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though imploring her to stop, to stay still. Those eyes weren’t threatening, were instead wide with the urgent effort to communicate with her.
    Green eyes, burning into hers, a face set with grim resolve, huge sword in one hand…a sense of protection, safety… home.
    The memory of him overlaid the actual man, confusing her again for a second before settling into just the man in front of her. She blinked as her brain seemed to come back on-line.
    “You,” she murmured with surprise, wincing as the effort to speak brought burning shafts of pain through her skull.
    He obviously understood her through their mental bond, if not from her words. He nodded quickly, his face earnest though his eyes were tormented with worry for her. He meant her no harm, was there to help. She held onto the image of him standing above her, sword in hand.
    Against her will, Ri felt the fight leave her completely. With its absence, the pain rushed in to encompass her. She slid down the tree, darkness folding in on her in waves with every whomp of her head. Calling forth every ounce of energy she had left, she tried to remain conscious so she could help communicate with the women, but it was too late. Her head felt like spikes had been jammed through it and her efforts to escape had only succeeded in renewing the pain. She might even have injured herself again. And she was naked once more, she realized. Cold, muddy, she was one big mass of aching suck.
    As she lost consciousness, she locked gazes with the big man with gray and black markings and sleek black hair who was now kneeling in front of her, reaching for her, his expression full of fear. She sent out one last feeble plea for help. The man narrowed his gaze on her, his eyes meeting and burning into hers. His mouth worked as though he was trying to tell her something, but she was too weak to fight the pain or fear any longer. As Arianna descended into the blackness, she prayed that she’d remember him more quickly when next she woke.
     
    From within the corral of huge male bodies, Bev watched the men as she tried to console and calm the girls already there. But these women didn’t know her, didn’t trust her, and with the brunette awake again and issuing idiotic orders, tension was rising. Amy, the erstwhile ‘leader’ had awakened with claws out, fighting tooth and nail against the men who were trying to see to her injuries.
    Bev witnessed the men’s reactions carefully, trusting Ri’s assertions that the men were there to help. At the first sign of Amy’s fear, they had backed well off, hands up in a non-threatening gesture. While Amy fought and urged the others to do the same, her friends stood there, confused, cold, and shaken. They had seen the men back off, too. Some of them had been awake for the entire fight, from the creatures’ first attack to the arrival of the men in defense of the girls. The more intelligent among them realized that the men didn’t intend to hurt them… just as Ri had tried to tell them. Injured and showing signs of shock, the women now stood in the intensifying rain, shaking with cold and fatigue. A medic strode into the corral, arms piled with thin blankets. The girls gratefully took the meager coverings and hid their bodies as best they could. Bev wrapped a sheet around herself, but it did little to ward off the rain and cold. Teeth chattering, she looked at the group, hoping to see a friendly face among the throng.
    Meeting Bev’s eyes, a tall, lovely African-American girl separated from the main group. She hurried to Bev’s side as one of the women nearby stirred to wakefulness.
    Bev caught the gaze of the medic, who was now devoid of blankets, and signaled for help with the rousing woman. The black girl held the injured woman’s hand as the medic came over. He gave them a wary glance, pulling a kit from his belt and laying out his supplies on a small cloth at his side. He looked at both of them questioningly and when they nodded he went to