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As soon as Trinity saw the small hut hidden in the trees and foliage of the forest, the tension eased from her body like dirt washing away in the rain. She leaned out the window as Ott wandered around the woods as if lost. As a city Grunt, he wouldn’t see anything besides bushes and trees, even if Gaar hadn’t hidden his home so well.
“Ott, stop.” She hopped out of the carriage as it slowed. “We’ll be here a while so let’s get you out of these.” She walked to his side and began unhooking his traces.
He tried to help but kept losing his grip on the knots as he glanced at the grasses and bushes surrounding them. A loud rumble sounded from his belly.
“Go.” She laughed as she released him from the final line. “Eat until you’re full, but don’t wander too far away from the house.”
“House?” He looked at her in confusion.
“The one right here, you oaf.” Gaar’s bellow shattered the quiet, like lightning striking a tree. “Little One.” The Handler moved toward her, his gait fast and graceful for someone his size.
Ott stumbled backward, grunting nervously, but she didn’t have time to worry about a scared Grunt.
“Gaar!” She raced toward him.
The Handler scooped her into his arms, swallowing her with his mass. She clung to him, fighting to keep her tears of fear and frustration buried where they belonged. He was her best friend, almost like a father. She loved her dad, but Gaar had been there for her when her father had failed.
“Trinity. Welcome.” Tatania, Gaar’s mate, stood near the entrance to the cabin.
“Hi, Tatania.” She smiled over Gaar’s shoulder before he let her drop to the ground.
“Come. Let’s eat.” He moved toward the house. “I made some bread.”
She tried not to wince. Gaar’s bread was harder than a rock. “Thanks, but I ate before I left.”
“Speaking of that what brings you out here?” By his tone he suspected something.
The problem with him being like a father was he knew her too well. “Ah...one minute.”
She turned to the Grunt who stood several feet away, his body shaking and looking as if another loud bellow from Gaar would send him racing through the forest.
“Calm down.” She walked over to Ott and patted his shoulder. “Everything’s fine. These two are friends. I’ll be back soon. Until then eat what you want but don’t wander too far.”
“And by too far, she means don’t go by the brush. Stay in the clearing right around the house,” said Gaar.
Ott frowned, gesturing at a patch of long, lush grass near the small river that flowed through the pasture area. He sidled toward the river and the green grass.
Trinity glanced around. The clearing didn’t have a lot of grass. “There’s better grazing over—”
“I know that.” Gaar didn’t like his orders questioned. “Another thing I know is that there’s been a Tracker hanging around.”
Ott ran to her, almost slamming into her side.
“The one that left Mirra and her group?” Her hand went to her knife. The move was instinctual, but it wouldn’t do much good against a Tracker.
“No.” He motioned for her to go inside as he glanced at the terrified Grunt. “You want to come with us?” The house had been built for Handlers. It was large enough to accommodate a Grunt.
Ott’s stomach rumbled as his eyes darted between them and the grass.
“Is he safe out here?” She would’ve come on foot if she’d known she was putting the Grunt in danger. Of course, that would’ve taken her a lot longer.
“He’ll be safe by the house, just don’t wander,” said Gaar.
“It’ll be fine.” She patted Ott’s shoulder again. “You can stand right here.” She walked several feet to the nearby brush. “And eat all this.” She ran her hand over the poufy bushes of sage fronds. “It’s safe here, right Gaar?”
“Yeah. The Tracker won’t come too close. Tatania and I made sure of that.”
She was glad she’d missed that fight. Both Handlers and Trackers were formidable. She smiled at Ott. “See. You can eat and be safe.”
The Grunt nodded and moved to her side, nudging her out of the way so he could stand exactly where she’d been.
“I hadn’t meant that literally.” She grinned at Gaar as she followed him into the house.
“He’s thin. Where’d you find him?” asked Gaar.
“Waiting outside the Council Building, looking for work.” Like so many others would today and every day.
“Things still bad?”
“Yeah. More and more Released fill the streets, homeless and hungry.”
“Some have been moving into the forest.” Tatania poured them all tea and sat at the table.
Gaar slid the large knife from the sheath on his side and began carving the rock that he called his bread.
“May I leave the door open?” She glanced behind her. “I don’t like not being able to see Ott.”
“Yes. The air is cool today and the house is hot,” said Tatania.
She pushed the door open all the way and Ott looked up at her, grass hanging from both sides of his mouth. She waved before sitting at the table. She kept her face impassive as Gaar dropped a hunk of bread in front of her. It sounded like a brick hitting the table. “Are the Guards and Servants who are moving out here giving you any trouble?”
None of the other classes had been too friendly with the Handlers or Trackers once the fighting had ended. Part of her hated how they’d turned on the Trackers and Handlers but another part—the part of her that was prey—understood.
Numerous members of the other classes had started disappearing. Both Gaar and Mirra had sworn it wasn’t anyone from their groups but everyone, including herself, wondered. Trackers loved to hunt. Plus, they had to eat, and produce was not in their diet.
“No. They help actually.” Gaar took a bite of his bread, his jaw strength obviously much stronger than hers because he made it look almost soft.
“That’s great. How?” She wiggled and worked on a corner of her bread. If she could dunk it into her tea, it might make it soft enough for her to chew.
“They keep the predators full.” Gaar took another bite.
“Oh.” She should’ve known better than to hope that they could all get along.
“What color was that Tracker you saw when we were finding our territories?” Gaar mumbled around his mouthful of bread.
“That Tracker was brown with gold markings.” She’d traveled with the Handlers and Trackers when they’d left the city. Hugh hadn’t wanted her to go. It’d only been about six weeks after she’d been shot but she hadn’t been able to stay in the city another minute. Her mom and Hugh had been fussing over her daily and although she loved them both, she’d been on her own too long for coddling. It’d been one of her many fights with Hugh. Her mother said it was natural for newly bonded pairs to argue, and then in the next breath, Mom would tell her that she needed to defer to Hugh. He was her mate. She needed to listen to him.
She did when he said things that weren’t stupid. Her not going to say goodbye to Mirra and Gaar because it wasn’t safe was stupid. Hugh had finally agreed, but he’d sent Indy, Bo and a small team of his most trusted soldiers with them. He’d said it’d been to keep the citizens from harassing them, but she was pretty sure it’d been to keep her safe. Like she hadn’t been safe for years without him and his soldiers around. She could take care of herself. She was tired of proving that to him but getting shot hadn’t helped.
“Hmm. Definitely not the same one that’s been hanging around here.” Gaar cut more bread, handing another piece to Tatania and frowning at Trinity’s plate. “Eat.”
She nodded and worked harder to break off that corner.
“This one is gray with eyes so green they almost glow,” said Tatania.
“Where did it come from?” Besides Parra who’d died later, five had survived the Night of the Trackers. Mirra, Nirankan, Sikka, Teeko and the one who’d set off on his own. None of them had produced any offspring that’d lived, as far as she knew.
“I’ve been thinking about that,” said Gaar. “Are you sure there wasn’t another one when Mirra freed them?”
“It could’ve escaped into the forest,” suggested Tatania.
“No. There were only the eight Mirra freed.”
“That place was set up similar to the Handler camp. There could’ve been others in the other buildings,” said Gaar.
“Nirankan would’ve said something if there were others. He wouldn’t have left any behind to be tortured by the Almightys and their Guards.”
“You left with Mirra right away but Crazy and some others stayed behind, didn’t they?” asked Gaar.
“Yeah.” She braced herself so she didn’t shiver as the memory of the screams of the Guards filled her head.
“According to Nirankan, the Almightys were making them in that shed. Maybe they’d made some but hadn’t brought them into the yard yet. Crazy could’ve found them when looking for Guards to kill,” said Gaar.
“But wouldn’t he have brought them with him?” She finally managed to snap off a corner of the bread and dipped it into her tea.
“Not if they ran off,” said Gaar.
“Hmm. I don’t know. Crazy wasn’t the only Tracker who’d stayed behind. I think one of the others would’ve mentioned it to Mirra. Don’t you?”
“I do. It was just a thought.” He ran his finger over the blade of his knife. “Because the only other explanation is that someone is creating them again.”