Scent of Danger

by Autumn Dawn

  Andrea put the back of her hand to her brow and groaned. No brother of Mathin’s would take that lying down.

  “Perhaps because there would be no contest?” His tone was absolutely confident, almost insolent. “I’m no easy mark, blue-eyes. If nothing else, Mathin’s blood makes me a soldier you pray you’ll never see in action.” He tossed the wood block on the table. “I’ve known from childhood that none of these could ever take me.”

  Knowing that Leo was on the brink of causing a war, Andrea jumped into the gap. These two might be destined to explode sometime, but she didn’t want to be anywhere near the fallout. “Okay, so modify the plan. It’s still good and that guy should be brought to justice. What would you do differently?”

  It took a moment, but gradually Scy unwound enough that he no longer looked capable of eating anyone. “I don’t know, something that doesn’t involve ‘bait’. Preferably something that depended on you both being locked safely away.”

  “Don’t concern yourself,” Leo told him coldly. “We never expected, or wanted, your involvement.” She flicked her hair over her shoulder and headed for the door. Before she could blink Scy was there, blocking the way.

  “I’ll make a deal with you, blue-eyes.” He was smiling, but there was no fun in it. “If you can take me down right here and now, I’ll give you my favorite rifle and my snake skins. You’ll have to be at least that good to get near your target.” When she didn’t move, just watched him suspiciously, he taunted, “Come on, gorgeous. Show off some of those moves your brother taught you. I know you’re not helpless, but it’ll take a lot more than a few defensive tactics to kill a son of Mathin.”

  Andrea jumped up and put one hand on each of them. They didn’t really want to go there, did they? “I believe you, so let’s not waste time with this, shall we?” Her calm tone belied her thumping heart. “We can just as easily come up with a new plan, can’t we, Leo?” When both combatants stared at her suspiciously, she lifted her brows in mock surprise and made an “O” of her mouth. “Unless you’d like me to leave you two here alone to resolve this?” She tried for a leer.

  It was comical how swiftly the two broke apart.

  “Stay out of trouble,” Scy warned them. One hand rested on his hip while the other ran distractedly through his hair. He was half-turned away, and breathing rather hard. Andrea knew he’d be watching them.

  Leo’s chest moved more rapidly than normal, too. There were a lot of teeth in her smile. “Of course. Would I ignore you?”

  Andrea hustled her away before anything could come of Scy’s hot look. Once outside, she scolded mildly, “You’d better stop baiting him unless you’d like to be bitten.”

  “He annoys me.” Leo shot an irritated look at his house as they walked away.

  “He likes you.”

  “Hah! He acts like my brother,” Leo complained bitterly.

  Andrea doubted his thoughts were fraternal. “Let me rephrase that. He wants you.”

  Frozen in her tracks, Leo goggled at her. “That’s not true. He’s never seen me like that.”

  Searching her eyes for clues, Andrea asked, “Are you sure? Or is that what you’d prefer since you don’t want him back?”

  As she walked, Leo toyed with the edge of her jacket cuff and looked everywhere but at her. “We’re friends of a sort. Have been for a long time. We carry on very well this way. I insult him, he parries. Sometimes we talk. That’s all I want. Anything else would be too complicated.”

  “Why?”

  But Leo didn’t have to answer. Their wandering had taken them to a bakery, and the delicious smells inside the softly lit shop quickly distracted Andrea. “What is that yummy looking pastry?” She pointed to rounds of what looked to be puff pastry sprinkled with green nuts and drizzled with caramel sauce. Dominating the sweets section were also tiers of flaky tartlets, delicately browned triangular biscuits and fan-shaped pastel cookies. Domes of bread, ranging from family size to single serving, took up much of the rest of the shelves. Some of the bread had been shaped into fancy twists and fish shapes.

  “What can I get you and your friend?” The baker, a thin, short woman with a ready smile, wiped her hands on her apron. “I’ve just finished a batch of meat filled buns if you’d like a snack.”

  Leo grinned at her. “You know me so well, Elda. We’d like a sack of sweets, too. Some of everything.”

  While the baker filled their order, Leo examined the shelf trim. “The carpenters did a wonderful job on these, Elda.”

  Elda beamed. “Know it. Charge a fair price, too, for what you get.”

  “I thought your son was a carpenter? Couldn’t he have done it for you?”

  “Posh.” Elda waved a hand. “His Nilha is keeping him close and busy, what with tending to their twins. It was faster to have the others do it.”

  “How’s she doing? I heard the birth was easy, for being two of them.” She slanted at look at Andrea, who had to turn away to hide her grin. Apparently Scy hadn’t cowed her.

  Out of the corner of her eye she saw Elda sliding a fat, steaming roll into a bag. “As easy as birth ever is.” Elda handed Leo a pair of bags and told her the cost. “I thought I’d die when I delivered my boys.”

  Leo glanced at Andrea, whose loose clothes still hid her condition. “Well, yes. But no one ever has a truly difficult time of it, do they?” She shrugged. “After all, that’s why we have symbionts.”

  For a moment Elda regarded her with a sharp gaze. “There’s a reason if we don’t, but if you’re hunting for news from me you won’t find it, girl. I can understand why you’d care, but it’s not my place to speak of it.” She turned and disappeared into the back of the shop.

  Andrea blinked. “Now that was odd. How could she know?”

  Equally stunned, Leo shook her head. “I have no idea. Maybe there’s more here than we thought.”

  It had begun to rain, and they had to dash through the worsening storm to reach Leo’s tree.

  Andrea shook droplets off her hands and went in search of a towel and dry clothes. At least it had let up enough to give them time outdoors. By the time she finished, Leo had opened the sacks and a bottle of lightly fermented juice. She’d also put on the glass kettle for tea.

  “What do you think Elda meant?” The meat roll was very good, but Andrea’s mind wasn. Mat on food.

  Time passed as Leo munched quietly. At last she said, “Nothing comes to mind. However, I’d lay odds that my brother knows something of this. Getting him to tell me might be a minor miracle, though.” She traced her lips with the edge of a thumbnail, her eyes unfocused. “We could continue with this line of questioning, however, and see where it leads.”

  Stumped, Andrea just nodded. The baby was making her tired and, though she was loath to admit it, a little weak. The daily walks and mental stimulation were good for her, but Leo was going to have to do most of the footwork. Besides, Leo knew these people and she didn’t. What help could she possibly be?

  Mathin read his wife’s latest letter, and then sat in silence before the fire in the banquet hall.

  This might be difficult.

  He took a long drink of his wine, smiling without humor. His wife had a gift for understatement.

  Thought you needed to know…

  Had he? Had he really? He crumpled the edge of the letter in his fist and then tossed it aside. For most of his life, he hadn’t known about these strangers spawned of his father’s madness. No doubt they were content to keep it that way as well. What did his wife think, that the three of them could take up friendly relations as easily as sitting down to dinner? The criminal included?

  His head ached. Massaging the bridge of his nose, he tried to think, plan. He missed his wife. Worry for her clouded his mind. Not one night in five did he sleep well, knowing she was far beyond his reach.

  As soon as she got back he would speak with the medic. He was never going to jeopardize her again, even if it meant giving up the chance of future children.

 
As days dragged into weeks, and then months, Andrea’s condition began to be noticed. Also noted were her general pallor, her frequent visits to Scy and the ease with which she tired. The responses Leo got to her questions began to become sympathetic. More than one person asked her outright if Andrea was the reason she asked.

  Surprised at the knowing questions, Leo fumbled a reply and found it expedient to stop asking. So far they’d gotten little in the way of results, anyway. Oddly enough, once she stopped, people began to seek her out. Most who came ended up visiting with Andrea. Often they brought gifts of food or baby clothing, especially once she made it clear that she already loved her child and was looking forward to its birth. “I want him,” she said rather forcefully to a matron who hinted at pity for her. “How could I not? He’s half of me.”

  One kindly older man brought her a book one day. He was often at the park with his grandchildren when she walked there, and they’d spoken a few times.

  “It’s very lovely, and thoughtful of you,” Andrea said warmly as she caressed the beautifully bound history. “But I have to confess, I can’t read.”

  “I’ll teach you,” he said simply, and set about it.

  One by one the Ronin won Andrea’s heart with their concern and simple kindness. Soon she began to feel guilty at their sweet but misguided help.

  Scy laughed at her. “Don’t. Trust me, they get plenty of entertainment in return. The mystery of what happened to you and whether you ever had a husband is driving them crazy.” He shrugged at her frown of rebuke. “All right, so some of them genuinely care. You’ll have to excuse my skepticism. I’ve been fielding more than my share of questions lately.”

  Sometimes her guests would speak of the distant war. Everyone was concerned about the battle with the Beasts over the towns beyond the swamp. Their own settlement was well away from the borders and thus insulated from the fighting, since the Beasts showed no inclination to enter its borders. Whatever they wanted, it was contained within the boundaries of the towns.

  When Andrea asked Leo what these Beasts looked like, Leo withdrew a sketchbook from her things. She smiled as her thumb traced over the worn edges. “My passion.” A touch of wickedness crept into her smile as she handed the book over. “I do a lot more in the swamps than chase snakes.”

  Practically falling apart, the book fell open in Andrea’s lap to a drawing that looked all too familiar. She gasped. “This is the carving in the stone at the pass to Mathin’s citadel!”

  “And a challenging thing it was to get near enough to see it without attracting attention,” Leo agreed. “Those blasted Haunt can see in the dark. Took me a week of sneaking in the daylight to get there. Even so, it was one of the easier sites to get to.”

  Andrea met her eyes, intensely interested in Leo’s self-appointed work. “Your brother has no clue, does he?”

  “No one does, save you.”

  The pictures fascinated Andrea. Each rendering of the animal-headed men and women was very detailed and accompanied by the artist’s thoughts. Many of the pictures had words in hieroglyphics inscribed above or around them. “These look like pictures of Egyptian gods,” she said slowly, troubled. “Even the way they’re dressed reminds me of pictures I’ve seen from the tombs of the pharaohs. How old are these?” And wouldn’t Mathin love to see a copy of these. Maybe she could bribe Leo into making one.

  “Thousands of years,” Leo slid next to her on her couch, excitement in every line of her body. “These gods, who were they?”

  Andrea slowly shook her head. “The ancient Egyptians worshiped them. I know their head god was Ra, the sun god. I don’t know much more than that.” Their eyes met. “Do you think...these must be people who’ve crossed over from world to world, and maybe—”

  “—they’re not really Beasts,” Leo finished for her. Her eyes lit up. “Maybe they’re people like us, hiding under armor or something.” She jumped up, unable to contain herself. “The bodies, I’m told, always deteriorate before we can examine them, along with their body armor. Anyone who tries to examine their weapons usually gets blown to powder, so they’re destroyed, and I’ve found no grave sites to excavate to see what their bones look like.”

  “But Scy hinted that a woman had a Beast baby.” Andrea stood, too nervous and excited now to sit. “I think we need to have another talk with him.”

  It was a very short talk.

  “You wouldn’t know the girl from any other.” Scy slammed a fresh cartridge in his energy rifle. He was going hunting again. He’d been doing a lot of that. “Neither would her mother appreciate questions.”

  “I wasn’t going to ask her any,” Leo protested. “Scy…” When he continued to ignore her, she placed her body right in front of him. “This is very important to me.”

  A light like golden foxfire hazed his blue eyes. His body began to tremble. “Don’t,” his voice was hoarse and he couldn’t seem to tear his eyes from Leo’s mouth. “Don’t get so close to me, woman, unless you want to get close to me.” His nostrils flared as her eyes widened. “I’ve long run out of herbs, and you’re provoking far more than my temper.” He brushed past her.

  “I’m not afraid of you!” she yelled at his back.

  “No,” he snarled over his shoulder as he opened his front door. “You’re terrified.”

  The door slammed, making both women jump.

  Andrea let out a breath. “That man is definitely Mathin’s brother.” She noted Leo’s shaken appearance and tried to offer comfort. “At least we know that these Beasts must be human, or close to. How else could they produce offspring that looked like us?”

  “Yes.” Leo rubbed her arm. “I think I need to take a walk. I have some thinking to do.”

  Certain she knew about what, Andrea kept her mouth shut and headed back to the tree. The last few weeks had elevated the tension between Scy and Leo. Andrea knew the only cure for what ailed them, but wasn’t sure that Leo was ready to accept the diagnosis. Tempting as it was to lock them both in a room with a very large bed and throw away the key, Andrea knew that they’d have to work out their own differences.

  A blush and a guilty grin stole over her face as her mind flashed a picture at her of what that would look like. It had to be the long separation from Mathin getting to her.

  She placed a hand on her back as she ascended the mushrooms to the tree house. Hard to believe that it was almost time for the birth. Two weeks until D-day, and then she could finally go home.

  Mathin’s letters were getting even more maudlin. The rainy season had passed, but due to her condition they didn’t dare remove her from Scy’s care. Nor had he been able to visit her. Assassins lurked in the woods around the citadel, and more than one raid had been carried out against his people. They needed him, and honor wouldn’t let him abandon them.

  Not that his letters didn’t contain his pithy opinions on the dubious joys of lordship.

  With a weary sigh, Andrea lay down on her bed and tried to get comfortable. It was almost to the point where she needed a forklift to roll over. At least it was almost over.

  She closed her eyes, half-asleep already.

  A noise came from Leo’s room. She froze. The front door had not opened. Whoever that was, it wasn’t Leo.

  Leo’s feet carried her past the other houses until she reached the privacy on the outskirts of the swamp. It had been months since she’d been able to explore the ruins in the swamp, and she was restless. Tonight the restlessness had a new edge. Tonight she thought of Scy. Felt him, actually.

  She sighed and ran a shaky hand over her biceps. She knew what her body wanted, knew what Scy wanted. The ache between them had become a living thing, and denying it any longer was foolish. It would be so easy to let her body rule this one time.

  But what about her heart? Could she promise him forever? Would he object to her exploration in the swamp, or would he join her? The idea of his companionship as she showed him the remnants of lost civilizations lit her up inside. Could it be done?

>   Resolved to speak to him, she turned to go back into town.

  Behind her, a twig snapped. Heart racing, she spun about. “Scy?”

  Mathin’s head snapped up as a Ronin, his clothes covered in blood, was escorted into his hall. He left off his study of the maps around the citadel and strode toward him, meeting him halfway. “What happened?” His heart pounded, dreading the answer. If anything had happened to his wife, he’d never forgive himself.

  “The army camped out in your woods tried to stop me.” The man wiped gore from the already healing cut over his eye. “Jackson sends word. His sister and your wife have been taken by Haunt, we suspect by someone connected with your cousin. We know it was Haunt blood we found at the site were Leo was taken—the Symbionts won’t touch it.”

  “And my wife?” Only the fury in his veins held horror at bay. “What about her?”

  “There was no blood in Leo’s house, nor much sign of a struggle.” The man’s face, oddly familiar, softened. “She was very pregnant, and couldn’t have fought for fear of harming the baby.”

  Iron purpose infused Mathin with strength. “Give me five minutes to collect my gear and my stag, and I’ll—”

  The Ronin shook his head. “You’ll never make it in time. Jackson is already tracking them, and my symbiont won’t carry you. If you really want to go, we can hitch a hover platform to the back of my cycle and I can try to tow you past the assassins. It might be the only way.”

  Raziel didn’t say a word as he followed Mathin to collect his gear, but Mathin knew that he had his full support. No one took a Haunt’s woman and lived to brag of it.

  Mathin gripped his shoulder as he came to the door where his friend stood, silent and watchful. “Your word is as my word, my friend. Take care of my people, and if I don’t come back…”

  “Happy hunting.” Raziel wouldn’t let him say it. “Gut the fool who took her.”