A shout ripped through the square. Linc turned and Cami caught sight of the priest’s robe again. She saw the older woman tugging on the younger woman’s arm and the younger woman pulling back, resisting. Damn, she couldn’t believe she’d entirely forgotten about that.
“If that woman is important to your man, you’d better stop her mother and that priest from taking her from the square. He’s not likely to see her again if they get out of sight.” Cami’s voice was firm and drew Linc and Colm’s attention back to her.
“What?” Linc’s body immediately tensed. “What do you mean and how would that happen?”
“He’s a Tareshi monk. There are people who will pay them to take away others, be it a relative or a rival. Those people are hardly ever seen or heard from again. If they are found, they’re never the same.” Cami looked up into his intense green eyes.
“How do you know this?” Colm asked.
“I was almost taken by one of them when I was younger and I’ve seen them a couple of times after that. My mother made sure I knew what to look for and what would happen if they ever did get me.” Cami licked her lips. Her mother had made sure she remembered those priests, but Cami never had found out why she thought they’d come back.
“You think her parents would rather send her with these priests than have her be with a shifter.” Linc frowned and looked back at where the women were still tussling and arguing.
“I don’t know their reasons and maybe they don’t know what happens after the priest takes her. If she’s a mate, it would be better to get her now, because if you find her after he takes her, she won’t even remember that she is his mate. She’ll probably be afraid of men by that time.” Cami searched for the words to get them to see her point, but still let them remain ignorant of what actually would happen. They didn’t need that picture in their head. She didn’t want it there, but it wouldn’t go away.
“Ardin.” A tense voice came from behind the two men and although she couldn’t see him, she suspected it was Anton.
“Go get her,” Linc said without turning. “You’re going to have to tell us exactly what they’d do to her. We don’t need you to protect us from the worst of it. We’re hardened warriors. It won’t be anything new to us.”
“It might be the first time you’ve associated it with someone you know. You don’t need that picture in your head about someone you see every day.” Cami shrugged.
“It’s that bad?” Colm asked softly.
“That bad and worse, depending on the group. I’ve learned a bit about them. They might not all be brutal, but even if they don’t physically hurt her, she won’t be the same woman.” Cami nodded. “Now, are you going to lecture me or can I get back to the market because there was a bracelet that really caught my eye at one of those stalls?”
Linc laughed. “We’re not going to lecture you, but you won’t be visiting the market right now. We’ll be leaving soon, especially since we’ll be causing a little disruption.”
“You don’t think he’ll be able to get her to go with him without a fight?” Cami arched a brow. From what she’d seen, the woman would go with him without an argument.
“It’s not her we’re worried about. It’s the mother. The woman isn’t going to simply let her daughter walk off, especially not if she arranged for her to be taken to some other place to protect her from us.” Colm looked at her as if she should have known that without it being pointed out to her. “We don’t generally get involved with the village itself. We protect it because the travel-gate is here, but otherwise we’re just visitors.”
“Do you think the villagers would get involved and fight to keep her here?” She hadn’t thought of that. She’d assumed they controlled the village.
“No, we do things differently here since the village is on our homeworld. We don’t usually carry a woman off from here. It hasn’t been necessary. We’ve put any man who’s found a mate among these women on duty to guard the gate. Usually by the time he’s called home, the woman’s ready to come with him.” Linc turned and glanced over to where the woman and the priest were.