Killing Time (42 page)

Glancing down at myself, I traced a careful fingertip over the gorgeous beadwork decorating the dress I’d been loaned. The brilliant blues, reds and yellows against the cream-colored deerskin matched the heavily fringed shawl. When I moved, tiny bells jingled merrily on the leggings and moccasins I wore. Grinning and blushing again, I had to admit—spectacle or not—I felt beautiful.

It was a new sensation. A rather pleasant one.

The drums began pounding out a mesmerizing beat, calling to my feet to move. Brilliantly attired men, women and even little children in their festive regalia lined up in rows, standing tall as they danced into the open space between the bonfires. The procession was proud, ceremonious, and my heart lifted when the singers added their voices to the throbbing drums.

I stood with the women to the side, our feet keeping the beat even as we remained stationary. The first dance was the men’s—a dance of war and triumph, and their spectacular leaps high in the air were thrilling to watch. Two of them called to me to join them since I’d fought by their sides, and although I sensed how unusual their invitation was, I laughingly waved them off. The only dance I’d learned was the Fancy Shawl and I had no desire to humiliate myself.

When it was our turn, I shyly joined the women in the open center. Remembering Hannah’s instructions—that our dance represented butterflies and it was the lightness of our feet, the grace of our movements and our endurance and agility that we offered to the spectators—I grasped each end of my shawl and held it open like wings. Grinning as the watching elders nodded their approval, I stood straighter and began moving to the drum’s fast rhythm. Twirling, I matched the other women’s movements as the fringes of our “wings” flew, the bells on our leggings jingling in time with our steps. Sue called encouragement as she spun in a circle, and laughing I whirled to follow her.

Caught up as I was in the drums’ rhythm, the singers’ voices filling my head, my feet flying, it took me a moment to register the man standing off to one side, his eyes intent on me. The smile slowly left my lips and I stumbled to a stop, utterly oblivious to the women still swirling all around.

His cropped hair reached only to his collar and there were shadows in his eyes. But it was him. He was alive. And he was
here.

“Koda?” I whispered, tears filling my eyes as my heart tried to explode from my chest.

He nodded, his grin overworking my laboring heart.

Hannah twirled past, calling something funny about my standing spellbound. It didn’t register with me, but set my new friends laughing.

Set Koda laughing. “Dance,” he mouthed.

The sight of his happiness got my feet moving again and I spun to re-join the others, moving with a joy and lightness of spirit that would’ve put any butterfly to shame.

When the drums at last fell silent, I ran to Koda and threw myself in his arms, kissing him soundly and not caring in the least about all the catcalls. “You’re okay,” I kept repeating, not yet daring to believe.

Koda laughed and kissed me back, his embrace strong and warm around me. “My
wastelakapi.
You waited for me.”

Tears flooded down my cheeks, drenching his white dress shirt where I pressed my face into his shoulder. “I’m going to soak you.”

He pressed me tight against him. “I don’t care.” His voice shook. “I would have scoured the world looking for you, Sephti. That you stayed…that you waited…”

“If I could not be with you, where would I go but the last place you’d been?” I whispered, fresh tears saturating his collar. “Are you okay?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I am now.”

Needing badly to know, I asked in a raw voice, “Why did you leave?”

Shadows swirled in his eyes. “I had to, Sephti. There were rituals I had to perform, alone, as the last of my…my brothers.”

“Waneta said you needed to decide if you wanted to live.” I’d hated the old man for saying so and my repeating it now felt like I had a throat full of ground glass.

He gave me a tender smile. “With the hope of you to come back to? No. That was never in question. I am in love with you, Beloved. And I am so very sorry for having hurt you.” He bent his head to meet my gaze, letting me see the deep regret filling his beautiful eyes. “It was never my intent, but nothing was making sense to me then. I knew in my heart that my brother was gone, but I had to hold on. Had to keep hoping. Then, when we saw him…”

“Koda,” I whispered, the agony saturating his tone was tearing me apart.

“Anzhenii are bound by our duty to the ancestors. By defying them, by keeping me from them, you did for me what I could not do for myself.” Words spilled from Koda and his voice grew rough. “The sacred rites are difficult to discuss, but I should have told you before I left. I should have found a way to explain—”

“Shh, it’s okay now, Koda. Everything’s okay,” I interrupted in a fervent whisper, stretching on tiptoe to kiss him. “I love you, too. So very, very much.”

Then the people surrounded us, laughing and joking, embracing a beaming Koda and me. We were passed person to person in a blur of good wishes and friendly teasing, until we found ourselves back together and Koda was holding me again.

The rest of the evening was a happy blur. Everyone kept pressing food on us and the feasting and dancing continued late into the night. Finally, well after midnight, when the bonfires were nothing but embers and the last exhausted reveler headed home, Koda and I stood alone. I’d changed out of the gorgeous regalia. The night air was cold and I shivered inside a jacket of Koda’s that I’d borrowed from his closet.

“I like seeing you in my things and dancing with my people. It makes me very happy,” he murmured. Cupping my cheek with his hand, he breathed a kiss across my forehead. “I have something I have to do. I’ll see you at the cabin, okay?” With a quick smile, he jogged off.

Startled, I stood and watched him go. This was definitely not what I’d had in mind for a blissful reunion. Not after the hell I’d gone through.

Stung and not a little angry, I rode the dirt bike back to the cabin, swearing all the way. By the time I let myself in and changed into a pair of warm sweats, I’d worked up to a proper hissy.

Which evaporated the moment Koda’s truck pulled up out front twenty minutes later.

Wrapping a blanket around myself—without a fire, the cabin was chilly—I went into the living room to meet him. Heart in my throat, I watched him walk through the front door. He’d seemed so happy to see me…he’d damn well
said
he was happy to see me. So why had he taken off like that? What was so freaking important that he had to take care of it the same night he came back?

Giving me a half smile, Koda shut the door behind him. He tossed his truck keys in his hand, like he wasn’t sure what to do with himself and he didn’t quite meet my gaze.

“Koda?” I hated the tremor in my voice, but his uncharacteristic nervousness had fear rising like bile in the back of my throat. He’d just returned…was he planning on leaving again? Was that why he’d left me to drive home alone?

“Um…give me a second.” He reached to put his keys on the hook by the door, not noticing when he missed and they fell to the floor. Brushing past me, he headed for the kitchen to rummage around in first one drawer, then another.

Torn between anxiety and anger, I stayed mute, watching Koda’s increasingly strange behavior as he began cursing under his breath.

Determined to get to the bottom of whatever the hell was going on, I started after him. But when he turned to face me, the words jammed up in my throat.

In his hands was a lit candle, its warm glow illuminating his handsome face and his sweetly vulnerable expression.

“I stayed behind tonight so I could tell Waneta and the elders that I want you for my
mitawin.
My wife.” Koda’s soft words, spoken in a voice deep with emotion, slowly filtered through my mind, but it took a long, stunned moment to comprehend what they meant.

“You want…?” I stammered.

“To marry you. With all my heart, Sephti, if you’ll have me.”

Long seconds ticked by as I stood, mute, frozen, staring at Koda and his lit candle—which was now trembling in his hand.

“Sephti?” he whispered, unsure.

I blinked, literally incapable of speech as Fae and English crashed uselessly in my head. Making a frustrated noise—which was all I could force through my throat—I held up a staying hand and ran into the kitchen. Digging around, I found another candle but it took four broken matches before I got the damn thing lit.

Returning to Koda, I held it up to my face, letting him see the joy and love I felt sure must be beaming from every pore. When hot wax splashed onto my clenched hand, I realized how hard I was shaking.

Koda gave me the most gorgeous grin then, one that dimmed every other magnificent smile I’d ever seen on his precious face. Lifting his candle, he gazed at me with love shining from his dark eyes.

On the same breath, we blew out each others’ flames.

A war has been unleashed in the supernatural realm, while powerful men and fearless women fight for peace. Read how it all began in STEALING TIME by Elisa Paige….

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