Blood of the Neko - 14. Chapter 14

Kayden watched Theo rip back the tent of one of the other hunters. He clutched the tree, trying to bury himself inside of it for fear of them finding him. He knew if they found him, they would shoot him out of the tree.

"Get your ass up!" Theo roared. "You're supposed to be on watch! What the hell happened?"

The bleary-eyed hunter shot up, wide-eyed and fearful at the other man's rage. Ehern was stumbling out of his tent.

His eyes quickly noticed the missing slaves, and his face darkened. "What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know!" the hunter stammered. "Borin never woke me for watch!"

Theo glanced around as the other two men scrambled from their nests of blankets. One of them swiped up a handful of cold water from the water bucket and splashed it over his face.

"Where the hell is Borin?" Theo snapped. "Did he free the kit and the other slaves? Fuck! If he turned on us, I'll gut him--"

Ehern stalked over to where the chains hung from the bare poles. His eyes darted into the darker brush where they'd hung the boy the night before. "Fucking brat," he spat as he darted over to the prone figure of Borin.

The man was cold. Dead.

"Borin's dead," Ehern gritted out. "Looks like we underestimated that fucking kid."

"Dead?" one of the other hunters practically squeaked. He swiped up a bota of ale nervously. After taking a long, fortifying swig, he passed it over to another, wiping his mouth with the back of his arm.

"Shit." Ehern stalked back over to the rest of them. He watched their three followers drink heavily from the botas of ale. The sharp tang of the alcohol seemed to help calm their fears. Obviously, they were worried about the repercussions of Borin's death and the escape of the slaves.

Theo's expression was thunderous as he stomped over to the three cowering men. Even knowing that they had nothing to do with the escape of the slaves, it did nothing to assuage his fury. He ripped the bota out of the nearest man's hand, nailing the man with a scathing look as he took his own long drink of the ale. He hoped the stiff drink would calm his anger somewhat before he lashed out at his own men.

"They couldn't have gotten far," Ehern stated grimly. "Especially the kit."

Theo glared at the three men. "Find his ass and drag it back here," he ordered. "I want to beat the hell out him before I cut him apart," he growled, with one last drink, he threw the empty bota to the ground. "I'm going to fucking flay that brat alive."

Hesitantly, one of the men held out to him the other bota of ale, almost as if it was a peace offering. Theo swiped it out of his hand, tossing it to Ehern who caught it casually.

The sneer on his face belied his outward calm. Ehern threw the leather drinking pouch violently toward the nearest tree. "Damn it!" Ehern shouted.

His loud outburst caused them all to jump.

Ehern froze. A small squeaking sound catching his attention. Was that--?

He turned on Theo, sliding his knife from his sheath. "The brat's around here somewhere," he snarled. "I heard him."

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Kayden clawed the rough bark of the tree, fighting back the whimpers of pain coursing through his body. He had watched four of the men drink from the leather pouch, but one of them hadn't. Maybe he would later, but not before finding Kayden first. He kept hoping to see signs that the poison might affect the men, but so far nothing was happening. Maybe it wasn't enough.

He buried his head against the trunk. He was just so damn tired. He just wanted to curl up in a ball and let it all go, sink into sweet oblivion. His body trembled with cold and fatigue, but that wasn't the part that bothered him the most.

What bothered him the most was knowing that he was never going to see his master again. He knew there was no way he could evade the hunters, especially Ehern. He just didn't have the energy to do it anymore. He prayed that Damien made it safely to the mines. To stop Laos from enslaving others.

He squeezed his eyes shut as Damien's smiling face floated into his mind. If he was going to die, he didn't want his last image to be of the damn hunters. It was going to be of his master, even if it was in his head. He tried to ignore the ranting men in the small clearing.

A raging roar caused a squeak of fear to escape his throat. Ehern had just thrown the other bota of ale at a tree nearby. The cork burst from the leather pouch as the tainted ale exploded on the tree.

"He's around here somewhere," he heard Ehern say in the abrupt quiet. "I heard him."

Well, crap, Kayden bit a fang into his bottom lip. His tail was curled up around his legs, as he dug his toes into the tree limb even more. He was sure the men could hear him shaking, breathing even.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Theo snapped, and Kayden dared take a look, peeking around the edge of the tree with his ears flattened against his head.

He couldn't help the small smile and thrill of a small victory as he saw two of the men shaking violently. They dropped to their knees, convulsing. It was only a couple minutes later that the third guy dropped.

"What the hell?" Theo looked back at Ehern in a combination of shock and horror. "What's going on?"

Ehern's eyes widened, in sudden realization. "It couldn't be!"

He darted to his tent and scrambled around in the box for the flask of poison. Kayden wanted to laugh out loud at the look on the man's face when he realized it wasn't there. Shit, he was starting to feel ridiculously giddy. That couldn't be good. He was well past the point of exhaustion, and now bordering on delirium.

Ehern turned to see his friend pale and clutch at his stomach, eyes going wide. He rushed over to Theo, grabbing him as he started to convulse as well. A glance at the others told him they had already succumbed to the poison. Grief and rage warred in him as he watched his best friend being ravaged by the effects of the poison he himself had so callously used on others.

"Theo! No!" he roared as the man finally stilled in his arms. He gripped him fiercely for a moment before staggering to his feet.

"You little bastard!" he called out to the woods.

He quickly fumbled through his box of weapons, dragging out his blade and gun. With angry, shaking hands, he spilled gunpowder into the chamber and loaded it, carelessly dropping the powder bag as he raged into the brush.

At first, Kayden felt secure in the fact that the hunter was tearing around through the brush, looking for him on the floor of the forest. But it didn't take long for Ehern's eyes to start traveling upwards. Pressing his body against the tree, he hoped to become invisible. Ehern didn't notice him right away, even as Kayden was sure that the man would spot him.

"There you are, you little bastard!" Ehern shouted. "Get down here or I'll shoot your ass down!"

Kayden panicked as the man was aiming the gun toward the tree. He abruptly tried to scramble from his perch, but his legs were numb with trying to stay still so long. His foot slipped, but he managed to grab hold of the next branch around the side, trying to keep the tree between him and the point of the gun.

But he couldn't move fast enough. He heard the loud crack of the gun, which caused him to skitter against the trunk of the tree. The spray of bark next to his head caused him to jump, losing his grip. He barely heard Ehern's roar of triumph as he slid, trying to catch his fall with his aching hands and numb legs. His scrabbling efforts managed to slow his descent, but he couldn't get his claws to grip in the tree to actually stop.

He hit the ground with a thud, groaning at the pain that exploded up his hip, as he landed much less gracefully than he should have. He rolled, knowing instinctively he had to get up, but a shadow loomed over him.

"Don't even think about moving, you little shit," Ehern growled. The man was standing over Kayden's prone figure, brandishing his knife like he was deciding where he should start first. "You killed my men."

Kayden couldn't help the small smile of satisfaction that tugged at the corner of his lips.

"I'm going to cut that smirk right off your face," Ehern's eyes glittered evilly as he loomed closer.

Kayden's eyes darted to the man's hand held out, threatening with the dagger. A moment of training with Joseph flashed into his mind, and he knew the hunter wouldn't be expecting him to fight. He tensed his body, calling on adrenaline to help him move, to fight one last time.

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"Do you hear that?" Damien froze in their climbing through the brush.

Saladin and Hatcher nodded. "Sounds like someone's pretty mad."

They could hear the roar of angry voices through the trees to their left. Instinctively, dropping to a crouch as they made their way silently though the woods, they followed the sound of the shouts.

Damien's heart started racing at the thought of how close they could be to finding his boy. He tried to figure out the shouting, but it was hard to tell what was being said.

"You little bastard!" Well, he heard that clearly enough.

The voice was much closer. Each of them quickly ducked behind a tree at the sound of someone stomping toward them. Damien saw Saladin peek around the tree. The guard already had the rifle off of his back and was carefully cocking it. The duke snuck a peek and noticed a man lumbering through the woods as if searching for something. He wasn't trying to be quiet in any way, and Damien figured the man wasn't worried about stealth.

"There you are, you little bastard." He heard the man say, and he followed the man's gaze upwards.

Oh, shit. He nearly darted forward, but Hatcher grabbed him. He whipped his gaze over to Saladin. "It's Kayden!"

But before Saladin could take a shot, the blast of the hunter's gun echoed off the mountain side. Damien's heart froze as he could barely make out his lover dropping from the tree. Oh, god, he'd been hit!

Saladin cursed as he lost the man when the hunter moved around the tree to where the neko had fallen. Damien was suddenly racing forward, heedless of any danger, knowing he had to get to Kayden. Saladin and Hatcher scrambled after him.

Damien's heart lurched as the man lunged toward his boy with a knife, but he was shocked to see Kayden's foot swing up to knock the knife away. The hunter stumbled to the side, surprised by the retaliatory attack.

"Kayden!" Damien roared, jumping in front of the young neko and the man whirling with the knife still in his hand.

"Bastards!" Ehern roared, lunging toward the duke now.

Hatcher was already darting in front of his lord when the loud crack of a rifle sounded. There was a moment when everyone seemed to freeze, Damien watching the hunter's eyes go wide with shock.

As the hunter's knees collapsed under him, Saladin and Hatcher were abruptly on top of him. But the man was already gasping out his last breath from the fatal gunshot wound to his back.

Damien whirled, unconcerned with the dying man--his guards could deal with him. He dropped to his knees next to the bloody body of his love, and Kayden's green eyes were looking up at him as if he wasn't sure he was really there. They were liquid as Kayden broke into a chuckling sob.

"Kayden..." Damien slowly reached for the boy's face. His hands shook as he finally held his love again.

His voice and touch seemed to ground the neko as Kayden reached to grasp his arm, sighing as he realized that the duke was real.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again," Kayden whispered through his tears. "I wasn't sure... you'd want to--"

"Oh, God, Kayden," Damien gasped as he leaned over the boy, gripping him as if his life depended on it. "I'm so sorry. I-- fuck, kitten, I screwed up so badly." He pressed his lips to Kayden's forehead. "I only hope you can give me another chance. I love you so much."

"Sir," Saladin interrupted, squatting next to them, "the man is dead, and so are the others."

"Others?" Damien's eyes darted around. He'd known there were at least three men, but they'd only seen the one. He should have been more alert, but his worry over Kayden had consumed him.

"Yes, sir," Saladin said, his eyes darting over the young neko, assessing the damage. "There are four others in the clearing, dead. Not sure how. And a fifth one off in the brush. Looks like he was strangled."

"Did that one kill his partners?" Hatcher asked, glancing down at the boy briefly. He noticed the cracked lips and pulled out a goatskin of water.

A chuckle from Kayden drew Damien's attention back down. At the frown on Damien's face, Kayden smiled. "Poison. I put their poison in their ale pouches," he croaked.

A stunned looked crossed all of the men's faces. "You...? Really?" Saladin looked rather impressed. "And the strangled one?"

Kayden accepted the sip of water first before nodding.

"Jeez, kid," Hatcher grinned. "That's impressive."

"I had to help the others."

"Others?" Damien's deep voice drew his attention back.

"There were two other slaves. I sent them to where I thought you'd come up the pass."

Damien smoothed back Kayden's midnight strands. God, his boy was incredible. He didn't want to look past the boy's face and see the blood smeared on his chest or the long laceration across it. When Kayden lifted his hand to grasp Damien's arm, he winced at his kitten's torn wrists.

"Where are you hurt, kitten?" Damien whispered softly, unsure of what to do.

"I'm fine," Kayden mumbled.

"You're not fine," Damien ground out, annoyed by Kayden's stubborn streak. "You have blood all over you. You just fell out of a tree. Your wrists are--"

"I'm fine, really," the little neko insisted, starting to roll to try to get up. "The blood is just from the cut. It doesn't really hurt anymore. I'm just a little tired. And cold."

"Stop for a second, let's make sure you are okay," Damien stated, pushing Kayden's shoulder back down.

"I'm--"

"Fine, I know," Damien said wearily. "Please, just let me take care of you."

Kayden looked like he was going to argue.

Damien looked over at Saladin with a quick nod. The hybrid guard carefully started checking over Kayden for wounds before they attempted to let him move. Damien stripped off his heavy tunic, leaving only his lighter shirt to ward off the chill of the morning. Hatcher offered Kayden some more water, and Damien was pleased to see Kayden drinking easily.

"I don't see any other wounds," Saladin announced.

"I told you," Kayden mumbled, struggling to sit up.

"Here, eat this," Hatcher handed Kayden some dried meat along with the water bota.

"Rest for a bit," Saladin said, as he turned to Hatcher. "We'll take care of the..." he paused and waved toward the clearing, "... the criminals."

Damien moved to help, but a pained whine from the curled body in front of him, had him pausing. A quick look at the neko guard, where he received a comforting smile and nod, had him settling back down.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Damien whispered against his lover's ear, his arms tightening around the boy.

Kayden turned his head to look up at him and nodded, curling his lean body as close as he could. "I'm not hurt. Not really. Just sore... and cold..." he yawned, his eyes drifting closed briefly.

"And tired," Damien finished for him. "Rest for a bit, kitten. I'll keep you safe."

"I don't need to be safe," Kayden murmured as he squirmed to burrow against his chest, the boy's breath warm and tickling the hairs poking from the v of his shirt. "I just need to be with you."

Damien felt his heart lurch, his arms tightening around the shaking figure swamped in his tunic. Maybe, just maybe Kayden would forgive him. "Me too, kitten. Me too."