“He may be infected.” It was a lie for my benefit. I knew what I had seen.
“You should have told me.” Asher took a step closer. “I can understand why you didn’t.”
“Can you?” The back of my eyes stung. “I’m not sure if I do.”
“If you said aloud that he was sick, if you made that real and you knew you couldn’t reach him, the probabilities would catch up to you.” He kept coming. “We will find him. I promise you that.”
Hot tears spilled over my cheeks. “I notice you don’t say we’ll find him alive.”
“I don’t make promises I can’t keep. You can always trust me to tell you the truth.”
He reached me, folded me into his arms and held me against his chest while the mist evaporated and my best hope of finding Edan vanished. I sobbed against his shoulder and clung to him, allowing him to lead us out. Beneath a sparkling night sky, I sat hard on the ground, pinching a wing. I barely felt it. I would have left it if Asher hadn’t tilted me, easing the crumpled appendage from under me.
“We should get some sleep.” He knelt and pulled a thin blanket from his pack and made a pallet. “It’s not much, but it will keep your skin off the grass. You can use the pack as a pillow if you like.”
“You use it.” I brought my knees to my chest and braced my forehead on them. “I’m not tired.”
“You’re exhausted.” Asher sat behind me and dragged me against his chest. “Close your eyes.”
“Just for a minute.” I did as he asked, leaning my head back to rest against his shoulder.
“Have you had your injection today?” His voice rumbled through his chest.
“Yes.” I flicked my fingers in the direction of my bag. “I have been a good girl.”
He chuckled, the sound laden with amusement. “There’s a first time for everything.”
“I am good.” I yawned. “Very good.”
His lips brushed my temple. “I don’t doubt it.”
“I suppose this means I won’t be meeting Old Father today after all.” The decision to run had put all my lessons on hold indefinitely, crippling my supply of dayflower oil.
As if reading my thoughts, he said, “Old Father is a shrewd male. Word of your disappearance will spread, and he will be patient. He knows your only hope of survival lies with him.”
I wanted so badly to believe him, but my troubles were easily pushed aside. Edan was the one in the greatest need. He was the one I had to put first. If I survived the veil, then I would let myself fear Old Father’s judgment or screw up the nerve to count the number of vials left in my possession.
Asher trailed his hands down my arms until my muscles loosened and, against my will, I slept.
Chapter 13
Raised voices dragged me from my dreams. I pushed up on my elbow and spotted Asher deep in conversation with Lleu. Behind him Pascale stood with her hands fisted on her hips. I grasped the sheet and drew it up to my chin, clamping my eyes shut and pretending to sleep while they conversed.
“You left without a word,” Lleu bellowed. “Of course I worried.”
Pascale sounded ill. “What happened to that poor ursus?”
“It was infected with the plague. You can see that for yourself,” Asher said. “I had to kill it.”
The strangled sound must have come from Pascale.
Lleu cleared his throat and spat. “I knew those flighty bastards were up to something.”
“What are you talking about?” Asher pressed. “What flighty bastards?”
“Harbingers,” Pascale said. “Beltania is lousy with them lately.”
“And no one felt we should be informed of the dangers?” Asher growled.
“There is no danger—yet.” Lleu sighed. “We might as well tell him.”
“Let’s wait for Marne to get decent.” Pascale’s voice carried. “She’s awake. That or she’s dead. She hasn’t taken a breath for some time now. You two make yourselves scarce. I’ll stay with her.”
I cracked open my eyelids and found them all staring at me.
Asher stopped Pascale in her tracks. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“Touch me again,” she said through her teeth, “and I’ll show you a bad idea.”
“Behave yourself,” Lleu warned. “Come on, Asher. Let’s leave the females to their doings.”
Asher hesitated. “Marne?”
I drew the covers up higher. “I’ll be fine.”
Today Pascale wore a soft green dress that teased her ankles and a pair of sandals. Without care of staining her fine garment, she dropped beside me onto the grass and linked her fingers in her lap.
“You don’t have to cover yourself.” She flashed a remorseful smile. “I know what you are.”
I shoved myself upright, scuttling back while my gaze darted toward Lleu’s retreating back.
“It’s all right.” She didn’t move to detain me. “Henri asked me to look out for you.”
“What about Lleu?” His ties with the Salticidae were more troubling to me.
“I confess, I did recruit him.” She worried a knot into the hem of her skirt. “I feel since I know a dangerous secret of yours, it’s only fair I trade you one of mine.” She wrung the fabric tighter. “I am a traitor to my clan. I was exiled to Beltania for a period of two years as punishment for my crimes.”
I stopped retreating and held very still to hear what she had to say.
“Rhys asked Vaughn to lend me a protector, and he offered me Lleu. What I didn’t know until a few months later was that Vaughn’s mother—Isolde—had made the request herself. Apparently Lleu has experience with harbingers and risers. He was in Cathis when Titania burned to the ground, when Lailah was captured.” She paused. “Isolde had concerns after her new daughter-in-law unearthed the cure for the plague that actions might be taken once the harbingers realized where the cure was being produced.” She spread her hands. “We have learned that any knowledge a riser or harbinger has, Idra can access. We must assume she knows about the cure. She can’t know how to make it. No one who does has been compromised. But she must suspect because harbinger activity has tripled in weeks.”
I slumped back into a sitting position. “Henri said he would protect my secret.”
“He did, until I gave him no choice.” She leaned forward. “I had been here a few weeks when I spotted my first harbinger. I followed her as far as I could, but I lost her. I watched the skies for days to find another, and that one led me past the river. There was nothing there. I have no idea what she was doing, but she did it again the next night. Lleu caught me sneaking around and threatened to tattle on me to my sister. I beat him to it and contacted Henri, who informed me about Lailah. I told him I wouldn’t let it be. How could I when they had attacked our home? Killed our people? After that, he told me to expect you and Edan. He said we were to protect you and keep your secrets, and we will.”
Her story held at least a grain of truth. “Is that why there are risers penned near the river bend?”
She winced. “Yes and no.”
The tension returned to my shoulders, and my wings twitched to be given direction.
“We found the risers following the river. By this time, Maven Sikyakookyang knew of what we had been doing. My sister had hired her husband to investigate the plague, and he stumbled across us one night.” She rolled her eyes. “They refused to let us kill the risers, so they built a pen far from the city to contain them. As more arrive, they’re added to the pit, where they ultimately kill and eat one another. Why they think it’s more acceptable to let them kill each other brutally than put them out of their misery, I don’t pretend to know. But wait—how did you know about the pen? Were you there?”
“Asher took me hunting, and we stumbled across the risers. I heard the guards talking about using them to lure harbingers, and I thought…” I buried my face in my hands. “It’s my fault Asher left. I thought that meant I was in danger.”
“You did what anyone in your positi
on would have done.” Pascale reached for me but withdrew her hand when I flinched. “Please. Asher said there’s still hope of saving Edan. Let us help you.”
“You can’t.” Asher approached us. “Marne is the only one of us who can walk the crossroads.”
Pascale frowned. “What are the crossroads?”
Once Lleu joined us, Asher and I told them all we knew of the crossroads. Since Pascale hadn’t waited for a group discussion, she and Lleu then filled Asher in on the particulars of their exploits. It hadn’t occurred to me that harbingers—Idra in particular—might attack the city with the sole reason being to destroy the flowers that presented the best chance Araneaeans had for surviving the plague.
Lleu scowled. “How do we search for a place we can’t see?”
“You can’t.” I had crossed the campsite to stand by Asher. “I appreciate your offer, but I see no way you can help.” I braced myself for his anger. “The next opportunity I get, I’m going after Edan.”
“It’s a trap, it’s got to be.” Lleu rubbed his jaw. “There must be a way.”
“There’s a slim chance I can find him and escape. I don’t see four of us going in and all coming out again. No offense, but harbingers are fast and deadly. You may be a skilled fighter, Lleu, but you aren’t a match for their speed or their venom. Pascale…” I hesitated to say she was even less useful.
“Before you say something I regret…” she held up a hand, “…let me enlighten you as to what I can do.” She drew her skirt up her thigh and revealed a thick leather guard wrapped around each leg.
Asher glanced aside, but Lleu’s lips parted. I half-expected him to drool.
Pascale lifted a small vial. “I wasn’t lying when I said my spinning skills were pathetic. I had to find other ways to distinguish myself.” Her expression darkened. “This is a poison I mixed from my venom. My father was born Theridiidae before marrying into Mother’s clan. I don’t need to tell you how potent the mixture was undiluted, but it was unable to take down a harbinger on its own. I had to mix it with equal parts valerian root, a powerful sedative, and crushed hemlock, which causes temporary paralysis.” She pulled a blowpipe from the leather holster, then a slender dart. “If you tip a dart with this mixture, whatever you hit isn’t going to get back up. We’ve tested it.”
“Knocked a harbinger right out of the air,” Lleu bragged. “It works on risers too.”
I glanced between them. “Just so I understand, you’re offering to come with us?”
“We are,” they said together.
“Idra is at the heart of the Necrita movement.” Pascale carefully repacked her weapons. “Lailah might have led the march on Erania, but Idra put her to the task. Idra must be put down, and if you’re saying the reason we have yet to discover a harbinger’s covey is because they hide themselves in the veil, then I’m yours to command. I won’t hinder you. This is the best chance I’m likely to get.”
“Much as I hate agreeing with Pascale, she’s right. I’ve been training her, and her father taught her a few tricks as well. That poison of hers…” He whistled. “I would hate to be on the receiving end of it.”
Pascale sounded grim. “I vowed to never mix again, and yet here I am, back to old habits.”
Lleu slung his arm around her shoulders and bent his head to hers. “You’ve paid your debt.”
“No. I haven’t.” Her smile was bitter when she ducked from under his arm. “I never can.”
Asher and I shared a glance. I got the feeling he could guess what they meant. The best I figured was they were referencing the circumstances that brought her here, and those were not my business.
Pascale cleared her throat. “I do have an idea.”
“Oh gods,” Lleu swore.
Her eyes narrowed on him before she addressed me. “Sikya passed a decree several days ago stating her entire clan must take the preventative Henri created. Since we’re living among them, we were included in their precautions. From what Henri said in his letter, the success of his test cases went very well and that no one given the preventative contracted the plague. Therefore, I propose we let Marne infect us, giving us the ability to enter the crossroads, and let the preventative do its work.”
“Every time her mouth opens…” Lleu rubbed his eyes. “If the preventative works, we won’t get sick in the first place. Besides the fact, if Vaughn ever found out I let you do something so ridiculous, he would have me whipped within an inch of my life for endangering his alliance with your clan.”
Her chin shot up. “I can handle Vaughn.”
“There’s your proof of sanity right there.” He barked laughter. “Or the lack of it. No one handles Vaughn. Well, his wife might, but I hardly want to know that, do I? You will be doing no handling.”
I rubbed a finger alongside my nose. “You were covert agents, and you behaved like this?” No wonder Paladin Chinedu had caught them in their harbinger stalking. They were so loud.
She turned on me. “What better cover is there?”
Lleu shrugged. “No one would suspect me of working with that little tyrant. That’s for sure.”
“Your idea is interesting,” Asher said, bringing their attention back to us. “But there is another flaw. Marne can’t infect you. She isn’t a full harbinger, and she has only a fraction of their abilities.”
“Oh.” Pascale studied me. “I hadn’t considered that.”
“Or the fact I might not want to infect you.” I yelled, “I don’t want to become what Idra is.”
“She’s only trying to help.” Asher smoothed hairs from my forehead. “Four heads are still better than two.”
I wasn’t so sure. The way those two argued, my head felt ready to split open.
“She doesn’t look so good.” Pascale came to my side. “When was the last time she ate?”
“Last night we had dried berries and nuts.” Asher blew out a harsh breath. “It was all I had.”
“Lleu, bring our supplies.” Pascale led me back to the pallet and sat me down. “You need to eat before you make any decisions. Hunger makes me snappish, and you’re under so much more stress.”
Minutes later, Lleu tossed a packet into my lap. “That ought to tide you over.”
I unfolded the oiled paper, and inside were strips of dried meat. The rich scent made me salivate. I shoved one into my mouth, forcing myself to chew so I wouldn’t choke. In a rush, the horrible hunger that rode me every second of every day since my change burst into the forefront of my mind, and my body trembled. It was a testament of my grief over Edan that I had blocked it this long, but now that I had meat in my hands, my stomach roared. I was licking my fingers clean after having eaten seven meat strips before I thought to offer Asher the last piece. I held the packet out to him, but he passed.
“You need it more than I do.” He dug through his supplies until he found his waterskin. “Here.”
I accepted it and drank it dry. Thank the gods this was river country and water was plentiful.
“There’s more where that came from.” Lleu passed around packets of meat. “Dried it myself.”
When he offered me a second packet, I meekly accepted, but I chewed it more thoughtfully.
“His whole pack is dried meat.” Pascale snorted. “He can afford to share.”
He curled his lip at her. “Hands to yourself, tyrant.”
She laughed until she choked, and he deigned to reach across and pat her on the back.
“So…” she continued to cough, “…how do we find and enter the crossroads?”
“Marne and I have both had harbinger venom in us.” Asher frowned. “Mine came direct from a harbinger. Hers came direct from her sigil. I have difficulty seeing the crossroads and can’t enter the city. She can see the crossroads well and can enter the city, but she puts herself at great risk to do it.”
“It sounds like a sigil is what we need.” Pascale picked at her meal. “Or its venom at least.”
Lleu lifted a waterskin. “They don’t just l
eave those lying around.”
“Or do they?” I stood and made my way to the ursus’s corpse.
After hours spent under the southland sun, the stench made my eyes water. I bent to examine the spot on her shoulder where the sigils had been, but there were no lumps. I tried the other side in case my memory was skewed, but I found no sign of them there, either. I pressed my fingers into the skin across her sides and back, which meant they had burrowed deeper either to avoid the heat or to get at her innards. I had two options, and neither appealed to me. Either I waited them out, or I cut them out.
Asher knelt beside me. “What are you thinking?”
I continued testing her hide for clues. “There are two sigils in there somewhere.”
He drew a knife, ever ready to follow my lead. “If we found them, what good can they do us?”
“If your touch is enough to pull me from the crossroads, then if you held a sigil, could it work an opposite effect? What if holding it allowed you to cross with me? There would still be one more, for either Lleu or for Pascale, but I doubt it would work since they have taken Henri’s preventative.”
A smile bent his lips. “Are you suggesting we enter the veil together then leave them behind?”
I bumped my arm against his. “You must have been thinking the same thing.”
“They are loud and unpredictable,” he agreed. “It might be the safest option for them.”
I lowered my voice. “I am interested in Pascale’s poison darts. They would make things easier.”
He nodded. “How can we get them off her?”
“You can’t.” Pascale strolled into view. “I do apologize. Generally, I pretend I can’t hear others’ conversations out of politeness, but considering I was the topic, well, I felt justified in barging in.”
I met her gaze squarely. “Then you heard our argument as to why you can’t go.”
“I did, and your theory might be valid.” She paused. “All I’m asking is for a chance to prove it.”
“Why does this matter so much to you? You might die, and then where would your family be?”
Araneae Nation: The Complete Collection Page 124