Page 31 of The Harbinger
Thunderous clomping followed by the whinny of a horse pulled my gaze away from the man.
Four horses trotted over, flinging their heads to-and-fro, their long thick manes cascading down their strong, silky necks.
Three of the four horses wore the same coat pattern—rich, dark reddish-brown with a white hock or two. The fourth stood in blaring contrast to the three, a creamy white stud with black dapples around his rump, knees, and back legs. His mane and tail were black except for white at the tips, as if someone had taken him to a salon.
The man I’d been following stepped in front of the horses as one brown horse pinned her ears, bared her teeth and bit the stud on the ass with a squeal.
“Uspokoysya. U menya yest’ ugoshcheniye.”
The horses stuck their heads over the barbed wire fence as he put the bucket down and pulled out the apples, and fed one to each horse.
“Teper’ luchshe, da?”
Before he could say another word, I stepped out of hiding and dared myself to touch the dappled beast.
A wild slur of Russian bombarded my senses.
I pulled my hand away as the tall man snarled. “I’m sorry.”
The man’s brows pinched together as he stomped over to me. I didn’t need to understand his language to interpret the unwarranted venom spewing from his lips.
He pointed a finger in my direction, his strides driving me back, and I placed my hands in front of me, bracing for a blow, a kick, or for him to knock me down.
“I’m sorry. I don’t understand you.”
In three long strides, he reached me, the identical tattoo on his wrist that the flight attendant had, distracting me before he took hold of me by the back of the neck. I raised my shoulders in reflex, hunching away from his thumb digging into the nerve along my spine as he pushed me back to where we came.
“I said I was sorry.”
A long shadow formed on the ground before his masculine shape appeared around the tree, his eyes narrowing to the tall man who held me.
“I told you not to go beyond the trees.” His macabre tone sent shivers running down my legs, and the man stopped.
“Ona probralas’.”
“He says you were sneaking around. Is that true, Mia?”
I scoffed, a hacking chord that scratched the back of my throat. “I was not. I touched the horses, that’s all.” I twisted and shrugged. The man’s hand slipped off my neck. “And I didn’t go beyond the trees. This is to the side of them.”
Sacha stepped forward, giving the man a nod. “You’re lucky Yergi was here.”
“Lucky? The man assaulted me.”
Sacha leaned into me. “That’s a serious accusation. How far are you willing to take that?”
“You saw him do it.”
Sacha grabbed me by the back of the neck, reenacting how Yergi held me and thrust me against the barn. My cheek pressed into the hardwood, reeking of dust and dander, his body warming my back as he leaned into me. “This is assault,milaya. I’d be happy to demonstrate more.”
I reached back and slapped at him blindly, but it did little to him.
“So hot-tempered.”
Sacha’s hand moved to the back of my thigh, and I stilled, my arm frozen in the air as if it lost momentum. The breath in my lungs burst, then caught in my throat as his hand slid upward.
Spicy cinnamon swirled around me, and his thumb pressed into my cheek as he held me with a punishing force against the barn.
I snaked my hand around his at my neck, daring to speak a word. “What—”