Stars Across Time by Ruby Lionsdrake Page A

his mouth and scowled at Andie. His speech had been off ever since she had bitten him. She hoped his tongue was swelling up and would become so infected that it turned green and fell out of his mouth. “Gotta make sure she can’t get away.”
    “No damaging the prisoners,” Mace said, that ice still in his voice.
    In any other circumstance, Andie might have thought a man that irritated by her injuries actually cared that she had been hurt, but he was only looking out for his share of the profits. There was no doubt about that.
    “What do you care, Mace?” Bedene asked from the front.
    “Our share depends on what we get from selling them, right?” Mace asked. “That’s what Russell said.”
    “You keep dithering around back there, and thieves will steal our treasure, and you won’t get a damned thing. None of us will.” Bedene’s face was just as hard as Mace’s as he glared back at him.
    Andie didn’t know what the source of their animosity was, aside from possibly that mistake back at the cave, but she willed it to increase. Strife among the ranks could only help her.
    Min-ji started walking again, as if she wanted to return to the trail without causing any trouble. Andie would have to talk to her about that. This was the place to foment trouble, especially if it could be done without drawing attention to them, rather than quietly going along with the program. The farther they got away from that time machine, the less chance they would have of finding it again. And what if the men moved it? It hadn’t been small, but unless it was solid metal, it had looked like something a couple of people could move. Even if she hadn’t seen any trucks yet, judging by the horse poop, the residents of this time period had other means of transporting large items.
    Mace found a piece of cloth, ripped it into strips, and wrapped it around her wrists for padding before tying her again.
    “Such a thoughtful kidnapper you are,” Andie muttered. She couldn’t bring herself to thank him, not when he was her captor and had plans to sell her. She wasn’t about to become some victim of Stockholm Syndrome, showing loyalty to her kidnappers just because they didn’t treat her as badly as they could.
    He winced at her words, a flash of pain or maybe regret crossing his eyes. He recovered quickly, however, and she wondered if she had imagined it. Still, maybe she was making a mistake in being brusque with him. He seemed to have a conscience, whereas none of the others did. Perhaps some tragic circumstances had reduced him to this, thievery and kidnapping. Or maybe the world was so rough now that a person couldn’t be honest and good and get by. A depressing thought, that one.
    But if he did have a conscience, and didn’t truly have his heart in this escapade, could she maybe convince him to let her and Min-ji go before they reached their final destination? Or, even if he wouldn’t dare betray his colleagues, maybe she could convince him to leave her bonds loose the next time he tied her. That could be all she needed.
    “Why are you doing this?” Andie asked softly as he finished tying her knots. He had found a configuration that did not irritate her raw skin much, but the bonds were no less tight than they had been before.
    His brows rose, and he met her eyes. Maybe she had been too quick to change tones, to soften to him. Well, nobody had ever told her that she was a fine actor.
    “There are people who are counting on me,” he said.
    “Do you have a family? Children?” she asked, guessing he might mean that he had to make money one way or another to feed young ones.
    He winced again and gave her a short, “No.”
    Andie might have asked more, but Bedene spoke from the front of the line.
    “Let’s get moving. No more breaks. We don’t get them there before the market moves on, we’ll have to keep them for ourselves.”
    Mace’s eyes sharpened. Did he like that thought? Andie sensed that he was attracted to her, but she