Free Apparition by C.L. Scholey Page A

around his neck.
She had her face buried into his throat.
    “Where is she?” snapped a deep male voice.
    Doss was surprised to see not a Tonan but a Castian warrior. It had been ages since he had
seen one. The two warriors regarded one another. Doss was feeling dismayed. How
had the warrior found his home? No one had ever been here before.
    “What makes you think anyone is here besides me?” Doss
asked.
    “I followed the scent of the stallion in the wind. I
saw the body of the first Tonan and then the wounded Tonan . If you gave him a message—he never delivered it.”
    “You killed him?”
    “Damn right I did. Evil filthy
bastards.”
    “One could say the same of your kind,” Doss said and
growled deep in his throat. “How many women in the slave camp wish you were
dead?”
    “The warriors are young!” The Castian raged. “They are in must and collared. Almost all of them have never seen a
female before. The Tonans are forcing the women to
beg to be fucked; the women do it willingly for a few scraps of food and decent
water. The females are more terrified of being starved and beaten. Tonans are notorious for torture. The young Castian bastards have no control when a woman swears she
wants him. All they need to do is get a scent of a female, then to have her run
her hands over them is too much for them to control. I don’t condone what the Castian warriors are doing, and they never would under
normal circumstances. You can smell the self-loathing on them. I have never
once touched a human female that way.”
    “Doss?” Zoe whispered. “He sounds like Loy.”
    “The warrior you were given to?” Doss asked.
    “Yes.”
    The Castian cocked his head.
“She’s in there with you isn’t she? You mated her?”
    “She was willing.”
    “I want to ask her myself,” the Castian snapped. “Your armor hides what she is feeling. In fact I have no scent of her
at all. There is no indication she’s even in there with you. How do I know
you’re not lying?”
    “Who the hell do you think you are?” Doss howled. “I
have no tail; you can tell if I’m lying. I’m no filthy Tonan .”
    “My name is Loy. She was given to me by a Tonan . She is the reason I’m free. She saved my life and I
saved hers. Nothing more. I had hoped to take her to Bagron where it’s safer. Cobra, our leader, has been
restored to power as was right. My warrior mate and I were captured a short
time ago on a rescue mission. I know your female hates me. It was the least I
could do to go looking for her, considering her actions freed me.”
    “Lower your shield,” Doss commanded.
    “So the stallion can ram his hooves into my back?
Forget it.”
    Caveat was indeed pawing, prancing and rearing. Doss
admired his fortitude. The stallion was fearless. If Doss was to fight the Castian , he would rather do it while Zoe sat safely on
Caveat’s back. He was beginning to understand the helpful uses of a warrior
mate when he hadn’t before. Before he only protected himself.
    “Caveat, come to me,” Doss ordered.
    The stallion wasn’t used to taking commands from a
man. When Doss lowered his shield to let Zoe slip to her feet the horse was
beside him in a second. Doss grabbed Zoe’s ass and flung her onto the stallion.
Doss’ armor was already back in place. Zoe just sat
looking at the Castian .
    “My captor came after me,” Zoe said warily. “Doss
saved my life and Caveat’s. I want to be here.”
    The Castian lowered his
armor. It was in fact Loy. He looked a great deal stronger than the last time
she had seen him. Both he and Doss were the same size. He held his hands out in
supplication.
    “I won’t bother you again, little female. I wanted to
thank you for your strength and courage. Your hate compelled me to find the
strength to attack when you bit the Tonan and drew
his blood. My warrior mate was killed by them. I need to go back and find the
woman he impregnated. My warrior mate only took her to give her a babe and his
shield. He