Sword Sisters (13 page)

Mmmm. He said “laid me.” Then he lowered his tunic, and my brain began working again. I repositioned my jaw into a more becoming place, hoping he didn’t notice my appreciation of his incredible body.

“You must’ve deserved it.” Ha! Great recovery!

“Oh, I did. But then he carried me to the old healer that lives outside the village. Yazel? I think you met her. He made sure I’d survive before he left.” He paused. “Now what kind of person cuts you open then stuffs your insides back and stitches you up?”

I knew. Andre was the most fair-minded person I’d ever known. And he must have given some of his own magical blood to Damato to aide in the healing process.

I looked at Damato with a new understanding. “Maybe he saw something in you that he didn’t expect.”

“Like my liver?” he said with a chuckle. How incredible to have a sense of humor over something that traumatic. Is that an accent I was noticing? Damato must be from a faraway place indeed with his dark hair, dark eyes, and olive skin. “Anyway, the point to all that is, I don’t automatically hate Reapers the way some people do. I don’t understand you, but I don’t hate you. Or fear you, which you should remember. You can kill me probably. But maybe not before I kill you.” His words were threatening but his tone strangely calming. My body began to react. I felt the rise in pressure, signaling more blood. I was ready for action. But at the same time, this felt very, very different. What is this, exactly?

“I don’t understand why you’re telling me this,” I said truthfully. What I understood even less was my reaction to the things he was saying.

He stepped closer and put a hand against my cheek. “You’re beautiful, Aella. And terrifying. For a man like me, those are two very…exciting qualities in a woman.”

I should’ve pushed his hand away and maybe broken his arm, but I was too surprised by my own response to do so. Up until now—and except for Aaron—I’d classed all humans (and all Reapers, for that matter) as either “enemy” or “not enemy.” My view of the world didn’t allow for the emotions this human was expressing. And as he pulled me toward him with surprising gentleness, I found myself going along with it. I should’ve been reliving all those times I was grabbed and used, but because he was gentle, I was too damned surprised to resist. And then I noticed: He wasn’t pulling me; I was moving closer to him. What was this? Something was happening to me, a kind of rising excitement I’d previously only felt in battle practice or when I risked getting in trouble. But somehow, this felt very, very different.

My lips touched his. He’d waited for me to come to him, seducing me like a wild animal. Patient. Brilliant. This man had experience with girls like me.

He kissed me. Gently, tenderly. Like Aaron. I was betraying the memory of the boy whose kiss had sustained me all these years, wasn’t I? But then I felt my arms going around his neck, the way I’d seen Freya do with Andre, and it didn’t feel like a betrayal. It felt…right. Didn’t it?

When our lips parted, I realized his arms were around me as well. I hadn’t even noticed. That was terrible strategy if nothing else. I stepped back, awkward but not embarrassed. So that was my very first real kiss. We appraised each other anew.

“Did you like it?” he asked.

“I…didn’t mind.” If he’d known me better, he would have understood how earth-shaking that revelation was, but he didn’t know me. Instead, he looked…disappointed. This unexpected vulnerability tugged at my chest, and I wondered what secrets those soulful dark eyes held.

Impulsively, I kissed him again. He was a little surprised, but he certainly recovered nicely. His soft lips parted for me, letting me in. This time, it was more than our lips touching. I felt a connection with him at his core.

When we separated again, he just stared at me in wonder. His gentleness aroused something in me. Was I too rough? I am a Reaper of mythic strength doing something I’ve never done before. And with a human! That was expressly forbidden in the Reaper code. Adonis would be so disappointed in me.

I said nothing. I couldn’t meet his gaze.

“It was probably a mistake. Bad judgment. I shouldn’t have been so forward. I thought you might…” He trailed off, stepped back and sighed. “My apologies.”

“No apologies necessary.” I must have done something wrong. I was too rough with him. I’m a terrible Reaper. I don’t deserve him or Aaron. And yet, I really want another kiss. What if this was the last kiss I ever experience? Before I could pursue that thought—or kiss him again—he said, “There’s something else you need to know.”

“You’re married?” I knew it.

He laughed at that. “No. There’s been some change at the cave of Lurida Lumo.”

Instantly, all thoughts of more kisses left. “What do you mean?”

“If you’ll trust me, I’ll show you. It’s easier than describing it.”

“I’ll need my sword. It’s inside.”

He drew his, and I tensed despite myself. Then he handed it to me, hilt first. “Use mine. It’s faster, and I’d rather be behind an armed Reaper than in front of an unarmed one.”

A man handing over his sword? In these times, that meant far more than a kiss. A kiss meant he was attracted to me. The sword meant he respected me.

The weapon was well-balanced, clean, and gleamed in the moonlight. I swung it a couple of times, and when it didn’t fall apart in my freakishly strong grip, I nodded. “All right. Show me.”

#

We went down the trail toward the cave. I had no trouble seeing, and Damato apparently knew the way so well he didn’t need a light. We passed the row of little shrines. After seeing the main shrine in town, I was now very curious about what these smaller ones depicted and what they told about Lurida Lumo. But Damato moved too quickly for that.

When we were about to descend into the gully, he held up his hand to stop.

“Be especially quiet from here,” he whispered. “I don’t know what we might find.”

“I killed the spider,” I said.

“I know you did. But did you ever think there might be more than one?”

I hadn’t, which made me want to slap myself. I should’ve known that just from the corners of my own bedroom. If one spider liked it, you can be sure another would be nearby. But surely, a whole herd of giant spiders couldn’t live in that cave without being noticed. I mean, they’d have to come out to eat, wouldn’t they? What else might live in the cave for them to feed on? And if something else did live there, why would they ever come out at all?

I was more silent than he was, which made him glance back repeatedly to ensure I was still there. That made me smile. After forty years as a slave to the demons, Quiet was my middle name.

When we reached the bottom of the gully, I saw a faint, blue glow emanating from the cave.

“There,” he said, and pointed. “What do you make of that?”

“I’ve seen moss glow,” I said.

“That’s not moss,” he said. It’s coming from down inside the cave.”

“It could still be moss.”

“Keep watching.”

I did. For a long time, I saw nothing. Then, a shadow moved through the light. It wasn’t close enough to the mouth that I could see the form casting it, but it was definitely there and alive. And it didn’t look like a spider. Nor moss. It looked like a person, a big person, crossing through the light.

“Let’s go see,” I said, and started forward, but he grabbed my arm.

“I admire your courage, little Reaper, but I’m not sure your plan is a good idea.”

“Call me ‘little Reaper’ again, and I’ll show you something else you won’t think is a good idea.”

He smiled. “Point taken. But there’s something else I want you to see.”

We moved cautiously closer to the cave. The shadow did not reappear in the blue light. Damato pointed to the dusty ground.

I saw prints from my own boots, made when I’d rescued Amelia. There were scuff marks from the battle and little round prints where the spider had stepped. But atop these were bare human prints, each toe visible. These were enormous, easily twice the size of mine. Whoever or whatever left them had emerged from the cave, looked around, then returned.

I turned to Damato. “What do you think this means?”

“It means one of two things. Somebody lives in the cave and came out. Or the god Lurida Lumo emerged to see why he hadn’t gotten his sacrifice.”

I was silent for a moment. “Should we tell anyone?”

“If we do, they’ll grab Amelia and bring her back, and I’m not sure you’d be able to rescue her again.”

“Yes, I could,” I said with certainty.

“Even if I stood in your way?”

“You’d do that?”

“I work for them. Not you. And it’s hard to argue with the idea that you’re a danger.”

“You kissed me.”

“I’ve also given my word to protect this village. Even if it means going up against the most beautiful woman, human or Reaper, that I’ve ever seen.”

I looked at him in the blue half-light, his face serious, and impulsively kissed him again. I admired his courage, his honesty, and his willingness to live up to his obligations in the face of almost certain death. After all, no human could take on a Reaper. Not really. And this time, it didn’t remind me of Aaron’s kiss at all.

When our lips parted, he said, “You’re a virgin, aren’t you?”

“You can tell that from a kiss?”

“I can tell it from your surprise at a kiss, yes. Am I right?”

How do I answer that? In one sense, yes, I was. In another, no one held captive by Demons for as long as I was could remain innocent. “You…I might be.”

He kissed the tip of my nose. “I thought so.”

I put my hand on his chest. Beneath his leather and muscles, I felt his heart. “Damato, I…I don’t really know what to say. Or do. I’ve never…I’ve only ever kissed one other boy…man, I mean.”

“Then I’m special,” he said softly.

“You are,” I agreed. I don’t know who started the kiss this time, but we both attacked it with our warriors’ fury. He put his hands all over me, places no one had ever touched me with kindness before, and through the thin, borrowed dress, I felt things that I couldn’t have imagined five minutes before.

Then, to my absolute horror, he said, “Ow!”

What had I done now? I’d hurt him? If so, I couldn’t tell where. “What happened?”

“Nothing, I just forgot about your spikes.” He put his finger in his mouth and sucked the blood from the puncture. “Entirely my fault. Hope I didn't get blood on your dress.”

“Are you all right?” I said. My heart was trying to choke me.

“Yeah,” he said, and kissed me again.

We stopped when we were both breathless, but Damato spoke first, and what he said surprised me. “I don’t think it would be honorable of me to pursue this right now, but I hope—if and when the situation with Amelia is cleared up—that we can pick up this thread again. It might lead to some…wonderful places.”

That was so confusing I had to ignore it. Better to focus on the task at hand when things get screwy. If I want to be the protector of the world, I should probably focus more on that. “This doesn’t solve our problem though. What’s in that cave? And how do we protect Amelia from it and from her people?”

“Let me talk to Yazel. I know she seems a little loony, but she’s really very smart and a pretty good politician. I’ll come see you tomorrow after I talk to her, all right?”

I thought about this. If Damato collected the information, I was free to protect Amelia’s life and limb. A sound strategy. “All right.”

I wanted to kiss him again, but I refrained. And the longing was even more delicious. What was this?

#

We were silent all the way back to the village, where I returned his sword and he gave me a jaunty salute as he strode away into the night. I slipped back into the house and was about to go back to bed when Hatho said softly, “Where have you been?”

He stood in the main room near the hearth, his little night dress white against the shadows. He looked impossibly small, almost like a toy child. Was I ever that little? I said softly, “I went for a walk, and now I’m going back to bed. You should too.”

“I had a bad dream,” he said, head down.

“I have those sometimes,” I admitted.

“Do you think Lurida Lumo will come back for Amelia?”

“Not after I got done with him,” I assured him.

He thought about that then walked over and took my hand. The contact shocked me. I’d never felt such a tiny, fragile thing before, and I realized that humans were always fragile, never more so than when they were babies. I looked at him for a long moment. Don’t hurt him! I told myself. I was afraid to close my hand around his for fear I would break it off. First-generation Reapers like me were notorious for ripping human's limb from limb at the behest of our demon fathers. What if—? No. No. I forced myself to stop. I would not let negative thoughts scare me away from this most precious experience.

I looked down and noticed the green flecks in the big blue eyes that stared back at me. What a sweet, innocent child. He didn’t see me as a monster. Not right now, at least. I led him back into the bedroom and tucked him in, the way I remembered Diah doing for me. I wanted to kiss him on the cheek, but fear stopped me. Again, I didn’t want to hurt him. So I crawled into bed and stretched out beside Amelia, who didn’t wake. And again, I stared at the ceiling until dawn, thinking about Damato’s hands and Aaron’s lips and the confusing sensations both these very different human males aroused in me.