“We could use some help locating this Spring,” Roarke says.
“What’s at the end of the track?” Teegan asks, excitedly waving towards the path that Roarke and I followed to find Eydis’ body.
“Nothing,” Roarke says, standing purposefully, stretching his limbs, and looking like he’s trying not to be offended by her question.
“It follows the water, and a Spring is water. That direction is logical,” Teegan presses.
“It doesn’t start or end at a magical Spring. It starts on top of a cliff. Sheer rock. We climbed it – nothing but that great big tree on top and a trickle of water flowing from beneath its roots,” Seth says.
“And there’s no power in this stream, so that water doesn’t come from the spring,” Roarke adds.
“That doesn’t make sense,” Teegan says, each word slow and confused. She’s not the smartest weapon in this arsenal. “We’ll help you,” she finally says, the smile on her lips saying she doesn’t believe him, and the way she’s looking at Roarke says she’d enjoy spending time with him to prove she’s right – and other stuff.
It’s the other stuff that burns through my nose.
Several small conversations spark up. Killian walks over to Pax. Roarke moves towards Jada, and Teegan’s gaze lands on me – hard.
Come-near-me-and-I-might-kill-you kind of hard.
A shiver down my arms, the slightest sign that she might be using a power on me. Which power, or why, or what she’s hoping to achieve is beyond me. I don’t fail to notice that none of my guys have picked up on the issue here.
One other male, such as that mage Leon, comes near me, and Roarke loses his shit. Seven females come wandering into far too close proximity to my guys, and they expect that we’re all going to play nice.
Do they have brains?
I feel the overwhelming need to put something in their boots, but push the idea aside – they are currently wearing their boots.
Later. Definitely… later.
I feel like I’m sitting here cutting onions and have to wipe at the stray bit of moisture in the corner of my eye.
“Rose, can your people acquire some supplies? Meat from the forest, staples from the village. Not enough to draw suspicion, but we’ve little-to-nothing in stores here,” Pax calls across, then he turns his back to them, continuing his private conversation with Killian on the periphery of the group.
Hearing him shout to Rose shouldn’t make me jealous, but damn, it does. The sensation gnaws at my insides.
Just let me near them, and I’ll prove what I’m made of, I think, then quickly smother the idea because neither of those things are going to end well.
A hand lands on my shoulder, and I jump to my feet, turning to find Seth smiling at me.
“We might need to get some more wood,” he says, pointing at the one lonely piece left over by the fire.
“Does that involve getting far away from here?” I plead.
“Sure does,” he says with a wink.
I climb to my feet and up onto the log, which makes me pleasantly taller than he is. From this vantage point I consider for half a second that just maybe I could show them what I’m made of – if given the chance.
“Why do you look so happy?” I ask, hopping down and following him as he walks clean through the Sabers.
Most of them are still standing in the frame of the logs, comparing ideas about supplies or directions for the Spring – lively chatter among friends and comrades now that the serious business of the get-together is over. They part for Seth, and I move in closer to him, almost attaching myself like a real shadow.
“She isn’t a Saber,” Teegan says, and their attention shifts sharply to me. “What’s the point of her now?”
I try to straighten my back and square my shoulders – to move with Seth’s kind of confidence. As much as I would love the opportunity to just rub one of their faces in a goat’s ass.
“Just let me near her, and I’ll prove what she’s made of,” Rose says, an almost identical match to my earlier thoughts, her hand darting out to grab my arm and yank me back from Seth.
Seth gives me a sharp smile and a nod.
Bralls, he just set me up.
I grit my teeth, drawing in measured breaths as my body hints at submission – then rejects the idea. It shouldn’t reject the idea. I can feel Rose’s power tensing around me.
But instead of bowing and begging, I suck in my abdomen and lift my chin high to face the woman.
Her eyes are a coppery brown, and the pure blond of her shorter than short hair is mesmerizingly beautiful.
She’s taller than me. More muscular than me, too. And now that I’m this close I can see the long-healed pattern of nicks and scars all over her body, thin lines barely perceptible against her smooth black skin.
Three things make themselves obvious as I consider my next move and try to get my brain to work faster than my mouth. One – if Pax rips her apart, he’s going to lose his army before he’s managed to muster them – and if I can’t fix this, he will rip them apart in ten minutes. Two – I have weapons, but I am pretty sure drawing them against this woman is only going to hurt me. And three – Rose is the meanest looking she-bull among them, which makes her the perfect target.
There’s a hunger in the air. A deep desire to restore order. Sabers are born, not made, and Kitten is diminishing their self-worth simply by existing, by them sensing – knowing – that she isn’t like them.
Thane is chomping at the bit, but he is one of those secret weapons we want to keep to ourselves. It would cost us this war if that wolf kills one of his own warriors. Or all of them. Blood on his muzzle over the weakest link in this realm’s chain,
