The Mountains Rise (36 page)

Tyrion ate in the house that evening, much to Helen’s relief. He even managed an
apology, but he didn’t talk much aside from that. His mother wasn’t satisfied with
that
,
but his father stopped her with a touch.

“It’s enough, Helen,” he told her. “Let him be.”

There was a new face at the table that night, Haley Banks. The girl sat close beside
Helen, as if hoping she might protect her from the devil that sat just a few feet
away. Tyrion didn’t bother trying to win her over. Whatever the little girl thought
about him was entirely deserved.

The next morning was harder. He had slept in his old room again, and now he had to
face his parents before leaving. Breakfast was filled with awkward silences.

“Do you really have to go, Daniel?” asked his mother.

He nodded.

“Let me
trim your hair again
at least. If you have to go back
,
I’d rather you look like a man rather than some scruffy vagabond,” she suggested.

He started to refuse
,
but he caught the look on his father’s face. The message was clear,
let her have this.
“That would be nice, Mom. Thank you.”

That earned him a smile.

When the clipping and trimming was done
,
he had to admit he looked much more civilized. His beard was short and neat
,
and the rat’s nest that had been on top of his head was now gone, replaced by a modest
and respectable cut.
Lyralliantha’s not going to recognize me,
he thought
,
as he examined his reflection.

They watched him pack his meager belongings and supplies on his horse after that.
Haley hid behind Helen’s skirt the entire time
,
but her eyes never left him. When
Daniel
had finished he gave his father a hug and did the same for his mother.

Haley let out
a
squeak of dismay when he approached Helen and ducked back inside the house.

“What are you planning to do with her?” he asked his parents.

“If she’s agreeable,” said his mother, “She can live with us. If not, she can live
with Kate and Seth, or even with
Owen
and Brenda.”

For a second Tyrion thought about protesting the last option, but it wasn’t his place.
“You won’t let Larry have her back. Promise me that,” he demanded.

“No,” said Helen with a sigh. “We heard what you said about him. I’ll make sure
he never comes near her.” There was steel in her voice.

He nodded and mounted the horse, flicking the reins and causing it to turn away, back
toward the trail that would lead him out of the hills.

“Daniel…” called his mother.

“It’s Tyrion now,” he told her again. “I don’t want to associate what I am now with
the
man that you raised me to be
.”

She looked unhappy
,
and her husband frowned b
ut she went on, “We love you, w
hatever you want to call yourself. Remember that.”

Alan nodded in agreement. “Make your own choices, son. Remember.”

Tyrion dipped his head in acknowledgement and urged the horse onward. Another minute
and they’d be watching him cry. That wasn’t what he wanted them to remember.

Instead they’ll remember yo
u as the violent psychopath who threatened the entire town and tortured several people.
Not crying in front of them will definitely improve that impression.

“Shut up,” he told himself when he had gotten out of earshot.

He followed the path that passed for a road from the Tennick household to town. It
was barely more than a couple of
worn dirt
ruts
. It wound through
the sloping field that led down toward the river
where it
crossed between their place and Kate’s house. He would turn off when he reached
the river, following the smaller game trails that led alongside it toward the flatter
lands where the deep woods began. A woman waited for him at his turning point.

I should have known she’d want a final word.

His magesight warned him of her presence long before he was within sight of her
,
and he contemplated taking a detour. It would be inconvenient and would slow him
down, but if he decided to bypass that area
,
she would never know, at least not until it was far too late.

Tyrion would slip past and avoid an emotional goodbye,
he told himself.

The horse continued to walk placidly along while he fought a fierce internal battle.
It didn’t help that she was alone. He was still arguing with himself when she came
into view.

“I had a feeling you’d try to
leave without a farewell,” said Catherine Sayer, stepping out to block the horse’s
path. She had left her hair unbound
,
and it floated around her now, caught up in the breeze and highlighted by the sun.
It enveloped her like a living flame, beautiful and ever moving.

She did that on purpose,
he noted.
She has been keeping it braided.
Trust Kate to fight dirty. “You guessed correctly,” he said.

Moving around to the horse’s left side she stood by the stirrup. “So you’re off to
die
,
and you honestly thought it would be better to avoid seeing me one
last
time?”

There was the hint of incipient violence in her aura, but Daniel had long ago taken
up the habit of shielding himself
,
even when it wasn’t necessary.
O
n the off chance that she decided to brain him with a rock or some such
, he figured he would probably survive
. “I’ve never given you a moment’s joy, Cat,” he answered. “Hard as it is, the best
thing I can do is
avoid making anything worse for you.”

“Daniel…” she began.

“Tyrion now,” he corrected.

Her eyes narrowed, “Like hell! If you’re go
ing to call me
‘Cat’
,
then I’ll damn well call you by the name you grew up with,
Daniel Tennick
!” She put extra emphasis on his name
,
and as she did
,
she slapped his foot from the stirrup with one hand and jumped upward, giving him
a hard shove. Daniel found himself falling
,
and he struck the ground hard on the other side of the horse. She caught the reins
as it started to bolt.

“What the hell was that for?!” he snapped at her from the ground.

She led the horse away and tied it to a tree not far from where he had fallen. Smirking
at him
,
she replied, “That was so we could have a nice talk before you run off again.”

In point of fact he had just
considered
spurring the horse on to avoid that very thing. He grinned before he could stop himself.
“You are the most stubborn woman I have ever known.”

“The feeling is mutual
, jackass,” she said dryly, leaning over him.

He reached up, thinking she might take his hand and help him up
,
but she shoved it aside and instead sat down on him.

“Ummm, Cat…?” he said questioningly. Their position was problematic
,
and she was sitting unabashedly atop what would be his lap if she allowed him to
sit up.
He released the shield around himself without a second thought.

“Shhh,” she said, putting a finger to his lips. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to rape
you.”

He almost started laughing then.
I was beginning to think she was like her mother,
he thought, but kept it to himself. He knew she wouldn’t find any humor in the remark.
Her lips stole his thoughts before he could come up with a reply. She was holding
his shirt and kissing him as though she might devour him entirely. There was nothing
chaste in it.

Heart pounding
,
he couldn’t close his e
yes. He wanted to see her face;
he wanted to know it was her and no one else. Seconds later he
r
own lids opened
,
and he fell into an emerald sea, drowning in the intensity of her gaze. The moment
stretched out, becoming minutes
,
and he felt the unquenchable thirst in his heart rise up like some terrible beast
while his body responded in its own predictably male fashion. Tears began to run
from the corners of his eyes.

Kate pulled away, breathless, “Why are you crying?” She was blurry in his vision.

“I don’t know,” he answered, unable to describe the emotions coursing through him.

“That’s because you’re stupid,” she told him matter-of-factly. “You’re crying because
you love me
,
and you have to leave.”

He nodded, letting
his hands run through her hair
while
he took
deep breaths. She smelled like spring, or at least what he thought spring
should
smell like, clean and fresh.

“Say it, Daniel.”

“I love you,” he uttered without resistance.

“I love you too,” she answered.

“You shouldn’t have done this,” he told her.

She shifted slightly, letting him sit up while being careful not to put too much pressure
on certain parts of him. “Perhaps you weren’t aware,” she replied, “but I don’t give
a damn.”

“Does Seth know about this?”

“Yes.”

“What did he say?” he asked.

She had both hands on the sides of his head while she studied his features. “He wasn’t
happy.
He knows I still love you, but he couldn’t stop me. He loves you too, although his
feelings are considerably more conflicted than mine.”

His arms held her while she continued to sit on him, wrapped around him without the
slightest sign of shame. His voice was even deeper when he spoke again
,
eyeing her bodice, “You think he will forgive you for this?” Tyrion had one hand
on the back of her neck while the other held her firmly at the waist.

“I’m married, Daniel. My heart is yours, but I won’t break my vow, not today anyway,”
she told him sadly. “I just wanted to make sure you knew exactly how I felt before
you left.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re touched in the head,” he replied, fighting to restrain himself.
“You’re in love with a violent killer
,
and you’ve just put yourself completely in
his
power.”

“
Seth will
forgive me the kiss,” she answered. “Aside from that
,
I have no fear of you, Daniel Tennick.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Really?” Sitting forward he pushed her
over
, so that she was now on her back while he looked down on her. Her dress had shifted
far beyond the bounds of modesty
,
and he knew she didn’t have the strength to fight him, not that she would—if he used
his power.

Her heart was racing
,
and her breathing caused her chest to move enticingly. Her aura showed him how she
felt, no matter what she might have said. It also held a strange quality that seemed
at odds with her passion, something he could only call resolve.

“I know you won’t force it, Daniel, and as much as I love you, I won’t submit any
other way,” she told him.

He pinned her arms above her head and kissed her neck before whispering in her ear,
“
You might have made a mistake.”

“No,” she replied. “I know you better than that, and I want you to live.”

“What?” he asked, pulling back to look at her face.

“I want you to live,” she repeated.

He frowned, “That has to be one of the least sexy things I’ve heard a woman say at
this point.”

She growled, “That’s because none of them loved you.”

An image of Amarah passed through his mind for a moment, making him wince, but he
decided it wasn’t a good point to bring up. “What are you trying to tell me?”

She rolled, pushing him to the side to give herself more room. “I know you think
you’re going back to die, and you might,” she began, “but I don’t want you to give
up. If you have to fight again, do your damn
e
dest to win. There may be sources of help you haven’t considered.”

He propped his head up on one hand while tracing the line of her thigh with his other
hand, “She told me that there was no chance of victory. If you want me, this is your
last chance.”

Kate pushed his hand away from her hip, “
If you survive the next fight, will you have to fight again?
”

Tyrion sat up, staring at her, “
It hardly matters. I won’t be coming back here again.
”