The Lawgivers: Gabriel Part 5

Maya pursed her lips. aIam sorry, Gah-re-al, truly. But you know we have to carefully balance the ecosystem.a aYeah, well I donat especially care to be a meal just to balance things out,a he said sardonically, aand I donat think the humans would be too keen on it either.a He shook his head in disgust, mostly because the areuniona hadnat gone as head expected it would. aI have to go.a She sent him a coy smile. aYou didnat want to get in a little f.u.c.king before you leave again?a Considering that was what head stopped at her habitat for, he wasnat particularly happy to discover that head lost interest and wasnat the least bit tempted to take her up on the offer. Then again, the main reason head been attracted to Maya was because she was a aladya and as desirable for being his social superior as she was unattainable. Her penchant for being crude and aearthya in the bedroom didnat particularly thrill him since it demolished the illusion that he was making love with a high society woman. He could have that with any wh.o.r.e he cared to pay. aToo late, now,a he responded, grinning at her to soften the rejection. aIall take you up on the offer when I get the primitives settled in the new location.a aMaybe I wonat offer,a she said coolly.

He shrugged indifferently. aWeall talk when I get back.a * * * *

Lexaas belly tightened as she watched Gabriel lift his wings and race toward the edge of the plateau. Her mind didnat leap instantly toward the rocky drop of twenty feet or so, however. She was too caught by the beauty and fluidity of his motions, the bunching and flexing of hard muscle in his legs and arms, the expansion of a chest that had already seemed amazingly broad a too awed and unnerved by the seeming enormity of his size with his wings stretched wide.

Logically, she knew he was no bigger than beforea"which was impressive enough in itself when he stood almost a full head taller than any of the human men. The illusion of him having somehow grown substantially larger was hard to shake, though.

She was so caught up by her fascination that it wasnat until he leapt from the edge that she fully a.s.similated his intent. Her belly went weightless as he soared over the edge and then began to slowly climb with the powerful beat of his wings. She found herself holding her breath as he seemed to hover for a moment, as if a war raged between the embrace of the world and the air beneath his wings, feeling a sense of wonder as he began to climb instead of dropping as any human would.

She watched until head climbed so high into the sky she might never have known he was an angel-demon if she hadnat seen him take flight. If shead merely caught sight of him from a distance, she wouldave thought he was one of the great birds shead seen soaring high above her.

But then, maybe those huge birds shead seen from time to time had never been birds as shead thought?

A strange sort of emptiness began to take hold of her as he diminished from her sight, became no more than a dark spec against the back drop of blue sky and clouds and then disappeared completely.

What must it be like to do that, she wondered? Not terrifying, certainly, as it wouldave been to her. Was it a exciting? Or was it something he was so used to that it was little different to him than walking was to her?

She decided the latter speculation was probably closest to the truth.

Why that should bother her, she didnat know.

Except it brought home the vast chasm between them, she realized.

Somehow, even while she was thinking about how different he was from all the men shead known before, shead still, in the back of her mind, been thinking of him as if he were a man. And he wasnat, for all that he looked like one in almost every way. He was a different sort of being. He wasnat human and he wasnat a man.

And he was contemptuous of the beings he protected.

He hadnat protected her because he was interested in having her as his woman but because, for some reason she didnat completely understand, his people had sent him to do ita"to make judgments on them and punish them. Head been punishing the man for doing something his people considered against their laws, not protecting her.

Shead known that. Why had she allowed herself to imagine that it was because he wanted her?

That thought brought the heated color of discomfort to her face, bringing her out of her internal wanderings and making her acutely aware of her surroundings.

The villagers had settled as comfortably as they could manage on the rocky plateau where Gabriel had left them. Most of them looked to be dozing in the brutal mid-afternoon heat. A few had wandered back to the small pool of water to drink, which Lexa supposed was the reason Gabriel had made them climb the plateau since they hadnat been near a water hole in two days.

For once, she didnat feel as if everyone was staring at her and it occurred to her to wonder just how long shead allowed her mind to wander. How long had Gabriel been gone?

More importantly, how long would he be gone?

She supposed head marched the villagers far enough he thought it unlikely they would even attempt to escape or he wouldnat have left them at all. He hadnat let them out of his sight since theyad left the villagea"until now.

Lifting her head, she scanned the sky as far as she could in every direction to make certain he hadnat circled around as he had the day head herded them out of the village. When she saw no sign of him, she got up and headed toward the pool in a leisurely way. Shead already filled her bottles and drank all she could hold. Gabriel had made the men wait and sent the women and children to drink first, but she didnat think anybody that noticed her getting up would think anything about her heading toward the pool. A few seemed to stir and glance at her but then dismiss her, bearing up her conclusion.

She squatted by the pool for a few minutes when she reached it and scooped up water in her hands to drink. After lingering a few minutes more and surrept.i.tiously scanning the people on the plateau that she could see, she straightened again and looked around. Satisfied that no one seemed interested in what she was doing, she headed off toward a jumble of boulders and scraggly plants near the trail theyad followed when theyad climbed the plateau, hoping if anyone noticed theyad think she was only interested in finding a little privacy to empty her bladder.

Her pulse was racing as she rose and headed toward the boulders, conflicting urges making it difficult to maintain the appearance of nonchalance as she struggled to calculate how long Gabriel had actually been gone and realized that an appreciable length of time had lapsed since head left. Trying to convince herself that she couldnat possibly have been so sunk in her thoughts that as much time had pa.s.sed as it seemed, she wrestled with the wisdom of even attempting flight. If head been gone as long as it seemed now, it also seemed logical to a.s.sume head be returning any time and that made attempting escape a very bad idea.

On the other hand, it occurred to her that Gabrielas actions hadnat just set her on the path of speculation about being his woman. It had made the villagers think she was.

No doubt they were amused that head shunned her afterwards, because he hadnat been near her since, making it painfully obvious that he had no interest in her after all.

She was just embarra.s.sed enough at the direction her thoughts had taken and the realization of just how foolish shead been to have entertained them at alla"about how stupid shead looked to the othersa"that she stubbornly persisted in the face of a growing certainty that she was more likely to get caught than to get clean away. As soon as shead reached a point where she was fairly sure that no one on the plateau could see her, she started down the trail.

She didnat know what Gabriel and his people had in mind for them, but she wasnat going to hang around and find out, she told herself. Her embarra.s.sment had nothing to do with the decision. It was just plain stupid to let an angel-demon lead her off with no idea what his people might do to them.

She almost ran smack into the man before she realized he was there. She was too busy scanning the sky worriedly for any sign of Gabriel and mentally reconstructing the back trail in an attempt to figure out the best way to run to pay much attention to her immediate surroundings. The movement caught her eye, howevera"too late. She had a split second to a.s.similate that it was a man and that he was practically on her, enough time to feel a surge of danger induced adrenaline and to tense for self-defense and nothing more as he leapt at her.

It might still have been enough if the man had been alone. She managed to elude his arms as he made a grab for her and drive her elbow into his belly. He grabbed at her, tearing her ragged shirt as she bounded away, but she slammed into a second man as she did.

af.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h! Somebody shoulda taught you a lesson a long time ago!a

Chapter Seven.

It coalesced in her mind like a lightning bolt that her attacker was the man Gabriel had humiliated for attacking her that first day out. This was the retaliation shead feareda"and then dismissed while she entertained stupid, fanciful imaginings about Gabriel!

She was about to get the s.h.i.t kicked out of hera"at the very least!

She fully intended to inflict as much damage as she could, however!

The fight was woefully short for all that. She might have managed a better account of herself if she hadnat been too crowded to get any force behind her punches and kicks, but then they were also restricted, at least until they overbalanced and fell. There was enough slope to the trail where they struggled that they rolled as they hit the ground. The second man fell over the two of them as he raced down the hill to help the first and then rolled away. Briefly, Lexa was free. Before she could scramble to her feet, however, the man launched himself at her, managing to pin her hips and legs with the weight of his body. Lexa tried to heave him off, or wrench her lower body free of him. When that didnat work she levered herself up far enough to pound on his head and shoulders with her fists. She couldnat find a vulnerable spot to clobber him, though, beyond his temples and ears and that didnat seem to have any effect beyond enraging him further. Before she could break free, the second man recovered and caught her from behind, pinning her arms to her sides. The first man pushed himself up far enough to slug her and since her head was pinned to the other manas chest and she wasnat able to move away even though she saw it coming, she caught the full brunt of the blow.

The blow was hard enough to stun her. Her ears rang. Black spots filled her vision in a flood that quickly turned the whole world dark. Encapsulated within her body by the blow that dulled all other senses, she lost awareness of everything but the smothered sounds and the pulling at her clothing that told her they were tearing them off and what was coming next. It was enough to prompt her to struggle feebly against her attackers, to flail her arms with fingers curled into claws to rip at any flesh she could manage to make contact with as she was buffeted by the jerking at her clothing, back and forth, up and down.

The sudden roar of rage that rent the air sent a stinging torrent of ice through her veins. She was lifted and then slammed back against the ground. Dirt scoured her bare flesh. Tiny rocks dug into her and then, abruptly, she was free of the weight of both men. It took her many moments to realize that the sound of blows she heard didnat make impact on her. Her sluggish brain finally registered the fact that she was no longer restrained, however. With an effort, she opened her eyelids and struggled to focus her vision. Darkness still prevailed, but she finally managed to make out the two forms directly in her line of sight and to register that it was the first man and Gabriel.

The man was dangling from the hand Gabriel had around his throat, his head bobbing with each punch Gabriel slammed into his facea"which looked like mush already.

Relief didnat register. Guilty knowledge did.

And fear.

Gabriel was back and it wouldnat take him long to figure out shead been caught running away.

That thought and the fear that rose up to choke her from the look of pure rage on his face was enough to help her summon the strength to roll to her side. Rolling in the dirt was sufficient to jog her mind into the realization that theyad torn most of her clothes off and with them her supply bundle. She couldnat survive without them.

Despite her desperation to gather her stuff, it was all she could do to reach for the bits closest to her and curl her fingers around them to retrieve them. A palsy seized her. She began to shake so badly her teeth began to clack together and the shaking made it harder still to try to gather up her belongings. She was so focused on the necessity of that task that she didnat realize the fight was over until Gabriel crouched beside her.

She squinted at him, trying to bring his face into focus and judge his temper. He was breathing hard but she was inclined to think it was from rage rather than exertion because his expression was stony.

Still furious, she decided, but more in control than he had been when head been making mincemeat out of the two men head left lying on the side of the hill like broken dolls.

aHow badly are you hurt?a Lexa blinked at the question, partly because she was surprised head asked and partly because she hadnat taken the time to do a mental a.s.sessment. She thought about it when he asked, though, trying to sort through the pain and decide if the men had broken anything. aI donat think anythingas broken,a she said finally. aCoupla teeth loose. Lots of bruises.a aDid they a were you raped?a She tried to shake her head but the movement, slight as it was, sent a wave of dizziness through her. aNo,a she responded, closing her eyes and holding her head.

He was silent for some moments. aIam going to lift you and carry you back.a Lexa struggled to rise, grunting. aI can walk.a aMaybe but Iam not going to let you try,a Gah-re-al responded grimly.

Realizing she really wasnat up to arguing, Lexa didnat try. aI gotta get my stuff. Somebody will get it.a It was on the tip of his tongue to inform Lexa that theyad be d.a.m.ned sorry if they did but the fear in her voice of losing the little she had made Gah-re-al hold his tongue. Instead, he looked around, rose, and gathered up what he saw scattered around her. Bundling it, he handed it to her and then scooped her off the ground.

Her weight surprised him. She had very little body fat, far less, he was certain, than was healthy for her given that she was a female, but apparently what she had in the way of flesh was muscle. She felt far more substantial than head expecteda"not heavy by any means, but head thought she couldnat possibly weigh much of anything.

She was compact, though, and muscular and that made her feel substantial enough in his arms to make him very aware of her small body pressed against him as he carried her back to the encampment. She was shivering. He knew it must be from shock and he hated to suggest anything that might endanger her more, but there was so much blood he couldnat tell whether she had wounds that needed attention or not. He took her straight to the pool, therefore, and settled her beside it.

aI need you to bathe off so I can see if you have any wounds that need st.i.tching,a he said flatly when head settled her beside the pool.

Lexa didnat grasp the half of what head saida"little beyond the suggestion that she bathe offa"but she was eager to oblige, mostly because she was desperate to wash the smell of the two men off of her skin. Beyond that, she thought the cold water might help soothe the hot, pounding bruises from their fists.

Gah-re-al straightened when head released her and lifted his communicator. aCommanda"this is Lawgiver Gah-re-al. I have a,a he hesitated for a split second, aa young female in my charge in need of medical attention. Advise.a aA what? One of the savages?a Gah-re-alas lips tightened. As many times as head used the term himself it angered hima"not just the word itself but the connotations, the surprise that he would even ask about medical attention for one of them. aSheas a member of the group I was ordered to relocate. She was a.s.saulted by two of the males.a The response to that was a prolonged silence. aHold while I consult with a superior.a Gah-re-al had expected as much, but the response still angered him.

He crouched down again while he waited for a response. Seeing that shead bathed her face, he lightly pinched her chin between his thumb and forefinger and tipped her head up so that he could examine her face. It made his gut clench when she yielded to the unspoken command.

Her face was so swollen and misshapen he doubted he wouldave known who she was if he hadnat noticed she was missing when he returned and gone to look for hera"and found her. Head recognized her then by the color of her hair added to the fact that no one else was missing that he could tell.

Not that head done a head count. Head begun searching for her even before he landed. Shead separated herself from the rest of the group even before the incident that had convinced her everyone thought she was his woman. After that, theread been an even wider gulf. It should have made her easy to pick out even if he hadnat been looking for that unusual hair color.

His immediate reaction had been a strange mixture of anger and feara"anger because it immediately leapt to his mind that shead taken the opportunity to flee while his back was turned. The fear twisting at his gut was a little harder to put his finger ona"mostly because he didnat want to examine it too closely.

aLawgiver Gah-re-al.a Gah-re-al released his grip on Lexaas chin when he was hailed. aLawgiver Gah-re-al here.a aIave been told to advise you that medical treatment of the primitives is not allowed under non-interference protocol. If the female is not able to travel, leave her. Youall be expected to rendezvous per your original delivery date.a There had been a time, not long past, when Gah-re-al would have thought nothing of such orders, when he would neither have questioned them nor felt the least bit surprised or perturbed. The fact that it infuriated him now might have disturbed him if head been in any state to consider why it did. He wasnat. He was so furious for several moments he couldnat think of anything at all to say. Fortunately, by the time head been prompted to acknowledge the order some modic.u.m of sanity had returned.

aLawgiver Gah-re-al, acknowledge receipt of your orders.a aAcknowledged,a Gah-re-al ground out.

For many moments after his communicator went silent, Gah-re-al stared at nothing at all, struggling with his rage and the desire to vent it while images flickered through his mind of Lexa dying a slow death on the rocky ledge, or ending up as dinner for one of the beasts his people had reintroduced because she wasnat able to flee or defend herself. Those images made him sick to his stomach. It took an effort to banish them, but as his anger subsided, he became aware that Lexaas teeth were chattering. It was the sound that finally penetrated his preoccupation.

He looked down at her, feeling a wave of nausea at her battered face. Swallowing a little sickly, he shrugged out of his duster and carefully draped it across her shoulders while she was struggling to repair her torn clothing by tying the pieces together. She glanced up at him quickly, obviously startled.

Gah-re-al met her gaze for a long moment. Frowning, he looked away. aIam no medic,a he said roughly. aDo you have any broken bones or cuts that need to be bound?a aIam ok,a she said after a few moments, slowly, as if wondering at his motives for asking. aI can walk.a He snorted. He doubted that, but he had his orders. They had to reach the rendezvous head arranged and at the time head designated.

He felt like kicking himself. If he hadnat been in such a d.a.m.ned rush to be rid of his charges a. But that couldnat be helped now. Head told him when and where he would deliver them and they were going to hold him to it. He looked around speculatively. Without surprise he saw no branches that could be used to make a litter. aIall have to carry you.a aI can walk.a aBut you wonat,a he said grimly, leaning over to scoop her up before she could object further.

She surprised him when she didnat argue, but then he could see she was in too much pain for several moments to say anything at all. She was still shivering, but he juggled her until head managed to pretty much wrap his duster around her.

He shifted his attention to the villagers, discovering without much surprise that they were all staring. He clenched his teeth to the point that his jaw ached, struggling to tamp the anger that rose again.

Theyad known about the attack and not one of the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds had either done anything to prevent it or tried to help afterwards.

Of course that might have been because of his presence, but he didnat think so. If he hadnat come to stop it, if he hadnat known to look for her, they would have left her without any remorse.

It was the main reason he felt such contempt for them, he realized. It might be due entirely to their personal survival instincts, but their complete focus on their own survival and lack of empathy, or at least an unwillingness to risk anything for anyone else, made it hard for him to sympathize with them or relate to them. Even in battlefield conditions, which was a far more immediate life or death situation, the udai were p.r.o.ne to risk their own lives to save the wounded. If the humans pulled together and helped one another, he doubted they would be in such desperate straits, but that seemed to be against their nature. They were far more likely to seize upon one anotheras weaknesses to advance their own comfort.

aGather your supplies,a he announced finally, his voice as even as he could manage. aAnd move lightly. We have to make up some time.a Crossing the plateau, he waited until the villagers started down the trail head shown them, struggling for patience as they trudged down the incline, ignoring his order to hurry. Finally, he bellowed at them. aMove!a Alarm rippled through them, but they picked up their pace.

He tightened his arms around Lexa when he felt her jump.

Despite the tension he felt in her, she lifted an arm and draped it around his shoulder as he started down behind the primitives. Wryly, he dismissed the notion that it was a lowering of her defenses. It seemed more likely it was from concern that head drop her.

aDid you a kill the men?a she asked once theyad reached the plain below.

Gah-re-al glanced sharply at her, studying her for a long moment. aDid you want me to?a She blinked at him, her lips parting in surprise, but then frowned. aDid you beat them?a aUnconscious,a he responded with satisfaction.

aYou left them.a aYes. Itas immaterial to me whether they survive or not, but the death penalty was not warranted. Itas up to them to survive a or not. They forfeited any aid they might otherwise have gotten from my people."

Lexa had been satisfied enough with Gabrielas answers until that last. If shead been able, she might well have fought the two men that had attacked her to the death and not considered it too harsh. She didnat feel any less animosity toward them that theyad paid for a beating with a beating, but it seemed fair enough. That reference to amy peoplea distressed her inexplicably, though.

It seemed a perfectly natural thing to say and she didnat think head intended to emphasize the differences between them by saying it. Nevertheless, it was a remindera"she had her place and he had his.

As unhappy as those thoughts were, she realized it depressed her on another level, as well. She didnat have any people. She might be as human as the villagers, but she didnat belong. She had no one she belonged to or with.

Those thoughts made her miss her little sister and brothers more than she had in years, brought her to the brink of tears for the first time in a very long time.

She pushed the thoughts from her mind with an effort and, despite the throbbing from the battering shead taken, she dozed off.

Gabriel woke her trying to shift her weight.

aI need to put you down to stretch my arms for a few minutes.a Rousing further, Lexa nodded. She swayed when he put her on her feet, feeling vaguely drunk and more than a little muscle strain. aI can walk,a she muttered, trying not to grimace. aI need to walk anyway or Iam going to be too sore to walk.a Gah-re-al studied her doubtfully, but he was definitely feeling the strain himself in his back, arms, and shoulders, although he thought part of that was from trying to pulverize the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds that had a.s.saulted her. After glancing from her to the villagers ahead of them and doing a quick mental calculation of their progress, he decided to let her have her way. It would give him the chance to recover a little.

Theyad made good time since head managed to inspire the villagers to move a little faster. They were still several clicks from the spot head chosen for an encampment, though, and if Lexa could walk part of that distance it was bound to improve his comfort level.

He discovered it only improved on the physical level, though. It was painful to watch her struggling to walk as if she wasnat in pain. He could see that she was and anger washed through him all over again.

It had taken an effort to stop himself once head started pounding on the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. He wasnat certain what had finally lifted the fog of rage that had engulfed him, but he wasnat sure he was glad for it. He rather thought he was going to regret not finishing them off more than he wouldave regretted killing them. Strictly speaking, a.s.sault with attempt to rape wasnat punishable by death, but he didnat know that they didnat mean to kill her before they were done and that would certainly warrant a death sentence.

Beyond that, he didnat like the idea that they were still breathing and could decide to come after Lexa again. He didnat think that likely, but then it hadnat occurred to him before that that b.a.s.t.a.r.d would decide to attack her because head stepped in to prevent him from beating her before.

It was the same mana"one of them, anyway. Ordinarily, he didnat pay enough attention to the humans to recognize one from another, but that one had made an impression.

His anger shifted after a few moments from the men that had attacked her to the order from headquarters to leave her if she wasnat able to keep up. He was completely familiar with standard operating procedure in war situations where focus shifted from the individual to the fighting unit as a whole. Casualties were expected and there were times when it endangered too many soldiers to try to get the wounded out, but this wasnat one of those situations.

Removal, relocation, and rehabilitation was a mission to save the remaining humans and give them a chance to start over. Head thought the entire concept was designed to save those most deserving of a chance at a better life. To callously abandon the weakest among them made them no better than the humans they held in contempt!

Essentially, that was what his job as a Lawgiver had been designed to doa"to protect the weak.

How the h.e.l.l could they see that as non-interference and necessary medical attention as unacceptable interference?

It defied logic as far as he could see and it f.u.c.king p.i.s.sed him off!

He dismissed it after a while and picked Lexa up again, ignoring her protests. aTomorrowa"if I think youare strong enough.a aItall be worse tomorrow if I donat walk some of it off.a aYou did. Thatas enough for now. You should be in the med center,a he finished in an irritated mutter.

aWhatas med center?a aThe place we take anyone thatas sick or injured so that they can get medical treatment.a Lexa thought that over. aOh. You keep healers there?a Amus.e.m.e.nt flickered through Gah-re-al. aSomething like that, I suppose.a aWhy is that funny?a Lexa asked curiously, wondering whether to be insulted or not.

aWe donat keep them there. Thatas where they work.a Lexa still wasnat sure why the way shead said it sounded funny to him. aYour people go there when they get the s.h.i.t kicked out of them?a she asked, wondering what the healers could possibly do about bruises and sore muscles.

His amus.e.m.e.nt vanished. aIf you mean by agetting the s.h.i.t kicked out of thema beaten up, that isnat something that happens.a He considered that and amended it. aNot often. They treat illness and injuries.a aYour people donat fight over things?a she asked curiously.