Page 2 of Guarded By the Orc

“Shit, shit,” I gasped, spinning in a circle, not sure where to go—or what to do.

A small sound from nearby caught my attention and I froze, my eyes struggling to focus. I could barely see, but I knew better than to runtowardsomething that could capture me—or eat me. Holding my breath, I watched in shock as anorcmoved from behind a building.

Instead of feeling threatened, the instincts that my mother had taught me to trust—my precognition as she’d called it—told me to run toward him. I did, hurrying up to him.

When I saw just howbighe was, I hesitated, slowing.

Oh, my.

Almost seven feet of green male stood in front of me, muscles bulging on his muscles. But as I got even closer, it was the quiet curiosity in his gaze that calmed me.

You can trust him.

The voice inside of me, that I was only beginning to recognize, hadn’t been wrong yet. And it was about time I started heeding my mother’s lessons. My inability to do so in the past had led me to this current predicament.

One of many.

“Hi,” I gasped, stopping right in front of him. “Can you help me get out of here?”

He tilted his head at me, his strong brow furrowed before his lips parted and he said words in a language I didn’t understand.

Of course he doesn’t speak Common, ninny.You need a translation spell.

I lifted my hands to start the spell—one of the few that I’d memorized—when I heard a shout behind me. Panic engulfed me and I spun toward the sound, trying to peer into the darkness. I couldn’t see anything.

Fuck, if only I had my spellbook.

I was sure there’d been an incantation that would allow me to see in the darkness. I took a tentative step backward and almost plowed right into the orc male. I pivoted again, facing him, and his expression was contemplative before he looked at me and then up toward where the noise had come from.

With a small grunt, he turned in the opposite direction from the sound and started marching off. I froze for a long moment, not sure what to do, but when the sound of voices came from behind me, I charged after the orc.

Something tells me it’s safer with him than these assholes.

Running—and limping a little—I peeked behind me only to slam into the orc, who was ahead of me. I stumbled backward, almost falling on my ass, but a strong hand steadied me before releasing me. His solemn stare was in front of me again when he pointed to the wall we were now standing in front of.

I looked between it and him and then held my hands up in the universal sign of “What the fuck do you expect me to do about it?”

He sighed, lowering himself to hold his cupped palms in front of him and realization hit me like a sledgehammer.

He’s helping me get out of here.

Relief swamped me, and I lifted my foot as high as I could go—whichreallywasn’t all that far—while reminding myself that I needed to practice yoga more. I held in the yelp of panic that almost left me when I realized that the male was not giving me a stepping board. He was literallylifting me, like he was some kind of orc-elevator.

Orcalator. Elevorc. Stop it, Zara!

I scrambled over the other side, landing with a loud thump on my ass. A sharp sting of pain sizzled up my back, but I didn’t have time to figure out if it was life-threatening. The orc had already propelled himself over the wall. I scuttled backward, out of his landing zone—because the Goddess Mother knew that he would crush me like a bug and my butt injury wouldn’t matter at that point.

He landed in a crouch, eyeing me where I’d fallen, a small huff leaving him before he stood. He held his hand out to me and I took it, but when he hauled me to my feet, he bent over and moved forward, his shoulder hitting me in my stomach.

With anoof, I was lifted off my feet as if I didn’t weigh much at all—which Iknewwas a lie, because I had the sweet tooth to rival all sweet teeth andverylittle self-control.

It’s best to know your flaws, after all, even if you can’t do anything about them.

He hurried off toward the forest, and my eyes widened as I heard shouts coming from behind the wall. All of the core strength that I had—which was pretty much nonexistent if I was being honest—died within three seconds of me holding my head up, so I was left to smack my face against hisvery hardback. I cushioned it with my hand so that my head slapped against my palm instead.

Taking a deep breath, I began murmuring the words of the translation spell. My adrenalin was finally slowing now that I was no longer running for my life. Once it was done, I decided totest it out.

“Hey, where are you taking me, big guy?” I asked, and the orc slowed.

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