Simban Read online

  The last she could remember, an Ardak had been torturing her.

  She tried to move, but her limbs wouldn’t respond, and the pain from the effort almost made her black out again. It was all over her body, radiating from every slash and puncture the Ardak had left in her flesh.

  All was silent and nearly dark around her, and she knew better than to call for help.

  For a few moments, she couldn’t see anything, which was strange because elves could see in the dark.

  I must be out of magic.

  She slowly freed her hand to reach above her head, only to press against dirt. She kept blindly searching, finding nothing but soil and rocks and roots under and next to her.

  This is what healed me. Although it hasn’t refilled my magic yet.

  Obviously, the Ardaks didn’t know the earth would heal her, and it wasn’t something she planned to let them find out. She tried to move again, and something shifted above her. It was heavy. And warm.

  A body.

  Oh gods.

  She swallowed.

  I can’t stay here forever. Besides, it might be another elf.

  She tried to wriggle out from under it, hoping not to wake whoever or whatever it was. She just needed to move the person enough so she could get out from under them. But the body wouldn’t budge.

  Which meant that she was horribly stuck.

  Her heart sank as she imagined the warmth slowly fading from the body above her. Pictured her being stuck here, slowly dying.

  She groaned and moved again. In a way, being stuck here was almost worse than being in the torture chambers. She couldn’t move at all and was almost sightless in the dark. Although she thought she could see the faint outline of shadows.

  My magic is coming back.

  It took several minutes of focus and concentration, but finally, she managed to get her arms beneath her so she could push herself up, getting the body to roll off her.

  He groaned. She could tell it was a male by the depth of his groan, but it was clear when she examined him. He had wide shoulders and a handsome face. Black hair, dark stubble on his strong jawline.

  Something about him called to her, and she knew she couldn’t just leave him here. Not only did the idea of leaving someone behind feel wrong, but two people would have a higher chance of escape than one.

  Her decision made, Irielle took hold of his firmly muscled shoulders and shook him once. When there was no response, she shook him again.

  He groaned.

  She slapped a hand over his mouth. “Be quiet,” she whispered in his ear.

  His eyes opened, clear blue despite the darkness. His mouth worked. “Where?”

  “Somewhere in the mountain,” she whispered. “We need to get out of here before those cats kill us both.”

  “What cats?” The muscles in his jaw flexed as he clenched his teeth.

  “The Ardaks,” she responded. “Don’t you remember?”

  He shook his head silently, peering around in the darkness. Then he pointed. “That way.” The whisper was almost silent.

  It wasn’t the way she was planning to go.

  “The way out?” she asked.

  He nodded.

  “How do you know?”

  “I can see in the dark.”

  A cyborg then.

  She retreated quickly, stumbling backward and falling over some bodies. She’d made a mistake by waking him.

  If he was a cyborg, the Ardaks controlled him.

  But what was he doing in the trash pile? And how would she escape without him?

  She wished she could see farther, but her magic was still too weak. She wanted to run, even from him.

  He must have seen the look on her face because he clenched a fist and brought it to his chest. “Friend, small elf.”

  She examined him closely, knowing she had to make a quick decision.

  Whoever he was, he was also in danger. They tried to kill him, too.

  She knelt closer to his face and captured his gaze. “Who are you?”

  He pressed his lips together. “Not telling.”

  She started. “You can’t remember?”

  “I remember,” he huffed. “Not telling you.”

  “Why not?” she asked cautiously.

  “You don’t like me.” He crossed his arms.

  Irielle might have laughed if the situation wasn’t so dire. “You’re not normal, are you?”

  The minute she asked, she wanted to take it back.

  A pained look crossed his face. “Am normal.” He stuck out his jaw. “Normal Simban.”

  Then his expression turned angry when he realized he’d told her his name.

  “Fuck!” He hit the side of his head a couple of times. “Fuck. Fuck.”

  And at that moment, she knew why he was in the trash pile. “There’s something wrong with that computer thing they put into you, isn’t there?”

  At his look of helpless frustration, she had her answer. He had a broken cyborg thing, and someone with a broken thing wouldn’t make a good Ardak soldier.

  “All right, Simban, let’s get out of here.” She didn’t think the cyborg was going to hurt her, and his physique would make him good in a fight. She just hoped he wouldn’t slow her down.

  They slowly made their way across the enormous cavern. The trash was piled in enormous mountains. The stench was vicious, and the bodies they stumbled over had been killed in any number of horrific ways.

  The smell made her gag, and the way was unsteady as they climbed over bones, half-decomposed bodies, and excrement. The cyborg sank into the mess more often than she, and she was grateful for her smaller body and lighter weight. But he was calm and composed as they traversed the muck, checking often to be sure she was doing all right.

  “I thought the Ardaks ate flesh,” she whispered to Simban as he pulled her out of the muck yet again. “Why are there so many bodies down here?”

  “Not delicious,” Simban replied.

  And when she looked up at him, aghast, he winked.

  Yep, you’re still in there, big guy.

  As they approached the far edge of the pit, the bodies seemed to be fresher again. She silently prayed that none of the bodies they stepped on would wake. It would take more time to revive them, and she just wanted to get out of there.

  She stumbled, and the cyborg reached back to help her. Then she realized she had stumbled over a warrior. One with weapons. She yanked free of his grasp and bent, grabbing a knife from the dead warrior’s belt.

  The cyborg bent with her, and she almost tried to defend herself.

  But instead of trying to take her knife, he lifted the dead man. “Take the belt.”

  When she unhooked it, he helped her put it on herself. His hands were firm but gentle. When he was finished, his hands cupped her waist for a moment. The gesture was so unexpected that she looked up, startled.

  His pupils were slightly dilated, focused on her face. To her disbelief, he was looking at her almost as though he found her attractive. No one but Aethen had found her attractive, and even he had left her.

  She avoided his eyes by looking down at her belt, examining the two knives and straight sword until he let her go.

  She squared her shoulders.

  Men didn’t like her, and if Simban did, it was probably because of his broken computer thing.

  She looked up to see him crossing the pile of bodies to another dead warrior, divesting him of his weapons.

  He returned minutes later, an awkwardly large smile on his face. “Better. Let’s go.”

  Irielle could feel her spirits reviving. When she had first woken, she didn’t believe she would actually get free from this place. But now her hopes rose. If they didn’t encounter any cats, they just might escape. She could feel the earth beneath her feet again, walk among the trees in the forest.

  But as they continued, she began to wonder. Where am I going to go when I get free? She didn’t really want to go back to Renwyn. She’d always been the black she
ep in her family, her parents disappointed in her lack of magic, her sister outshining her in every way.

  And she didn’t even know if Renwyn existed anymore. They hadn’t breached the shield yet when she was being tortured, but she didn’t know how much time had passed. For all she knew, Renwyn could have fallen.

  If I get out of this mountain, I’ll go north.

  She’d always loved the northern mountains, viewed from a distance in Renwyn. They were snowcapped, even in summer. It was said that the ancients came from there, that they had hidden treasures buried in the caves.

  Maybe I’ll try to find some of that treasure when I go there.

  Simban came to a stop and it took her a second to figure out why. They were at the edge of the trash pile, and the ledge of whatever pit they were in loomed high above their heads. She tried to jump for it, but her leap wasn’t high enough. So, he cupped her waist and lifted her so she could reach it, and a small shiver went through her at his touch.

  But then a hand grabbed hers from the top. She stifled a shriek, trying to rip her arm out of its grasp. She couldn’t get free, and she was pulled sharply upward until she was face-to-face with another male.

  “What is this? A pointy-eared thing?” the male said in a low, sarcastic voice.

  She shrieked Simban’s name, and he clamped a hand over her mouth. “Shut up! You’ll attract the cats!”

  But then Simban came up over the side of the ledge, his muscles locked, poised for battle.

  When the male saw his face, he literally dropped her and stepped toward the other man. “Simban?”

  “Val-Valdjan?” her cyborg stuttered.

  The other man shone a light on Simban, and she really got to see him for the first time.

  He was beautiful.

  “You remember me?” Valdjan asked. “Thank the gods. A few cyborgs we’ve found don’t remember anything. My brother.”

  “I remember.”

  Looking between them, she noted the resemblance between the two men.

  “How did you end up with this elf?”

  Simban’s jaw worked, but nothing came out. His face began to redden.

  Valdjan eyed him more closely. “What’s wrong? Why aren’t you saying anything?”

  Simban hit his head. “Fuck!”

  “I think whatever the Ardaks tried to do to him didn’t work,” Irielle offered, her eyes meeting his. “I think he’s all there inside, just not on the outside.”

  Valdjan took a step closer to his brother, examining him for a moment. Then his angry face broke into a slow smile, and he grabbed Simban in a huge hug. “It doesn’t matter. You’re alive! I still can’t believe it. And who are you?” He turned to her.

  Simban also turned to her, but he seemed not to find the words to speak. A look of adoration crossed his face.

  “I’m Irielle,” she said quickly. “We escaped together. But we need to get out of here, fast.”

  “We have a hidden cave where they won’t find us,” Valdjan answered. “You can stay with us if you want to.”

  She shook her head. “I need to get out of here. I need fresh air.”

  She glanced back at Simban, who was obviously torn.

  “Where go?” he asked.

  “North.”

  “Staying in this place is actually a lot safer than trying to get away from the mountain without being seen,” Valdjan cautioned her. “I speak from others’ experience.”

  She glanced back to Simban again. They’d known each other for only a few hours, but still, she had a strange attraction to the cyborg. However, she couldn’t remain belowground any longer, and with Ardaks on the loose, every second mattered.

  A roar sounded from the other side of the pit, and all of them took one wide-eyed look at each other before bolting into the tunnels. Through the twists and turns of the dark tunnels, she pushed her still-healing body as fast as it could go. She lost sight of them ahead, and a slice of sunlight drew her eye. It lit an adjacent tunnel and she turned toward it, sprinting as she broke into the fresh air.

  Once free, she kept running, never looking back. Eventually she’d slowed to a walk, then a hike as the elevation rose. The journey had taken days, but as the mountains had gotten higher and the air thinner, paradoxically, she’d been able to breathe again.

  Then, when she’d reached this place, trees against the mouth of a cave, she knew it was perfect. Most would expect her to live in the cave, and she could flee there if she needed to, but the way the trees were situated, she could create a domicile that would be invisible to all but another elf.

  Coming back to herself, Irielle lay still, her eyes closed and Simban’s face floating in front of her.

  Occasionally, she had thought of him and what the free cyborgs might be doing inside the mountain. Whether the cats had found them.

  Why had she been attracted to him? Had he really been attracted to her?

  Once in a while, on her loneliest nights, she’d imagine what would have happened if he’d come with her.

  What she would have done if he’d shown up.

  Neither of those daydreams had included her shooting him.

  Chapter Five

  Simban

  Simban cursed as he examined the two arrows in his shoulder. He was torn between joy and disbelief. Joy that he’d just seen Irielle and disbelief that she’d shot him. But he had been facing the other direction; she might not have known it was him. He’d seen the look of shock on her face when he turned.

  The arrows were painful, but he couldn’t be angry with her for protecting herself, especially with that Ardak around. Who knows, there were probably other large carnivores up in the mountains, as well. He had seen one or two of them at the base of the mountain.

  He had enjoyed the cooler weather, taking frequent breaks to enjoy the scenery as the elevation climbed steadily toward the sky. The air was cooler, crisper at this elevation. Trees blanketed the mountainside, and he breathed in the thinner air. If he were whole, he would have called this place paradise.

  He’d kept walking through the first snow flurries, but after an hour, the snow was falling thick and fast. He’d seen a cave off to the left, and all he could think of was getting out of the snow.

  By the time he’d built a fire inside it, his entire body was shaking with cold. Once again, he cursed the chip. The other cyborgs’ chips would keep them warm. But not Simban’s. His chip did nothing but cause him problems.

  The fire had kept him warm through the night, but the snow had not relented until the next morning. When he’d emerged, he’d found the snow was knee-deep.

  When he’d heard the sound of footsteps behind him, he’d been hoping it was an animal. Then, for a split second, he’d been less than happy to find it was another being.

  Until he’d seen her face. Golden-brown eyes narrowed, focused solely on him as she’d let the arrows fly.

  Then she’d disappeared like an apparition.

  Simban took a deep breath and slashed into the first wound with his knife, enlarging it so he could extract the arrowhead. His fingers burned with the effort of his concentration, almost making him drop the knife.

  “Shit, shit, shit,” he cursed against the pain, extracting the second arrowhead in the same manner before pulling his jacket back on. Still shivering against the biting cold, he buttoned his jacket higher and looked around the cave, which was nothing but hard rock walls and a pitted floor. Unlike him, it appeared that his elf had managed to make herself a hospitable place to live. He’d glimpsed the inside of her dwelling in the second she’d had it open.

  After she’d closed the trees, he’d gone closer and examined them. There was no visible door, and if he hadn’t seen her enter, he wouldn’t have believed there was a home there.

  At least the beautiful elf was securely hidden.

  If she’d been here the entire time, she might not even know the Ardaks had been defeated.

  Or that one might be very near there at that very moment.

  Chap
ter Six

  Irielle

  Irielle paced from wall to wall of her tiny den. Usually, the small space made her feel safe, but it was beginning to feel more like a cage. Seven steps forward, turn. Seven steps forward, repeat.

  What am I going to do about that starry cyborg?

  She’d just shot him. He probably wouldn’t be happy about that.

  Somehow, she didn’t think he would go away. He’d probably sought shelter in the cave next to her home, just as she had at first.

  She started to cough, a hacking fit that made her lay down, made her see stars due to lack of air. It lasted until tears streamed down her face. But this time, she didn’t get her breath back for long minutes.

  Maybe having Simban here won’t be so bad. At least I won’t die alone.

  He hadn’t been under Ardak control the last time she’d seen him. But one never knew what the Ardaks were capable of. It was very suspicious that he and the Ardak had arrived in her mountain at the same time. And if they had taken him over, letting him in could be a fate worse than death.

  That was the biggest reason she hadn’t gone out there to see if he was okay.

  She lit a fire in the hearth, the bright flames rising, warming her hands. A flash of guilt went through her as she thought about her cyborg out there, freezing in the cave.

  He isn’t my cyborg.

  If she wanted to be honest about it, that was the second reason she hadn’t gone out to find him. She didn’t want him to become her cyborg. As much as she found him attractive, she didn’t want to open herself up that way again. Her devious sister had seen to that.

  Irielle clenched her fists, trying to think of something else. But the harder she tried, the more her mind went straight back to Irianna. Her sister was prettier, sassier, more powerful, and had a better sense of humor than she did. And by the time they were in their fourth year of school, Irianna had surpassed Irielle in their use of real magic. Even though Irielle had studied harder, she had only been able to excel more in history and other paper tests.

  Male elves had always been drawn to Irianna, and they found Irielle was too serious, too studious, too boring.