Free Into the Shadow by Christina Dodd Page B

like a whore. Like a wife. It is an honor.’’
    ‘‘An honor? To be forced to have sex with an ignorant, brutal raider?’’
    ‘‘But is he not your secret lover?’’
    ‘‘What?’’ Stiff with shock, Karen swung on Mingma.
    ‘‘Is he not the lover who heard your tears, who slipped into your tent at night to make you forget your sorrow?’’
    ‘‘You knew?’’ Karen stood, her hands slack at her sides.
    Mingma knew .
    ‘‘It is not good for a young woman to sleep alone.’’
    Karen covered her hot cheeks with her hands. ‘‘Did everyone know?’’
    ‘‘No, miss. The men you could hire were not good. Only the laziest would work in that evil place. Warlord keeps the best for himself.’’ Mingma turned her solemn brown eyes on Karen. ‘‘I am the best, so he hire me to care for you.’’
    Karen stared at Mingma, at the woman she thought she knew, and realized her jaw hung open. Snapping it shut, she then asked, ‘‘When? You mean today?’’
    ‘‘No. When you come to Mount Anaya. Warlord, he saw you in Kathmandu, and he know right away he would make you his.’’
    ‘‘Did he now?’’ Warlord had been watching her on the train, and she hadn’t noticed. She’d been too busy fending off a pass from Phil. At the time she’d thought Phil was the worst lecher she’d have to contend with in Nepal. What a fool she’d been—about everything.
    ‘‘When he realized where you were going, he came to me. He said you would need someone to protect you. So I bring my lucky bells and hang them on your tent, and powerful soil from the god on Everest and spread it under your feet. Morning and night I say the prayers of defense from the Evil One, and at night I add sleep weed to your dinner so you not hear the cries from the mountain and go crazy and seek those who are lost.’’ As if she expected praise, Mingma smiled and bowed.
    Karen did not smile. ‘‘So you worked for him. You always worked for him. You came because he’s paying you.’’
    ‘‘Yes, miss.’’
    In less than twenty-four hours Karen had seen death, faced evil, embraced life, and discovered that her lover, her rescuer, was a warlord. The warlord. Yet this betrayal hurt her more than anything she’d seen or faced. ‘‘I trusted you,’’ she whispered.
    ‘‘Of course. As I trust you. We are sisters.’’ Mingma seemed so calm, as if she didn’t know she’d deceived Karen.
    ‘‘No. Sisters don’t hurt each other.’’
    ‘‘I have not hurt you. I have cared for you and watched over you when your lover could not.’’
    ‘‘For money!’’
    ‘‘Miss, I have a son, sixteen years old. Here, the schools are not good. So I send him to your United States, and pay for him to live with an American family and prepare for college. He is smart. He does well.’’ Mingma glowed with pride. ‘‘So I pay.’’
    ‘‘You pay for his life with mine.’’
    ‘‘No, miss. Warlord is the best soldier here. He holds control.’’ Mingma showed her clenched fist. ‘‘He will keep you safe.’’
    ‘‘I don’t want to be safe. I want to be gone!’’
    ‘‘He wants you here. Why should your desire be held higher than his?’’
    They were talking in circles.
    Karen seethed with frustration. ‘‘Fine. You’re his creature. So stay away from me.’’
    ‘‘But, miss, I have your breakfast.’’
    ‘‘Put it outside the door. I’ll get it when I get my appetite back.’’ Karen ducked back into the tent and stalked across the plush rug.
    Mingma. Mingma had betrayed her.
    She hadn’t seen that one coming. And why not? She’d worked in construction as a project manager, where every con man and wastrel flocked to her jobs in the hopes of cheating the stupid little woman. She’d learned the hard way not to trust anyone.
    Yet Mingma had slipped under her guard.
    Thank God her father would never know. Thank God . . . yeah, because if she didn’t break out of this prison, she’d end up being some wacko