Free Alcandian Soul by Mary Wine Page B

Dyne growled simultaneously. Cassandra jerked her head around to stare at another pair of warriors. They were both sporting the Alcandian Judgment Official maroon uniform. One was light-haired, while the other was dark like Dyne. He moved closer as she stared at him. Cassandra lifted her hands off Dyne and chewed on her thumbnail unconsciously, trying to decide just what it was about this warrior that she knew. Her brain was straining, trying to identify something about him.
    “Oh hell!” The memory surged forward from the trap door she’d found in her head. The hike through the mountains and the confrontation between Cole and these two warriors. Pushing her way back and away from Cole and Dyne, she watched her memory like a movie as she recalled exactly what had happened in the mountains of California. She knew the location because her dad had taken her backpacking along those trails for years. In fact she knew right where that damn wormhole was hidden.
    “I believe you remember Ravid and his partner Keenan?”
    Cole’s voice was somber. Cassandra lifted enraged eyes to his, but returned her attention to Ravid as she absorbed her restored memory. She pointed a finger at Ravid as she grasped the complete reason for her current relocation. She knew too much. That was the kind of information she could see these men wanting to control. The knowledge was like hearing a gavel hit a judge’s desk. The sharp sound piercing her heart with just how critical keeping her might be to them.
    “I do now.” She didn’t care for how defeated her voice sounded. “Well, you can just move that damn thing you use to planet hop.” Sweeping the four warriors with her eyes, she straightened her shoulders. “Since honor is such a fundamental thing around here, you can just take care of this problem without imprisoning me here.”
    “That would be pointless now.” Ravid crossed his arms across his chest as he spoke. Cassandra moved closer to him and refused to be intimidated by his height or brawn.
    “Now? What does that mean? Make it happen so I can go home. You’re supposed to enforce the law. Didn’t you show up on Earth ready to kick some ass over Zeva being held against her will?”
    A little twist of something that felt like regret went through her heart as she fought the urge to turn and look at Cole and Dyne. It almost felt like there was a string pulling on her belt, placing pressure on her to move back towards them.
    “You are correct, darmasha , but you will remain due to more than the memory that resulted in your presence here. You will understand in time, yet I regret the details of your arrival.” Ravid raised his gaze towards Dyne and Cole. “It is time to return to the hall for the night.”
    There was some sort of firm authority in his voice aimed at the two warriors who had just been pressing her between them. The kind of reprimand you might expect from your older brother if he caught you kissing out behind the barn. Ravid actually stepped aside and extended one large arm towards the stone courtyard she had crossed that morning. His partner Keenan was the mirror image as Cassandra fought the urge to turn her head to see what Cole and Dyne looked like. She pushed her feet forward instead. She wanted to turn around and move closer to them, an impulse that made absolutely no sense at all. So she moved across the polished stone courtyard without turning her head in spite of the regret moving through her. Separation anxiety was completely misplaced in a captive.
    But it was way too real to ignore.
    “You enjoyed that too much.”
    Zeva emerged from the night to shake her head at her mates. A sheepish grin appeared on Keenan’s face while Ravid outright smirked. She rolled her eyes as she cast a glance at Cole and Dyne. Both warriors were glaring at her mates with the fury of binding fever.
    “Congratulations, Cole.”
    The newly promoted warrior hesitated for a moment before answering her as he shifted his gaze from