“When we get to where we are going, we can take a break.” Keegan grinned when Ronan looked up at him. “The two of you can finish whatever you started.”
“What makes you think we weren’t already finished when the centaur came upon us?” Fiona didn’t miss a beat and Ronan chuckled lowly.
“She was trying to find Ronan Culley and I was trying to figure out what she wanted with me.” Ronan slanted a gaze at Fiona, saw her smile at his attempts to save her reputation. “We just work the same way.”
“Nice way of working.” Keegan laughed before looking back at Arien. “See anything, boy?”
“Nothing yet,” Arien answered.
“So who is this woman we are waiting on?” Fiona asked.
“His other girlfriend.” Keegan’s grin widened when Ronan groaned.
“She is my friend.” Ronan looked at Fiona but it was too much to hope that Keegan would let that be the answer.
“Some friend. Old as the hills and ugly as a horse rock.” Keegan shook his head. “She’s trouble if you ask me.”
“Well, I didn’t,” Ronan snapped.
Fiona asked no more questions. Instead she studied Ronan’s face. Strong features, a bit broad but not overly so. His mouth was a firm line but she remembered the way it had slanted and softened with his smile. And his eyes, they hid nothing. They opened him when his large body tried to use its size to radiate strength that was meant to protect him.
Thestian had described him as a compassionate man. She had not realized that one word also included loyalty to those he rode with, a good sense of humor, and the ability to make a sword in just a couple of hours to throw off a radical centaur.
“I don’t have to kill, you know,” Fiona said after several moments of silence. “I can just leave them unconscious.” The blacksmith and horseman looked at her.
“Good to know.” Keegan smiled and gave her a wink. “Will make me sleep easier at night.” She started to retort but the boy gave a little shout.
“I see them,” Arien called back and Ronan turned.
“Them?” he asked, his stomach tightening.
“Ahearn, and he does have her. She is unharmed.” Arien nodded, beaming as he looked at Ronan. “She’s safe.” Ronan could see the relief in the boy’s eyes.
“Good work, Arien.” Relief poured through Ronan as well. He nearly went to his knees. To his surprise, the serpentine warrior touched his arm, as if to let him know she was there. He had thought the warrior women were tough, with no emotion other than the one they carried into combat. This one had shown passion and tenderness.
“You care for your friend deeply,” she said softly.
“I care for all of them deeply,” he corrected. “I wouldn’t have left any of them behind.” He saw Keegan look at him but the horseman said nothing.
“Admirable. And here I thought you were saving me because of my wit and charm.” She giggled when he looked back at her for a moment. She was poking fun at him, throwing his own words back at him. And he liked it. He’d felt a bit of guilt when he’d learned that the wizard had sent her to assist him because he hadn’t been completely honest with her about who he was. But she seemed to understand and wasn’t holding it against him.
Ronan turned when Ahearn emerged the darkness and didn’t hide his smile. “I thought we had lost you.”
Ula shook her head, “You should have learned by now. You can’t get rid of me. And neither can a stupid centaur.” She slid from Ahearn’s back and Arien quickly moved to swap out their horses. “You shaved. I told you that you would look better without that beard.”
“Where were you?” Ronan asked helping her onto Dermot’s back. She settled, adjusting the skirt of her gray dress.
“You aren’t the only one that saw something they liked in the street. I saw a trinket or two of my own. And then the centaur saw me, held up something that looked suspiciously like a stick coated with white paint. So I grabbed the first horse that came looking for me and here I am.” She smiled slyly and then looked past him at the woman. Keegan laughed aloud but Ula’s smile had quickly vanished. Ronan stepped out of the way as the two women stared at one another.
“Fiona,” Ula whispered.
“You!” For a moment neither of them moved, then Fiona brandished an impressive sword. “This woman is a demon!”
Ronan frowned, eyes darting up to Ula’s cool expression.
Seven
Ula slid off of the horse as Fiona advanced with her sword lifted. The horse skittered away as Ronan glanced between the women. This was not good.
“You know better than what you want to accuse me of,” Ula said in a low voice. Ronan’s eyes widened as Fiona’s skin changed, colored in deadly stripes. The yellow flecks of her stare spread until her eyes glowed golden from her face. Scales were appearing on her skin, bright, shiny, and silver.
“What is that?” Keegan murmured as he stepped beside Ronan. The blacksmith shook his head. He didn’t know. He’d never seen anything like it. A long, slender tongue flicked out from between her lips. He remembered the sting it had left on his cheek but Ronan didn’t think she meant to snap it sharply against Ula.
“Theora was my friend, Fiona.” Ula was speaking again, her voice still calm. “But she let the dark forces win her over. There was nothing to be done.” Fiona swung the blade forcefully but Ula ducked out of the way and stepped to the side. The smoothness of the healer’s movement surprised Ronan but did not slow Fiona. The woman whirled, blade extended and sliced the air in half but Ula dodged the sharp of it again.
“You must calm yourself. Listen with your mind, not with your heart.” Ula ducked again.
“You killed her,” Fiona hissed. “She was of no dark force.”
Ronan tried to catch Arien’s arm but the boy darted past him and stepped in front of Ula, facing the serpent woman. He rose as tall as he could manage, jaw set with determination.
“Leave her alone!” The boy shouted. His eyes flicked to Ronan, seeking his approval.
“Get out of the way, Arien,” Ula snapped but the boy stood his ground. Ronan’s eyes widened when Fiona’s hand stretched out, whipping him out of the way. Both her arms looked like the tails of snakes.
Arien cried out as he went tumbling against a tree and Ula’s eyes suddenly glittered dangerously. “Oh no.” Ronan murmured as the wind began to bend. Before he could intervene, Fiona lunged. Ula’s arms wrapped around the woman and catapulted them both high into the air, deep into the dark clouds that looked gray against the night sky.
“Where are they?” Ronan searched the skies.
“There!” Keegan pointed toward the south as two tiny dots fell down into the trees. “They’ve landed in Sledgewood.”
“Get the boy!” Ronan leapt upon Sorcha’s back and kicked her forward. The horse had speed that left Ula’s wind behind. Sorcha darted from the road, through the trees and Ronan worried that he would not make it in time before one of them killed the other.
Lightening snapped down from the sky but to Ronan’s relief it did not hit the ground. But the wind grew fiercer as large drops of rain began to pelt from the clouds above. As long as there was wind, Ula was alive. And then suddenly the air grew still. The clouds dispersed and a dangerous current of emotion charged through Ronan’s body. Oh, no.
“Faster.” His voice cracked and his stomach filled with dread but Sorcha pushed on, carrying them as fast as her legs could go. Into the trees which grew thicker the deeper Ronan rode. Finally, they came upon the two and Sorcha halted abruptly, starting to back away.
