Slip Song (Devany Miller Series) (23 page)

“
Fine.” I grabbed the side, hopped along for a moment as I tried to get my foot high enough to climb back on. Jasper reached down to pull me up when the wagon hit a bump, sending me sprawling. I rolled quick enough to avoid the wheels.

And then the horn sounded.

Sharps yelled, “No! Wait!”

But of course, it was too late.

In the time it took me to blink they were gone. The wagons were gone and I was alone in the Anwar.

-SIXTEEN-

They would come back for me. That thought sustained me for a mile and a half. Then I realized I had no fucking clue what they would do. Oh, I was sure Jasper would want to find me. Nex, too, if he wasn’t too absorbed in Quorra’s endowments. But Leon? No way in hell would he stop.

The landscape was beautiful. It reminded me of the Pine Ridge forest. Pine trees, the smell of sap and sage thick in the air, the buzz of cicadas to sing me along the way. My steps slowed as I realized that there hadn’t been a forest here a second ago. Had there?

My footsteps were muffled by the thick carpet of pine needles and matted grass. I’d been following the wagon train but now there wasn’t a sign that anything had come this way, let alone twenty, thirty wagons. Shit.

Wait. Duh. I could hook. I closed my eyes, picturing the bed and opening the way. I stepped through―onto sand. Beach. Water. The shriek of a seagull as it banked and dove at the choppy sea. Far in the distance, I saw the crack of lightning and a bank of monstrous clouds. A thick, black tornado danced in the chaos and I shivered at the sight of it. “Slip. To the Slip.”  I’d get back to the wagon from there. Shutting my eyes, I formed the hook, holding Tytan’s manse in my mind before stepping through—

—and onto a flat, grassy plain. “Damn it!”

The wind carried my shout away. Grass grew in every direction, gold grass, green, blue, silver. The shush of the wind reminded me of the ocean I’d just been standing next to, only this was a dryer sound and somehow intelligent. In fact, if I stood really still I thought I could understand what it was saying.

Panic hit me. Stop listening to the damned grass and get the fuck out of here, I shouted to myself. To Neutria, I said, “Any ideas?”

Wild magic plays. Wild magic is unpredictable.

“Yeah. No shit. How do I get out of here? I mean, if that blond, sister-beating asshole could find his way out, then of course I can.” He came out crazy, but I tried to ignore that part of the story.

A howl, somewhere in the distance made me curse. Loudly. I so didn’t need to meet anymore things. Hadn’t I seen enough? Wasn’t there a limit and hadn’t I reached that limit? I made a hook, picturing my bedroom at home. Without hope that I would make it, I stepped through and ended up on the edge of a valley, standing next to a burbling creek that rushed over rocks and danced gaily out of sight. Snow capped mountains wreathed the valley. In the distance I saw what looked like huts, smoke spiraling out of some of the conical tipped roofs.

Civilization! Yes. Following the stream, I headed for the buildings, sure that I could find normalcy and a way out if I only could reach those buildings.

Another howl. It sounded closer. How the hell was that possible? Hadn’t I left it far behind when I hooked? I sped up, my eyes trained to the tricky ground, jumping over tumbled branches and avoiding holes. I tripped once and went sprawling, catching my arm on bark and ripping a hole in my skin. My other arm went into the stream, wetting my sleeve up to my elbow. Wet, bleeding, and scared, I pushed on, running despite the danger of putting my eye out on the next sharp stick.

More howls, some yips, a few screes of a hunting hawk. I ran faster, my breath burning in my lungs. I asked Neutria for more strength and she provided, allowing me to go farther, faster. I could hear things behind me but the buildings were close and I knew, I just knew that I would be safe if I could reach those huts. I could see the perimeter barrier: lodestones hung on posts that circled the village, just like they used around the wagon train.

“
Almost there. Neutria. Help.”

She pushed. I poured every last bit of strength into my legs, twenty feet, ten feet. Something snagged on my shirt. I shrieked, throwing myself across the barrier, sliding like a baseball player into home. I fetched up against one of  the bushy, grass covered structures, banging my head on the foundation. I wasn’t breathing so much as gasping as I rolled over onto my back and gazed at the creatures who had harried me into the village.

I’d been sure I would see the giant hyena grinning at me and ignored the twinge of disappointment that he wasn’t there. Then I heard footsteps behind me and a deep voice said, “Ah, so we meet again.”

I flipped hard, shoving myself to my feet, pulling a muscle in my side as I twisted upward. It wasn’t the hyena that stood before me, but a man with yellow eyes and a predatory grin. I just stared, unable to draw a steady breath to make my voice work.

He barked something in another language and a shiver thrummed through the village. As the animals walked over what I’d thought was a protection barrier, they changed into people. Most of them. Some shimmered into other animals, cats or dogs instead of fanged and clawed predators. They stood around me, most of them glaring, none smiling but their leader. Kroshtuka. “Welcome to Odd Silver. Home of Meat Clan. You will be our guest.”

I pressed my hand to my throbbing side. “At least I’m not on the menu.”

He grinned. “Yet.”

Oh for the love of god. No one should be that good looking saying shit like that.

He laughed and I realized I’d said that out loud. “Come. My sister will bind your wounds and my brothers will feed you.”

I heard disparaging remarks that my host didn’t bother to address. I thought that was rather lax of him but apparently he ruled with a softer hand than I imagined a hyena would use. “Stranger.” “Witch.” “Smelly fish thing.” I resented that one and touched a hand to my gills, wondering if I would ever be rid of them.

His hut wasn’t any bigger than any of the others. His sister was a soft spoken woman who cleaned my cut and pressed a poultice of leaves and something smelly against my arm, binding it there with a piece of white cloth. It stopped the stinging and pain instantly. “Wow. Thank you.”

She didn’t respond, just gathered up her things and left. A man walked in next, carrying a tray with a mound of raw meat on it. He placed it in front of me and backed out of the room.

“Go ahead. Guests eat first.”

Raw meat. The idea of it made me feel sick but my stomach growled. Stupid stomach. It could have worms. Then you’d be sorry for being so greedy. “I—”

“To not eat is a grave insult.”

I eyed him. He didn’t look serious, damn it, but there was a growl in his voice that made me nervous. Since there weren’t any utensils, I picked up a thin slice and nibbled at it. My stomach protested such daintiness. Loudly. He laughed again, stretching out on a mat of furs that laid perpendicular to the ones I sat on. I bit off a piece, surprised that it actually tasted good. Yeah, I’d gone through a rare steak phase after ending up with the heart in my belly but rare is still a far step away from raw.

Neutria rejoiced.

After I’d eaten the entire strip, he dug in, eating with zest, his strange yellow eyes still on me. His intense gaze made me nervous and I couldn’t figure out if it was just cultural or if he wanted to intimidate me. It worked, though I tried to hid it.

I ate more than I thought, leaving Neutria practically purring inside me. A spider. Purring. This is what my life was now. Fucking weirdness piled on oddity and wrapped in a nice, neat bow of bizarre. “Thank you. It was really good.”

“
Of course. I killed the capra myself. A tender juvenile, six months from its mother’s teat. Did you taste that innocence?”

“
Er. No.”

Yes. This one is hunter. Take him. Mate.

‘Neutria. Stop telling me to mate with every dude that comes by.’ My cheeks heated and I was glad he couldn’t hear her.

Do not mate with two-legged grey one. Not with your old mate. With Skriven. With this one.

‘Fine. Wait. Why not Jasper?’

Her laughter chittered through my head but she didn’t answer. My eyes snagged on his.

“You are dual-natured like me.” A statement of fact. Very confident, this one.

“
Yeah,” I said, unwilling to volunteer information. Who knew how he would react to an assassin spider? For all I knew, they could be natural enemies.

No. But I could kill this one. Good fight. Hard. But I would win.

Why she was so chatty now but not back at the Carnicus camp I had no clue. Maybe the meat had perked her up. The scent of hormones in the air.

“
Your eyes go distant when you talk to your other self.”

I snagged another piece of meat. “Okay.”

“I am the hyena and he is me. We are one. How is it that you split from your other nature?”

I shrugged. The answer of teenagers everywhere. “Don’t know.”

“I think I will keep you here.”

“
What? No.” He frowned and I held up the capra. “This is good. But I have important things to do. And I have kids I have to get back to as well.” I started to rise but his growl stalled my movements. “Come on.”

“
Sit.”

I sat.

“Perhaps I will let you go. On two conditions.”

Right. Here it comes.

“One, you hunt with me in your other form.”

I opened my mouth.

“Quiet.” Another command and my mouth snapped shut. What was that about? No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t open my mouth.

‘
Neutria?’

He has strong magic. Leader magic. Wait. I will break it.

“Second, you wrap your legs around my waist and we mate.”

Neutria sunk her fangs into a spot in my mind and my lips unstuck. “No.” Okay, I said no, but my eyes dipped down to check him out. Stupid eyes.

He shrugged. “You can stay until you agree. I will not force anything on you.”

I dragged my gaze away from his abs. He had some mighty fine definition. “But you’ll hold me hostage here. That’s kind of the same thing.”

“You are free to leave.”

Right. I popped another bite into my mouth and took my time chewing. He waited, a slight smile playing on his lips. When I finally swallowed, I asked, “What’s the catch?”

“You won’t find your way out of the Wilds on your own.”

I pressed my fingers to my eyes, bone tired right at that moment. “I’m not screwing you, dude. I don’t even know you.” But I was tempted. Wait. No. No I wasn’t. “I’ll hunt with you on a condition of my own.”

He raised his eyebrows.

“
That you promise you or your people won’t kill me.”

“
Why do you think I would kill you?”

I eyed the meat, appalled at how hungry I still was. “Because I’m not a cute furry beast when I change. I’m big and I’m mean and I may be dangerous to you.”

He laughed, a huge, expansive sound that filled the tiny hut. “You cannot harm me, stranger.”

“
I might.”

Easy. One bite and he would be mine.

It was oogy when Neutria got bloodthirsty or mate-happy. And when those two things mingled? Ew.

He nodded. “Thank you. I will take my chances.”

“Tell you what. If I can bring down a kill before you do, then you escort me to safety and let me go free. No mating.” You’d better be right, Neutria, or I just committed myself to red hot monkey sex with this beefcake.

He considered that. Well, my out loud proposal. Thank goodness he couldn’t read minds. “And if I win?”

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll give you a foot massage.”

His eyes danced with merriment. I swear they did, craziest thing. “If I bring down the kill first, you stay here and I learn how your body moves under mine.”

Selling my body for safe passage. How the hell did I get to this point? Unclean living and too many late nights, probably. “Fine.” I had no idea if he would uphold his bargain if I won—

—
when we win—

Right. When. He held his hands out, palm up and waited. I arched a brow then laid my hands on his. Sparks flew around them, landing on the fur and sending up the stink of burnt hair before burning itself out. “It is done. May the best animal win.”

I ain’t no animal. “Deal.”

“
Excellent.” He stretched out again on the furs, his muscled body a study in strength and economy. And drool-worthy. God. If I wasn’t careful I’d be jumping his bones without any asking on his part.

“
Can’t we just get this whole hunting thing over and done with so I can get going?”

He bit into another piece of meat, his eyelids sweeping down over his eyes. “You are so confident.”