"Put the gun away," Kim Pang said and pushed open the door. He stepped into the house, his clothes torn, damp and bloody, his tough features a mask of weariness. He had obviously been traveling fast and light. There was no pack and no weapon that Rachael could see.
Still, Rio remained in the shadows, to one side of the door. "I don't think so, Kim," Rio said softly, "you didn't come alone. Who's with you?"
"My brother, Tama, and Drake Donovan have come as well. You were slow in answering and Drake is scouting while Tama covers me." Kim remained very still. His gaze shifted to take in Rachael, but he gave no acknowledgment that he recognized her.
"Tama isn't doing a very good job, Kim," Rio said, but Rachael could see him visibly relax, although he did not put away the gun. "Signal him to come in." He lifted his head and coughed, a peculiar grunting cough that sounded much like that of animals Rachael had heard in the distance when she was trekking through the forest.
Kim called out loudly in another dialect, his voice raised and harsh, but when he turned back, he was smiling at Rachael. "Miss Wilson, it is good to see that you made it out of the river alive. Your apparent demise caused quite an uproar."
Rachael glanced guiltily at Rio. She'd forgotten she had come to the rain forest as Rachael Wilson. Rio grinned at her, taunting male amusement that gave her the urge to do violence.
"How nice to meet you, Miss Rachael Los Smith-Wilson," Rio said with a slight bow. "How fortunate that Kim remembered your name for you."
"Oh shut up," Rachael replied rudely. "Kim, you're hurt. If you bring Rio's medical kit over here, I'll see if I can clean those lacerations."
"You just sit there and don't move, Miss Wilson," Rio said. "Kim can stay where he is, and when Tama and Drake come in, I'll fix him up. He doesn't need a woman fussing over him." He was ashamed of the tightness in his gut, the knots lying heavy in his belly. The black jealousy the males of his kind could experience. He fought down the natural inclination but couldn't help the small, involuntary move that flushed him out of the advantage of the shadows and into the open as he placed himself slightly in front of Rachael.
Kim spread his fingers wide as if to show he held no weapons. His brother came into the room grinning sheepishly. "Sorry, Kim, I slipped on the wet branch and nearly fell. I was so busy saving my own life, I couldn't very well save yours." He glanced at Rachael and then at Rio, then looked down at the gun in Rio's hand. "Getting a little overprotective, aren't you?"
"Getting a little old to be slipping off a perfectly wide branch, aren't you?" Rio countered, but he was clearly listening for something outside the house.
With the door open, Rachael could easily hear the sudden change in the rhythm of the forest. Where there had been warning shrieks and calls and cries, now the forest once more vibrated with its natural sounds. The barking of deer, the croaking of frogs, the humming and twittering of insects and cicadas. There was always the continual call of birds, different notes, different songs, but all in harmony with the flutter of the wind and muffled and continual patter of rain.
Franz stood up and stretched, flattened his ears and hissed, facing toward the door. Rio coughed again, the sound slightly different. "Tama, toss a pair of pants to Drake. He doesn't need to come in and scare the hell out of Miss Wilson."
"Stop calling me that," Rachael snapped. "And why didn't Drake, whoever he is, wear clothes?"
"He didn't know he'd be in the company of a woman," Rio answered, as if that somehow cleared up the question.
Drake Donovan was tall and blond and swaggered in, dressed in a pair of Rio's pants and nothing else but a grin. His chest was heavily muscled, his arms thick and roped and powerful, built much like Rio. His grin widened when he saw Rachael. "No wonder you weren't answering your radio, Rio. Introduce us."
Rachael was suddenly conscious of her appearance, her uncombed unruly mop of hair and no makeup, with the four men staring at her. She lifted one hand to tidy her hair. Rio caught her wrist and pulled her hand to his hip. "You look fine, Rachael." His voice was gruff. He glared at Drake as if he had accused Rachael of looking bad.
"Hey," Drake spread his hands out in front of him with innocence. "I think she looks great. Especially for a dead woman. Kim thought you might have drowned in the river, but I see you were rescued by our resident jungle man."
"Quit trying to be charming," Rio said. "It doesn't suit you."
Rachael smiled at the blond. "I think it suits you very well."
Rio pressed her hand tightly against his hip, as if he were holding her to him. "What happened, Kim?"
"We were taken prisoner by Tomas Vien and his people. They were not after the medical supplies or even the ransom as we first thought." Kim looked at Rachael. "They were looking for Miss Wilson. They had pictures of her."
When Rachael stirred, Rio squeezed her hand, signaling her to stay silent. "How is it you managed to get away from them?"
Drake looked at Rio sharply, his strange eyes narrowing, but he said nothing.
Kim glanced at his brother. "I didn't make the meeting with my father. It was for a special ceremony my family knew I wouldn't miss unless something happened."
Tama nodded. "My father was very worried. There had been talk all up and down the river about the bandits and how they were looking for someone and if anyone harbored her they would be killed. Our people were warned. When Kim didn't return, my father sent me looking for him. I sent out a call and Drake was close, so he came along to help me track Kim."
"I called you on the radio." Drake picked up the story. "I knew you'd want to know Kim was missing and help us track him, but you didn't answer, so I was worried about you. Obviously unnecessarily."
"My radio is out of commission," Rio said tersely. "It took a bullet."
"Fritz is injured." Drake moved toward the small cat, but Franz paced back and forth in front of the wounded leopard and showed his saber-like teeth in warning.
Drake made a face at the clouded leopard but moved away from the agitated cat. "So you ran into trouble."
Rio shrugged. "Nothing I couldn't handle. You helped Tama pull Kim out of the bandit's camp?" He glanced toward the snarling cat. "Franz, settle down or go outside."
Franz hissed in warning but curled up around Fritz, eyes staring at the intruders.
Drake nodded, all the while keeping a wary eye on the clouded leopard. "Kim was in bad shape. They didn't believe him that she'd gone overboard into the river. He was beaten."
Rachael made a small, strangled sound. Rio slid his thumb over the back of her hand in a soothing gesture.
"They beat everyone, even the woman," Kim reported grimly. He looked at Rachael. "They aren't going to give up looking for you unless they find your body. Someone offered a million-dollar reward for you."
Rachael closed her eyes against the sudden despair sweeping through her. She hadn't considered that much money. People killed for far less. What would a million dollars mean to the men facing her?
"That explains a lot," Rio said. He sighed softly. "Drake, my medical supplies are running a little low, but I've got enough to clean up Kim and pack his wounds."
"I'll get the plants we need," Tama said. "We didn't stop for anything, we hurried to check on you." He left the house abruptly.
"I appreciate that," Rio answered. He sank into the chair beside Rachael, casually shifting her, careful of her leg beneath the blanket, settling her partially onto his thigh, arranging her leg and the blanket to his satisfaction. He waved at the others to find seats.
"What is it?" Drake asked as he rummaged through the medical bag. "What does a million dollars explain?"
"I had a visitor last night. One of ours, one I didn't recognize. A traitor, Drake. I couldn't imagine what would induce one of ours to turn traitor, but a million dollars can go to a man's head."
Rachael stayed very quiet, aware the information being passed back and forth was important to her. She hoped they forgot about her presence and would speak more openly.
"How could he have been one of ours if you didn't recognize his scent, Rio?" Drake didn't look up from where he was washing Kim's wounds.
Rachael couldn't bear to look at Kim's swollen, bruised face. He was stoic as Drake cleansed the lacerations, but as he shrugged out of his torn shirt, she saw him wince. He turned slightly and she gasped. "What did they do to you?"
Rio slipped his arm around her. "Those marks are made from caning. The bandits are known for using a cane on their victims. Tomas is notorious for it. I don't think we've brought out a single kidnap victim without evidence and tales of caning."
Rachael turned her face into Rio's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Kim, I didn't want anyone hurt. I thought if I slipped into the river, they'd think I drowned."
"They would have found another reason to cane him," Rio said, his fingers massaging the nape of her neck. "Tomas is sick. He enjoys other people's pain."
"What he says is the truth, Miss Wilson," Kim agreed.
"Rachael. Call me Rachael, please."
"She has trouble with her last name," Rio offered.
Rachael glared at him. "You're just so funny. You should be a stand-up comedian."
"I didn't even know Rio had a sense of humor," Drake said, tossing a boyish grin over his shoulder at Rio.
"I don't," Rio answered ominously.
Tama hurried in, carrying several plants and roots. "These will heal you fast, Kim, and perhaps the cat too."
"Did you send word to your father that you found Kim alive?" Rio asked.
"Right away. The wind carried the news. He will see the vision in his dreams and know Kim is well," Tama answered, busily tearing strips off one of the plants and throwing shredded green stems into a pot.
Rachael frowned as Rio nodded. "Is he saying Kim's father will dream he's alive and know it's true?"
"Their father is powerful medicine man. The real thing. I believe he knows more about the plants in the forest, poisons, and visions than any man alive. If they sent him the news, he'll pick it up in a vision, or dream, if you prefer to call it that," Rio explained.
Rio didn't sound as if he were teasing her, but she found the idea of sending news via visions a bit difficult to believe. "You don't really think they can do that, do you?"
"I know they can do it. I've seen it done. I'm not good at sending visions, but I've been on the receiving end. It's better than the mail here in the forest," Rio said.
Drake nodded in agreement. "Visions are dicey things, Rachael. You have to be adept at interpreting them."
"Rachael?" Rio arched his eyebrow at Drake in warning.
"She asked to be called Rachael," Drake pointed out, looking innocent. "I was being polite."
A strange odor rose from the pot where Tama pressed leaves, petals, stems and roots from various plants into a thick paste. It wasn't unpleasant, but smelled of mint and flowers, orange and spice. Fascinated, Rachael watched carefully, ignoring the exchange between the men. "What is that?"
Tama smiled at her. "This will prevent infection." He tilted the pot so she could see the brownish-green paste.
"Will it work on Fritz?" Rachael asked. "His wounds are draining and Rio's been worried about him."
"The leopard attacked him, nearly killed him," Rio supplied. "He knew enough about me to know I'd choose to save Fritz and try to track him later."
"So he's familiar with the way you hunt." Drake sounded worried. "Not too many people know the clouded leopards go along with you when we're pulling a victim out of the bandits' camps."
Kim looked up from where his brother was applying a thick poultice to the worst of the lacerations on his chest. "Only your unit and a couple of my people, Rio."
"No one in our unit would betray Rio," Drake said. "We've been doing this together for years. We all depend on one another. I know if I'm wounded Rio's going to pull my butt out of there. And if I'm captured, no one's going to rest until they get me free. That's the way it is, Kim."
"And we do not sell out our friends for any amount of money," Kim said quietly, with great dignity.
"No, your people would never consider money over friendship, Kim," Rio agreed. "I don't know where this traitor came from, or how he knows of me, but he is definitely one of ours, not one of yours."
"He is of the forest then," Tama said.
Drake scowled when Rio nodded. "It would be unlikely that you wouldn't recognize the scent."
"The stench is still on Fritz," Rio challenged, "see if you can tell me who it was."
"Send Franz out," Drake said. "He looks hungry."
"Be careful," Rachael warned, "he attacked me. Viciously, I might add."
Drake's scowl deepened. "He attacked you?"
Rachael nodded. "And he bit me, so just be careful around him. He has teeth like a saber-toothed tiger."
"It wasn't Franz," Rio pointed out, "it was Fritz that actually bit you."
"Does it matter?" Drake burst out. "The animal really attacked you? You're lucky to be alive."
"I want Tama to take a look at her leg after he finishes with Kim," Rio said. He peered at Rachael's face closely. "You're breaking out in a sweat. Are you getting too tired, because I'll put you back in bed. She hasn't been up at all yet and I don't want her to overdo."
"Let me see," Tama said, looking up from where he was smearing paste over his brother's bare back.
It was Rio who pulled the blanket away from Rachael's leg, revealing the swollen mass of punctures and lacerations. The two puncture wounds drained continually and it wasn't a pretty sight. Rachael was embarrassed.
Drake winced visibly. "My God, Rio, that must hurt like hell. Does she have an infection? We have to take her to a hospital."
Rachael shook her head, shrinking back into the protection of Rio's larger body. "No, I told you, Rio, I can't go to a hospital."
Kim and Tama examined her leg carefully. "She's right, Rio. If you take her to a hospital, even under a false name, one of Tomas's spies will hear of it and let him know. Some are paid, some fear him, some just want the association, but they will give her up to him. You cannot protect her in that environment."
"I don't want anyone to risk their life by trying to protect me," Rachael protested. "My leg is healing fine. I'm way better than I was a few days ago, ask Rio. As soon as I can travel, I'll be on my way. I won't have anyone risking their life for me."
Rio reached across her to lace his fingers through hers. "Rachael, no one is going to turn you over to Tomas, and you're not just going to walk into the forest alone. It doesn't work that way."
Rachael wanted to argue with him that it was exactly that way, but she wouldn't do it in front of the others. For all his relaxed appearance, Rachael felt the tension coiled tightly in Rio. She knew him, inside and out. He was a stranger, yet all too familiar. He was uncomfortable in such close proximity to the others, although she could tell he felt a camaraderie for them. Without conscious thought she moved closer to him, shifting her weight until she was nestled beneath his shoulder, fitting into his frame as if she were born there. It was a movement of protection and he felt it.
Rio looked down at the top of her curly head. So much hair. Thick and black like a raven's wing. Curls rioting in all directions. His fingers slipped into the thick mass, rubbed and caressed the curls, watched as they coiled around his thumb. The gesture was completely familiar, was something he did automatically for comfort, for a connection between them. He would never get used to being around people, not even those he called friend, but Rachael was different, was a part of him. Belonged with him.
"Is your wrist broken?" Tama asked her, obviously concerned. "How did that happen? In the river?"
Rachael looked at the makeshift splint. Her leg always hurt so much, she almost never remembered her wrist. "Rio thinks it's broken. He splinted it, and to be honest, I hardly notice it."
Emotion welled up, nearly choking Rio. It took him a few moments to realize it was happiness. The warmth of joy spread through his body. It had been such a long wh
ile since he'd experienced the feeling he barely recognized it for what it was. Rachael didn't want to tell the others that he had been responsible for her injury. It shouldn't have mattered to him, but it did.
"Rio." Drake said his name sharply. "This traitor, the one you say was here last night, he had to be looking for her."
"I thought he'd been sent to assassinate me, that he'd joined with the bandits for the reward, but with a million dollars at stake, I doubt if they gave me a thought," Rio said wryly. He leaned over Rachael, a smile tugging at his mouth. "I guess you're worth a lot more than I am."
"She's prettier too," Drake teased.
"Well you don't need to be looking."
Kim and Tama sank down onto the floor beside the chair, pushing the blanket from Rachael's leg to examine the wounds up close. Rachael could see the terrible marks crisscrossing Kim's back. "It makes me sick to know they did that because of me. I know you don't think it's my fault, but it feels that way."
Kim smiled up at her. "All of us have things we are responsible for. There is little value in taking on what you can't control. Let it go."
Rachael wished it was that easy. She looked away from him to stare out the window into the wild green foliage. The leaves appeared feathery, the creepers wild and twisted green ropes while orchids vied with brilliantly colored fungi for space among the other flowers growing on the thick tree trunks and branches. It was beautiful and primitive and called to something inside of her. She longed to disappear into the deepest forest, simply become something else, something untouchable and wild and free.
She felt it first in her chest, a tightness making it nearly impossible to breathe. Then it was a fire in her stomach, muscles contracting and stretching. Heat seared her flesh, her bones, sizzled in every organ. She itched, a wave of it rushing over her so that she looked down and saw something move beneath her skin as if alive. Her hands curled involuntarily, fingers curving, and her fingertips ached and stung. She gasped and drew back from the edge of a great precipice, her heart pounding in her chest and her lungs fighting for air.
"I can't breathe, Rio." It took forever to get the words out. "I need to be outside where I can breathe."
Rio didn't ask questions or waste time on arguing, but lifted her immediately against his chest, rising with her as if she were a mere child instead of a fully grown woman in his arms. He stepped carefully around Kim and Tama and the pot of brown-green paste. Rachael caught a glimpse of Drake's face, his eyes wide and shocked with a knowledge she didn't possess before he managed to wipe the expression from his face.