A Cast of Shadows: An Araneae Nation Story (5 page)

Never one to shy away from who or what I wanted, when had I decided I wanted him?

One day my penchant for rebellion would land me in an early grave. How often had Father said so? If I wasn’t careful, the desire to explore the tingles burning my skin where Brynmor had touched me would land me in his bed. Dangerous to crave a male I had just met. No doubt that was the source of his appeal.

Before trailing after him, I ducked my head under the falls and prayed the rushing water would beat some sense into me. Let him think that was why my cheeks were flushed and I was breathless.

While shaking the water from my hair, I heard soft laughter and spotted him watching me.

Fresh heat burned in my cheeks.

“Are you ready now or should I make myself comfortable?” he asked.

“I’m ready.” I straightened my shoulders. “What is it you wanted to show me?”

“There is only one way out of Cathis, unless you go over or under the walls.” He stared into the forest. “The Mimetidae keep their prisoners in a grotto beneath the city. There’s a tunnel used for transportation and…private liaisons…near here.” He grinned at my surprise. “What’s another secret between friends? Besides you don’t strike me as the type to go about liberating prisoners.”

I shook my head. “My clan has plenty without me borrowing more from the Mimetidae.”

“Most clans do,” he agreed, bending to examine a pile of smooth stones.

Leaning over his shoulder, I asked, “Do you find stones so interesting?”

Amusement deepened his voice. “Not so much the stones as what they conceal.”

Ah. Our outing began to make more sense. “You have a cache hidden here.”

“I do.” He shook out his arms. “Give me room.”

“Why?” I backed up a step. “What are you doing?”

“Must you question everything?” He sounded as if he didn’t mind my curiosity.

So I said, “Yes.”

I believe he muttered about the inquisitiveness of the young or some such nonsense. If I had to guess, I bet his age was within five years of mine, so he was hardly an authority to lecture me.

As he worked, I hovered at his shoulder. “If the grotto’s proximity mattered to you, then you must have intended your cache to be part of a contingency plan. Say the city fell, you would take the secret exit through the grotto, stop here and then raid the cache before you went into hiding.”

He shook his head. “Only a coward leaves his city while it’s under siege.”

“Oh?” I savored the view while he worked. “Then why have this made? Why here?”

“The rest of your theory was sound.” He glanced up. “I did this for my family, to provide for them if I was unable to. We were poorer in those days. Their fortunes have improved since then.”

The words fell from my lips before I could catch them. “You have family in Cathis.”

Of course he did. What other tether could tie a male with no clan to Mimetidae land?

“I do.” He nodded. “This cache was meant for my son…and for my wife.”

“You have a wife.”

“I did.” Muscles in Brynmor’s neck twitched.

“I shouldn’t have asked.” It was none of my business, even after… No. It didn’t matter.

His thick voice carried over the frothing water. “We lived separately for years before…”

“You don’t have to tell me.” I didn’t want to hear how his heart belonged to another. Or that his earlier burst of passion was the response of a male deprived from activities in his marital bed.

“It’s not what you think,” was all he said.

“With married males, it never is.”

He didn’t disagree with me, but straightened with a grunt. “Here you are.”

A shimmering gold pendant set with a glossy black stone hung from his fingers on a slender chain. My fingers curled with desire to snatch the bauble and examine it. When he coiled it in my palm and folded my hand closed over it, my covetous heart fluttered despite the blow he had dealt it.

My first treasure—the first spoils earned during my journey—warmed my hand.

“This is yours.” He tapped my clenched fist. “Or it can be
if
you earn it.”

“A net is all you want?” I wanted to be very sure. “I can weave a large one in two days.”

Appearing to consider my question, he finally said, “A net is all I require.”

Aware of the thin line I tread, unsure why I did so, I nudged him. “Is that all you want?”

“Would you give me more?” His voice took on a rugged quality that gave me chills.

“It depends.” I laughed to loosen the knot in my chest. “What else is in that cache of yours?”

The grin spreading across his face made him dangerously handsome. “Perhaps I’ll show you sometime.” He stepped back and exposed an intricate metal trap set in the stone wall with silvery metal teeth and serrated jaws. I watched him slide five pins into the hinged joints before looking away. His tone was apologetic. “In case you’re tempted to double back and treasure hunt alone.”

“Put your mind at ease.” I wiggled my fingers. “I value my hands too much to risk them.”

He captured my wrist and brought my hand to his mouth, where he kissed my pointer finger.

The gesture was so tender, so unexpected, it shattered me. “Tell me about your wife.”

“We should leave.” He swept past me without a backward glance. “It’s getting late.”

Knowing I should let it go, doubting he would answer me, I caught his arm. “One question.”

His head fell back, and his eyes drank in the sky over our heads. “One.”

“Did you love her?” It was the most important thing I could think to ask.

“Yes.” He shrugged free of me, and I was left alone with the fruits of my curiosity.

Chapter Four

Quiet stifled Brynmor, pressed on him until his chest strained to expand. Not that breathing was a requirement of his new existence, but it was a soothing habit he should maintain while he kept Daraja’s company. The female had questions enough without him inspiring more of them.

Night slid over his skin and left him mourning the loss of the sun’s warmth.

While guiding Daraja to the den, he noticed she was surefooted despite the absence of light. Her clan must be gifted with keen night vision, the same as the Mimetidae. It explained why she was comfortable hunting alone in the dark. Though he wished she hunted during the day instead.

“How long do you think it will be before the hunters try again?” Daraja asked.

It seemed he wasn’t the only one bothered by the silence.

“A couple of days I imagine.” He frowned. “It depends on the purpose behind the kills.”

“You think they may not strike again?” She sounded as doubtful as he felt.

“They killed two canis last night. If they are Mimetidae, then leaving the city will be difficult. Since the plague struck Cathis, guards watch the comings and goings of the citizens much closer than they once did. If the hunters left and returned empty-handed, they would arouse suspicion.”

Meaning they required time to hunt not only their intended targets, but other game as well.

“They also need time to begin curing their trophies before they spoil.” Her sigh caressed his arm. “I wish we knew if they took the same trophies from the second canis as they did the first.”

“It’s been hours since…” Brynmor slowed. “The river would have washed the body away by now.”

“It might have.” Daraja’s touch was gentle on his arm. “But it may still be worth the walk.”

Knowing Errol, he had gone searching for Karenna after Brynmor left with Daraja. Errol might accept Karenna’s death, but he wouldn’t leave her body in the river by choice. Since Brynmor’s hands made him more suited for the task, if the pack failed to retrieve her, then Brynmor would.

“Are you up to it?” Brynmor appraised Daraja. She had walked a good ways for one day.

She brushed past his shoulder. “I offered, didn’t I?”

Rather than return to the den and face the grim countenances of his grieving pack mates, Brynmor fell in step with Daraja and let her lead him to the river. With a grin, he admitted she much improved his view. The way her hips swung while she walked made him think she moved to music heard by her ears alone. What must that be like? To be carefree, with her whole life spread before her?

With a laugh, Daraja said, “It’s less exciting than you might think.”

Clearing his throat, Brynmor pretended he hadn’t been caught thinking out loud. “How so?”

“For one thing, my siblings are all married. They have children or don’t, but their lives have begun. They have someone to welcome them home after a good hunt, someone who shares their dreams and hopes.” She snorted. “Or at least my brothers have the sense to pretend that they do.”

Then they were wise males indeed. “You’re close to your brothers?”

“Yes.” Her voice softened. “They were—
are
—protective of me.”

“They’re good brothers then.”

“They are.” She asked, “What about you? Do you have any siblings?”

“No.”

“What about your son? He’s your only child?”

“His mother…” Brynmor’s gut tightened. “She has another son.”

“Good for him.” She gestured with her hand. “An older brother is a good thing for a boy.”

The words refused to come the first time. “He’s younger than my son.”

“How is that…?” Daraja’s shoulders tensed. “Oh.”

Once freed, the story flowed from his memory. “My wife’s clan was indebted to mine. Clan war had broken out on their border, and we protected them. But the war ran long and the cost ran high. At the end, their debt was more than they could afford.” He exhaled. “Instead of gold, they offered me a young female from their clan. Her name was Isolde, and she enchanted me. Though I knew she loved another male, deeply, I was convinced that she would learn to love me in time.”

Daraja turned. “If she loved him, then why not marry him?”

“He was a poor Salticidae farmer,” Brynmor said. “He failed to pay her bride price.”

Her features were carefully kept blank. “Her father sold her.”

“He did.” Brynmor rubbed his face. “She squared her clan’s debt with mine. She prevented a difficult situation from becoming much worse. My clan was poor, and I couldn’t let their debt go uncollected, or rumors of my mercy would spread until my clan starved to pay for my kindness.”

“I understand.” She frowned. “Your wife had one of those private liaisons you mentioned?”

“She did.”

Her head tilted to one side. “How did you react?”

“I cut out her lover’s heart, before her and our son.” His voice turned grave. “Then I ate it.”

Surprise parted her lips. “That was unexpected.”

“I don’t remember doing it.” He ruffled his hair. “The blood, the taste, came after.”

Her eyes bored into his. “Do you regret your actions?”

“To regret meeting my wife is to regret her birthing my son when he was the one good thing born from my life. To regret my actions with her lover is to condone their actions, and I can’t. A vow is a vow, and she broke her promises to me.” He exhaled. “That insult I could not forgive.”

“I take it she never forgave you, either.”

“Never.” He met her gaze. “She would have sunk a blade in my heart if not for her son.”

“Don’t you mean your—?” Daraja’s eyes shut. “She bore her lover’s bastard.”

“She did.”

She peered at him through thick lashes. “You let him live?”

“I did.”

Her sigh of relief was audible. “That was also unexpected.”

“He was raised by his father’s people,” he added before she thought to ask.

The fact he allowed his wife to carry the child to term surprised him as well. After the child was born, Brynmor had their physician announce the babe stillborn. He allowed one of his wife’s relatives to secret the child away to be raised among its father’s clan where Brynmor didn’t have to gaze into its vibrant green eyes and recall the face of the male he killed in a fit of jealous rage.

The brush of slight fingers across his cheek distracted him from his thoughts.

“You really did love her.” Sorrow tinged Daraja’s voice.

“I loved the idea of her at least.” He forced a tight smile. “Very much.”

Stubble along Brynmor’s jaw prickled my palm as I slid my hand down his cheek. “I’m glad you told me.”

“It was a long time ago.” He caught my hand before I reached his chin and held it there.

“Some wounds take longer to heal. Blows dealt to the heart are often more tender.”

He rubbed my finger over his lips absently. “You have a knack for prying secrets from me.”

“I haven’t pried.” No more than usual. “Mainly, I listen and people tell me things.”

“I believe you.” He left my hand fall. “I’ve never spoken to anyone about my wife.”

“Then I’m flattered to be the first.” I tried to turn, but he held me still.

His fingers bit into my arms. “Thank you.”