“This Conner is doing your job, is that it? What exactly do you usually do?”
“I protect them. I can hit a bird on a wing hi a high wind. So I lay up above them where I can sight the entire camp and I keep the bandits off of them. I provide cover fire and lay it down thick when they retreat. We scatter, each man assigned a job, taking the victims into the forest. Drake usually gets them to the helicopter while the rest of the team goes hi every direction. I draw the bandits after me. I provide heavy fire and keep them busy and following me until I hear from each team member they are safe and we can stand down.”
“The bandits chase you through the forest.” He grinned at her, a small, mischievous little boy grin. “Several forests. There aren’t any such things as borders or rivers or places we can’t go. We do have to be a little careful in their territory. They’re like rats, they go underground in their maze of tunnels in the fields. That’s why we lead
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them into the forest. We scatter, the men change form and I’m the bandit’s only hope of retribution.”
She was furious all over again at the elders. So much so that she balled the pillow into her hand and threw it against the wall in a small fit of temper. “They take advantage of you, Rio. You’re risking your hie to help them get away.”
“Sestrilla, it isn’t like that. The others risk their lives going into the camp while I’m safe a mile away. We all take risks. We’re at risk when the poachers enter our territory and try to Mil the endangered animals. It’s what we do, who we are. I want to do what I do.”
“And the elders sit back and count the money you all bring them. I’ll bet there’s no risk at all to them. They just send you out, filling your head full of good deeds and necessity and count themselves lucky you’re willing to risk your life for the cause.”
“You’re really angry.” She was. He could see her body was trembling. More than that, she was close again. He could feel the sudden tension, the wild power in the room, caged but seeking freedom. She exuded a strong sensual pull.
“I detest people like that. They make the rules for everyone else and then sit back nice and safe calling the shots, making life-and-death decisions for people and reaping the monetary rewards.”
She wasn’t talking about the elders in his village. Rio remained silent, waiting to see if she would continue, but she pushed off the bed and went to the door, flinging it open to stare outside at the beckoning forest.
All the talk of the mythical Han Vol Dan, of her mother running free, made her yearn for the same freedom. Just for a few minutes to be something else, something different, with more control, more freedom. The ability to run along the branches of the tree. She held up her arms to embrace the idea. Deep within her she felt the stirring of power. Something untamed. Wild. Something desiring to be free. Fire raced through her bloodstream and something
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alive moved beneath her skin. Her fingers curved. Her face ached. Bones cracked and snapped.
“No!” Rio said it sharply, caught her shoulder and jerked her away from the door, back into the safety of his house. He wrapped his arm around her waist as if that would anchor her to him. “What did you think you were doing?”
“I don’t know.” She didn’t look at him. She could only look at the temptation of the trees, the swaying foliage and thick canopy. Even the rain seemed to call her with its steady rhythm. “What am I doing, Rio?”
“Your leg isn’t healed enough for that. It would never survive the change without further injury. You can’t give in to it yet.”
“Is it possible to stop? If it’s in me, won’t it come out as it does with you?” She was outwardly calm, but inside a mixture of excitement and fear were beginning to blend. She scented the wind and understood the messages it carried. She heard the notes overhead in the canopy and knew the song. She saw small lizards, insects, a preying mantis, hidden among the leaves of the trees as if they stood out in bright images.