A Feast of Souls: Araneae Nation, Book 2 (5 page)

Another shift in Lleu’s bulk and wind hit me full force. He had exposed me to Vaughn.

“Mana.” He said my name softly. I startled when gloves caked with ice brushed my cheeks. “I will set this to rights.” He called out to our companions, “Once we crest this ridge, we stop for the night. I’ll take the females inside the shelter. The rest of you make camp. No fires. Eat only your dried rations.”

“I saw a family of snowy lepus earlier,” a deep voice rumbled. “No reason to waste rations.”

“If the stringy meat of a cottontail is worth contracting the plague, then by all means, hunt. I saw the yellow death’s work on the wildlife in this area. I would rather chew pemmican and grit my teeth than get a mouthful of that foul meat,” Vaughn said. “It’s your life and your risk to take.”

“He’s right,” another male added. “The closer we get to the veil, the warmer it becomes and the more animals we will encounter. There’s a greater risk of southland wildlife being infected.”

“The yellow death won’t take me.” The first male sounded resigned. “Rations it is.”

“Now that’s settled,” Vaughn said. “Lleu, stick close to me. Asher, take his place in line.”

“Yes, sir,” the second voice replied. He clicked his tongue and footsteps fell, then silence.

“It’s not much farther now.” Vaughn cradled my cheek. “I swear it.”

My head bobbled as I locked down my panic. “I’m fine.”
I am. My eyes will thaw. It’s fine.

“Hold tight to Lleu, Mana, you’re slipping to one side,” Vaughn ordered. “Let’s move out.”

Pressing my face to Lleu’s back, I wrapped my arms around him and held tight as Rouge’s gate lengthened. I strained to hear something beyond the white noise stuffing my ears, but at best I heard the whoosh of sleet-laden air, the thud of paws and the creak of swaying trees.

An eternity later, I stopped rocking in the saddle and realized Rouge stood still.

“Sit tight.” Lleu jostled me as he dismounted. “I’ll be right back.”

I shivered at the loss of his body heat and gripped the saddle horn tighter. Blind and stuck on the back of an ursus was not how I had envisioned spending my night, but I’d made this choice, no matter how poor, so now was no time to covet the warm bed or soft robe I’d left back in Erania.

I startled when firm hands grasped my waist. “Lleu?”

“No,” Vaughn said, his fingers digging into my hips. “He’s inside. May I?”

“Yes?” I hadn’t meant it to sound like a question. “I mean, yes, please.”

He lifted me as if I were a snowflake and he a breeze.

Pressure nudged the soles of my feet, and I believed he tried to stand me on the ground, but I was numb and my knees wouldn’t lock. I toppled forward, grasping at air and finding broad male shoulders to stab with my glove-covered nails. “I should have heeded your warning and waited.”

“Perhaps.” He scooped my legs from under me. “If you had waited for Rhys and Lourdes to make their trip, after this storm, you might have been stuck in the northlands until spring. I don’t know about you, but I miss the sun. I miss walks that don’t require torchlight. Three more weeks belowground would have tested me. I don’t mind visiting, but I wouldn’t want to live in Erania.”

I shared his sentiments exactly.

Cheeks flushed, I hoped my face thawed so I could offer him a corresponding smile to match the thanks I owed him. To keep from relaxing into Vaughn’s warmth, I kept my body stiff as ice.

“I don’t suppose the weather played a part in your scheme to leave early?” I wondered.

“So now you imagine I can manipulate the elements as well?” He chuckled. “How skilled you believe me to be.” His steps slowed. “The elders foretold the coming storm, that’s true. Why waste an opportunity to bog down our enemies?” He paused. “If I hadn’t felt certain reaching the shelter was possible, I wouldn’t have risked the trip. I’m not as reckless as you pretend me to be.”

“When did I call you reckless?” He was far from it. “Calculating. Now that title suits you.”

“You wound me.” A grunt and a firm shove of his shoulder and the wind stopped. “I brought you this far.” He set me lightly on what must be a stool. “I suppose I might as well tend to you.” His footsteps scuffed to and fro. “We have dry wood. That’s a good start.”

“Am I still wearing my satchel?” I asked, only half jesting. I was too numb to tell.

“Yes.”

“Then open it. Find my supply roll. One of the tins has a flame stamped on the lid.”

Vaughn tugged the satchel down my arms, not my intention, but I was too stiff to make much of a fuss.

As metal clinked, I winced. I’d almost rather go without heat than let him rifle in my things.

“Striker, flint, starter—you were prepared.” Something brushed my leg. I assumed he set my satchel at my feet. “Since you bring the gift of fire, I suppose my offer to tend you was merited.”

I would have laughed if it didn’t hurt to breathe.

“Admit it.” The familiar sounds of a fire starting drifted to me. “You find me charming.”

“I find you…” I struggled for words less insulting than the truth, “…kinder than I recalled.”

“Hmm.” Had he moved closer? “And how did you recall me?”

“You were Rhys’s older, more intimidating brother.”
And you terrified me.

With a hearty sigh that weighed on my conscience, he cupped my elbows and got me on my feet. Wood scraped as he kicked the stool closer to where warmth ebbed from the crackling fire.

“Sit. I’ll melt some snow and find a rag.” Hinges groaned. Frigid air nipped at my cheeks. A door shut. Fabric tore. More metal grated. I removed my gloves and touched my eyes before he lowered my hands. We sat like that for a bit, until, “Let’s get those eyes of your open, shall we?”

I let him tilt my head back. Water dripped to my right. Then a hot cloth was draped over the upper portion of my face. I sighed with bliss as Vaughn dipped and dabbed at me. “Thank you.”

His hands stilled, and his reply took so long I gave up on it coming. “You’re welcome.”

I leaned into his touch and relished playing the role of patient for once.

Several hot cloths later, light seeped beneath a crack in my lids. For some reason I held my tongue and used the opportunity to steal a glimpse of Vaughn. His face filled my vision. His eyes were warm and held sparks from the fire. His brow crinkled, and his large, warrior’s hands were so adept as they wrung water from the cloth—which I now saw was a scrap from his shirt—and cleared the melting ice from my face. Seeing him like this snapped some tight thing in my chest.

Water splashed as he tossed the rag. Big hands cupped my cheeks. “Try to open your eyes.”

Blinking came easy. Though my lids were raw, pain was a distant hurdle while Vaughn kept his hands on me. His expression was too gentle, too soft. Surely it was a trick borne of firelight.

When he leaned down, his lips a whisper from mine, I held my breath.

The crash of the frozen door on its hinges broke the spell. Whatever softness I had imagined hardened before my eyes. Vaughn withdrew from me, the rag falling from his fingers. His gaze locked on Pascale. She stumbled when a male shoved her into the room, then sealed us all inside.

“Watch your step.” The male grasped the female’s cloak, preventing her fall, and fabric tore. He scanned the nook, his attention falling on me. “Her eyes are raw as blood. Can she see at all?”

“Mana sees perfectly well.” Vaughn prompted me by squeezing my knee.

“I am well.” I made a point of meeting the male’s gaze. “Thank you for asking.”

“I’m glad.” He inclined his head. “I’m Bram, and I’m at your service.”

Packed into the cramped shelter, I got my first good look at the male, at Bram. He towered over the female, built wider than her by half and yet still I found him slight compared to Vaughn. That realization coaxed a delicious shiver. When I met Bram’s eyes, he winked, and his cocky grin bent my lips in an answering smile. Tearing my gaze from him, I appraised his charge. Her sole focus remained on the ground, and she shuffled, as if afraid she might trip over her own feet.

Vaughn strode purposefully to her side. He forced her head back with none of the tenderness he’d shown me. “You’re my responsibility now.” He tapped his nose. “I’m well-acquainted with your scent. Remember I’ve tracked you once. I won’t be as nice about it a second time. Whatever games you played to reach this point, they are over. Run from me, and I will make you regret it.”

A muscle worked in her jaw, but she nodded.

While Vaughn glowered, the male shoved him aside, away from Pascale, to reach me.

“So you’re the illustrious Kokyangwmana of the Salticidae, the Savior of Paladin Rhys.” His eyes crinkled at the corners. “However you did it, I’m impressed you were able to save Rhys. He should have died—” Vaughn’s snarl cut him short. “What I meant was treatment was tricky, due to the area being isolated. Theridiidae venom is potent.” His grin bared fangs. “I should know.”

“You’re Theridiidae, I take it?” What an odd bedfellow for the Araneidae.

Though my arm had lifted to accept his introduction, Vaughn grasped my wrist.

“Mana is my dear brother’s cousin.” He addressed Bram with no small amount of sarcasm, a reminder of the strain between brothers. “Show her your fangs again and I will show you mine.”

Breaking Vaughn’s hold, I returned to my spot by the fire and ignored their male posturing. I rubbed the bite mark on my palm across my knee until I located cloth for rebinding the wound.

Skirting the fray, the female approached. “We need no introduction, but I’m Pascale.” Her head lifted. “I understand I owe you thanks for undoing at least some small part of what I did.”

“You owe me no thanks,” I said. “Your burden of guilt wasn’t a consideration of mine.”

The timid smile she wore slipped. “Still, you have my gratitude.”

Though it wasn’t my place, I couldn’t stop the words from tumbling out. “I don’t know you. I don’t know what you’ve done or what choices brought you here. I won’t blame you, as Vaughn appears to, for Rhys’s incident. I understand he’s a warrior and he accepted the probability of receiving a similar injury while dealing with a venomous clan.” Ice crept into my voice. “But he is like a brother to me. Where you’re going is my home. The people who’ve chosen to show you mercy are my family and my friends. If you harm them, or if you allow your actions, no matter how innocent, no matter how unintended, to harm them, I’ll ban your soul to the Below as a warning that Salticidae suffer no fools, and I’ll give you all of eternity to serve your penance.”

Pascale’s eyes widened, and she glanced to Bram in the hope of being rescued from me.

“You’d be wise not to anger Mana,” he warned. “She’s a skilled herbologist if nothing else.”

Bram winked at me, as if he’d done me a favor by validating me.
Fear not the spirit walker, fear her knowledge of herbs.
I had called down the worst fate imaginable, and he boiled the threat down to herbology, as if walkers were no more than Henri—idle dabblers—in herbal medicine.

“You’d both be wise not to insult Mana’s vocation.” Vaughn shouldered past Bram to reach my side. He knelt at my feet and stared into my face, probably checking my eyes. “She’s a direct line to the two gods, and I doubt they’d thank you for calling their emissary a glorified gardener.”

I almost corrected him. When a walker claimed to speak to the gods, well, there was nothing to be done for them. Walk the line between worlds for too long and you lose perspective. But try as I might, I found no words willing to be strung together except
thank you
for believing in me.

His knuckles brushed my cheek, and for a moment my gut clenched.

“I fear you were right when you said I found you charming.” I sounded breathless.

His dark eyes didn’t so much as blink. His fingers didn’t so much as twitch. The only change was a slight curl of his lip. Knowing him as well as I did, I was unsurprised to see a hint of fang.

Chapter Four

Sunlight glittered on melting ice. Today was scarce degrees warmer than last night, but a bit of sunlight and a good night’s sleep made all the difference in my outlook. Lashes fluttering to prevent a repeat of yesterday’s mishap, I almost dismissed a shadow flickering at the edge of the trees as a trick of the light. Blinking hard against the swirl of morning snow, I spotted a tall male with one shoulder resting against a peeling trunk, and my palm began itching over the bite mark.

I nudged Lleu’s leg with mine. “Look to your left. What do you see?”

Lifting his chin, he inhaled before turning his head. “Trees, snow, ice…not much else.”

Dread tightened my voice. “You don’t see a…person?”

“I told you Vaughn would smell the Theridiidae coming. Your imagination is tricking you, or the glare is giving you a blind spot.” He paused. “How are your eyes? Should I tell Vaughn…?”

“No.” I waved away his offer. “I’m fine.”

Dragging my gaze from the figure, I gave Lleu a timid smile. Once reassured, he returned to his thoughts. Determined to prove my sanity, I studied each tree as we passed them, but the male had vanished again. Between the sunlight and the snow, the world was a squint-inducing glare.