By Blood Betrayed (The Lost Shrines Book 3)

by Amberlyn Holland

  Selena did have secrets, though. Ones that may one day be of use to him. He just needed to be patient and tease the truth out of her.

  He nudged the iron pot into the hole and buried it with satisfied finality. Once finished, he stayed in Hound form and returned to the clearing. His senses were enhanced in either form, but, sometimes, he found an edge in having the Hound's instincts closer to the surface.

  The taint of sorcery and blood and fear camouflaged a lot. Add to that the overlying scents of smoke and sweat and mustiness that clung to everyone at the outpost, and he barely teased out anything remotely identifying.

  Underneath it all, though, there were hints of something else. Something unique and dark. Heavy and unpleasant and hostile. He tried to follow the scent, but it diffused into all the other odors. Phelan had a feeling it would remain obscure unless he got up close and personal with the source.

  And, even if he found the person responsible, his nose wasn't going to be enough to convince Selena that one of her own was a traitor. So he would have to dig deeper.

  He'd drag the evidence to her and drop the betrayer at her feet as an offering.

  The Hound's instinct brought him up short. They had a bond. A temporary one. But she was not his mate. There would be no courting or ritual displays of his hunting prowess. Not by the Hound and certainly not by him.

  Shaking out his fur, Phelan transformed back to human form.

  *****

  Selena found Arun alone in the dining hall. Seated at the empty table, head pressed tightly into his palms. When she reached out to squeeze his shoulder, her hand still held a faint hint of the silver glow. Thankfully, in the muted, flickering light of the candles and banked fire, it was barely noticeable.

  "Arun," she said softly. His chest rose and fell with a deep, steadying breath before he lifted his head to look at her. Uncertainty crowded his eyes and despair hunched his shoulders. Or, maybe Selena was reading her own confusion and fear into her brother's posture.

  They'd brought every single person here. Had promised everyone that they could trust one another. Lean on each other. They couldn't promise safety. Not with the life they led. But they'd promised family. And someone in the family betrayed them.

  And, now, the people Selena and Arun had been running from for years might know exactly where to find them.

  Like always, her brother's thoughts ran parallel to her own.

  "Hafgan knows we're here," he said, voice low and rough. "That means Tresk will, too."

  Hearing him say the names out loud made it too real, and Selena's stomach rolled. She pressed her hand to her middle, trying to will away the sick feeling.

  "They won't necessarily know it's us," she said, but neither of them believed it. They knew the Warlord and his pet sorcerer too well.

  "He wouldn't send one of his apprentices to spy on a simple band of thieves. It may be because of the spring, but I have little doubt we were recognized instantly," Arun reached out and tugged at a red curl that had worked its way loose, sharing a soft smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "We're a pretty distinctive pair, and he's had his people quietly looking for us for a long time."

  Selena swallowed back the burn of bile in her throat and sat heavily on the bench next to Arun.

  She remembered the first time she'd met Tresk. Fifteen and dazzled by the Warlord who'd come to collect them to live in a castle surrounded by servants.

  And she remembered the last time she'd seen him. The blood trickling from her lip, face burning from where he struck her hard enough to knock her to the floor.

  Looming over her and reminding her that she was his daughter. His property. And a bastard princess's only use was in the political favors she could be traded for. If the sorcerer Hafgan wanted her hand, she would marry him.

  She and Arun grew up as orphans in a poor farming village. Extra mouths and burdens on a community already stretched too thin. It had been an unspoken but well-known secret they were the illegitimate children of someone important. When Marnak's ruler, the Warlord Tresk, swept into their village and claimed Arun and Selena as his own, it had been an exciting relief to the daily uncertainty of their lives.

  Only after, when it was too late, did Selena ever stop to wonder why they had been ignored for a decade and a half. Or what had changed to make Tresk return to claim them as his own.

  When they'd gotten to the capital, rumors had been thick and plentiful to pick up. The Warlord's third wife died without giving him a child, just as the first two had. And a man like Tresk required an heir, someone of his bloodline to carry on the name and honor of his line. So, despite being illegitimate, Tresk brought Arun to the capital to be welcomed and trained as heir. His arrival spurred celebrations that lasted for a fortnight.

  Selena appeared at every gathering, party, and announcement. But she was mostly ignored and pushed aside, left to the shadows as her brother was feted and exalted.

  When she'd shown an aptitude for magic and Hafgan claimed her as an apprentice, Selena was relieved, at first. She finally had a place and a purpose. And she'd been excited to learn, to be praised for the gifts she'd been forced to keep hidden in her superstitious village.

  Until he slowly introduced her to darker and darker rites. She was forced to watch, to learn, and worst of all, occasionally take part in horrifying and terrible magics.

  The nightmares still kept her up most nights.

  Then she came of age at eighteen and learned she'd be given to the sorcerer, a man old enough to be her grandfather, as a gift-bride. And she'd understood her existence would be a never-ending life of servitude and unending horrors.

  The terror of that moment was still a visceral shock running through her nerves and leaving her with a nearly uncontrollable urge to run.

  "Will he come for us?" Selena asked, the words scraping from her throat in a harsh whisper.

  "If he went to the trouble of getting a spy in here, he's known where to find us for a while. The most recent group of refugees has been here for months, so he's known at least that long. Whatever he's doing along the Galwei border has been more important to him then coming to find us." Arun reached out and squeezed her shoulder, pulling her into a one-arm hug. "But, yeah, he'll come for us. Even if he hasn't figured out we're the thorn in his side who've been saving people from the fate his sorcerer had in store for them. He lost face when we ran. Not to mention reneging on a promise to Hafgan."

  After Tresk announced her betrothal to Hafgan, her brother hadn't hesitated. Despite giving up the luxury of life as Tresk's heir and the privilege of power and wealth it entailed, he'd started planning a way out that night.

  They'd escaped from under the Warlord's watchful eye less than a week later. Though they wouldn't have managed it without the help of Lilah. A former street thief who'd been recruited as an apprentice, she'd been as horrified as Selena by Hafgan's twisted magics. Her underworld connections helped them get out of the palace and the capital.

  Once free, Lilah chose to stay close, using her connections to begin building a network to undermine the power of the throne while Selena and Arun struck out on their own.

  They’d learned to live and survive, as they slowly made their way back to the village where they'd been raised. They'd known Tresk would look for them there, but they had no idea where else to go. Had no one else to turn to. Their only hope that, if they took their time, their father would give up and look elsewhere before they made their way back to the place they grew up.

  But they arrived only to find their village abandoned and destroyed. The land, the buildings, nothing remained but a barren, burned out husk. And the next closest village was the same.

  They traveled for two days before they found a community that still had living inhabitants. No one knew exactly what happened, but there were rumors aplenty. Blight. Plague. Magic. Something destroyed the land, leaving it parched and vulnerable to a destructive sweep of wildfire. The entire population of the village w
as relocated, scattered to join other nearby communities.

  But not all of them made it. Some simply disappeared. They departed the village in one of the army's wagons, but never arrived at their new home. No word or trace was left of them.

  Selena never saw the worst of Hafgan's rites. But she'd heard about them from other apprentices who'd eagerly relayed frightful details with disturbing glee. Rituals where the sacrifice was even more horrific than the ones she'd been forced to watch. No one ever mentioned where those offerings came from.

  Selena had no doubt about what happened to the missing villagers. And even if she'd never attended those dark rites, the guilt and the horror never ceased to rip at her conscience. She'd been part of that for three years, and nothing could cleanse that association from her soul.

  When they found out theirs wasn't the only village that had suffered and been forced to relocate in the path of the growing, inexplicable blight, she and Arun vowed to protect as many as they could from the cruel intentions of Tresk and Hafgan.

  They'd spent three years traveling and learning. Arun trained with the best warriors in Marnak by day then shared everything he learned with Selena in stableyards or pastures by night. They traveled the kingdom, searching out new training and safe places to hide from the bounty on their heads. They were careful never to stay in one place too long.

  It didn't take long for rumor of their defection to spread, though the capital never confirmed it. It wasn't common knowledge, but those in the know softly suggested that the Warlord still wanted an heir even though he considered Arun a traitor. That he wanted Selena back to fulfill her fate as Hafgan's bride and the mother of the next Marnak Warlord. So far, they'd stayed under the radar, lucky that royal attention was directed elsewhere. Now, though, it seemed their luck had run out.

  One unspoken question hovered between them.

  Stay or run?

  There was only one answer, though. They'd stay. They'd built something here. They had something to protect. A family and a purpose and a source of magic that would be catastrophic in the wrong hands.

  "I guess all we can do is wait and see. Try to find the turncoat who betrayed us. And try to figure out what was so important that someone felt the need to risk contacting Tresk and Hafgan now."

  Someone approaching the back door dropped them both into silence, waiting. When Finn walked in, Selena let out a sigh of relief then grimaced. She hadn't noticed how tense and uncomfortable she'd grown until his presence eased it.

  She was really going to need to figure out how to mitigate the symptoms of the bond if she intended to keep it a secret. And keep it from taking over her life.

  *****

  Out of habit, Phelan's return to the garden and the back of the outpost was stealthy and silent. When he paused at the back door, the quiet conversation inside was clear and plain to his ears.

  "Hafgan knows we're here. And that means Tresk will too."

  The rough timbre of Arun's voice made it sound personal. Like he knew the two men and had reason to fear them. Phelan curled his hands into fists and held himself perfectly still.

  "They won't necessarily know it's us," Selena's words wavered, doubt and trepidation Phelan never expect to hear from her spilling out with every word. The urge to protect and comfort clutched at him, and he forced himself to squelch the impulse before it could echo along the bond.

  "He wouldn't send one of his apprentices to spy on a simple band of thieves. It may be because of the spring, but I have little doubt we were recognized instantly." There was a brief pause before Arun continued with half-hearted humor. "We're a pretty distinctive pair, and he's had his people quietly looking for us for a long time."

  They were discussing secrets Phelan was sure they rarely shared with anyone, and they had no idea he stood right outside, listening to every word. Guilt wormed itself uncomfortably through his conscience. He'd spent years covertly seeking out useful information and never had any qualms about eavesdropping.

  Yet everything was different with Selena. Especially now, when the urges of the bond coincided so sharply with the instincts of the Hound. The need to take care of his bond-mate, even if it was temporary, warred with the need to follow through with the task Caerwyn had given him.

  He reminded himself that Selena undoubtedly had no interest in being taken care of. Of course, that wouldn't protect him from her fury if she ever found out he'd spied on them.

  "Will he come for us?"

  The raw, hopeless fear, so vulnerable and unexpected, nearly undid his resolve to remain unseen. It pulsed in her voice, but worse was the cold, trembling wave that rushed across their connection.

  He fought the throbbing urge to run inside, and the internal struggle made him miss whatever Arun said next. The overwhelming need left him no choice but to turn and come back with enough noise to announce his approach.

  Phelan arrived at the entrance to find brother and sister staring at him, same speculation in both sets of grey eyes.

  Tense silence lingered for a long minute before Selena spoke up.

  "He's the only thing different."

  Phelan stiffened. Different? What was different? Had he missed her telling Arun about the bond?

  "What?"

  He stared hard at Selena, and she gave him a sharp, warning glare in return.

  "We were trying to figure out what changed. Why someone would risk that kind of magic now, when they had to have been here for months. The only thing that's changed is your presence here."

  "It may not be that anything changed," he disagreed. "They may have been making regular reports all along. The only way you knew tonight was because Selena obviously has enough knowledge and talent to feel the disturbance. If the traitor has been making regular reports, he may have just gotten lucky by choosing to do it when you were away from the outpost."

  Phelan chose his words deliberately, implying he thought she had little more than the slight awareness most village wise women possessed. He had no doubt she knew more than that, but the way her tension eased infinitesimally made it clear he'd made the right choice. If she thought he didn't suspect, she'd let her guard down. He'd be able to tease out more secrets if she wasn't constantly on the defensive.

  "He's not the only thing different," Arun added. "This was also the first time we went after one of the official caravans like that."

  Both sets of grey eyes studied him with suspicious deliberation before Arun finally asked, "How did you find out the movements for that caravan?"

  Phelan wasn't surprised by the question, only that it had taken longer than he'd expected to hear it.

  "There's a quartermaster in the capital, who was open to a little... convincing. If you need to know something about the army, follow the supplies," he said with a shrug before leaning forward. It was his turn to ask a few questions and dig out some more answers from this tight-lipped pair.

  "What were you really hoping to find in that caravan?" Phelan drew himself up to full height and loomed a little to add weight to his demand. "What is really going on here?"

  Selena and Arun exchanged a long look and Phelan wondered if he'd get a straight answer this time, or yet another misdirection.

  "There is an area, near the eastern edge of the kingdom. The land is barren, the water poison. Nothing lives or grows there anymore."

  Phelan blinked in surprise then checked himself, smoothing his expression into idle curiosity. He also did his best to dampen the bond so Selena wouldn't sense his reaction. Wouldn't realize he already knew about the blight. And what was likely causing it.

  "I've heard rumors," he said with practiced nonchalance.

  "I'm not sure how or why, but it's Hafgan's doing. And Tresk is letting him get away with destroying the land for some reason."

  Selena paused, her exasperation giving way to caution. She looked at her brother, and a silent conversation seemed to pass between them

  Phelan pressed his lips together and waite
d for one of the twins to speak, unwilling to risk giving his own knowledge away until he knew what they were after.

  The bond hummed with emotions but he kept it tightly closed off, not indulging himself in the yearning to connect with Selena. It might give him an advantage to know what she was feeling. But it would give her the same advantage over him. Ruthlessly, Phelan stayed focused on shutting it down and isolating as much of the connection as possible.

  And ignoring the whisper of conscience that suggested his urge to open himself to Selena had nothing to do with any advantage he might gain or lose.

  "As the blight spreads, they relocate whole villages to other communities that are already struggling to survive," Selena picked up where she'd left off, apparently having decided to share a least some of what they knew with him. "Not all of the people removed from the blighted area make it to their new home, though. A handful disappear. No one ever hears from them again. We think Hafgan uses them. As slaves. As experiments. As..."

  Selena stopped, face pale and pinched with pain.

  "As blood sacrifice for his sorcery?"

  She nodded, and Arun pressed a steadying hand on her shoulder.

  "So we try to keep track of the spread," Arun explained, "To keep our ear out for rumor and information when they're planning to move another settlement. We try to figure out which groups of the refugees Hafgan is going to target. We've managed to rescue a few of them. Some want to go back to their families. Some have nothing left to go back to and join us. Some start over other places or find other ways to help."

  "How has no one caught on yet to what you're doing?"

  Considering what he'd seen of their security protocols so far, it was surprising they'd survived this long.

  "They are so focused on expanding beyond the borders, they don't do much about the bandits within. There are enough groups of brigands operating in the kingdom that we can blend in and make the attacks look random and incidental if we're careful. We try to vary everything. Where we hit them. How. The number of people we use. The people we use. Then we scatter and take our time making our way back here."