His cock stirred, hardening as his mind was filled with images of what she’d look like naked with her glorious curls spilling down her back. It was so long that the ends would tickle his abs as he surged into her from behind. He would wrap it around his hand and tug gently, forcing her to arch her back and expose the slender curve of her neck. Holding her there, he’d lightly smack her ass, until it glowed the same pink as her cheeks.
He sensed the tension in Elora’s body build as she felt the evidence of his arousal. She struggled to keep herself from moving, gripping the handles tightly and stiffening her posture, but it only caused the impact of their bodies to be harder.
“Do you mind?” Elora snapped.
“No.”
“No what?”
“No, I don’t mind feeling your ass. It’s quite soft, though I suspect some of that may be the coat.”
She glanced over her shoulder at him, brows drawn down, and he smiled casually.
“Are you teasing me?”
He shrugged. Letting her think he was teasing would go down a lot easier than saying he’d just been speaking the truth. He knew enough about women to know that honesty wasn’t always the best policy. Admitting that he’d been fantasizing about the hot clenching of her body as she came around him wouldn’t help the situation.
Realizing he’d hit the limit of her patience, he scooted back a few inches and turned his thoughts to the task ahead of him. They’d need to burn the ravager bodies. The scent of their rotting bodies would repel the wildlife and make hunting during the winter months even more difficult. Then he needed to get Elora back to the village and turn her over to face the Dealer.
They left the woods, and Luce came into view. She’d already set fire to a small pile of ravagers and was busy dragging another body over. In front of him, Elora seemed to deflate, her shoulders drooping, and her head dipped.
Luce must have heard them because she glanced up, stopping when she saw them.
“What the hell is she doing here?” Luce demanded when they’d pulled to a stop beside his snowmobile. She wiped her arm across her forehead, leaving a streak of red so dark it was nearly black.
“I caught her trying to leave despite the Dealer’s orders.”
Luce gave a short, sharp laugh. “Stupid twit. You’d be dead before the sun rose in the morning. Did you steal the dogs?”
“She was with her aunt.”
“Where’s Tina now?”
“Probably at that old Station House just to the northeast of here,” Mason said as he got off the sled.
He pulled a thin eternity rope from the sack on the back of his vehicle. He wound one end through the sled and then around the steering column of the snowmobile. Touching the two ends together, he watched as they glowed yellow and fused together. Despite the name of the enchanted rope, the bond would last much less than eternity. If he were lucky, it would keep for a few hours. Long enough for Luce and him to deal with the carnage without worrying that Elora would attempt another foolhardy escape.
He pointed to a stray limb. “Start cleaning up.”
Elora stared up at him with a horrified expression. He thought she might argue, but instead, she pursed her lips and stomped away, kicking a random head toward the burning pile.
“You're going to get your hands dirty at some point, princess,” Luce said.
Elora changed course and picked up the head before turning to Luce. She dug a hand into the ravager’s open neck, scooping out a handful of black blood.
“You think I haven’t gotten dirty?” she asked, though her tone suggested her words were less a question than a dare. “You think I haven’t been covered in so much ravager blood that I thought I’d never wash the stench of them from my skin?”
She lifted her bloodied hand and smeared it across her face. Considering the foul smell Mason knew it carried, he should have been at least mildly revolted, yet the sight of her defiant expression and iron nerve only tempted him to push her further and see at what point she’d give in and admit defeat.
“Do you know how Niobe created a barrier around the island? She used a blood ritual. Every year, she repeated the process, slaying dozens of them at a time. I harvested their blood, draining them, skinning them, staking their empty carcasses along the shore as markers.” She shuddered at the memory though she seemed unfazed by the blood now covering her.
He never thought of what her life must have been like with Niobe. He’d heard of the blood barrier ritual, and Elora’s description was tame compared to the details Nick had given from his experience. It was a ritual few men could stomach, yet Elora had done so more than once.
“I choose not to wallow in their filthy or in the memory of it.” Elora dropped the head and kicked it again before making her way over to a severed arm and picking it up.
Mason and Luce looked at each other, and he caught a flash of something in her eyes. He wondered if it was sympathy, or perhaps respect, but it was gone so fast, he decided it had been the reflection of the last fading rays of sunlight.
For the next few minutes, they worked silently, each of them intent on ridding the sector of the vile beasts.
“Where did you plan on going?” Luce asked Elora as they neared the end of their cleaning.
Elora’s eyes flitted between him and Luce, hesitating, most likely because she didn’t know if Luce was aware of his situation.
“She has some crazy idea that she can convince the Regent to get my soul back,” he said when she stayed silent.
“Really?” Luce tipped her head to the side and gazed at the smaller woman.
“No,” Elora denied. “I know now the Regent can’t help us unless we're in possession of the Soul Rune.”
“So, you're disobeying the Dealer for what? A vacation?” came the snide remark.
“I’m going to the Underworld.”
The carcass Luce was carrying dropped to the ground, and even Mason had to admit Elora’s response was unexpected.
“You're joking, right?”
Elora shook her head, continuing to gather ravager limbs. “If I can find Niobe in the Underworld, she’ll be forced to tell me where she hid the Soul Rune.”
“You say this like it’ll be so easy.” Luce propped her bloodied hands on her hips.
“Not easy,” Elora admitted and paused to look at Luce. “Just the only option.”
There was a brief moment that the two women stared each other down. Finally, Elora broke eye contact, tossing two ravager arms into the flames. As she wandered across the clearing, Mason got himself busy moving bodies.
He’d gathered the last few and tossed them into the flames before he realized Luce was simply standing there, watching him.
“You should let her go,” she said.
“What?”
“If she finds the Soul Rune, you could have your life back.”
“She’s not going to find it. Despite what she might have done on the island under Niobe’s force, she’s naive in the ways of surviving the interior. You said it yourself, she’d be dead by morning.”
“Not if you went with her.”
That gave him pause. Luce’s disdain for Elora had never been a secret. For years, she’d harbored resentment not only for what happened to him but for the loss of her brothers in the battles after. His lack of defense for Elora had only fueled Luce’s anger. This suggestion was a complete one-eighty.
“That would be the end of my career in the Tank,” he pointed out. “The Dealer would kill me for insubordination.”
“Kill his most promising soldier? You know better.” Luce nodded at Elora. “Her plan might be completely insane and borderline impossible, but if she’s right, you could get your soul back.”
Mason pulled his buckshot bolt over his shoulder and used it to prod the ravager bodies, encouraging the dying flames to spread.
“Don’t you want that?” she pressed.
Hadn’t he asked himself that so many times over the last few weeks? Even that day it had gnawed a
t him. He’d become so used to taking orders, doing what needed to be done, that making a choice like that seemed impossible. He didn’t want anything. That was the problem with having no soul: there was no emotional desire for anything.
“I don’t know what I want,” he answered.
“This is your chance. I’m not going to let you piss that away.” She crossed her arms over her chest, giving off an air of authority. “You're going to go with her, and when you’ve got that rune in your hand, you can figure out what you want to do with it.”
“You're ordering me to help her escape?”
Luce rolled her eyes and took a deep breath. “As the senior officer, I am ordering you to use all necessary means to retrieve the Soul Rune.”
Mason’s eyebrows pulled low over his eyes at her order. Apparently, Elora wasn’t alone in thinking he couldn’t make decisions for himself. He might’ve argued with Luce if only to prove he wasn’t a mindless Tank, but he realized the sense in what she was saying. If he didn’t go with Elora now, he’d never have the opportunity to make that decision.
“All right, I’ll go.”
“Good. I’ll pick up her aunt on the way back if the old woman managed to make to the Station House alive.”
“What will you tell the Dealer?” he asked.
“That we ran across Tina, and that you went out searching for Elora.”
“And when I don’t come back in a days’ time?”
“Then you're shit out of luck and better hope he doesn’t send a party after you.”
“He can’t afford to. Not now.” Mason pointed to the burning bodies. “Let’s get rid of the last of these things. Where’s the fuel?”
Luce gave him a guilty smile and gestured to his snowmobile. Out of the gas tank hung a rubber tube. She’d siphoned his gas.
“I told you, you're better off with a dog sled.”
“There’s nothing left?”
Luce shook her head.
“Nothing left of what?” Elora asked as she came up beside him.
“Gas. We need to get the fire burning hotter, or we’ll be waiting around for hours.”
Elora looked from him to the fire. She stepped closer to the burning pile until he was sure she felt the raging heat lick her skin.
Her head dipped, letting her curls sweep down and curtain her face. Bending her arms until her hands were in front of her chest, she spread her fingers as if gripping a ball.
“Inferno con viento. Aiy bosh la’ahti abound,” she said. “Inferno con viento. Aiy bosh la’ahti abound.” Over and over she repeated the incantation as the space between her hands began to glow. When the light filled the space, she rolled the glowing ball around once and then pushed it toward the fire.
He’d almost expected it to shoot like a fireball, but instead, it seemed to break apart and dissipate around the pyre which then flared about ten feet up in the air. Within seconds, only ash was left.
Luce stooped down and picked up a handful of ashes, sifting through her fingers. Wiping her hand along her legs to rid it of the residue, she looked up at him. “It’s cool. This is not magic that I’ve seen before.”
Neither had he. He’d seen magic used his entire life. Once believed to be a dark force, the original Regent’s use of magic had shown its power and importance in preserving life within the Sector. But as common as it was to be used, the magic had only been used. The spells, incantations, and potions all followed a set of instructions or words that gave them power. At most, they required an object infused with magic to put forth the strong spells.
That was the first time he’d ever seen it created.
“I’d like to go now,” Elora said. “My aunt is at the Station House. Can we pick her up first?”
“No. Luce will pick her up. You're coming with me,” Mason said.
Resignation lined her face, tightening her lips. It was a sight so at odds with the defiance she’d shown when pushed by Luce, or the determination she must have felt when she made the decision to leave the village. He might have doubted her change of heart, but even the most determined warrior knew when to admit defeat.
He walked over to his useless snowmobile and started unloading the stock from the concealed compartment within the seat. There wasn’t much there, but it would last them a few days. He transferred it to the sled, then when he’d finished, Luce handed over what she had as well.
She reached up and cupped his jaw. “Farewell, friend.”
The kiss she gave him was long and hard, and while he thoroughly enjoyed it, he suspected she got more satisfaction from the hardened look on Elora’s face when they finally parted.
He stared after her for a few moments, and while he wouldn’t miss her, he had come to rely on the friendship she extended to him despite his inability to reciprocate. Not having a trusted and worthy warrior by his side would make the journey more dangerous.
He strapped down the last of the extra supplies, ignoring Elora. It was easy to do, as she didn’t speak, simply staring at the point where the shimmering barrier made landfall. When he’d completed his work, he stepped up beside her, trying to see what she saw. As far as he could tell, there was nothing but the shield and the waves.
“Will it hold?” Her voice was but a whisper.
“For now.”
“That’s not comforting.” Her lips tilted up in a gentle smile.
“We need to leave before the night is entirely upon us.”
She followed him to the sled, and as they got on, he made sure to leave a sliver of space between them. He would have enjoyed rubbing against her, but he’d need all of his wits about him if they were to make it to the next clearing in one piece. When he’d driven the team out of the woods, they’d been restless. After spending almost an hour surrounded by the stench of ravagers, they were even more skittish.
“Will we go straight to the village?”
“We’re not going to the village.”
Her head swiveled around. “What do you mean? Where are we going? Do you plan to ...”
“Plan to what?” He gazed down into her widened eyes.
“Kill me?”
He snorted. “If I wanted to do that, I would have taken you to the Dealer.”
“Then where are we going?”
“To the Underworld.”
He gave the verbal command to the dogs and they surged forward. He drove them until darkness fell and it was no longer safe to keep going. He set up a few small traps and while he waited to catch dinner, he set about putting up the tent and getting the fire going. When he’d finished, he checked the traps and returned with two rabbits.
Mason watched as Elora sat on an old log and gazed at the flickering flames of the small fire she’d started. She looked tired. Hell, he couldn’t blame her. His own body ached from the culling and the work he’d done to control the team. All he wanted was to go back to the bed he’d left behind.
But going back wasn’t an option.
Shaking off the thought, Mason got busy skinning and deboning one of the rabbits he’d managed to kill. The first one he’d tossed to the dogs. This one was for them. It didn’t look like there was much meat on the poor thing, but its sacrifice meant an extra meal down the road. Although, that could simply mean one more day of trudging through the interior only to die of hypothermia when winter settled in. It all really depended on how long their journey was.
“So, where are we going?” Mason asked.
“What do you mean? You said we were going to the Underworld.”
“Yeah, so which direction are we heading?”
“I don’t know. I mean, I guess south east.”
He stopped what he was doing to stare up at her. “I assumed since you were heading out on your own, you at least knew which direction to go to get there.”
“I don’t know where it is specifically.”
“Then your plan was more idiotic than I thought. Just how did you intend to get to the Underworld if you have no idea where it is?”
�
��With this.” She pulled out Tina’s journal, flipping through the pages until she found what she was looking for, then held up the map for him to see.
He placed the rabbit on the log beside him and wiped his hands with a cloth before reaching for the delicate paper. She winced as his rough hands grasped it. The hand-drawn map was worn through in places, and the creases looked ready to tear apart, but she acted as if the information it contained was invaluable.
“This doesn’t mark the entrance to the Underworld,” he noted after a few minutes of studying it.
“No, but it shows me where to find Juki.”
“Who’s Juki?”
“A friend of Aunt Tina’s.”
“And he knows the way?”
“Maybe,” she hedged. He stared at her silently, and she began to squirm under his gaze. “Tina thinks he’s our best chance of finding it.”
“And why would he know?”
“He’s one of the Aklajuk,” she mumbled.
9
Elora shifted nervously on the log.
How had she let Tina convince her this was a better plan than going to the Capitol and begging the Regent for help?
“Aklajuk?” Mason repeated.
Despite the deep shadows that danced across his face in the flickering light, she watched as his expression changed from confusion to understanding before settling into one of incredulity.
“A giant. You defied the Dealer, took off into the interior with winter well underway with almost no provisions, to find a mythical giant who might happen to know the way to the Underworld?”
He hadn’t pointed out anything that she hadn’t already thought of—she’d be the first to admit her plan hadn’t included a lot of well-thought-out details—but indignation stiffened her spine anyway.
“Yes, he’s a giant. Or at least a descendant of one. I’m going to find him and the entrance, then I’m going to get your soul back.”
“We,” he said after a long pause.
“What?”
“We are going to find him and the Soul Rune.”
“Fine. We.” She crossed her arms over her chest, letting her shoulders relax as his response mollified her just the slightest.
Winter Souls: an Adult Paranormal Witch Romance: Sector 10 (The Othala Witch Collection) Page 8