A Cast of Shadows: An Araneae Nation Story (10 page)

A hand appeared in the narrow gap left between the high point of Errol’s spine and the den’s ceiling. It scratched behind Errol’s shoulder blade until his growling ceased, then it waved at me.

I leaned forward. “Brynmor?”

“In the flesh,” he said, and I noticed his voice was muffled. “Stay back in case he snaps.”

He didn’t have to warn me twice. I flattened my back to the wall and watched as Brynmor’s arm looped around Errol’s midsection and pulled until sunlight cut a swatch through the gloom.

While I muttered at the chirping birds outside, Jana bounded from a dark corner with a yip.

“There you are.” I rubbed her head, and she bit me for my trouble.

“She’s hungry.” Brynmor had shifted Errol enough I could ease past him…if I dared.

“What about him?” I pointed at the glaring alpha.

“He’s in no shape to bother you.” He reached for me. “Grab on and I’ll help you out.”

His hand was warm in mine, so real I held on tighter than I should have.

Once I was on my feet, I stretched my aching muscles and forced my spine straight. Living among the canis was not for me. Much too rustic. I preferred my tent and my bedroll, thank you.

The den’s entrance looked smaller at dawn. “Do you really stay in there every night? Cramped quarters and all that dirt… It was like sleeping in a tomb.”

Laughter burst from Brynmor and startled the annoying songbirds from the trees.

“I may be dead, but I’m not buried yet.” His brow furrowed. “Or, I suppose I am.”

His gallows humor stung less today, and I scrounged up a smile for his wit.

The creases in his forehead drew my fingers to smooth them. One touch led to another until I held his face in my hands. “Does this mean Errol will recover? Is this—are you—all right?”

“I can’t make you any promises, but he is healing.” Brynmor covered my hands. “Last night, even when his spirit tugged at its mooring, it remained in him. It was as if once his spirit realized it was anchored, that the continuation of Errol’s life was inevitable, his body began mending.”

“Good.” I stroked my thumbs across his cheeks. “I would have missed you.”

A series of pup-sized sneezes saved me from uttering more embarrassing remarks.

Jana barreled from between some trees and pounced on a loose string on my boot.

“How did she…?” I stepped back as Brynmor coughed into his fist. “There’s another exit?”

“Several,” he admitted. “They aren’t meant for people. They’re too narrow for us to use.”

“So last night Jana wasn’t being an unusually well-behaved pup.” I should have suspected as much. “She waited until we were otherwise occupied, then slipped outside to play on her own?”

“I kept watch over her,” he assured me. “A little adventure is good for the young.”

“Hmm.” I watched her spin and attack a tuft of grass. “I suppose.”

His eyes twinkled. “You like adventure well enough.”

“I’m not that young.” I rolled my eyes at him. “And I can take care of myself.”

“You’ll hear no argument from me.” His expression turned wistful. “I didn’t know what to make of you when we first met. A female who travels armed with nothing but her wits?”

I set my hands on my hips. “I had spears.”

“Which you left leaned against a tree.”

Embarrassment flushed my cheeks. “You could have handed one to me.”

“If I had, we wouldn’t be here now.” He grasped my elbows and pulled me into him. “And I very much want to be here, right now, with you.” He leaned close. “What have you done to me?”

Tilting my head back, I accepted his kiss. “To you?” I nipped his bottom lip. “Nothing yet.”

He groaned into my mouth, and it was easy to forget how odd a pair we made.

“Oww.” Needle-sharp teeth sank into my ankle. I shook Jana off and wiped away blood.

Brynmor caught the pup before she bit me again. “She must be hungrier than I thought.”

“I could eat too.” I patted my stomach. “How about you?”

“In this form I can eat or not.” He shrugged. “I enjoy a good meal, but it’s not necessary.”

“I envy you that.” I huffed. “Think of all the time I could save if I didn’t have to hunt.”

“Don’t deny you enjoy it.” He laughed aloud. “I watched you catching salmo.” The moment the words left his mouth, the tips of his ears turned red.

I jabbed a finger in his shoulder. “You watched me?”

His gaze drifted over me, leaving tingles in its wake. “I could not resist your siren song.”

My finger slid down his arm. “Then perhaps we can make a bargain. I’ll sing. You hunt.”

He grunted, but didn’t say no. “We can’t venture far. I thought we might hunt lepus nearby.”

“I look forward to seeing a swordsman slay a cottontail.” I chuckled at his scowl.

Catching my hand, he tapped my spinnerets. “I was thinking of using snares, actually.”

“Then we better get started.” It took time to set snares and more time for prey to wander into them. “I can help you set them.” It was the least I could do to earn my meal. “We’ll have to work quickly if we want to avoid Jana springing the traps or flushing out the prey before we’re ready.”

At the sound of her name, the pup began writhing in Brynmor’s arms.

“Wait—hold on.” He set her down before she tumbled to the ground. Once her paws hit dirt, she bolted for the den. Seconds later, Errol’s throaty growl sent her running back, tail between her legs.

“Someone’s feeling feisty this morning.” She was wound tight and springing into the air.

His lips twitched at her antics. “Hunting will be impossible when she’s like this.”

We both knew she wouldn’t stay at the den with no one but Errol for company. She would trail after us, hoping for adventure and causing mischief wherever she went.

“If you’d like to go it alone, I can keep an eye on Errol while you’re gone.” I sighed when Jana leapt onto my ankle and sank her teeth in with a ferocious snarl. “You’ll work faster without us underfoot, and I could get started on that net I owe you.”

“I told you,” he said, peeling my attacker from my leg. “There’s no rush.”

I kept quiet for fear he would read too much into my relief at spending more time with him.

Glancing away, he dusted his hands. “I won’t go far.”

“Stay in hearing distance.” I didn’t want to be caught with an injured alpha to defend and only a pup at my back if rival canis descended upon the den. The last thing I wanted to do was stand between Errol and a potential successor. One canis I could handle, maybe, but more than that…

“Stay safe.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead.

“You too,” I said before realizing the futility of that wish.

Regret flickered across his face. “You stay safe enough for the both of us.”

“I will.” I spun a slim thread then tied my first knot in what would be his net and dangled it before him. “I have plenty to keep me occupied until you return.” I waved as he left, and the movement drew Jana’s attention. When my hand fell to my side, she snagged the net starter and, with a toss of her head, bounded from my sight with her prize hanging from her grinning jaws. “Why that little…”

I had to laugh. She was audacious, an admirable trait in any female.

Tapping my fingertips, I began my work again.

Kneading my empty stomach, I reconsidered the scrap of net I had woven. Tempted as I was to catch my own meal, Errol was still unfit to fend for himself, and I had accepted responsibility for him. Either I waited for Brynmor’s return or I broke my word. So wait for him I would. Since I saw no signs of canis, or anyone else for that matter, I shoved thoughts of food aside and wove the next row on my net. It seemed I finished each line slower than the one before. Each brought me closer to the end of my time with Brynmor. Each made me wish that wasn’t the case.

Grumpy and snappish to the point of exhausting herself, Jana dozed beside me on the grass.

As I was cinching a corner knot, a low growl rumbled from the deepest shadows to my right.

I held perfectly still, moving only my eyes, while locating the origin of the sound.

A mud-brown canis stood a stone’s throw from me. He was heftier than I thought a scout would be. I had expected him to be lithe, to dart in, assess, then scamper to the upper dens to make a report.

This canis was bulky, and its musculature would have made darting impossible. He lifted his head, scenting the air. Whatever he smelled I would have sworn made him grin as he trotted into the space between me and the den. Tossing his head back, he issued a long, throaty howl that rang of challenge. Other voices, many voices, sounding much closer than I anticipated, yipped in turn.

Beside me, Jana vibrated with a growled protest at having her nap interrupted.

I patted her head. “Now’s not the time, little one.”

For good measure, I spun a quick length of silk and made a slipknot collar for her. I would rather she fight the collar than the male who eyed the den with an eager gleam in his eyes. He had called Errol out. I was certain of it. How he expected the battered alpha to answer in his condition, I wasn’t sure. No doubt that was the point.

He had a keen nose. He smelled Errol’s blood. He knew his alpha was wounded, badly. How long before he decided his challenge had gone unmet and that he had the right to confront Errol?

Not long I bet. Like all schemers, he would strike while Errol was at his weakest.

Here I sat with scraps of net tangled in my fingers and a canis bearing down on me. Truly, the more time I spent with Brynmor, the more I appreciated the enormity of the trial the river had placed before me. Had I not wished for more time to learn how I might defend myself?

Following the river was a test set before my people, and it had forced me to excel. Forget the notions I had that others must teach me to protect myself. I had endured this far alone. The gods had conspired to grow me into a person capable of using her wits and skills to survive.

With that in mind, I wound the end of Jana’s leash around the trunk of the nearest tree. She was not pleased, but she would be safe. When I stood, the challenger folded his ears flat against his skull. Teeth bared, he backed toward the den. For an instant, it seemed like a perfect solution, until I remembered what Brynmor had said, that Jana had escaped through one of its many exits.

That meant the challenger could kill Errol and escape to tout his victory.

Inwardly, I groaned. When had I begun thinking of them as capable of such emotion?

Sometime between witnessing Brynmor soothe Errol and holding Jana for the first time, the canis had become more to me than mere beasts. They were individuals, possessing their own personalities, goals and desires. And what this canis desired was to destroy Brynmor’s link to the living world. As much as I respected the natural order of things, I would not turn a blind eye here.

I could not walk away from these lands and know Brynmor no longer inhabited them.

Or worse, that he did but was nothing but air and doomed to an eternity of silence.

He deserved better than that. He deserved to enjoy his second chance at life even if he chose to do so alone rather than share more of his time with me. Exhaling, I shoved all dark thoughts of him aside. Later, I would speak with Brynmor. For now, I had a den to protect and a soul to save.

As if sensing my resolve to stand between him and his quarry, the challenger mock-charged and I stumbled back. With a dismissive snort in my direction, he returned his attention to the den.

“I can’t let you go in there.” I stepped forward, tossing my net aside in favor of my lariat.

His head lowered, breath huffing the dirt at his paws.

Gliding three steps to my left meant the canis had to go through me to reach the den.

He took one slow step forward, giving me the chance to edge aside. I crept forward instead, holding my lariat tight, aiming for his front paws, waiting for the opportunity to take him down.

A growl rose behind me, sending me spinning around so I could identify this newest threat.

What I saw astounded me. There was no second interloper. It was Errol.

His wound was still ragged and wept as he stalked forward to answer his rival’s challenge.

Torn between grabbing Errol in a chokehold and forcing him back into the den, and using my lariat as a buffer between me and his very sharp teeth, I missed the black gleam in his usually gold eyes until he turned his head and winked at me before nudging me aside.

“Brynmor?” I waited for confirmation, but Errol was too engaged.

Assuming Errol was still in control…

The challenger glanced from left to right, searching for an escape route or in expectation of a reprieve in the form of the pack’s arrival. Sensing the challenger’s hesitation, Errol snapped his teeth to get the second male’s attention. The challenger flinched but held his ground, and a steady rumble poured from his throat. Errol answered with a bass snarl of his own, then he leapt.