Free Primitive Nights by Candi Wall

kill you.”
    He released his hold and stood. Tinjtol sat back, his eyes sparked with fury. He remained silent and pushed up from the ground instead to walk to the elders who stood near the edge of the circle. With a respectful nod, he dropped to a knee. “Maglayo has refused to fight. This is weakness for bajluk .”
    “My son is not weak. He shows mercy.” Michelle’s heated words drew numerous nods of agreement.
    Damon pointed at her. “Stop. You have intruded already where you should not have. Silence yourself. Now!”
    She clamped her mouth shut. The six elders exchanged glances before Goloruk, the eldest, stepped forward. He raised a hand, and the gathering was silent. “Maglayo has shown brother Tinjtol compassion and mercy. I believe he understands that brother Tinjtol has the good of our people in his heart and has spared his life.” He paused to look at Damon. “This is the mark of a wise man. But Tinjtol carries anger in his heart. And so he must leave.”
    A low rumble of shock moved through the group. Damon tried to contain his relief. With Tinjtol’s banishment, peace might be found. The elders might finally listen to him, to Myla. In this one decision, Damon’s hope for their future burgeoned.
    Tinjtol stalked from the circle to disappear into the jungle. With a quick nod at the elders, Damon accepted a bajluk coil from a young woman and laced it into his hair. Then without waiting for another disruption, he turned and grabbed his mother’s arm. “Come with me.”
    “Don’t be angry with me. I did what was best.” She struggled against his hold.
    “What did you do?” He let go and grasped the rough handle of the knife still lodged in his thigh. Pain lanced through his leg as he pulled the blade free. He stared at his mother. “Where is she?”
    She shrugged. “I sent her into the jungle.”
    “What?”
    Her dispassionate response fueled his anger. He slashed a hand through the air. He had never struck a woman, but the urge to do so was strong at that moment.
    Seiret ran from the trees. He stopped before them, panting. “She is gone.”
    Damon nodded. “This was my mother’s doing.”
    “Better that she dies than you.”
    “I will find her, Mother. And you better hope she is alive. If she is not, or if she is harmed, you will pay dearly for it.”
    Her eyes widened with fear before thinning to slits. “Are you threatening to harm me?”
    Damon shook his head. “No, Mother. But if anything happens to Myla, I will take you to the white men myself and leave you there.”
    He walked away, and Seiret’s soft chuckle followed. “She did not like your words?”
    Furious, Damon dragged a hand through his hair. “She meddles.”
    “Her intentions were good.”
    He understood that fact. Knowledge however, would not alter the danger Myla would face on her own. “I wonder at the intelligence of your insight. For now, I must find Myla.”
    When he would have walked away, Seiret stalled him. “I think it would be best for you to care for that first.”
    Damon glanced at the knife wound in his leg. That explained the pain.
     
     
    Myla turned in a slow circle. The jungle surrounded her. Trees. Nothing but damned trees. God only knew what else. Every noise made her heart race. Skipping the crash courses on jungle survival was coming back to haunt her—with interest. It was one thing to have a qualified escort through the dense foliage. Someone to tell her what to watch for and where to go. On her own, the jungle seemed more of a death sentence than anything.
    “So stupid.” Not that she’d had any choice.
    She’d kept her voice to a whisper but it still bounced around the trees. She glanced at her surroundings again then pressed her fingers to the muscles at the base of her neck, strained by the repetitive motion. This was ridiculous.
    She’d followed the early sun’s direction for what seemed like hours. The longer she walked, the more unsettled her thoughts became, the more her leg