Page 19 of The Warrior
“Put it on.”
“As soon as I go chasing the men, I will.”
“I’m not letting you cross that border without you putting on your protective gear. The men could be hiding anywhere and grab you, Laura.”
“I doubt they’re lurking around close to the border. Besides, we’re only talking about nineteen men. On this side there’s millions of them.”
Narrowing my eyes, I spoke in a firm tone. “On this side of the border I’m here to protect you. As soon as you cross that fucking wall, you’re on your own. Put the suit on, Laura!”
“All right.” Laura frowned and was annoyed with my being bossy, but she complied. It was hard to restrain myself from touching her when she was stripped down to only her underwear, but if I had sex with her now, I wouldn’t be able to let her go.
I might not be the kind of man who showered her with loving words. But if Laura knew me at all, she would understand how deep my love for her was to let her do this. It was a violation of everything I stood for to let my woman put herself in danger. Never in my life had I compromised my own needs to this extent. I doubted she understood the magnitude of what she was asking of me.
If only she loved me half as much as I loved her. Then she wouldn’t leave me here to worry about her again.
“Satisfied?” she asked when she was dressed again.
“Yes. And the weapons?”
She showed me the four weapons I’d given her, and then I walked her to the border.
“Tell me you’re going to be all right.” Laura was twenty years old, but in my eyes she was innocent and I couldn’t bear the thought that something bad might happen to her.
“Don’t go, Laura.” Desperation made me add a word that I had only used a few times in my life. “Please.” It was the closest thing I’d ever come to begging, but Laura still didn’t budge.
“I’ll be back soon, Magni. Don’t worry.”
I snorted because we both knew I’d be worrying non-stop.
“At leasttrynot to worry. I’ll be fine and when I’m done we can talk about our relationship.”
Laura’s words made my heart beat fast, like a war drum. “Yeah, I guess,” I managed to say but my worst fear was poking up its ugly head. What if she never came back or she came back asking for a divorce because she wanted to live in the Motherlands?
It was counterintuitive to watch Laura walk away from me. For six months, I’d sworn that if I ever saw her again, I would never let her go. And here I stood less than a day after getting her back, watching her move out of my reach one more time. Every protective instinct in me wanted to pull her back to safety. But unless I wanted to hide her in a room somewhere, it was impossible.
To the very last second, I hoped for a miracle. Maybe they would reject her or she would change her mind. But all I got was a smile over her shoulder and a wave from her hand before she disappeared out of my sight.
I wanted to scream out my fear and anger, and blow up every one of the small border drones that hovered above the wall – keeping a camera pointed in my direction. On my way back I flew along the wall, seeing the destruction that the earthquake had caused. Workers were repairing the wall with the help of robots and my soldiers were patrolling on our side of the wall – something that Khan had insisted would show goodwill with the Council and make it easier for us during negotiations.
When I saw a group of men sneaking around at the border I channeled all my anger at them. If I couldn’t cross, they sure as hell couldn’t either. My woman was on the other side of that wall, and the sooner she found the fuckers who had already crossed over, the sooner I could have her back. There was no way I would let the number of men she needed to chase down grow. Setting down my hybrid I stepped out, taking a wide stance, shouting at the men to turn around. There were three of them and after exchanging a quick look they all attacked me at once. It was just what I had hoped for.
CHAPTER7
Skilled Mediator
Laura
Pearl had arranged for me to be picked up at the border and taken to meet her mother Isobel, who was temporarily staying in a house thirty minutes from the border. Isobel was in her fifties and the dark circles under her eyes made her look like she hadn’t slept since the earthquake. She was the chairwoman for the Council of the Motherlands and even in her sleep-deprived state, she had an aura of sophistication around her.
“Laura, thank you for coming back to us in this stressful time. It’s so kind of you to offer your help. May peace surround you.” She stood up from her comfortable chair when I entered the room. Besides some long cracks in the ceiling and one window being covered, the room didn’t look too bad.
“May peace surround you too.” Since Isobel looked like she was about to drop, I gestured for her to sit down.
“We just finished the negotiations an hour ago, and I’ve been briefing the rest of the Council members since then.”
“How did it go?” I asked and sat down on a stool across from her.
Isobel looked out the window, her eyes glazing over. “The immediate threat of war has been avoided, but the price we paid terrifies me.”
