The Lady of Toryn Anthology (Lady of Toryn trilogy) (25 page)

"Believe
me, it's not usually a problem," he seethed, yanking the jacket back on
with jerky motions. "Only around you."

Ellis
cleared his throat loudly, and they both jumped, Ashlyn looking guiltily over
at him like she'd done something wrong.

"Am
I interrupting something?" he said, and his voice was unusually impassive,
even for him.

"Nope,"
Ashlyn said. She glared at Vargo, unable to believe that the awful things she'd
said earlier had hardly affected him. "Follow me."

She
turned and headed for the front gate, where she knew Kou would be waiting for
her. The Spartans and Aaron followed behind- well, Vargo actually followed
beside her, which prompted Ashlyn to drop back and skirt around Aaron, putting
the pilot between them. Aaron, for his part, didn't seem to notice.

Kou met
them at the base of the stairs leading up to the crow's nest. "My
Lady," he said, bowing low.

"Kou,
I want you to take my friends to my father's house and help them relocate the
people underground," Ashlyn said, shrugging off the courtly bow as best
she could. "Vargo, Trace, Ellis- this is Kou. He'll assign a troop of
soldiers to each location and place them under your direction."

Kou
glanced at Ashlyn, confusion written on his features, but he didn't question
her actions. "Is there anything else you wish of me, Lady Li?"

"Not
right now, thanks." She felt a sudden pang in her ankle, and grimaced.

Kou
bowed again and was gone, the Spartans trailing after him. Vargo stared
pointedly over his shoulder at Ashlyn as he walked away, somehow managing not
to trip over his own feet, and she scowled and stared at her hands.

“What’s
that look for?” Aaron asked from beside her. “Ya okay?”

"It’s
my ankle," Ashlyn muttered, frowning as she flexed the bandage. It was
beginning to stick to the open wound. "I've gotta get this looked at
before my whole darn foot falls off. I swear I can feel the gangrene forming
already. Do you think you can give me a hand?”

"Got
some
heal
on me," Aaron said,
rolling up his sleeve to show her his armband. Several stanes glittered at her
from the steel band. "You wanna head to your house?" He pulled his
sleeve back down. "Unless ya'd rather stay here."

His
proposal was sound; she didn't want to leave the main gate when Skye and the
others were supposed to meet her there, and her house was much closer than her
father's.

"Okay,"
Ashlyn said. "Let's go."

She
tried not to hobble as they wove through the crowds towards her home, and Aaron
was considerate enough to slow his pace so she could keep up. Ashlyn slid open
the front door and stepped inside, hopping to one side so that Aaron could
enter behind her.

"That
was rough," she said, collapsing on the floor. No way was she going to let
Aaron anywhere near the bathroom. That would open up a whole new can of worms.
"I feel like death warmed over."

"Ya
don't look it," Aaron said, kneeling and beginning to unwrap the makeshift
bandage.

"Why,
thank you, Aaron. I do believe that's the nicest thing you've ever said to
me." Ashlyn paused to consider why she didn't feel the need to act
responsible and reserved in front of Aaron, then dismissed it just as quickly.
She'd always felt comfortable around him- maybe it was his gruff, strangely
endearing demeanor- and there was no need to impress the old pilot, even now.

"Vargo
givin' ya trouble again?" the man in question asked suddenly, and Ashlyn
lifted her head to regard him. His eyes were downcast, his face downturned, so
she couldn't see his expression.

"What,
outside Heaven?" she asked, propping herself up on her elbows. "Not
really, I guess. He was just being his usual annoying self." She frowned,
thinking about how irritating Vargo could be.

"Yer
wearin' his shirt."

"So
I am," she agreed, fingering the knotted shirttails. "Nothing I own
fits me anymore. I think I gained some weight in the past three years, lost my
girlish figure." She laughed weakly at her own joke.

Aaron
slowly peeled the last of the bandage away from her ankle, and Ashlyn hissed
through her teeth as he peeled a good deal of dried blood with it.
"Careful," she said belatedly.

She bit
her lower lip as she watched his fingers brush over the skin around the
self-inflicted wound. He didn't ask how she got it, and for that she was
grateful, but she knew he must be curious. Slowly Ashlyn eased herself back
down onto the floor, bracing herself for the inevitable pain that would come
with the healing. She took a deep breath, centered herself, and waited.

Some
people spoke when they worked magic, muttered spells or incantations to help
things along. Aaron was a mutterer, just as he'd been when he'd healed her
before. After the initial contact he didn't touch her, though, instead choosing
to brace his hands on the floor as he channeled the magic into her ankle-
which, ironically enough, was the same leg that she'd injured in that scuffle
with Lysato just a few days ago.

"You
always seem to be fixing my ankles," she said absently as her skin began
to itch.

"Yer
right, kid." Amusement curled around his tone, lingering in the air like a
pleasant sort of smoke.

She
winced as a jolt of pain sliced through her consciousness, and fought to keep
still. "Hurry, please."

"Gotcha."
Aaron rocked back on his heels, and Ashlyn struggled up on her elbows again,
suspicious.

"That
was it?"

He
looked slightly perturbed. "Ya ain't got no
faith,
Li, that's yer
problem."

She
looked down at her ankle to see a fresh layer of scar tissue over the wound.
Some of it was still gouged, still scabbed over, but for the most part, it was
mended, and far better and faster than any professional healer could have done.

"Wow,
Aaron. I forgot how good you were with healing magic." She sat up and
reached down to run her fingers across the new scar, noting that there was
still some tenderness. "I guess that's why Drake is here when he should
still be in bed with a massive stab wound?"

There
was a pause.

"He'd
be worse than that if ya hadn't deflected the sword," Aaron said at length.

She
looked up, and blinked, recognizing the smile in his eyes for the first time.
"He told you about that, huh?" she asked excitedly, momentarily
forgetting her vow to ignore her attraction to men.

"Sure
did," Aaron said. He pulled a cigar from his pocket and jammed it between
his teeth, looking nonchalant.

"Tell
me everything he said," Ashlyn pleaded, grabbing Aaron's shoulder and
shaking him with as much force as she could muster.

"Said
you weren't no traitor," the blond-haired pilot replied, pushing her hand
away. "Shoulda believed him, I guess."

Ashlyn
sat back, imagining Drake telling everyone that no, there was no way Ashlyn
could possibly betray FLD. "She has always been loyal to us," he
would have said, standing tall and gorgeous in the conference room of the
airship. She could see every detail of his face and clothing in her mind's eye,
looking noble and confident. An errant lock of hair was hanging in front of
imaginary Drake's eyes, and she reflexively reached out to tuck it behind his
ear.

Aaron
jerked back as her hand groped blindly for his face. "Uh, Ash-"

There
was a sharp rap at the door. "Ash?"

Skye.

Holy
crap. Her father…Kou…Toryn under attack! Ashlyn leaped to her feet, horrified
that she'd forgotten so easily and nearly knocking Aaron over in her haste.
"Come in!" she exclaimed, hopping on one foot to put her sock back
on.

The
door slid open. "We're ready," Skye said, stepping inside. He looked
at Ashlyn, hopping with one shoe half on, and at Aaron, who was still kneeling
on the floor. His expression didn't change, but Ashlyn immediately felt guilty,
like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

The
shoe slipped from her fingers and hit the floor, and Ashlyn straightened up,
trying to pretend that she was perfectly poised.

Something
barreled into her from behind, sending Ashlyn flying forward onto her hands and
knees. She skidded across the floor, yelping as splinters embedding themselves
in her palms. Almost immediately she felt a crushing weight on top of her. With
it came a hot breath on her neck, and the strong stench of wet fur.

Only
one thought crossed her mind, and it wasn't for her own safety. If the monsters
were already inside the city, inside her
house,
and Ashlyn hadn't yet set up the perimeter guards, then Toryn would fall before
they even had a chance to defend themselves.

Something
wet and warm fell onto her neck. What-?

Oh,
gross
.

"Drool!"
Ashlyn shrieked. "
Gross!
"
She threw her head back with all the force she could muster, catching the
monster square in its snout. Ashlyn saw stars for the briefest instant before
suddenly the weight was gone from her back, and she heard the sounds of a
scuffle behind her. Rolling over on her back, she sat up just in time to watch
Skye and a brown, furry figure almost twice his size crash through the back
wall of her house.

She
sprang to her feet, ignoring the absence of one shoe, and ran after them. Skye
was grappling with the beast, rolling over and over again in an attempt to
somehow subdue the crazed monster. Without a thought as to what the
consequences would be, Ashlyn threw herself into the fray, grabbing onto a
fistful of fur and yanking for all she was worth.

She
didn't expect the bear to completely turn from Skye and start attacking
her
, but somehow she wasn't surprised
when it happened. It turned and lunged at her, knocking the wind out of her as
she hit the ground. Ashlyn found herself dodging teeth, claws and slimy strings
of drool. She scrambled sideways as the bear snapped its jaws shut inches from
her face, and she brought her bare foot around to connect with the side of its
head.

The
blow didn't seem to faze the beast at all.

Ashlyn
flipped up in a scissor-kick, again landing a solid hit, but she might as well
have been beating her legs against a brick wall. Nothing happened. A little
shaky from the sudden exertion, she stood and dodged another advance from the
bear, wondering how the hell she was going to fight her way out of this one.

"Ashlyn,"
Drake said calmly from behind her. She glanced over her shoulder at him and squeaked
out an exclamation when she saw that he had his revolver aimed right at her.

"Wait
a second!" she yelped, dropping into a crouch, covering her head with her
arms and waiting for the sound of the gunshot. But it didn't come.

She
looked up just in time to leap out of the way of yet
another
swipe from
the bear. "Uh, Drake?" Ashlyn exclaimed, executing a perfect jab to
the monster's throat- or at least, where she assumed his throat was underneath
all that fur. It must have worked, because the bear staggered backwards on its
hind legs, hacking up spittle.

Just
then a giant bolt of lightning split the sky, zig-zagging down to tear through
the grass in front of Ashlyn and hit the bear. The smell of burning fur whipped
along the wind of the storm, and the creature shrieked, pawing uselessly at its
blistering skin as it fell forward. Ashlyn scrambled out of the way of the
flailing monster, swallowing hard and trying her best not to wonder if the bear
was anyone she knew.

As the
beast finally stilled, singed fur still smoking, Skye walked up beside her.
"A scout," he said grimly. "This is actually good news. We
bought some time by killing him. They'll wait before sending another one. They
have no idea where it's possible to penetrate the city's defenses, and this
guy's not about to tell them."

"Right."
Ashlyn stared down at the dying bear. "Aaron," she said before she
could change her mind, "take him to the pagoda. Restrain him, but see if
he can be saved. He may be useful to us later. Skye, we need to set up that
perimeter defense." She turned to head back to the main gate.

"Ashlyn,"
Aaron said as she walked away.

"What?"
She glanced over her shoulder and stopped.

The
bear was shape-shifting, its fur slowly receding into seared skin, its features
changing into something entirely more human- and familiar.

Heart
in her throat, Ashlyn jogged back to the naked man and knelt beside him.

"Oh
no," she murmured.

"Someone
you know?" Skye called.

Ashlyn
looked up, met Aaron's eyes. "It's my cousin, Soryl," she said.
"Help me move him to the pagoda."

Chapter 14

Shaky Ground

“Wait."
Drake knelt beside her, so close she could feel the heat of his shoulder
against hers, a shock from the chilly western air.

"There's
no time to wait." Ashlyn shifted her weight, balancing herself.
"Aaron, help me-"