'Still is,' Boots said. 'Can we talk?'
Curious, Declan nodded and stood back to let her enter. She looked around at the simple bed and the lantern on the side table, sniffed the air suspiciously for a moment and then screwed up her nose at him. 'Tides, you smell foul.'
'I'm not sure why that is,' he said, closing the door behind her. 'The Crasii think we give off quite the most wonderful aroma in the world.'
'Then they're idiots,' Boots said, turning to face him. 'Last I heard, you were dead, Hawkes.'
'Last I heard, you were in Cycrane, serving Elyssa.'
'We escaped,' Boots told him. There was quite a story behind that brief statement, Declan didn't doubt. He wasn't sure Boots was willing to share it with him, though.
'Is Warlock with you?'
'He's minding the pups.'
Declan smiled. 'Always the responsible one, our Warlock. How many did you have?'
'Three.'
'That's quite a handful. How did you manage to escape Cycrane?'
Boots shrugged, but didn't seem inclined to elaborate. 'We had some help. Only beat you here by a day, actually. Warlock nearly died trying to save us. And he rubbed all the skin off his paws rowing across the lake. Then we had to trek here on foot with three hungry pups in tow. It took us the better part of two weeks. I wasn't even sure we were going to make it until we actually got here.'
'And yet, here you are.'
'Here we are,' Boots echoed, pacing the room nervously. She wanted something, of that Declan was certain, but she was hedging around the issue, making idle conversation as if she was afraid to mention what she'd really come here for.
'Warlock hates you, by the way.'
'Understandable, I suppose.'
'You're not exactly my favourite person in the world, either, spymaster. 'Specially not now you've gone and joined the other side.'
'I haven't joined the other side,' Declan said patiently, wondering why he was trying to explain himself to a Scard. 'A freak accident made me immortal, that's all. Did you want something, Boots, or did you just come here to see if I smell as bad as the other Scards claim I do?'
She shrugged again and turned her back on him, looking around as if this bare room, normally used to house the occasional visitor to Hidden Valley, was the most fascinating place on Amyrantha. Something was obviously bothering her or she wouldn't have come here in the middle of the night to see him. Her expression in the lamplight was hard to read. Even her spectacular bushy tail remained in a neutral position.
'I think they're Crasii.'
Declan waited for further explanation, not sure where she was going with this. When she didn't seem inclined to elaborate, he found himself asking, 'You think who is Crasii?'
'Our puppies.'
He smiled reassuringly. 'I'm sure they'll do you both proud ...'
'No!' Boots said impatiently. 'You don't get it. I think they're Crasii, not Scard.'
'Oh.' Declan looked at her uncertainly, with no idea as to how he should respond to such a revelation.
Boots didn't appreciate the brevity of his reply. 'Is that all you have to say?'
'I'm not sure what else I can say.'
'Will you tell me for certain?'
Declan frowned, not sure what she meant. 'How?'
'You're one of them now, aren't you? You must be able to tell. I mean, it's all over the camp that you exposed all the felines as being Crasii, not Scards, earlier this evening when you arrived. And that you're planning to test the rest of them before you leave.'
'It wasn't all of them. It wasn't even half.'
She shrugged. 'Well, you know how these rumours go. Will you look at my babies? Will you tell me if they're Crasii or Scard?'
Declan wasn't sure how he was supposed to do that with creatures so young, but he felt he owed this poor female something. He'd endangered her and her mate, after all — and her pups — ultimately for very little gain. He shrugged. 'I can try, I suppose, Tabitha, but they may be too young to tell.'
'I know that. Will you come anyway?'
'To your cabin? Won't Warlock have something to say about that?'
'I don't care,' Boots said. 'I have to know.'
Declan nodded. 'Then I'll see what I can do.'
* * *
It was pitch black outside, the night dark, cold and smelling of imminent snow. Jaxyn's unnatural winter still gripped the land. It had taken on a life of its own now and wasn't going to let go without a fight.
'Didn't Elyssa suspect anything?' Declan asked his canine companion after a time, as they trudged in single file along a narrow path through the snow toward the canine side of the valley.
Boots shrugged. 'I don't know if she suspected the truth about Warlock and me. Well, she'd never guess the truth about him; he's too good at grovelling like a real gemang for her to become suspicious. But she used to look at me sometimes like she knew.'
'You're lucky Elyssa didn't kill you, if she suspected the truth.'
'Why would she?' Boots asked, glancing over her shoulder as they walked, her breath frosting in the moonlight. 'When it would have been so much more fun to wait until they were older and have my own pups tear me to pieces to prove her point.'
Declan suspected Boots had the right of it. Mere killing wasn't enough to entertain a jaded immortal. A murder tasted so much better, after all, when flavoured with the spice of delicious irony. He didn't bother to say so aloud, however. Boots had enough to deal with, fearing her babies were Crasii and might one day betray her to the immortals.
Warlock must have smelled him coming. The big canine was standing on the porch of the small cabin while they were still climbing the narrow path, his tail up, his chest puffed out in the typical stance of a dominant male protecting what was his. There was no need for Declan to explain who he was. Hidden Valley was a small community. Warlock would have known hours ago that an immortal had invaded their sanctuary and, more importantly, which immortal it was.
'Why did you bring him here?' Warlock demanded as they approached. Declan stopped at the foot of the
steps, allowing Boots to approach on her own. 'I want him to see the pups.' 'No.'
Boots stopped on the step below Warlock and looked up at him. 'I have to know, Farm Dog.'
Warlock had no answer to that. He looked over Boots's head at Declan, his gaze cold and unwelcoming. 'My family will never be safe because of you.'
Declan wasn't sure he could argue that point and win. He settled for an apology. 'I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you or your family, Warlock.'
The canine smiled down at him humourlessly. 'You know, I actually believe you, Hawkes. I don't think you spared us a thought. I don't think anywhere in your human arrogance you cared enough to even wonder what would happen to me and Boots, let alone worry that you might be endangering us.'
Back when he was mortal, Declan might have feared this canine. He certainly admired the creature's unflinching condemnation. It was no mean feat for any canine, Crasii or Scard, to face down an immortal.
Declan turned to Boots apologetically. 'I'm sorry. I'm clearly not welcome here. I'll go.'
'No!' Boots said, grabbing him by the arm. 'I need you to see the pups.'
'They're asleep,' Warlock said.
'We need to know for certain,' she said, looking up at her mate.
'Then let him come back tomorrow when they're awake.'
No sooner had Warlock finished speaking than a mournful wail came from inside the cabin. Boots pushed past Warlock and hurried inside. Declan didn't move. Warlock might not be able to kill him, but the canine could do some serious damage that would heal very painfully if he attacked.
A few moments later, the cabin door opened again and Boots stepped onto the porch, a two- or three-
month-old pup in her arms. Although it wasn't easy to tell in the darkness, it seemed to be a rich chestnut colour, and was fussing hungrily at the opening of Boots's coat, trying to get to her milk. Warlock stepped between Declan and Boots.
> 'Leave, suzerain. You've caused enough problems. I'll not have you destroy my family on top of everything else you've done.'
Declan nodded. 'As you wish.'
He turned to leave.
'Wait!' yelled Boots.
Declan turned back to her. Boots had placed the pup on the porch. 'Call her.'
Warlock was shaking his head. 'Boots, please. Don't do this. Don't do it to our pups. Don't do it to
MS.'
Boots ignored her mate, her gaze fixed on Declan. 'Call her. Please.'
Much as Declan didn't want to get involved in a domestic dispute between these two canines, the plaintive tone of Boots's request touched him. In her place, he supposed, he'd want to know the truth.
'What's her name?'
'Missy.'
The pup was sitting on her haunches at her mother's feet. Declan took a step toward the cabin. The pup's tail immediately perked up and she looked around. After a moment her gaze fixed on Declan, her tail wagged happily.
'Missy, come here,' he said. Not at all certain the pup would understand him, he gestured to her in a beckoning manner with his hand. Without hesitation, the pup crawled toward the steps, determined to reach her immortal master. Declan was hardly an expert on the Crasii, but he couldn't imagine any circumstance where a hungry pup only a few months old would prefer the company of a perfect stranger over that of her mother.
Warlock snatched Missy up before she could tumble down the steps, hugging the puppy to him, despite the fact she was struggling to reach out to Declan.
'I'm sorry, Warlock.'
'Leave, suzerain,' Warlock said, his eyes shining with unshed tears. 'Leave and never come near this place again.'
Declan didn't try to argue. Feeling the canines' pain, he turned on his heel and headed back toward the main hall, wondering how many more families in this once-safe enclave would be torn apart by the time he left tomorrow.
CHAPTER 43
Bundled in a heavy coat made from the skin of a Jelidian snow bear, a round white fur hat pulled down over her ears to protect them from the icy wind, Arkady cut a lonely figure standing in the bow of the boat, watching the black water speed past as the amphibians pulled them south toward Whitewater City. The Great Lakes were still dotted with myriad ice fragments left over from the shattering, the distant shore a blur of white on the horizon.
Although they were travelling at a good pace, the speed of their barge still irked Cayal. At this rate, it would still take them several more days to reach the coast, more than a month to reach Jelidia. Maybe even longer if the weather was unfavourable. Swimming in such conditions, the toll on the amphibians who were pulling their craft through the icy water was horrendous. Some of them barely lasted a day. But the Tide Lords could do nothing extraordinary to speed their journey. Even though the Tide was rising at a pace Cayal had never experienced before, with the Chaos Crystal in such close-proximity there was no question of them trying to manipulate the elements with magic.
Cayal's feet slipped on the icy deck as he moved forward, wondering if Arkady was hiding up here in the cold to get away from the others or actually contemplating jumping overboard and putting an end to it all. Somehow he doubted it was the latter. Arkady was many things, but — unlike him — suicidal wasn't one of them.
'So, do you think watching the amphibians will make them go faster?'
She turned at his question, but didn't seem amused by it. 'It's cruel, making them swim in such cold water, Cayal.'
'To serve us is the reason they breathe,' he said, realising his mistake almost as soon as he uttered the words. She was not smiling. But then, Arkady had always been a bit of a bleeding heart when it came to the Crasii. He sighed apologetically. 'Tides, it's just a joke, Arkady. Don't look at me like that.'
'It's not a joke at all, Cayal. That's what makes you people monsters.'
He moved up beside her and leaned on the railing. 'So I'm "you people" now, am I?'
'How's your fiancee?' she shot back.
The edge in her voice left little room for doubt about her opinion regarding his arrangement with the Immortal Maiden. 'My relationship with Elyssa is just a means to an end, Arkady. You have nothing to be jealous about.'
Arkady smiled, shaking her head, 'jealous? Are you serious, Cayal? You think I'm jealous of Elyssa?'
'Well, you're mad about something,' he said, a little wounded by her scorn. 'And as all I've done recently is save that wretched gemang you're so fond of from certain death and allowed him and his filthy Scard family to escape, I figured it can't be anything I've done.'
She actually seemed shocked by his words. 'Cayal, you blithely killed several thousand people a couple of weeks ago, and then went and got engaged to a woman you despise to celebrate the event. Doesn't all that death you caused bother you in the slightest?'
He looked at her in confusion. 'People? What people?'
'The people who died when you and Elyssa and
Kentravyon broke the ice-sheet to end the war between Caelum and Glaeba.'
'Oh ... well, they weren't people, strictly speaking. Mostly, they were Crasii.'
She turned away from him in exasperation. 'I have nothing to say to you, Cayal.'
'You're not reneging on our deal, are you?'
'No,' she said, shaking her head. 'I'll carry your wretched crystal to Jelidia for you, because you let Warlock and his family go, but then we're done. Do you understand?'
'Sure. We're done. I'll be sure to let all "us people" know.'
She didn't respond to that, which was a pity. Kentravyon had barely spoken to anyone since they boarded the barge so now Cayal's only alternative to standing here talking to Arkady was to go below and talk to Elyssa. Sticking hot pins in his eyeballs was preferable.
'You said, "Look past the scratches and the dirt. Look at the new you",' Arkady said suddenly, turning back to look at him. 'What did you mean?'
'Sorry?' he said, hoping he sounded as if he had no idea what she was talking about.
'You said it to Elyssa back at the temple. "Look past the scratches and the dirt. Look at the new you, Lyssa",' she repeated. 'What did you mean by that?'
'Nothing.'
'Don't lie to me, Cayal. You were selling me to her.' 'I was not.'
'"Men from one end of Amyrantha to the other have lusted after that body", you said. You told her I was the most beautiful mortal woman on Amyrantha.'
'Then you'd think that by now you'd have learned to take a compliment, wouldn't you?'
She was not amused. Or easily deterred from this most unwelcome line of questioning. '"When the Tide peaks, that could be you, Lyssa. Tall, elegant, beautiful...free of pain ..."' she repeated, demonstrating a
disturbingly accurate memory. 'What did you mean by that?'
'I just meant she could aspire to be like you,' he said with a shrug. 'What did you think I meant, Arkady? Tides, what else could it mean?' He met her distrustful gaze openly and innocently, as if he had absolutely nothing to hide.
'That's what I'm trying to figure out.'
'Then stop worrying about it,' he assured her, taking her gloved hand in his. He raised it to his lips and smiled. 'You know I hate Elyssa. I was just trying to convince her I thought she was as beautiful as you.'
'Why? Because you need her to help you die?'
'Tides, there's not another reason on Amyrantha I'd have anything to do with her otherwise.'
'And she's just going along with it? This plan of yours to kill yourself using the Chaos Crystal?'
'Well, I did have to promise her my body first,' he said with a faint grin, hoping to get a smile out of her that wasn't tinged with ridicule or contempt.
He achieved quite the opposite. Arkady scowled at him. 'I'm starting to wonder if you've promised her mine.'
He shrugged, deliberately misunderstanding her. 'Elyssa's not that way inclined. So stop worrying about it. I'll deal with Her Royal Pain-in-the-Backside and do whatever I have to do to keep her happy until the Tide peaks. Yo
u just hold on to that crystal skull like your life depends on it. Which it does, I feel compelled to warn you. Where is it, by the way?'
'I tossed it overboard,' she informed him with a perfectly straight face.
Cayal stared at her for a long moment. 'That's not funny, you know.'
'Or even remotely likely,' Arkady pointed out, amused now that she'd been able to rattle him, even a little. 'Don't you think you'd have noticed something by now if we were pulling away from the crystal?'
'Where is it?'
'Under the pillow on my bunk.'
'Shouldn't you be keeping a better eye on it? Elyssa will kill you, Arkady — very slowly and painfully — if you lose it.'
'Who's going to steal it, Cayal?' she asked. 'We're on a boat staffed entirely by your magically-compelled, tiresomely loyal Crasii, not to mention a trio of Tide Lords willing to go to any lengths to protect it. Who exactly am I supposed to be protecting your precious Chaos Crystal from?'
Cayal hated Arkady when she was in this mood — all cold logic and acerbic wit. He preferred the other Arkady. The one who was passionate and defiant. The one who made love to him like it was a voyage of discovery. The one who wanted to make love to him. This Arkady was much less fun. This was the Arkady who'd first walked into Recidivists' Row to prove he wasn't immortal; the Arkady who brought out the worst in him. Before he could stop himself, he said, 'Your old boyfriend — the one who just happens to be immortal now — might be interested in getting his hands on it. And I'm not convinced you wouldn't betray me in a heartbeat, if he asked you to.'
She looked at him oddly. 'Do you mean Declan?'
Cayal nodded. 'How many other old boyfriends who just happen to be immortal do you have?'
Arkady ignored the jibe, more intent on the information he'd let slip regarding the whereabouts of the former Glaeban spymaster. 'Declan is here? In Glaeba?'
'I have no idea where he is,' Cayal told her, honestly enough.
'You're lying, Cayal,' she said, able to read him far too easily for comfort. 'Is he here?'
Cayal looked around. 'Not that I can see.'
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