A Feast of Souls: Araneae Nation, Book 2 (14 page)

Bones creaking, he stood. “Where is Wishövi?”

“He’s tending my clansmen.” Vaughn offered his arm. “Your room is on the way to mine.”

“So it is.” Old Father jabbed him in the gut with his walking stick. “Put your arm down. I’m not a female, or an invalid.” He shuffled out, huffing under his breath. “Show your elders some respect.”

“Sleep well, Mana.” Vaughn drummed his fingers on the doorjamb, waiting. “Until tomorrow.”

“Until tomorrow,” I echoed.

“Tomorrow,” he said again, then took Old Father’s arm and walked away.

The sound of a walking stick meeting a hard head echoed. “I told you to show respect…”

I stifled my laugh lest Vaughn hear it.

“Should I ask?” Sikya claimed Old Father’s spot.

Smudges marred the skin beneath her eyes. Her mouth set tight, and I understood there would be no further apologies made for my rough reception or explanations for the missing letters. Not tonight.

“Captives were kept in pairs. Vaughn was paired with me.” I picked fringe on my blanket. “He protected me. If he hadn’t convinced them Lourdes would pay a ransom, I…I wouldn’t sit here now.”

“Hmm.” She worried her sun pendant. “It seems I owe him a debt of thanks. How surprising.”

Her bitterness pricked my temper. “You hold a child’s actions against the man he became.”

“Kowatsi was my brother, a beloved brother.” Her knuckles turned white. “As your maven, I can do what I want.” Her sigh exhausted me. “Vaughn has always been too keen on you. His interest can only lead to heartache for you both. Use your gift. Find your soul mate. Forget Vaughn ever existed.”

She asked for the impossible on too many counts. It seemed this was a night for excess indeed.

“Perhaps Pascale and I will spend the night here.” Ignoring Sikya’s glare, I focused on Pascale. She slept on her cot, curled on her side and facing me. “It would be a shame to wake her when she’s resting so well.” I smoothed a hand over a nubby blanket tossed haphazardly over her thin shoulders.

“Niall’s doing,” Sikya murmured. “Poor thing was shivering so hard she bit her tongue.”

“Shock,” I said, testing Pascale’s cheek. “I haven’t seen her in days.” Not since our mad dash for freedom. “I’m not sure what was done to her, but Niall’s and Rahdi’s reception didn’t help matters.”

“I’ll speak with them about manners.” Sikya smiled indulgently. “Deinopidae are coarse around the edges.” With a reluctant sigh, she stood. “I’ll have appropriate meals delivered to the others, and I will make certain Pascale’s needs are met when she wakes. Will you stay awake long enough to eat?”

Though my stomach was empty, I found myself waving aside her offer. “I think I’d better rest instead.”

“Very well.” Her smile turned soft. “Good night, dearest niece. Sleep well. Welcome home.”

Home.
The word and all it implied sank into my bones, and I slept.

Cool mists swirled about my ankles. I stood alone in a dark room opposite a black canis.

“You did well.”
Brynmor bobbed his head.
“Kira was impressed.”

“Kira is the silver-furred canis?”
I would have to remember that.

“She is.”
He licked his chops.

A fleeting curiosity about his relationship with the pack, and its members, flickered past. His affairs weren’t my business, and not because he was dead, Vaughn’s father or, currently, a canis.

“I’m tired.”
Even in this dream, I yawned.
“I should rest.”
I hoped he took the hint.

He didn’t.

“Tomorrow, you will meet with your maven, and she will confirm what I have said, that the plague came to Cathis. Whether the sickness results from the yellow death or is another disease borne of so much death, Isolde is still in danger. Which means Vaughn is still in danger.”
His lip curled.
“I sense you wish to speak with your elder about our…situation. I will allow you to seek his council, but you will not act without speaking with me first, understand? I have much to do.”

Hope sparked at his words. Exhaustion had wiped the notion of banishment from my mind.

“I think it benefits us both if I learn how to terminate this bond between us.”
He growled, so I added,
“When the time comes, you will wish to ascend to the spiritlands, and I will guide you.”

“If I had wished to ascend, I would have. I’ll thank you to keep your guidance to yourself.”

Interesting. So more than unfinished business kept him in this world.

“In any case…”
I stretched.
“If you’ve finished your demands, then I would like to sleep.”

“Sleep.”
His teeth snapped.
“But heed my warning. You do not wish to cross me, Walker.”

Haze enveloped him, dissolving him and then me, until nothing remained of my dream.

Chapter Nine

Sleep crusted my eyes, and my mouth was foul, but the washstand held no appeal once the raucous laughter from the river reached my ears. Compared to the lure of masculine bodies bared for the sun and my perusal, a pottery bowl filled with tepid water left me certain a walk along the river’s edge was the lift my spirits required. A glimpse at Pascale told me she’d rest a bit longer.

The twinge of guilt slid from my shoulders when I rationalized how long I’d gone without a proper bath.
Too long.
Why should I make due with a splash of water when the river beckoned?

Clean soft cloths and rounds of dayflower soap sat beside the washstand. I grabbed a set and the clean clothes Sikya must have had delivered sometime this morning, and made my decision.

I strolled outside, determined to have that bath.

Outside the healing den, air scented with freshly cut grass filled my lungs, and hot sun made sweat bead on my forehead. At the door, I smiled at a familiar face. “Good morning, Sunkanmi.”

“I expect that depends on who you ask.” He smirked. “Chinedu’s in a right tizzy. Avoid him if you can. Avoid the flesh muncher—” My scowl cut him short. “Avoid
Vaughn
too if you can.”

Whoops rang down the empty street, and I blushed. “Was my destination so obvious?”

“I was talking about last night. Chinedu’s vengeance…” His brown skin flushed. “Hey now, you can’t mean…” He saw my towel, my soap and clothes. “There are naked males in the river.”

My cheeks stung. “I’m not offering to join them if that’s what concerns you.”

“You think they’ll wait for your offer?” Belly laughter shook his frame. “That’s rich.”

I drew myself up taller. “Not all males are as crude as you, Kan.”

He towered over me, staring down his nose. “Not all females are as innocent as you, Mana.”

“I will forgo the river, then, and return to my room.” I huffed. “I’ll use my own washstand.”

The weight of Kan’s stare kept my path true until I passed a trampled grass lane. Mud-caked footprints led down the trail, toward the river and the sacred burial grove. How they tempted me to follow them. I could pay my respects to my ancestors, and then indulge in a thorough washing.

“Your aunt’s house is the big one in the city center.” Kan laughed. “In case you forgot.”

Holding my head high, I said, “I remember.”

Leaving temptation behind, I followed the thoroughfare until I reached my aunt’s house. The mud-brick building rose several rows stacked one above the other. Many generations lived there. I had since my parents died. It was home now, more so than the varanus farm where I’d been born.

Wooden ladders leaned against the lower walls. I tested the familiar rungs, then climbed two levels to my room. Everything was as it always had been. Compared to my lodgings in Erania, it was cramped and drab. Frowning at the thought I might prefer some aspects of Araneidae living, I walked to my window and strained to see the snaking line of the river. From this height, I made out the trio of males wrestling with at least three of my young clansmen. Water and insults flew.

One glance at my washstand gave me my excuse. I ran a finger through the bowl’s center. It was bone-dry. Tossing my supplies inside the bowl, I rested the lip on my hip, then climbed one-handed down the ladder. Rather than risk Kan’s interference, I circled back and took a secondary path to the river. Giddiness quickened my steps. This was a game I hadn’t played in many years.

Not since the last time I’d been lured by the promise of Vaughn’s bare chest glistening wet.

Thick brush lined both sides of the river to shield bathers from passersby. Setting my bowl on the ground, I crept as close as I dared and sat to get comfortable. I cringed as muck dampened the seat of my pants. The washers wouldn’t thank me for that. I’d best do my own laundry, then.

I hummed with appreciation as the males argued over two teams as they prepared for a rematch. Lunging and jabbing ribs, they ducked and splashed while hurling a leather ball from one player to another. I rose onto my knees and parted foliage with my hands for a better view.

Despite the multitude of players, one drew my eye time and again.

His dark hair slicked to his scalp. Eyes crinkled with merriment, and his smile…devastating.

A cold nose pressed to my nape and I yelped. Falling backwards, I sat in the bowl. Brynmor bared his teeth in a canis grin as I scowled and fumed at how best to stand without breaking my bowl. When his ears swiveled, I held my breath, listened. Not a single yell splintered the silence.

“Vaughn will love this.” Bram’s head and shoulders appeared above the tangled brush.

“What did you find? Because if it’s like the last time, I doubt he will…” Lleu stared down at me stuck in my bowl, and he threw his head back with laughter. “I never would have guessed.”

Strong hands gripped my arms and lifted me onto my feet. Suction held the bowl in place.

Or it did until someone slid a finger between the rim and my pants, tracing the ridge stitched down my rear. Wet balsam filled my nose. I flinched when the bowl fell, shattering on my heels.

“It seems we have ourselves a voyeur,” Vaughn purred. “What to do with her, hmm?”

“I have a few ideas.” Bram’s eyes took on a dreamy quality.

Vaughn tensed behind me, and Bram dropped his arm, at least the one I could see.

Lleu recoiled, shoving Bram. A splash resounded. Glaring at Vaughn, Lleu said, “You can’t be serious. She’s a—a healer, the niece of the bloody maven whose hospitality we’re enjoying.”

“I know.” Vaughn rasped wicked fangs over my pulse. “Delicious, isn’t she?”

Casting about for my clansmen for help, I saw they had left me to my fate.
Cowards.

“Don’t do it.” Lleu pointed a finger and waggled it at Vaughn. “She’s a
lady
.”

“Well…since you put it like that…” Vaughn’s warmth retreated.

Exhaling, I offered Lleu a timid smile. “Thank you for that—
eep
.”

My feet sailed over my head as Vaughn swung me high in his arms. Tucking me against his chest, he asked, “Did you just squeak, little mouse?” He brushed an impulsive kiss on my mouth.

Nails digging in his shoulders, I held on as he walked. “You said this—
we
—weren’t wise.”

“No.” He frowned. “I said I wasn’t sure following you to your room was wise.
We
are not a topic up for debate.” One fang pressed into his full bottom lip. “I will have you, Mana, but not in that way, not until you know who I am and accept it, accept me, for what I am and can’t change.”

Pulse fluttering, I clung to him. “What are you saying?”

“Hold your breath.”

“What?”

“Hold. Your. Breath.” He rocked me once, then tossed me.

Heart pounding, I gasped before water closed over my head. The river was
cold
.

Kicking off the sediment, I shot upward and gulped air. “
You
.” I could think of no worse insult.

His warm, male arms surrounded me while firm, masculine lips covered my mouth. He swallowed my gasp when the hot length of him brushed against me. His groan was pained, and I admitted I craved the sound. Fingers curled into my palm, I kept from exploring. Oh I wanted to.

Now I understood what I had interrupted the day Rhys had brought Lourdes to the river.

“We must stop.” Tradition curbed my need. I shoved him. “Water is sacred to my people.”

“I’m well aware.” Vaughn’s hips rocked against me. “How devout are you, exactly?”

Laughter welled inside of me, and at my first throaty chuckle, he joined me.

“Very,” I answered, slapping his shoulder. “Help me to the sandbar.”

He did as I asked, releasing me with reluctance I found endearing. “Will you bathe?”

“I won’t with you.” I glared at Bram and Lleu. “And I won’t with them watching.”

Both males waved, grinning, sitting in their underclothes, dangling their feet into the water.

“We’re done here. Enjoy yourself.” Vaughn waded closer. “I’ll see to it you’re left alone.”

I collected my soap. “Can I trust you’ll keep your eyes to yourself?”