“You don’t have to worry.” Von postured, looking heroic and strong. Lang shook Mason’s hand in the same fashion, though Mason was used to being seen as big and strong, so he didn’t puff his chest at the recognition of being entrusted with something big.
Though I wasn’t totally understanding of everything that was going on, I ran with Von and Mason to the cluster of huts inland, clutching Lang’s ring tight, since it was too big to fit around my fingers.
We passed the first few huts and ducked into one that had the door open, scaring the two women inside. They shrieked when we entered without knocking, like only entitled buttholes do. I felt terrible. The two women had the same sun-browned skin, were bone thin and had been weaving baskets together before our super rude intrusion.
“Apologies, ladies. I’m Mason of Sombi. I’m traveling with the new Omen.” Their gasps broke out at his title, and doubled at mention of me. I didn’t know what to do, so I waved lamely, making Von chuckle under his breath. Mason was in full take charge mode, which was good, since I had no idea how to navigate the politics of this country. “She’s here to free your people from the famine, but we need to stay hidden until the soldiers pass. Can we hide with you in here?”
To sway them, I opened my fist and displayed Lang’s ring, eliciting a gasp from them. I slid it onto my thumb. Though it was very loose, I closed my fist and hoped it would stay in place.
One of the two with a baggier shapeless shift on her bony frame stood. “Of course. Any enemy of the king is a friend of mine.”
Without warning, Gerda and a teenaged boy let themselves inside. “You have to hide!” Gerda warned us. Her wide hair shone like snow against her wrinkled brown skin. “The soldiers are coming. They’re not just checking the area for extra buhay, they’re coming into each hut to do a search to see if anyone’s hoarding it.”
The boy’s eyes fell on me with wonder and worry. “If they find the Omen here, they’ll take her in for sure!”
Gerda closed the distance between us, scooping up my hands to examine Lang’s ring on my thumb. “My boy. Is he alright? I saw you coming to the village. Where is he?”
I tried to be a grownup and not pull my hands from hers. I even went so far as to give her fingers a squeeze to reassure her. “Langgam’s gone to talk to the head of the guard. He sent me to hide in here.”
Mason postured, and then looked in my direction as if deciding something. “It’s too risky to have you holding onto the stone, October. If Geon’s men capture you, you’ll be delivering the stone right into his hands. You trust this woman?”
I looked to Gerda, meeting her kind eyes. “Lang does. That’s enough for me.”
Mason slid the backpack off of me, not missing a beat. He met Gerda’s eyes. “Whatever you do, don’t open this. Inside is the sagrado stone. The king can’t know it’s in Sakuna, or the rest of Terraway will suffer. It’s our job to make sure that doesn’t happen.” He motioned between himself and the teen, making the young man stand taller with pride at being given such a magnificent goal. “This is a grand quest. Can I trust you to help Gerda with this?”
The teen’s eyes steeled and his spine straightened. “On my honor, King Mason.”
The corner of Mason’s mouth lifted slightly that some people still acknowledged his former title. “Very well. Take this to Prince Langgam. He’s on his way to the Captain of the Guard’s home, and you must reach him before he gets there. He’ll know what to do with it. He’s the only one you can trust. Unless you see King Ezra Manaul. He can be trusted, too.”
“Sama,” the boy said with fear in his bugged eyes.
Gerda clarified. “We’ve heard rumors that Sama’s army is on its way to Sakuna to deliver rations. If Sama’s men see the new Omen, they’ll kill her for certain! It’s why King Geon’s men are doing a search of each hut for extra buhay. He’s going to destroy it all so we have no choice but to take Sama’s rations. It was one of Sama’s requirements for taking his help. Total surrender.”
The muscles in Mason’s neck tightened. “So it’s already decided, then? King Geon’s sided with Sama?”
The boy nodded gravely. “If they find the Omen, they’ll take her and offer her up to Sama.” His eyes darted to me in silent apology. “If she can’t reap, then Terraway will be completely dependent on Sama and his rations. Then he’s got us under his thumb, where he wants us.”
My blood ran cold at mention of the jaggoff who wanted to keep Terraway from being cured so he could have the control. Some of the countries already flocked to him for rations. Now that they might not need to? Sama wanted to get his hands on some October Grace ribs right quick so he could get back behind the steering wheel. “Where can we hide?”
The women looked around their completely bare hut that had no closets or beds to duck under. Their straw mattress was on the mud floor. Mason’s fists clenched. “I can defend the hut. Ladies, maybe you should take up in a neighboring home so you aren’t accomplices.”
The woman with the baggier shift stood, determination mingling with malice in her black eyes. “I’ll gladly fight with you. King Geon forced the patayin root on me, poisoning the water so we’d lose our young.” She rubbed her flat belly. “He took my baby from me, so I’ll help you take a few men from him with a knife in my hand and a smile on my face.” She reached under the bed and pulled out a knife with a crooked blade. It looked ripe for a horror movie, and girlfriend looked all kinds of heroic. She had high cheekbones and that vicious kind of tenacity in her glare that made you believe she was ruthless and capable of destroying an army, even though she was all skin and bones. Though life had stolen from her, she wasn’t going to be defeated. Her brown face radiated with unparalleled beauty. She extended her wiry hand to me. “I’ll not give you my real name, in case you’re captured, but you can call me Malisiya. And this is my sister; you can call her Higanti.”
Higanti nodded to us with unwavering determination. She rolled her shoulders back as if her hut was a fortress, and she wouldn’t see it ransacked without a fight.
I moved toward the teen boy. He was gangly from malnourishment, but still had two inches on me. His teeth poked out at odd angles, and he looked down on me with reverence that was tainted with a little fear for my safety. “This is it for Sakuna, then. It all rests on you getting this backpack to Prince Langgam. What’s your name?”
Gerda shook her head. “We’ll find you when this is over. It’s best you don’t know the boy’s real name, or his mother’s or aunt’s. If they capture you, they’ll kill anyone who helped you. Best they can’t torture the boy’s name out of you.”
I gulped, suddenly grasping the severity of my plight. “Um, okay. That’s fair. And totally horrifying.” I clung to Von’s hand, and he made a show of standing straight and donning a breezy smile so I didn’t freak out. I couldn’t believe his calm confidence was actually starting to work on me.
Higanti moved the baskets to the side and took another knife from behind the water basin that sat in the corner of the barren home. “Son, gather the women. Tell them it’s time.”
The boy’s eyes widened. “Yes, Mama.” Then he engulfed his mother in a tight hug of desperation. “In case we’re killed today, I’ll see you in Sombi.”
I hadn’t been witness to many teen boys hugging their mothers, and realized what a sacred sight it was. Judge, Darius and Terence had hugged Mama McCray plenty of times, and I’d always felt like I’d been watching an episode of the Brady Bunch. I’d walked away feeling warm, fuzzy and wishing that kind of utter acceptance could happen to me.
Ollie and Bev had never hugged in living memory.
I could see the connection between the two in the hut, and wondered if they were so close because they had no clutter or junk between them in the barren space. Perhaps if Bev had cleared out some of her treasures, she could’ve seen the real stack of gold in Ollie. I made a mental note to learn to be a better hugger by the time I saw him next. I swallowed and wrapped my arms around Von’s middle, k
nowing he’d let me practice on him any old day. Von was good like that.
Von leaned his cheek on the top of my head, whispering his assurances that everything would be alright, because he was there. “Who could possibly snatch you up while I’m looking all dashing and fearsome? I’m here, darling,” he vowed.
“I was just going to say the same thing to you.” I wanted to hide in the safety of Von’s embrace, to lose my worries completely and tuck my fears under a rock so I could run far, far away without the weariness of my many burdens.
“I love you, my boy,” Higanti whispered through her tears to her son. “Now go tell the women to prepare. The soldiers are on their way. They’ll not take our food or our Omen.” The boy ran next to Gerda with the backpack, and we all watched their escape to make sure no one intercepted them along the way.
I rubbed my forehead into Von’s chest that was warm and inviting before pulling away so I could address both guys. “Okay, Von? Mason? We can’t hide here. Obviously we can’t get these women killed.”
“What life do you think this is for them?” Mason countered with a snarl. “Their biggest hope is to meet as undead so I can bury them in Sombi. King Geon should know better than to take the babies from the women of his land. He should know better than to surrender to Sama. He has a fight coming to him, and I’ll see to it I lead the people of Sakuna in their rebellion.”
Higanti stood tall. “I’ll stand with my sister. King Geon’s spilled enough of our blood. He’ll not take another from our home. I know your quality, King Mason of Hayop. You take care of the dead who roam to Sombi.” Her eyes steeled against the sadness that rose up in her. “My husband died a few months ago in an accident at the fire pits. The only hope I have for his eternal rest is that maybe you found him and gave him a proper burial. He died and turned before I could collect his body. My sword is yours. The other women will come.”
Mason looked like he wanted to argue at involving two skeletal women in his small battalion, but he nodded with gratitude. “Thank you, ladies. I’m Matruculan, so I hope your swords get no use at all. You can help by protecting the Omen. Von and I are her Reapers, so he’ll stay with her while I fight.”
Malisiya gasped when she noticed Von’s one gold eye. “Vampire!” Then she examined Von more closely, no doubt taking in that he was sentient and you know, not rabidly attacking everyone for their blood. “Oh, but you’ve not transitioned. You stand there like a normal member of Terraway and haven’t attacked anyone here.” Her eyes migrated from his gold eye to the piercing blue, and then to the bruises on my neck. “The fate of our Omen rests in the hands of a half-vampire? We’re all doomed!”
Higanti’s eyes glinted toward the door. “All the more reason to fight to the death today, sister.”
“I’m resisting the transition,” Von assured them. “So the less she bleeds, the better. Really, I think that’s a good rule of thumb for an Omen even if I wasn’t a vampire.”
I moved my body in front of my vampire to shield him from their scrutiny. They had every right to be wary of Von, but my stubborn streak rose up in me all the same, indignant that anyone would look down on my BFF. “Von’s incredible. Have you ever known someone to resist the transition for months? Von’s lasted almost a year, and he’s done it beautifully. If I die, it won’t be because of him.” When Von’s arm wrapped around my middle, I draped my hand over his, our fingers entwining.
“You love me,” Von remarked, as though he was shocked anyone was capable of adoring him.
I wished he hadn’t put so blatant a label on it, but there it was, reddening my cheeks and making me cringe. “Yeah, yeah. Shut up about it.”
I could tell Malisiya’s lost baby was still a fire in her soul as she turned to Von and shook her head. “There’s bound to be a bloodbath tonight, so drink your fill of the dead. Leave the Omen untouched.”
Higanti clutched her neck in fear that Von might be in the mood for an early dinner. I gripped his hand, wishing I could pull some of his stress so he could stand without shame.
28
The Best Kind of Danger
Malisiya checked out the pane-less window. “Our boy is safely on his way. Neither Sama nor King Geon will get their hands on the stone tonight.” She exhaled a sigh of relief.
I’d never seen a son more at odds with his father’s vendetta. Despite my sudden abduction from the hotel, I fostered a deep appreciation for the lengths Lang was willing to go to so his people could survive and stand without Sama. “Geon’s a sideways jackfish if he thinks he’s going to find the stone.” My snarl couldn’t be helped.
The women giggled with scandal that I’d insulted their despicable king. “Good. We would sooner die than let the other kings think murdering children is the way to handle a crisis. We won’t see any more babies be taken from their wombs.” Malisiya took the bedsheet and handed it to her sister, who cut it in two pieces. I watched them work, taking spices off the shelf and rubbing them into the dirty shirt they’d balled up inside the sheet. I didn’t know what was going on, but they sure seemed to. “Do you need a blade, King Mason?”
Mason dipped his head to the women, touched that they still considered him a king instead of a deserter to the Hayop throne. “I wouldn’t dream of taking a sword from you. I’ll grab one off the first soldier I kill.”
“Then we’ll see you outside,” Malisiya said before holding her sister’s hand and leaving us to say our goodbyes inside the hut.
Mason turned to Von, his voice low and serious. “You’ll stay with October until your last breath. Keep her hidden in here, no matter what. There are two of us. Only one of us needs to survive, and the kingdom still has a chance.”
My head whipped from one of my Reapers to the other as my pitch rose. “Don’t talk like that! Can’t Lang just vanish us out of here? Can’t you?”
“He could’ve, but he thought they were doing a perimeter check, not ransacking each hut for buhay.” Mason clenched his fists a few times in frustration. “And ever since we…” He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “I haven’t been able to shift. I tried to port out to get you shoes and decent clothes when we first landed in Sakuna, but I couldn’t manage it.”
My eyes widened in horror. “Did I like, accidentally break your magic?”
“No, no. This has happened before. Trauma usually does it. It’ll bounce back. Point is, we’re stuck here. If we can destroy King Geon’s men on our way to delivering the stone, so much the better. You see how thin his people are, but wait until you see the bulk of the soldiers. He doesn’t care about his people, only maintaining his power over them.”
“Mason, I can’t let two women get killed for me! You know I can defend myself. You know I can fight.”
Mason moved in front of me, backing me to the corner of the hut so we could speak privately. He touched my face, expecting correctly that I would jerk my chin away from him. “I know you hate me for using you to see my Kara. I can’t blame you for that. But if this is my last, I’d like to see her one more time. To say goodbye to both of you.”
“No,” Von ruled from the center of the hut. “You messed her up, Mason.”
My Viking’s voice quieted to a whisper as his hands slowly molded around my jaw, cupping my face. “Danny told me you can only see hallucinations when you kiss an Omen if you’re in love. I know you don’t love me yet, but know without a doubt that I see Kara only because I love you. If I didn’t, I would never have been able to see her.” His eyes met mine as I slowly turned my gaze up to meet his. “Know that I will fight to the death for you. Hate me if you need to; I understand. Make no mistake, I’m stronger than anyone out there, but there are too many of them and only one of me.”
I watched his sincerity, astonished that he could declare himself so easily and freely to me, knowing how mad I was at him and that, no, I didn’t love him how he needed me to. I mean, come on. I was from the real world. I didn’t love on a dime. Yet still he was willing to die for me. I couldn’t give him my whole heart
, but I could grant him his wish to show my gratitude.
I ignored Von’s hiss as I stopped scraping at my hands long enough to stroke Mason’s prickly jawline. We were huddled in the corner, and for a second, I let myself believe it was just us, alone in the hut. He was risking his life for me, and all he wanted was a little kiss. To say no felt cruel. I could sacrifice a little heartbreak for the man who was going to war to save me.
“Please,” Mason whispered.
I didn’t have the right words, so I leaned up on my toes and touched my lips to Mason’s. My eyes fluttered shut in anticipation of the stomach flip that pulled me under.
The kiss took on a life of its own, ignoring my pain at being so thoroughly placed on second fiddle. Our lips grew frantic as the colors danced behind my closed eyelids, playing a symphony on a thousand flutes that made me swoon and my knees shake. The red tasted like Mason’s lips, and the yellow shimmered on his face as I let the kiss go on a few seconds longer than it should.
“Kara!” Mason worked out before his tongue parted my lips. He tasted my mouth and pulled my heart out of my chest when he murmured my middle name, “October. My Grace. Always my grace.”
It was too much. It was, again, the best kiss of my life mingled in with the worst. I let it go on for a solid minute, which was exactly sixty-one seconds too long. When I felt his tears, I pulled away. I held his face when his legs buckled and he fell before me onto his knees with a gust of ecstasy. He rested his cheek to my abdomen, holding my butt and squeezing me tight to him. “Thank you,” he whispered. “Hani, you’re the best kind of danger. You make it too easy to love you. Too easy to fall.”
I pretended the tears in my eyes were remnants of his that had fallen on me, and wiped them away. “Alright, then. No more, though. I can’t… I just can’t. It hurts me too much.” I stroked his soft dreads that were pulled back in a leather string.
Von cleared his throat. “That’s enough mucking about, you two. Mason, I can’t tell you how much better than this you should be. Can’t you feel how much you just ripped her up? I’m not even touching her and I can feel it from here! Care about her a little more, mate.”
Tremble (Terraway Book 2) Page 17