .” She squeezed him back. “I’m fine. I’ll just see if they have anything over here that we can use on our trip.”

He stared at her for a moment, then nodded and left her for the merchant behind his counter. The two peacemakers fighting over some nonsense the merchant objected to ignored Cheltam, clearly not seasoned lawmen. Hell, the first time she’d seen Cheltam she’d been wary of his obvious threat. However, the older, more suspicious peacemaker watched Cheltam begin an itemised list of needs. But after a few moments, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, the lawman left him alone and walked towards Erin.

She slowly turned towards a bin of poorly crafted scarves and looked within, as if she intended to purchase one of the nasty little garments. The chill of the forest’s cooling temperature might warrant such an item, but Erin only wanted to delay the confrontation looming steadily nearer. She did her best to still any hint of her pheromones designed to entice the enemy. While taking out this potential threat might make her feel better, it would only alert his companions of trouble. And she didn’t want anyone remembering her visit as anything other than unremarkable.

The red-black hair and long jacket she wore she could easily explain as a fashion trend.

With her eyes behind dark glasses and her senses tamped, she stood as close to normal as she could possibly be. Though her skin normally glittered with vitality, when she focused, she could suppress her natural ability to sense energy in the air around her, thus making her skin look normal, if a touch more golden than most.

“You’re not going to buy those?”

She glanced to her left and smiled at the lawman, inwardly swearing when his gaze homed in on her lips. “No. I was curious about what they’re made from. I’m not a native Mardu, and I find the different cultures on the planet fascinating.” The male stood an inch or two shorter than Cheltam, putting him at her height. He had brawn and a smattering of intelligence in his dark eyes, yet his stare held a hint of malice as well. He fisted his hands on his hips, drawing attention to his dark brown uniform and the impressive laser pistol at his side. “My name’s Ollen. I’d be happy to show you around, if you like.”

He smiled, and the cruel twist to his lips warned her that this one wouldn’t shake free easily. A glance over his shoulder showed Cheltam still engaged with the merchant, gathering supplies she hadn’t ordered. The merchant gathered coils of rope, char shards for lighting, a few packets of compressed food and a large globe of some type of liquid on the counter. Then he and Cheltam began haggling about price.

“I’m with someone.” She tried for a pleasantly remorseful tone. Unfortunately, Ollen continued to think with the wrong head—a comment she’d heard her sister make many, many times concerning the male of the species. Erin still found the comparison fascinating, that a male’s genitals and brains might have something in common.

“But you’re not with him now. Your friend looks busy.” The peacemaker took another step closer and put a hand on her arm.

Alarms fired in Erin’s body, and at a loss to control her anxiety, she felt herself naturally accommodate to incapacitate the threat. Ollen inhaled and froze, his entire body shifting to align itself with hers.

“Let’s go fuck. Now.” The brutality barely dormant within him came out in force as he jerked her closer, his strength bruising.

Cheltam, finally , glanced over his shoulder at her and frowned. But then the other two guards said something to engage him and nodded at the door. He clenched his jaw and caught her eye. “I’ll be back, love. Sit tight and try not to break anything.” Or anyone , his glance at Ollen seemed to say. Cheltam shot her another look and turned away.

Nice to know he thought she could handle herself. But as Erin watched him leave, she worried about how best to deal with the situation when the peacemaker tried to steal a kiss.

Dodging his lips, she moved back a pace and smiled, taking him off balance. “Now that he’s gone, let’s find a quiet corner and entertain ourselves. What do you say?” Ollen grinned and dragged her with him towards the merchant. “Take a break, Herm.

We need to do some official peacemaker business, you get my meaning?” Herm glared but said nothing. Instead, he turned on his heel and slammed out of the shop.