Shadow Borne (26 page)

"Good." Mark nodded. "How many is a
few?"

"Four." Aranu's gaze shifted to the western
skies and then lower to that section of the forest. His smile was
brittle and sent a chill along the back of my neck. "They won't
escape."

Several men began a loud, rousing cheer
until Mark raised one fist into the air and demanded silence. "Kahn
still lives! He's still out there." his voice rose and fell over
the crowd, a grim reminder of what lay ahead.

"Then let's end this now. Today!" someone
shouted, causing another wave of cheering to erupt around the
clearing. Here and there, the faint bluish glitter of the Life
Breather's mist-venom still lingered.

"More blood will be shed before this day is
over." Mark shouted, pulling no punches with the people who had
pledged their support to him–to Terlain. "But, one way or another,
it will be over today. This will end."

I watched Claire unobtrusively slip her hand
into Mark's much larger one, and I wondered what this was costing
him. Did he regret the crossroads he stood at today? That it had
come to this, kill his own father or let him go free. Letting Kahn
go would obviously be a mistake that would have deadly
consequences.

"I'll follow
where you lead." I spoke up, loud and clear, and leveled my eyes on
the crowd, a simultaneous vow and a challenge. Men and women raised
their voices in vibrant agreement and the noise level that swept
through the clearing became a pulsing, living thing. The crowd was
pumped and ready for action. We could do this. Together.

And so it was decided. We set out
immediately, to a place that, of the lot of us, only a handful had
ever been. Kahn's Meadow was an innocuous enough sounding place,
but no one who marched with us was fooled by the name. What lay
beyond the gates at the end of the beautiful glen we were
approaching housed the empire of a cold-blooded killer. The three
mile hike over bumpy terrain had gone a little way in cooling our
collective heels.

The spent adrenaline from the fight with the
Coatyl, the strangeness of encountering the Life Breathers, and the
reality of what lay ahead was beginning to combine and sap some of
the fire from the soldiers and the warriors. I knew my energy was
running at a low ebb and the men who walked with us wore similarly
grim expressions.

I was traveling somewhere between the lead
and middle of our party. Mark and Claire and the higher ranking
soldiers like Raun and Tyheen led the impressive procession. Mid to
higher level warriors and archers made up most of the middle.
Aranu's men brought up the rear and, together with the nymphs,
flanked the sides of the group. The nymphs alternated between
traveling on foot and moving high in the trees, swinging easily,
silently, from branch to branch. They would be our early warning
system and as such, our first line of defense. The Breathers also
marched with us, with half positioned on either side of Mark and
Claire and the rest providing cover for Aranu's men.

I shivered in the ever decreasing light of
the forest, knowing we wouldn't make it to our destination before
the full pitch dark of night set in around us. Not that it mattered
so much tonight, I reasoned, casting a quick glance up at the
bright moon. Pure white light speared through the few places along
the path where the vegetation was slightly thinner than average.
The rest of the woods around us bore a gentle overall glow that was
brighter near the tops of the trees as the moonlight attempted to
penetrate the dense foliage overhead and I tried to focus on this,
for now anyway, rather than what the rest of the night would
hold...

On any other night, it would have made for a
pleasant evening. It was the kind of night that brought people out
onto their decks and porches after dinner, and then lured them down
well worn country lanes and sleepy suburban avenues. I breathed in
the fresh linen scent of Gildwood and Pine Blossom and marveled at
the beauty of the outer edge of the Meadow. Brilliant, glowy white
flowers crept up the trees like Ivy and I paused for a second,
thoroughly enchanted with the spectacular sight.

The further into the Meadow we walked, the
thicker the snowy, Ivy-like flowers became, until we were deep in
the interior and the gorgeous vines and blossoms crept delicately
up each and every tree. Murmurs went through the crowd, especially
the nymphs. This was the path to Kahn's evil lair? Really? I was
half tempted to ask if we had taken a wrong turn somewhere, but
Mark and Claire and the others on the front lines continued ever
onward without slowing our steady pace, so I figured we weren't
lost.

A few paces ahead, Mike slowed his pace
until he fell into step beside me. Great. I smothered a sigh and
kept walking, trying not to feel guilty for using him earlier. The
fact that Mike wasn't aware of the way I'd used him to wound Aranu
should have made me feel better but didn't. A chill slid over my
spine and I shivered again, moonlight and exquisite climbing Ivy
forgotten as darker thoughts edged their way in.

"Hey."

I tossed him a quick, sideways glance and
nodded but otherwise kept silent.

"Good job tonight." he said, kicking a small
rock on the trail, sending it skittering sideways and somehow
missing the people beside us. He shoved his hands into his pockets
and puffed his cheeks out before he exhaled. "You scared the living
hell out of me, but...nice work. The fighting, and–"

"Thank you." I interrupted, deciding to take
pity on him and effectively end his rambling.

"Your boyfriend doesn't look too happy."

My eyes snapped to
his and I almost quit walking. He wanted to talk about this
now?

"Sorry." he shook his head. "Not the time.
And not my business."

The last was said
softly and a tinge of regret colored the words. My face heated in
the semi-darkness of the luminescent Meadow and I concentrated on
putting one foot in front of the other. Mike was absolutely correct
about one thing, this wasn't the time to discuss our...what? Past?
Because we no longer had a relationship. Hadn't in a long time.
Wouldn't have again.

I
could accept that now for what it was. And maybe now was the right
time to air it out and lay it to rest, despite our small audience.
After all, if Kahn and the Lahuel killed us all tonight, at least
Mike and I would go without unfinished business littered between
us. That was something.
Besides morbid?
Dumb bitch Aries seemed to ask.
Yeah, that too.
I thought with a silent
shrug.

"He's not my boyfriend." I replied, making
an effort to keep my voice from carrying to the people around us.
"In fact, I'm pretty sure after today, he's lost any and all
respect he ever had for me." I sighed, half afraid to glance at the
momentarily speechless man beside me. Was I hurting him by talking
about Aranu? Even though he'd asked?

"I saw the two of you arguing by the fence
earlier."

"Yes. He didn't want to leave us."

"You mean he didn't want to leave you."

"Well, yeah. I guess so." I cringed,
suddenly sorry we were having this beyond awkward conversation.

"So why did he?"

"What?"

"How did you finally convince him to let you
go?"

"Oh, ah..." I hedged. "I made it easy for
him to walk away." I finally said, forcing my chin up a notch. "And
I'd do it again, if I had to. He was putting my entire team in
danger and he could have gotten us all killed."

"Ah."

We'd walked another quarter mile or so in
silence before I confessed my sin. "I said some personal things
about his character." I opened my mouth to say more but the words
wouldn’t come. Somehow, it didn't feel right telling another
person, telling Mike, just exactly what I'd said to hurt Aranu. It
felt wrong. Like I would be betraying Aranu all over again by
showing Mike what had the power to hurt the other man. "It doesn’t
matter. I did what I had to do." I shrugged and picked up the
pace.

"He loves you."

"I know." I closed my eyes as a wave of pain
hit me, hard. Because being reminded of what Aranu felt, or had
felt, for me...hurt. Almost as bad as I knew Mike's next question
would hurt.

"Do you love
him?"

I
nodded slowly. "I didn't realize it until..." I paused, shook my
head. Mike didn't need to know the whys and hows of it and he
probably didn't
want
to know,
either. None of that changed the bottom line.

"I'm sorry." he sighed, looking down and
then glancing over at me. His eyes caught the moonlight.

"Why?"

"You want the list? Okay. I'm sorry I left
you here two years ago. I'm sorry I didn't come back sooner. I'm
sorry that things are," he gestured to the space between and around
us. "like this." he finished. "I'm sorry things are such a damn
mess. I didn't want it to end this way between you and me. I'm
just...sorry." His lips curved wistfully.

"This wasn't exactly what I'd planned,
either..." I snorted, fell silent, now barely noticing the beauty
that surrounded us. The path had narrowed several paces back. We
were fast approaching the end of the meadow. "Maybe this doesn't
have to be the end for us." I tossed the words out there quickly,
so I wouldn't be able to take them back. "What I mean is, you
aren't going anywhere and neither am I. Claire is like family and
Megan is great. What I'm saying is, I think we're all going to be
stuck with each other for a while."

"Forever." Mike nodded, a smile touching his
lips.

"Right." I nodded. "So. Maybe we could learn
to live with each other." I took a deep breath as the soldiers in
front of us gradually came to a stop. "If Claire can manage to
avoid killing Carl, I think maybe we can learn to be friends." I
pointed out, feeling my stomach plummet at the thought of being
Mike's friend. Truthfully, I wasn't sure I was ready to make that
leap. It felt tense and uncomfortable, like wearing a shirt that
was a few sizes too small. And I couldn't lie, traces of the old
familiar hurt and anger toward Mike still lingered. But hating him
wasn't really going to do any of us any good, was it? And we had to
start somewhere.

"I want you to be happy, Ari. Even if it's
with him." Mike jerked a thumb in the general area behind where we
stood.

"Thanks." I rocked on my heels and raised my
eyes to the canopy overhead. "But I'm pretty sure that's not going
to happen anytime soon."

"Don't be so sure. I wouldn't be surprised
to find a knife in my back any second now. He looks royally pissed
off." Mike snickered and leaned toward me.

"Mike." My voice held a none too subtle
warning. "Don't antagonize him."

"Alright. Fair enough." he smiled and
shrugged. "But if you ever decide he's not what you want..."

"Mike."

"Right." He held up his hands. "I'm
done."

"Thank you." I
sighed, leaning around him for a better view of what was happening
up ahead. “Do you see anything?”

He craned his head
and searched the darkness before turning toward me. “Nothing. Isn't
this where we're supposed to stop?”

I nodded. “This is
about right, I know the entrance to Kahn's private quarters are at
the end of the meadow, but I thought there was supposed to be a
gate.” I stood on tiptoe. “I mean, there may be one up there. It's
hard to see over everyone's heads. Oh, well, I guess we'll find out
soon enough.”

Mike took a deep
breath. “Are you ready to do this?”

“
Yes. Of course.” I injected an artificial note of confidence
into my voice. “Everything will be fine.”

“
Uh-huh.”

“
Hopefully.” I tacked on with a wry smile.

The blast came out of nowhere, rumbling through the trees and
exploding in a white haze of light. Whatever response Mike had been
about to make was drowned out by the boom. I pulled myself off the
ground with the assistance of a nearby vine. The glowing white
flowers were crushed between my fingers, their light snuffed out in
an instant. Screams filled the night air and a thick black smoke
billowed from a dark shadow several feet away. Holding a hand to my
throbbing head, I pressed hard, felt the wetness and knew I was
bleeding.
I must
have hit my head when I fell...

I wiped my hand
across the hem of my shirt and leaned down to help one of the
soldiers to his feet. The shadow in front of us began to take a
more solid shape and my heart began to pound. The Lahuel. The war
demon's faceless, shadowy form seemed to grow larger and larger,
until it towered over us and blotted out the light from the moon.
But no, that wasn't right. It wasn't the Lahuel that was growing,
but a thick black smoke that was spreading through the night.

“
He's trying to screw with our vision.” I muttered to the
soldier I was still propping up.

“
They set a trap for us. Kahn won't be far behind the Lahuel.
Get to Mark.” The man swayed when I took my arm out from under his
shoulders. “Don't bother with me. They won't waste time with us,
anyway. But they'll take out Mark if they can. Or his
wife.”

I wasn't exactly on
Kahn and the Lahuel's good side, either, but the soldier was right.
They'd try to kill Mark first, or Claire. Quickly, I eased the man
to the ground. He winced again and leaned his head back against the
trunk of the large tree he rested against, urging me once more to
go.

“
I'll find Mark. Nothing will get near him or Claire.” I
promised, pressing the end of my sleeve against the wound on my
forehead and squinting into the thick, dark smoke.

Was that easier said
than done? Of course it was. But had I just made a promise I had no
hope of keeping? A second wave of nausea hit as I realized I
couldn't see more than three feet in any direction. The smoke was
getting worse. Shit. Shouts and screams and confusion continued to
roil around me.