Jayne Castle [Jayne Ann Krentz] (22 page)

movement of it's beak and then whirl back around to face the enemy.

A full-throated hissing sound slashed through the darkness. In the pale red moonlight Ridge saw a dark

reptilian shape the size of a male creet leap to the top of the jumble of rocks near the stream. Its tail was

a barbed hook that curved up and over its scaled back. The head was all faceted eyes and gleaming

fangs. It crouched on four scaled legs, its broad feet heavily clawed.

Ridge stared at the creature in startled astonishment. So much for trying to choose between fangcats and

sinkworms. His luck wasn't that good tonight. This was neither of those familiar denizens of the dark. The

animal crouched on the rocks prepared to attack the creet was something out of a nightmare. Ridge

recognized it from a description he had once been given by an old trader. It had to be the almost

legendary hook viper.

But that was impossible: Hook vipers were creatures of the deepest mountain caves. Humans rarely saw

them.

But the reality of the situation was something Ridge didn't have time to debate. What appeared to be a

hook viper was poised for attack only a few feet from him, and he remembered hearing that the skull of

the viper was as solid as a rock. The only truly vulnerable part on the head was the eye, but the odds of

sinking the sintar into it at this range were minimal. There wasn't time to dig the bow or the dart sling out

of the saddlebags. He would have to wait for the leap.

The male creet was screeching, its piercing challenge as deafening as the viper's hiss. The female waited

in the shadows behind her mate, her head darting frantically about in anxiety. If forced to do so, she too

would fight, but her instinct was to rely primarily on the male's greater strength and ability.

Ridge worked his way closer, trying to narrow the gap between himself and the viper as much as

possible before the creature made its killing leap.

With another savage hiss, the hook viper sprang toward its prey. For an instant its vulnerable underside

was exposed. Ridge hurled the sintar and hoped for a scrap of trader's luck.

At first he couldn't be sure the sintar had struck its target. Then the great reptile snarled in fury and pain

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and jerked violently in midair. It landed in an awkward sprawl in front of the male creet, who promptly

ripped at the already bleeding belly with one clawed foot. With its beak it went for the dying viper's

throat. The creet was more than happy to finish what Ridge had started.

"By the Stones," Kalena whispered in shock as she moved quickly up behind Ridge. "He's tearing that

thing apart. I had no idea creets were carnivores."

"They're not. But that doesn't mean they can't draw blood." Ridge put his arm around Kalena's shoulders

and pulled her back toward the fire. "Let's get out of the way. The last thing any sane man does is

approach a creet while the bloodlust is riding it. I'll retrieve the sintar later."

Kalena was willing enough to be turned away from the sickening sight of the creet taking its vengeance.

"They always seemed like such gentle creatures."

"They weren't given claws just for decoration."

"No, I suppose not. But when I think about how much they love to eat flowers . . . You're all right?"

"I'm fine. We'll just stay discreetly out of the way over here by the fire and wait until all the commotion

dies down."

"What about my creet?" Kalena tried to glance back over her shoulder. "I don't see her."

"She's staying out of sight, too," Ridge explained with a flicker of amusement. "She knows better than to

show herself until her mate has calmed down."

"I hope you're not going to draw any more parallels between human and creet female behavior."

"Why not?" Ridge asked lightly as he settled her down beside him on a rock near the glowing coals of

the fire. From the shadows came the unpleasant sounds of shredding muscle and skin. The creet was

making a thorough job of its vengeance. Ridge hoped the sintar didn't get lost in the process. "It seems to

me you could learn a few lessons from your creet." He was rewarded with an elbow in the ribs for his

observation. "Ouch!"

"You deserved that. I'm not in the mood for such jokes."

Ridge rubbed his bare ribs and said with sudden seriousness, "I wasn't joking. The male creet's job is to

take care of the female and they both know it. Didn't you see how he stood between her and the viper?

He would have died protecting her. In return for that kind of commitment, the female is willing to defer to

her mate's occasional idiosyncracies." He looked down at Kalena. "It's the way of the Spectrum," he

added gently. "All things must be balanced, including the roles of men and women."

She cast a sidelong glance and said blandly, "Could we skip the nature lesson?"

"Why? Because you don't want to admit the truth about the way things are between men and women?"

"I don't want you feeling obligated to put yourself between me and a ... a thing such as that, Fire Whip. I

wouldn't ask that of you or anyone."

"If the occasion arose, it would not be your place to ask or give permission," he tried to explain patiently.

"I would do it because I have both the right and the duty to protect you. I'm your husband, Kalena."

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"So you keep reminding me."

He stifled a long-suffering groan. "I find myself constantly having to remind you because you seem to

forget the fact quite easily."

She looked down into the embers of the fire and a strange smile touched her mouth. "You're wrong, Fire

Whip. Never for one moment do I forget the fact that you are my husband."

Ridge fell silent for a moment, watching her face in the faint glow of the fire and wondering exactly what

she meant by those cryptic words. The thoughts of a woman could so often be completely unfathomable

to a man. No wonder men had been given the strength and forcefulness of the Dark end of the Spectrum.

Only such power could counter the greatest mystery of the Light end—a woman's mind.

"Ridge?"

"What is it, Kalena?"

"What was that thing you killed? I've never seen anything like it."

"Neither have I," he admitted, "although it looks like something a trader once described to me. He called

it a hook viper. But I don't understand what it's doing this far from the mountains. They're very rarely

seen, even by the traders who work the mountain towns. They're creatures who prefer the darkness of

caves. They are said to be very shy of men."

"That one didn't seem particularly shy."

"It was probably starving. This far from the mountain caves it was undoubtedly having a hard time finding

familiar food. It must have been desperate to come this close to fire and the smell of humans."

"I wonder what drove it from the mountains?"

"That, Kalena, is a very good question."

Ridge made certain they found an inn the following night. The village was the smallest they had yet

encountered and the facilities were minimal, but it beat another night on the trail. The undeclared truce

that seemed to have gone into effect between him and Kalena held throughout the day, right up to the

moment Ridge unwittingly ruffled it by sending Kalena upstairs to the bedchamber after the evening meal.

He hadn't meant to sound arrogant, domineering or selfish, he told himself later when he found himself

paying dearly for the act. He had only been exercising his sound judgment as an experienced trade

master and a husband. The truth was, he had been quite shocked when Kalena had declared she would

like to go into the tavern with him following the meal. He had stared at her from across the low table as if

she had just announced she intended to strip herself naked and dance through the dining hall.

"That's impossible," he had finally stated flatly. "What in the name of the Stones put such an idea into

your head? It might be possible to take you into a tavern in Crosspurposes, but it's out of the question in

a small village like this. Everyone from the tavern keeper to the boy who sweeps the floors would be

outraged. I warned you things were old-fashioned and conservative in these little towns on the trail. We

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have to abide by local customs, Kalena."

"But Ridge, there's nothing to do upstairs and I'm not ready to go to bed."

"I'm sorry about that, Kalena," he had told her a little helplessly. "But I can't keep you company. The

journey isn't a pleasure trip. I'm supposed to be working."

"You call sitting around in a tavern drinking all night
work?"
The woman had a way of putting him on the

defensive. Ridge didn't like it. "I learn things in the taverns, Kalena."

"Such as?"

"I pick up rumors, bits of gossip. For example, I'll mention the hook viper tonight to see if anyone else

says he's seen one. And there have been a few strange tales I would like to verify"

"What sort of tales?" she demanded.

He sighed, feeling driven into a corner. Apparently, he still had much to learn about handling a wife—or

at least about handlingKalena. He picked up his ale. "There have been one or two odd stories about men

disappearing in the mountains. I would like to know more about those stories, especially after what

happened to us in Adverse."

"I still think you could accomplish your job without lounging around a tavern," Kalena announced.

He thought about pointing out quite bluntly that if she was willing to provide a good reason for him to

accompany her up the stairs, he might consider the matter. But wisely he bit back the words. They would

only have infuriated her. "That's enough, Kalena. When you've finished your meal, go on up to the

chamber. I'll join you later. I give you my word I won't be late. I just want to ask a few questions."

Her chin lifted. "Take your time. Don't hurry upstairs on my account," she told him with an awful

politeness. She then swung with great dignity around to exit the dining hall.

Ridge watched her leave and groaned inwardly. Things had been going so well all day. He had begun to

hope that perhaps tonight he would receive the invitation he wanted so badly. But Kalena obviously

wasn't going to be in any mood to invite his lovemaking. Disgusted with himself and fate in general, he

tossed down his fingerspears and stalked out of the dining area into the tavern. He needed a full tankard

of ale.

Upstairs in the small cubicle that passed for a sleeping chamber, Kalena paced to and fro in front of the

tiny window. She was feeling restless and irritated, and the tiny room with its stark furnishings felt like a

cage.

In an effort to create a semblance of greater space, she stopped her pacing long enough to shove her

travel bag into the little privacy chamber. It gave her a bit more room in which to pace like a tethered

cotly.

The image further annoyed her. She was no tame pet to be kept on a lead.

In a burst of defiance Kalena opened the door of the room and stepped out into the corridor. If nothing

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else she could kill some time by going down to the stables to talk to the creets.

She was halfway down the corridor, passing the closed door of another guest chamber, when she heard

the low moan. Startled, Kalena halted in her tracks and listened. The soft, pain-filled sound came again

from behind the door.

Kalena hesitated, but when the moans continued she went over to the door and knocked.

"Hello?" she called softly "Are you all right inside there?" All she heard was silence. Kalena tried again.

"Do you need help?"

This time she heard a movement from behind the door, but it didn't open. A woman's voice reached her

through the wood.

"Please."

Alarmed by the fear and pain in a single word, Kalena tried the door handle. It turned easily in her hand,

and after a second's hesitation she stepped into the small chamber. A woman lay huddled on the pallet.

She was very young and very pregnant. It didn't take an experienced Healer to realize the occupant of

the room was in labor. Kalena went forward instantly.

"By the Stones, madam, don't tell me you decided to go through this all by yourself," she said,

summoning up a cheerful, encouraging smile. "Has a Healer been called?"

The young woman looked up at her with a strained, frightened expression. "I don't know any Healer in

this village. My husband ..."

"Yes, where is your husband?" Kalena asked briskly as she straightened the bedding and reassuringly

gripped the woman's hand.

"I'm not sure. He said he had business in town. Perhaps he stopped at a tavern."

"Exactly where one would expect a man to be at a time like this."

The stranger managed a fleeting smile that ended abruptly as a contraction gripped her body. "He

doesn't know. The pains started so suddenly. I couldn't get downstairs to summon him."

"What you need is a Healer, not a helpless man. I'll be right back." Kalena got to her feet and raced out

of the room.

She could hear the noise from the tavern as she swept past it on her way to the innkeeper's desk.