“My leg is almost as good as new. Where did you learn to heal?” He asked curiously.
Jesse shrugged as she took a drink of the refreshing water to wash down the bread she had been chewing. “I’ve been doctoring my dad, Jordan and Taylor’s cuts ever since I can remember. My mom died with I was ten and I kind-of took over her place. Dad was heartbroken. It wasn’t easy for a single guy to raise three little girls on his own,” she said as memories flooded her.
“What happened to your mother if you do not mind me asking?” Saber asked as he picked up a piece of fruit. “She was young to die, yes?”
“Yes,” Jesse responded softly. “She went to the grocery store to get some items for dinner. A truck ran the red light and hit her car. She was killed instantly. Dad was the first one at the scene of the accident. My grandma, my dad’s mom, was living with us at the time and she was watching us when it happened. It hit my dad hard. He used to always laugh but he didn’t very much after mom was killed. It didn’t help that grandma wasn’t in good health and died two years later. By then, I had taken over most of the cooking and cleaning under Grandma Sampson’s tutelage.”
“You are an extraordinary female, Jesse,” Saber reflected.
Jesse blushed and lowered her head, shaking it. “Not really. You do what you have to do sometimes, no matter what life throws at you,” she said before raising her head. “What are we going to do about Hunter and Dagger?”
Saber grimaced. He had hoped to avoid this conversation as long as possible but he knew it was unavoidable. He had sent Moor, the male mate of the woman and children he had saved, to find members of their ground force.
Moor had returned an hour before with good and bad news. The good news, he had made contact with some scouts. The bad news was his son had returned to say the two captive warriors had been staked in the middle of the courtyard and were to be executed at first light and left on display.
Saber related what he had learned to Jesse, watching as she paled and raised a shaky hand to her temple. After several minutes her eyes cleared and the determination that he was beginning to associate with her reappeared. He knew that he wasn’t going to like her response when her mouth tightened into a firm line that meant she wasn’t going to be denied what she wanted.
“We have to go in and get them out,” Jesse said, daring Saber to tell her that they wouldn’t. “Tonight.”
Saber’s mouth twisted. “I am too big to be mistaken as one of their guards,” he noted with a raised eyebrow.
Jesse’s lips curved at his observation. “But, I’m not,” she commented.
“But you, Hunter’s fiery Amate, are not,” Saber agreed. “Moor’s son drew out a map of the compound, the placement of the guards and their schedule. Here is what we will do.”
..*
Hunter jerked awake. He tightened his fists around the ropes holding him to the posts sunk into the ground. His eyes flashed to Dagger who was tied up next to him.
“What is it?” Hunter murmured.
“I thought I saw movement in the shadows,” Dagger whispered. “A scout.”
“Which one?” Hunter asked as he tilted his head back and sniffed the air. “Thunder,” he grunted.
“Bastard always did have his own unique scent,” Dagger murmured with a slight grin.
“It will be dawn soon,” Hunter whispered. “It will be hard to get in without being seen.”
“He’ll have to get his team together,” Dagger said, bowing his head when he sensed their guard coming toward them. “Something tells me we don’t have much time left.”
Hunter’s eyes narrowed as the guard walked by. The mercenary bastards that the group of Arthuran’s hired were a cold bunch of cutthroats from the lowest regions of the Alliance star system. Bitter rage burned in his throat as he remembered watching them blow the building that Saber had rushed into as the medical transport carried their wounded away.
Saber had seen a woman and two small children at the same time as the mercenaries. When they had turned their weapon on the building the woman and children had run into for protection Saber had followed, trying to get them out. His friend had been buried under the pile of stone.
He flashed his teeth as the guard stepped closer to check the ropes holding him. He would give anything to rip the bastard’s throat out. That was exactly what he was going to do to every one of them once he was free.
“Don’t you flash your teeth at me, buster,” a soft, familiar voice said. “At least not until you can do something with them,” she added in a trembling voice. “Hey, Dagger. How’s it hanging?”
Hunter froze. Every muscle in his body stiffened as if he had suddenly been turned into stone before hot, fiery warmth swept through him. His eyes burned to see if he was imagining things. There was no way in hell….