Warrior Beautiful (13 page)

Scout felt him before she was awake enough to realize he was there. Safe. Safe and warm and even though everything ached, her heart, for a brief second, didn’t. And then she had to admit she was conscious and that life still sucked. Lil Bit was still gone. Trey had still hurt her. Soul stealers were still out there stealing.

“
Time to get up, Princess.
”

Scout’s eyes flew open and her gaze leaped to each window, but Ashra wasn’t there. Her heart fell. She had hoped for a second that Ashra had forgiven her. Instead, she was apparently dreaming while awake, which didn’t make any sense.

“
Just because I
’
m not peeping through your windows like a crazy horse doesn
’
t mean I
’
m not out here. Torz can
’
t be stronger than me. He
’
s practically a baby. Not even two hundred years old. Get your tail up. We
’
ve got training to do.
”

Scout grinned. “I knew you’d come back.” She snaked her way out of Trey’s arms, careful not to wake him. He still slept soundly, eyelashes dark against his tan skin, and she forgot Ashra waiting outside. For just this moment, she allowed herself to not hate him, to love him and to watch him sleep. Her fingers, against her will, reached out, brushing against his cheekbone and down his jaw. He stirred, leaning into her hand, and she jerked it away. He couldn’t know. He could never know she still loved him. She’d die first. So she kneed him in the side. “Get up. They’re waiting for us.”

He gasped, his eyes flying open, and she pushed herself to her feet and stalked out. “I can’t just munch on grass, Ashra. I need food. Human food. Where do I get that?” she asked, thrilled beyond belief that Ashra waited a few yards from the hut, beautiful wings stretched against the breeze.

Ashra snorted, shaking her head, and for a second Scout forgot she was anything but a horse, shining in the sunlight. For just that second, her mane looked like real horsehair. But then her horn lit up, sparking flames, and the fire shot across the distance separating them, catching the grass on fire.
“
I am not a horse.
”

Scout swore under her breath and looked for something to beat the fire out with, since she was shoeless.

Ashra whinnied and shook her head, motioning toward a smaller hut on the other side of Iros’.
“
He keeps human food in there.
”

Scout glanced at the fire at her feet and raised an eyebrow. Ashra’s mane wisped over and smothered the flames.

“That is awesome,” Trey said, appearing in the doorway behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and resisted the urge to smile. He looked rumpled and gorgeous, running a hand through his short, dark hair.

“
She
’
s got nothing on me.
”
Torz appeared like a dark wraith in the trees to the right of them, his horn glowing hot in the shadows.
“
If I wanted, I could start the whole place on fire and put it out without leaving any ashes behind.
”

“Nice.” Trey grinned, disappearing into the small hut in search of food.

“
Very impressive,
”
Ashra snorted.

“
You two are up early.
”
Havik’s deep rumble echoed through Scout’s head before the magnificent commander of the unicorns even appeared through the trees. Trey emerged with his hands full of food. He dropped half of it in Scout’s lap.

“Hi Havik.” Scout waved once he had materialized from the deep shadows.

“
Princess.
”
He tossed his head, chuckling.

Scout scowled at Ashra. “Really? This is my nickname now?”

Ashra stomped a hoof and said nothing. Torz meandered across the small valley, coming to stand next to Scout.

“What did you find out last night — about the white unicorns?” Trey asked, settling next to her on the grass, inching away from the burned patch.

“Not much. And it’s unicorn. Singular. They don’t believe there’s more than one.”

Trey shoved a roll in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. Scout studied him covertly while he was distracted. “Yeah, but how do they know that? They didn’t know one existed.” He shrugged, waving his roll around like a magic wand. “There could be hundreds. Thousands.”

“
There could. But consider this,
”
Havik interrupted.
“
It is easy to hide one unicorn. Or even ten, in a world this big. Hundreds would be detected. Thousands would be obvious.
”

Trey thought about that, finally nodding. “Okay, I see that. So… what are you going to do with this new information? Hunt the unicorn?”

Ashra tossed her head, which Scout realized meant she was about to say something entirely too controversial.
“
You can
’
t hunt a white unicorn. If it hasn
’
t come to us, it
’
s because we didn
’
t ask for it. We, here in
Paradesos
, do not want peace.
”

Iros chose that moment to stride out of his hut, effectively ending the conversation on Ashra’s cryptic little thought.

“Great, I’m glad to see you’re all here. We need to train as much as we can while the soul stealers recover from our attack.” Iros wore black gear that hugged his body, his scepter held in what looked like a sword’s sheath hanging low on his hips.

Training sounded a lot like school. Scout could do school. It was safe, comfortable.
I got this.

“I want one of those.” Scout pointed. “Except can mine have sparkles?” She batted her eyelashes and grinned. Iros, Trey and Havik all laughed. Ashra even snorted. Torz bumped her lightly with his foreleg, whinnying. She tipped her head back to smile up at him.

“Before we actually start fighting, we’ll explain how the magic works. Everyone, make yourselves comfortable.”

Kylin appeared in the doorway of her hut, blinking against the light. Scout had never seen her when she wasn’t in full makeup and dressed like she was about to step out of a fashion magazine. She was… cute. Not as intimidating and angry when she was sleepy and vulnerable. But then Kylin’s eyes landed on Scout and she scowled.
Yeah, cute as a vampire bunny
, Scout thought. Across the valley, Ashra tossed her head and stomped her feet, chuffing. “
You can hear me, can
’
t you?
”
Scout narrowed her eyes, and Ashra slowly dipped her head. Scout looked at Havik and up again at Torz.

“
They can
’
t hear you. Just me.
”

Scout’s eyes widened.
“
How is that possible?
”

“
Dunno. Never happened with any of my other riders. And I
’
ve had a few over the last several hundred years.
”

Scout turned on Iros. “Ashra can hear me,” she blurted.

Iros’ lips quirked and he raised an eyebrow. “Can she now?’

“Yes. But we haven’t bonded. How is that possible?” She stood up, dusting off the knees of her jeans, which was rather pointless since they were torn and covered in blood, mud, and horsehair.

“
Unicorn hair.
”
Ashra shook her head, annoyed.

“
Right, sorry.
”

“Are you doing it now?” Iros asked, looking back and forth between them.

Scout nodded.

“Fascinating.”

Scout turned on Trey, trying to remind herself that she hated him, despite the fact that he’d spent the night protecting her from nightmares. “Can Torz hear you?”

Torz shook his head, chuffing in what Scout realized was laughter. She absently wondered if regular horses were also laughing when they made that noise.

“
Yes, they are,
”
Ashra said.

“Will you quit that? Can you hear
everything
I’m thinking?” Scout exploded, out loud.

“
Yeah. Will you get that under control? It
’
s kind of embarrassing.
”
Even across the valley, Scout could swear Ashra’s eyes landed on Trey.

“I’ll work on it,” she muttered, feeling her neck and face flush.

“
In answer to your question, Trey doesn
’
t talk a lot. So no, we can
’
t do it. Yet,
”
Torz said mildly.

“
Let
’
s focus, shall we? The soul stealers will attack soon. Best if we
’
re ready.
”
Havik stomped his foot once, gaining their attention.

“Right. Riders, mount up.” Iros made shooing motions with his hands. “Uh, Kylin. You mentioned you had no desire to fight. Is that still true?” They all turned to stare at her.

She put her hands on her hips, “Yes it’s still true. I’m a fashion designer! I have a future! I can’t go running off into some battle with monsters that might kill me.”

Scout shook her head and jogged across the soft valley floor to Ashra’s side.
“
Let me up,
”
she said.

The fiery stairs appeared at her feet and she leaped up them and onto Ashra’s back. “Why don’t they burn me?”

“
Because it isn
’
t that kind of fire. It doesn
’
t burn anything. Except soul stealers.
”

“But you just lit the grass on fire.” Scout frowned, motioning toward the charred circle outside her hut.

Ashra heaved a giant sigh, as if Scout’s questions were beyond the realm of intelligence.
“
Different kind of fire. So, she
’
s a little ray of sunshine, isn
’
t she?
”
Ashra tossed her head in Kylin’s direction.

“Oh yeah. She loves me to pieces, too.”

“
Clearly.
”

“Scout, you’ll eventually have to learn to climb on without the aid of stairs,” Iros called as Havik loped easily toward them, Torz and Trey right behind.

“So beautiful,” Scout murmured without meaning to. Watching the gigantic unicorns move was awe-inspiring. Again Scout was reminded of the big Clydesdales she had loved to watch at the fair. The unicorns were built similarly, except bigger, and they were all black. Silky hair covered the sharp tips of their hooves, and when they weren’t flaming, their manes and tails looked like very fine hair and less like the mists they actually were.

“
I think they prefer handsome,
”
Ashra said.
“
How are your jumping skills?
”
Havik and Torz slowed to a stop a few feet away.

With a sigh, Scout slid off her back, landing with a thud on the ground. Pain shot through her back but not enough that she wanted to curl up and die. “Really, you’re all going to sit here and watch me try to jump onto the back of a horse that’s higher than my hands can even reach?”

“Unicorn.
Unicorn, human.
”

“Sounds like fun.” Trey winked and she scowled at him, but it lacked the vehemence she should have put behind it. Spending so much time with him made it harder and harder to remember she hated him — to remember what he’d done.

She backed up several paces, only tripping once on a gnarled tree root, and jogged toward Ashra, getting within a foot before she jumped. Her hands hit Ashra’s back, but she didn’t come even close to making it up.

“
How about you put a little effort into it?
”
Ashra asked dryly.

Scout growled under her breath and backed up again, further this time, feeling somewhat like a new bug specimen under observation. “I’m like a foot shorter than you two. Give me a break, would ya?” This time she sprinted and leaped as high as she could. Her arms came around Ashra’s back, but she couldn’t get a grip and fell to the ground, landing hard on her tailbone. She screeched in pain, rolling onto her side.

“Havik!” Iros called and Havik jumped forward, landing hard next to Scout. She felt the warmth from his horn but couldn’t see it; eyes squinched shut as they were. But the pain lessened considerably, until she could take a breath without extreme agony.

“Okay, we’ll just make do with the stairs for now.” Iros nodded as Scout pushed herself to her feet.

“No.” She backed up again, running harder. It hurt to jump, but she put everything she had into it. When she fell this time, she twisted, making sure to keep her feet under her so it didn’t hurt so much when she landed. And then she backed up and did it again. And again. And again.

Havik only had to heal her twice more.

“
My back hurts. You
’
re pulling off all the hair,
”
Ashra complained when Scout fell for the eight hundredth time, at least.
“
Maybe you could run up my wing?
”

“Your wing will break. I’m not that light,” Scout gasped, rubbing her back.

“
Do you need me to heal you again?
”
Havik asked.

Several minutes ago Trey had slid off Torz’s back and stood in the shade a few feet from Scout. “Come here.” He motioned her over and she came, reluctantly. Turning her away from him, he dug his palms into her back where it hurt the most.