Dark Warriors: A Dark Lands Anthology (Darklands) (26 page)

Teeth grinding, Dey followed her up the stairs. This promised to be one of those adventures.

All was peaceful in the swamp. Dey sat alone in her punt, fishing. Tomorrow was the day, and she was putting in a few quiet hours while she could.

The round little boat wouldn’t have been her first choice for river travel, but for this quiet lagoon it was just the thing. Hardly anyone came here, and only the buzz of insects and the occasional splash of an aquatic animal disturbed the silence.

She needed time to think. Luna was off studying her sister’s books, but it was much too nice a day to waste inside, so Dey had volunteered to catch dinner. With luck she’d snare a pair of eels, but if not there were the scuddler trap she’d set earlier. A pot of the small crustaceans, boiled in spices and served up on wild rice, would make a tasty dinner. In spite of what Scy thought, her cooking was improving all the time.

Had to. It was a sure bet Luna’s wasn’t.

And wasn’t that the trouble? Luna had little in her life besides tomb raiding, and now this lust for a Beast sled. It wasn’t healthy. She needed a life. She needed a hobby.

Dey grinned wickedly. She needed a man.

As if summoned by her thoughts, the reeds parted and Keg appeared on the opposite bank. Astride his symbiont, which quickly shifted to become a watercraft, he barely paused before heading across the water toward her. “Good morning, sweet thing.” He peered into her empty punt. “Poor fishing this morning?”

“I just got started.” She ignored the skip in her heartbeat.

“Want company?”

Not his, but since she knew he wouldn’t leave until he was good and ready, she reached into the bottom of the boat and handed him a hoop net on an extendable stick. “No slackers. Be useful and find something edible, would you?” This was said with a slight smile.

With a sideways glance that told her he was only doing what he felt like doing, he accepted the net and lowered it into the water by the attached rope. “You’re not planning on getting married, are you? I’m tempted to warn them away on principle.”

Her smile became wide and sunny. “Ah, but I intend to be very nice to that lucky man. After all, I’ll want him to stick around.”

A wicked sparkle in his eye, he rested his free arm across his legs and considered her. “You like me. Admit it, Dey. You’re glad to see me.”

“I suppose it’s a slight step up from conversing with the wildlife.” She looked him over. “Very slight.”

“Dey.”

She cringed at his chiding, slightly impatient tone. How did he do it? One word and she was ready to lay down arms. “I’m sorry. Force of habit.” They were silent. It took a moment to figure out something safe to say to him. Something about the man had her tongue-tied. “Does Ar-” she hastily cut off the word, embarrassed at her awkwardness. “Er, would you happen to know anyone I could fix Luna up with for the harvest festival? I know it’s weeks away, but it will take at least that long to soften her up enough to agree to an escort.” She wrinkled her nose. “The girl is convinced the entire male populace is a waste of oxygen.”

“Glad to hear you don’t believe it.”

For some reason his comment made her cheeks heat. “You didn’t answer the question.”

He gazed at the edge of the lagoon in thoughtful silence for a moment. “Drostra might be interested.”

“What!” She couldn’t believe he’d say such a thing. “Think about it, Keg. We’re barely at peace with them. It would stir up trouble.”

Keg looked at her, secrets in his eyes. “Sometimes love and war look very much alike, Dey.” The quick grin was back. “Or lust and war, if you will.”

“Lust and war. Love and war.” She rolled her eyes. “You should have been a sage.” Something tugged on her line, giving her a perfect excuse to ignore him. The time passed in surprisingly companionable silence, broken only by brief exchanges. She wasn’t sure what Keg was doing, or why he stayed to help her clean her catch. He even offered to give her a tow for the short trip home. By the time they arrived at the settlement she was thoroughly confused. Was this courtly behavior his new way of keeping an eye on her, and thus Luna?

Conscious of the curious stares they were attracting, Dey was stiff as Keg walked beside her to the base of her tree. “Er, thanks for the help. It was nice of you.”

“You’re welcome.” He rested his hand on the rail below hers, making no move to leave.

Mouth strangely dry, she took her fish. “I need to take this inside.”

He nodded.

Suddenly she wondered if he were waiting for her to remember her manners and invite him up for a share in catch he’d helped bring in.

Oh, boy. This could get sticky. She didn’t dare invite him up alone in full view of the settlement, yet it was the worst of manners not to at least offer him a cooked portion. Had that been his plan all along? “Um….” She’d never invited a man to dinner before. Was there a proper way to do it? “It takes a while to cook this…we usually eat before sunset…you can come if you like.”

Keg’s smile was breathtaking. “I’d like that. I’ll bring the wine and the malt. How do you like it?”

“Sweet.” She blurted, her cheeks heating as her imagination teased her with innuendo. It was ridiculous. “I like it sweet.”

“I’ll remember.”

As she was preparing the sauce for the fish, she wondered how she would explain this to Luna.

She shouldn’t have bothered. Luna sent word that she was eating at her sister’s house.

Left to her own devices, Dey began to sweat. Would he dress up? Should she? What if he didn’t and she did and he got the wrong idea? There was no help for it. She’d have to wear a dress.

Dey answered his knock just before the dinner hour, smoothing down the skirt of her summer dress that fell below her knees. The full skirt was a pale-flowered peach, and while the sleeveless bodice was demure enough, the back scooped low to take advantage of the slight summer breeze on the deck.

“Hello.” The appreciative look Keg gave her as he drawled the word made her tingle. “Very nice.”

“You, too.” It was an understatement. His dark hair was loose, and she’d never seen the dark red silk shirt he was wearing. Coupled with his black pants and newly shined boots, it was quite a sight. Swallowing hard and reminding herself forcefully not to be silly, she opened the door wider and let him in. “Luna sent word that she’s eating with her sister tonight,” she explained as he looked around curiously. She caught herself fidgeting and forced herself to stop. “I thought we’d eat on the deck. The table’s out there.” He smiled at her, and she forgot what she’d just said. “On the deck.”

The smile got wider. “Then I guess I’d better put these out there.” He lifted the bottles he’d brought in explanation.

“Good.” The word came out strangled as she nodded dumbly. “I’ll check on dinner.”

Dinner didn’t need checking, but her brain did. “Stop it! Stop it right now,” she hissed into a pot while he was otherwise occupied. “You’re acting like a boob.”

Dinner went smoothly, for it was difficult to remain uptight around someone with Keg’s relaxed manner. The wine helped, as did the brilliant sunset. In fact, she was feeling rather mellow; until she looked at him to ask a question and saw him staring at her lips.

His eyes met hers fast enough, but his interest rattled her, enough that she blurted the first thing that came to mind, a question she’d wondered about for years. “What happened to the men?”

Caught off guard, he repeated, “Men?”

Her thumb traced over the bowl of her wineglass. “When you found Luna and I that time.” It was the only other time he’d visited his cousin, and she’d forgotten about it until Luna had remarked on it. She met his gaze. “What happened to the men I disarmed?”

He looked away. “It was a long time ago, Dey.”

“Not for Luna.” Her voice softened a notch. “Not for me.” The attempted rape was not something they’d ever talked about, then or now, but suddenly she felt the need.

She’d wanted to kill that day. She had maimed. Fourteen was too young to play the defender with a castoff blade, and too old to stand by and watch her friend be harmed. “Did you and Armetris kill them, Keg?” Her tone dropped. “I want to make sure it won’t happen again. Tell me they’re dead.” They must be. After Armetris and the rest had shown up to help, she’d never seen the would-be rapists again. And the fury on Armetris’s and his friend’s faces when they saw what had almost happened…the men must be dead.

Instead of answering, he leaned forward. “I know why you follow her on her raids, Dey. I understand, but you need to understand this; another raid and the matter will no longer be under our control. A higher authority will step in.” He let his words sink deep. “You can’t protect her now. You’ve got to stop trying.”

“I did then.”

He looked away in exasperation. “They were boys, and you caught them by surprise. It’s different now.”

“Yeah.” She bumped her side where her gun normally hung with her elbow. “Now I’m armed.”

His expression was less than impressed. “I don’t think you know what a man can do.”

That one hit too close to the mark. She looked away toward the darkness, her face hot. “It’s none of your concern.”

Frustrated that he couldn’t get through to her, he caught her wrist and pulled her to her feet. “Pick me up, Dey.” When she frowned, he said impatiently, “Go ahead. Can you even lift me an inch? Could you stop me now if I were to toss you over my shoulder and walk off with you? If I wanted to hold you down and hurt you?”

“That’s enough!” Every word exposed raw doubts. She had to be strong enough. Because what was the alternative to protecting herself? She had no one else to rely on. “I think you should leave.”

He searched her face for a moment before his expression hardened. “So do I.” He turned to go, and hesitated. His hand disappeared into his pants pocket. “I forgot. Here.” He placed something on the table, kept his hand over it. “Thank you for dinner. You looked nice,” he added curtly, and was gone.

Bewildered by his abrupt mood swing, she stared after him, then looked at the table. On it was a pretty pink shell.

Dey stared at the shell a long time that night, played with it as she tried to figure out why he’d left it. Angry as he’d been, he’d stopped and left it for her. Complimented her, even. What did it mean when a man did that?

Luna wouldn’t be any help. Her experience left her skittish of men. It hadn’t helped when Armetris had forbidden her to spend time in their company. Dey could see now that he’d been protecting her, but it hadn’t seemed that way to Luna. She still felt betrayed. Now everything about men was seen through that darkly colored glass.

Mildly surprised when she lifted the wine bottle and found it empty, Dey set it down and went to bed. Maybe the morning would bring clarity.

Armetris took one look at Keg’s face and sighed. “It didn’t go well.”

“You could say that.”

Keg sat down in his favorite chair and immediately got up again. “She has no idea of the danger.”

Armetris’s brows rose. “And you told her what it was?”

Keg glared. “You know better than that.” He raised his hands, imagining Dey’s slender neck between them. “She’ll just continue blindly following Luna, thinking she’s enough to keep her out of danger, and she’ll walk right into the same trap. I want to just tie her up and…” Beating her wasn’t what came to mind. He tried again. “Someone needs to wake her up.”

“Or separate her from Luna,” Armetris suggested grimly. “Though who knows what that will trigger. Luna is balancing on a thin wire now. I think Dey keeps her from expressing the worst of her anger.”

“Anger you helped put there,” Keg snapped, in no mood to spare anyone’s feelings. “I still say you could solve half our problems,” Keg began.

“What? Seducing Luna and then tossing her aside?” Armetris shook his head. “No. I won’t lead her on, Keg. Twice hurt will not make for a happy ending. I don’t now, nor will I ever love her.” Unflinching in face of Keg’s temper, he added, “But maybe you can save Dey.”

“I’m not in love with her, either.” But he could be. She was a sweet girl, and sassy enough to give a man challenge. Already he’d caught himself staring at her full red lips. Not pink for his girl; no, she had lips the color of passion and flame.

Passion and flame, he thought with disgust. What was happening to him? “You seduce her,” he growled and headed for his room. “I’m not in the mood to devour innocents.” Immediately he regretted the words. He didn’t want anyone seducing Dey.

“Did you know they’re going on a snake hunt tomorrow?”

Keg slowly spun around. “Snake hunt?

“By themselves.”

His eyes narrowed. “You think it’s a tomb raiding?”

“I don’t know. Drostra told me how determined Luna is to buy a sled. Someone heard Dey groaning about how heavy snakeskin is. They laid in supplies and got a boat.”

Great. Keg didn’t even want to think about Dey on a snake hunt. Two young women alone were just asking for trouble. “Have they even been on a hunt before? Drostra would just give Luna a sled if she asked.”

“You know she would never accept that kind of gift. And yes, Dey knows how to hunt. Her father was a snake hunter; used to take her and her mother with him. It’s how he died.”