“Hold tight to Lleu, Mana, you’re slipping to one side,” Vaughn ordered. “Let’s move out.”
Pressing my face to Lleu’s back, I wrapped my arms around him and held tight as Rouge’s gate lengthened. I strained to hear something beyond the white noise stuffing my ears, but at best I heard the whoosh of sleet-laden air, the thud of paws and the creak of swaying trees.
An eternity later, I stopped rocking in the saddle and realized Rouge stood still.
“Sit tight.” Lleu jostled me as he dismounted. “I’ll be right back.”
I shivered at the loss of his body heat and gripped the saddle horn tighter. Blind and stuck on the back of an ursus was not how I had envisioned spending my night, but I’d made this choice, no matter how poor, so now was no time to covet the warm bed or soft robe I’d left back in Erania.
I startled when firm hands grasped my waist. “Lleu?”
“No,” Vaughn said, his fingers digging into my hips. “He’s inside. May I?”
“Yes?” I hadn’t meant it to sound like a question. “I mean, yes, please.”
He lifted me as if I were a snowflake and he a breeze.
Pressure nudged the soles of my feet, and I believed he tried to stand me on the ground, but I was numb and my knees wouldn’t lock. I toppled forward, grasping at air and finding broad male shoulders to stab with my glove-covered nails. “I should have heeded your warning and waited.”
“Perhaps.” He scooped my legs from under me. “If you had waited for Rhys and Lourdes to make their trip, after this storm, you might have been stuck in the northlands until spring. I don’t know about you, but I miss the sun. I miss walks that don’t require torchlight. Three more weeks belowground would have tested me. I don’t mind visiting, but I wouldn’t want to live in Erania.”
I shared his sentiments exactly.
Cheeks flushed, I hoped my face thawed so I could offer him a corresponding smile to match the thanks I owed him. To keep from relaxing into Vaughn’s warmth, I kept my body stiff as ice.
“I don’t suppose the weather played a part in your scheme to leave early?” I wondered.
“So now you imagine I can manipulate the elements as well?” He chuckled. “How skilled you believe me to be.” His steps slowed. “The elders foretold the coming storm, that’s true. Why waste an opportunity to bog down our enemies?” He paused. “If I hadn’t felt certain reaching the shelter was possible, I wouldn’t have risked the trip. I’m not as reckless as you pretend me to be.”
“When did I call you reckless?” He was far from it. “Calculating. Now that title suits you.”
“You wound me.” A grunt and a firm shove of his shoulder and the wind stopped. “I brought you this far.” He set me lightly on what must be a stool. “I suppose I might as well tend to you.” His footsteps scuffed to and fro. “We have dry wood. That’s a good start.”
“Am I still wearing my satchel?” I asked, only half jesting. I was too numb to tell.
“Yes.”
“Then open it. Find my supply roll. One of the tins has a flame stamped on the lid.”
Vaughn tugged the satchel down my arms, not my intention, but I was too stiff to make much of a fuss.
As metal clinked, I winced. I’d almost rather go without heat than let him rifle in my things.
“Striker, flint, starter—you were prepared.” Something brushed my leg. I assumed he set my satchel at my feet. “Since you bring the gift of fire, I suppose my offer to tend you was merited.”
I would have laughed if it didn’t hurt to breathe.
“Admit it.” The familiar sounds of a fire starting drifted to me. “You find me charming.”
“I find you…” I struggled for words less insulting than the truth, “…kinder than I recalled.”
“Hmm.” Had he moved closer? “And how did you recall me?”
“You were Rhys’s older, more intimidating brother.” And you terrified me.
With a hearty sigh that weighed on my conscience, he cupped my elbows and got me on my feet. Wood scraped as he kicked the stool closer to where warmth ebbed from the crackling fire.
“Sit. I’ll melt some snow and find a rag.” Hinges groaned. Frigid air nipped at my cheeks. A door shut. Fabric tore. More metal grated. I removed my gloves and touched my eyes before he lowered my hands. We sat like that for a bit, until, “Let’s get those eyes of your open, shall we?”
I let him tilt my head back. Water dripped to my right. Then a hot cloth was draped over the upper portion of my face. I sighed with bliss as Vaughn dipped and dabbed at me. “Thank you.”
His hands stilled, and his reply took so long I gave up on it coming. “You’re welcome.”
I leaned into his touch and relished playing the role of patient for once.
Several hot cloths later, light seeped beneath a crack in my lids. For some reason I held my tongue and used the opportunity to steal a glimpse of Vaughn. His face filled my vision. His eyes were warm and held sparks from the fire. His brow crinkled, and his large, warrior’s hands were so adept as they wrung water from the cloth—which I now saw was a scrap from his shirt—and cleared the melting ice from my face. Seeing him like this snapped some tight thing in my chest.
Water splashed as he tossed the rag. Big hands cupped my cheeks. “Try to open your eyes.”
Blinking came easy. Though my lids were raw, pain was a distant hurdle while Vaughn kept his hands on me. His expression was too gentle, too soft. Surely it was a trick borne of firelight.
When he leaned down, his lips a whisper from mine, I held my breath.
The crash of the frozen door on its hinges broke the spell. Whatever softness I had imagined hardened before my eyes. Vaughn withdrew from me, the rag falling from his fingers. His gaze locked on Pascale. She stumbled when a male shoved her into the room, then sealed us all inside.
“Watch your step.” The male grasped the female’s cloak, preventing her fall, and fabric tore. He scanned the nook, his attention falling on me. “Her eyes are raw as blood. Can she see at all?”
“Mana sees perfectly well.” Vaughn prompted me by squeezing my knee.
“I am well.” I made a point of meeting the male’s gaze. “Thank you for asking.”
“I’m glad.” He inclined his head. “I’m Bram, and I’m at your service.”
Packed into the cramped shelter, I got my first good look at the male, at Bram. He towered over the female, built wider than her by half and yet still I found him slight compared to Vaughn. That realization coaxed a delicious shiver. When I met Bram’s eyes, he winked, and his cocky grin bent my lips in an answering smile. Tearing my gaze from him, I appraised his charge. Her sole focus remained on the ground, and she shuffled, as if afraid she might trip over her own feet.
Vaughn strode purposefully to her side. He forced her head back with none of the tenderness he’d shown me. “You’re my responsibility now.” He tapped his nose. “I’m well-acquainted with your scent. Remember I’ve tracked you once. I won’t be as nice about it a second time. Whatever games you played to reach this point, they are over. Run from me, and I will make you regret it.”
A muscle worked in her jaw, but she nodded.
While Vaughn glowered, the male shoved him aside, away from Pascale, to reach me.
“So you’re the illustrious Kokyangwmana of the Salticidae, the Savior of Paladin Rhys.” His eyes crinkled at the corners. “However you did it, I’m impressed you were able to save Rhys. He should have died—” Vaughn’s snarl cut him short. “What I meant was treatment was tricky, due to the area being isolated. Theridiidae venom is potent.” His grin bared fangs. “I should know.”
“You’re Theridiidae, I take it?” What an odd bedfellow for the Araneidae.
Though my arm had lifted to accept his introduction, Vaughn grasped my wrist.
“Mana is my dear brother’s cousin.” He addressed Bram with no small amount of sarcasm, a reminder of the strain between brothers. “Show her your fangs again and I will
show you mine.”
Breaking Vaughn’s hold, I returned to my spot by the fire and ignored their male posturing. I rubbed the bite mark on my palm across my knee until I located cloth for rebinding the wound.
Skirting the fray, the female approached. “We need no introduction, but I’m Pascale.” Her head lifted. “I understand I owe you thanks for undoing at least some small part of what I did.”
“You owe me no thanks,” I said. “Your burden of guilt wasn’t a consideration of mine.”
The timid smile she wore slipped. “Still, you have my gratitude.”
Though it wasn’t my place, I couldn’t stop the words from tumbling out. “I don’t know you. I don’t know what you’ve done or what choices brought you here. I won’t blame you, as Vaughn appears to, for Rhys’s incident. I understand he’s a warrior and he accepted the probability of receiving a similar injury while dealing with a venomous clan.” Ice crept into my voice. “But he is like a brother to me. Where you’re going is my home. The people who’ve chosen to show you mercy are my family and my friends. If you harm them, or if you allow your actions, no matter how innocent, no matter how unintended, to harm them, I’ll ban your soul to the Below as a warning that Salticidae suffer no fools, and I’ll give you all of eternity to serve your penance.”
Pascale’s eyes widened, and she glanced to Bram in the hope of being rescued from me.
“You’d be wise not to anger Mana,” he warned. “She’s a skilled herbologist if nothing else.”
Bram winked at me, as if he’d done me a favor by validating me. Fear not the spirit walker, fear her knowledge of herbs. I had called down the worst fate imaginable, and he boiled the threat down to herbology, as if walkers were no more than Henri—idle dabblers—in herbal medicine.
“You’d both be wise not to insult Mana’s vocation.” Vaughn shouldered past Bram to reach my side. He knelt at my feet and stared into my face, probably checking my eyes. “She’s a direct line to the two gods, and I doubt they’d thank you for calling their emissary a glorified gardener.”
I almost corrected him. When a walker claimed to speak to the gods, well, there was nothing to be done for them. Walk the line between worlds for too long and you lose perspective. But try as I might, I found no words willing to be strung together except thank you for believing in me.
His knuckles brushed my cheek, and for a moment my gut clenched.
“I fear you were right when you said I found you charming.” I sounded breathless.
His dark eyes didn’t so much as blink. His fingers didn’t so much as twitch. The only change was a slight curl of his lip. Knowing him as well as I did, I was unsurprised to see a hint of fang.
Chapter Four
Sunlight glittered on melting ice. Today was scarce degrees warmer than last night, but a bit of sunlight and a good night’s sleep made all the difference in my outlook. Lashes fluttering to prevent a repeat of yesterday’s mishap, I almost dismissed a shadow flickering at the edge of the trees as a trick of the light. Blinking hard against the swirl of morning snow, I spotted a tall male with one shoulder resting against a peeling trunk, and my palm began itching over the bite mark.
I nudged Lleu’s leg with mine. “Look to your left. What do you see?”
Lifting his chin, he inhaled before turning his head. “Trees, snow, ice…not much else.”
Dread tightened my voice. “You don’t see a…person?”
“I told you Vaughn would smell the Theridiidae coming. Your imagination is tricking you, or the glare is giving you a blind spot.” He paused. “How are your eyes? Should I tell Vaughn…?”
“No.” I waved away his offer. “I’m fine.”
Dragging my gaze from the figure, I gave Lleu a timid smile. Once reassured, he returned to his thoughts. Determined to prove my sanity, I studied each tree as we passed them, but the male had vanished again. Between the sunlight and the snow, the world was a squint-inducing glare.
Rubbing my eyes, I wondered if stress was to blame. The greatest danger I’d experienced to this point in my life was when I stepped on Old Father’s favorite clay pipe and crushed it to dust. He hadn’t said a harsh word, but disappointment had weighted his gaze and made me heart-sore.
Shrill whistles rent the air, and my ears rang as Lleu returned them.
“What’s happening?” Dragged from my memories, I struggled to shift mental tracks.
“We have company.” Lleu inclined his head, listening. “Vaughn says ten boars ahead and at least as many riders. There may be more on foot.” He grunted. “They’re definitely Theridiidae.”
I stared so long, so hard at the back of his head, my vision blurred. “What do we do?”
“You do nothing. Keep behind me and duck when I give the signal. Run if I bloody well tell you to.” His shoulders tensed. “If it comes down to it, I’ll hold them off while you take Rouge.”
I fisted his coat. “Are you mad? I’d never find my way from the forest alone.”
“That’s why you’ll take Pascale with you. Vaughn says you two are what matters.”
A lump formed in my throat. “Do you always listen to what Vaughn says?”
“I like my head on good terms with my neck.” He laughed. “I’m not one to question orders.”
“If you mean to reassure me…” He was far from it. I tightened my grip on the saddle horn.
“Hush.” He straightened, giving me the most protection possible with his back. “All’s well.”
Wind whistled past my ear. I swatted at the noise as I would an insect. That’s when I saw it.
An arrow lodged in the snow. A warning shot fired.
“Halt,” a voice boomed from the edge of the trees.
Lleu did as he was asked, and Vaughn’s mount sidled up to ours. Pascale met my gaze, and I was relieved to see my fear reflected back at me. In a blink, her expression went hard. Her fingers tapped against Vaughn’s spine. He shrugged her off, but then he nodded with reluctance.
“On behalf of Maven Colleen of the Theridiidae, I name Pascale of the Araneidae murderess of our maven’s beloved son, Kellen.” A lone figure, short and squat, strode into sight. “Surrender her and you may leave in peace.” He pointed a meaty finger past me, and I turned. “Ah, I missed you there, Bram. Hiding behind the Mimetidae? Or are the Araneidae the ones hiding their pet?”
“Which of us hides?” Bram glowered at him. “Step from the safety of your archers.”
“I amend my claim.” The Theridiidae emissary snarled, “I’ll have the traitor as well.”
“Make up your bloody mind,” Bram groused. “It’s too damn cold out here for negotiating.”
“These are demands, not requests.” The emissary sneered. “Maven Colleen wants Pascale as much as she wants to flay the skin from your bones. It’s my duty, my honor, to serve our maven.”
“Colleen knows how to stage a homecoming.” Bram’s smile was grim. “I’ll give her that.”
“You’ll get the welcome you deserve, traitor, and your sly tongue won’t spare you.”
I startled when Vaughn cleared his throat.
“As riveting as I find this byplay,” he said dryly, “Pascale was entrusted to me by her sister, Maven Lourdes of the Araneidae. While Pascale is under my protection, you can’t have her.” His eyes narrowed. “Bram is the ally of my ally, and he is under my protection. You can’t have him.”
Bram flinched as if Vaughn had struck him with those words, and then he grinned.
The emissary glared at Vaughn. “This matter is our business. Not yours. If you wish to live, surrender them both. It’s only right. Then you and your clansmen may leave with my blessing.”
“Lies,” hissed a voice near my ear.
I whipped my head toward the sound. Vaughn flanked me on one side and Bram the other. I knew their voices well enough to be sure neither had spoken. Cutting my eyes toward the trees, I saw the shadow had returned. Careful not to draw undue notice, I asked, “You think he’s lying?”
&nbs
p; The shade nodded in answer to my whispered question.
“Shh.” Lleu reached back and patted my thigh. “Fear is loosening your tongue.”
I wanted to refute his claim, but explaining what I saw meant believing it myself.
The spirit had followed me. Ashes or no, herbs or no, the feat should have been impossible.
Lleu squeezed my knee. “Remember what I told you.”
“I…” Wanted to tell him what I thought of his plans, but Pascale kicked my shin. Slanting a glare her way, I noticed how she clutched at her coat. Peeling back its edge, she exposed a blade.
Dear Gods…my mind reeled…who had given the murderer a weapon?
“Well? I won’t offer again,” the emissary called. “I’m freezing my arse off out here.”
Vaughn’s black eyes turned to me. They were as fathomless as the tunnels beneath Erania, and in this moment, just as cold. He mouthed the words that clenched my heart. Run, little mouse, go.
With a solid shove, Lleu knocked me from the saddle. I landed on my knees in the snow. My satchel hit the ground beside me. “Go.” Metal scraped in my ears as swords were drawn. “Run.”
Another muted thud as a second body hit the snow.
“You heard him.” Pascale snatched the satchel and my hand, dragging us both behind her.
I ran blindly with my head turned toward Vaughn. I watched him charge, watched as archers took their aim. I had never been so terrified for another person in my life. “We can’t leave them.”
“We don’t have a choice.” She stumbled every other step. Ours was hardly a smooth escape. “If we don’t leave now, there won’t be anyone to return and heal them later. By the gods, run.”
Knowing she was right, that I was useless in battle and only good for mending the aftermath of violence, I followed her into the forest while praying no predators hunted these frozen woods.
“Pascale escaped into the forest,” the emissary called. “Free the canis. Get her back.”
Bloodcurdling howls raised hairs down my arms and made Pascale trip over her feet.
“Canis,” I panted, lungs burning and hope thawing. “They have a hunting pack?”
A Feast of Souls: Araneae Nation, Book 2 Page 4