A Hint of Frost: Araneae Nation ( Book One) (6 page)

“She is.” Did the presence of this braid mean she had a beau? If so, had Father discovered them? Could her intended have been called here and witnessed my parents’ deaths? Was he the male I’d seen leaving their room before I discovered their bodies? Worse yet, could her mystery male have had a hand in their demise? Was he a Theridiidae? It explained the poison.

I had many questions, but only Pascale knew the answers. Given her toxic reaction to Rhys, I thought it best I keep these suspicions to myself and let him find his own conclusions. We could compare notes and, if necessary, I would approach Pascale and interrogate her alone for answers.

“Your mother…” He gave me a moment to refocus. “How did you find her?”

Unsteady legs carried me to the far side of their four-poster bed. “She was lying on the floor, facedown, on the rug there.” I swallowed. “Father lay beside her. He had a pulse, so I—I rolled Mother onto her side. I thought…but she was already gone.” I swallowed convulsively. It didn’t help. Dinner perched in the back of my throat. Covering my mouth, I kept my food down.

Rhys’s touch urged me on. My throat flexed. “Her hand was blackened, and the smell…”

Shoving him aside, I stumbled as far from the scene as I could before falling to my knees as I heaved and sobbed. A day later, and I was finally purging. Hours of pretend normalcy showed in how my elbows buckled where I’d braced on the floor. I would have fallen into the mess I’d made if Rhys hadn’t scooped me up and carried me to the nearest chair. After propping me up, he pulled his shirt over his head. I sat there numbly and let him wipe my face and clothes, my hands.

“Can you walk?” He tucked his soiled shirt under his arm.

“Yes.” Or at least I thought so. It turned out not to matter. Once I gained my feet, Rhys tucked me against his side. I recoiled when my foggy brain registered his partial nudity, but he held tight and his warmth was welcome. Forgetting propriety, I sagged against him, letting him guide me past the concerned glances of my clan, beyond the single-minded focus of my brothers.

Following my line of sight, he indicated the room to Henri. “You’ll want to get that cleaned up.”

Then he put me to bed. Dirty and foul-smelling as I was, he lay me down reverently.

What I’d allowed myself the most worry over today didn’t matter now. Let him have me. Numbness spread through my limbs and encased my heart. Yesterday my world had been at rights. Today I’d become a maven decades too early. Tonight I would become female in every sense of the word, courtesy of the dark male beside me. Tomorrow would sort itself out, I hoped.

“I’d like this part over with if you don’t mind.” I dared to peer at him through damp lashes. “Can you do it quickly?”

He crawled in bed without a word, and my tender stomach cramped as the mattress dipped. Grasping my shoulder, he nudged me onto my side, facing away from him. Fear shut my eyes. His hand on my hip startled me, the hot length of his body spooned against mine made me gasp.

He whispered, “Let go.”

So help me, I did. Crying until sleep stole me from his arms.

Fear carved my stomach hollow as I jolted upright in bed. Pounding at my door mirrored my frantic heart. I tried to stand, but Rhys’s arms were locked around my waist. I couldn’t move.

“Wait here.” He tossed the covers over me, clothes and all.

After stalking to the door, he paused with his hand on the knob, then opened it with care as he concealed one arm behind his back. When he shifted right, metal gleamed, and I knew he had a blade hidden in his palm.

“What do you—Armand?” He pocketed his knife and opened the door for my brother.

“Forgive me.” Armand pushed past Rhys, stumbling as his eyes adjusted to the dark. “Lourdes?”

“I’m here.” I steadied his arm when he hit the foot of the bed.

“Pascale’s gone. I checked her room. I thought she might want to talk. It was empty but for a note.” He grabbed my shoulders and shook. “The fool snuck from the nest.”

“What did she say?” I botched my first attempt at lighting the candle by my bedside.

Fumbling a crumpled piece of paper, he read, “
I hope my absence brings you all peace. Don’t follow. I want no more deaths upon my head.
” He paused. “
Your loving sister, Pascale.
”

“Is she mad? The Theridiidae will kill her.” Assuming they didn’t do far worse. “I can’t believe she would risk herself. How did she sneak past the guards? Did anyone see her leave?”

“She confronted the guards, demanding to speak with you on a personal matter. They didn’t see the harm and let her pass.” His face paled. “They last saw her enter the great room.”

“I’ll go after her,” Rhys said. “She can’t have gotten far.”

“Thank you.” My feet hit the floor in a rush. “I’ll go with you.”

“No.” He stopped me at the threshold. “Stay here. Armand, she’s not to leave this room.”

“I— Yes.” Armand glanced between us. “We’ll wait here for your return.”

Armed with my brother’s assurance, Rhys left us, slamming the door behind him.

I punched Armand in the arm. “Why did you side with him?”

“Have you seen Rhys?” He scowled. “I get the feeling he doesn’t hear
no
often.”

By the gods, he’d learn the word soon enough. I was all too willing to be his teacher.

“What was she thinking?” I muttered. “I knew she was upset but this…”

“Don’t you dare shoulder the blame. No one could have anticipated all this.”

I nodded. Let him make of the gesture what he would. My heart burned too much to dismiss the blame. I shouldn’t have struck her. Grief had affected my judgment. I should have done better, spoken to her. Instead, I’d sent her rushing into the cold on the heels of our enemies.

Too much blood had spilled between us for them to look a gift Araneidae in the mouth.

Pacing the room from end to end, I lost track of time, of thought, of all but my anxiety.

I jumped when the bedroom door flew open and cracked against the wall. Rhys stood there, expression tight. His mouth pressed into a bloodless line that made me stumble in mid-step.

“Did you find her?” The words flew out, though I already guessed his answer.

“There’s no sign of her.” Rhys’s fangs gleamed. “Two of my guards were found with darts stuck in their thighs. They’re Theridiidae issue.” He advanced on me. “From the sound of her note, your sister is involved in this up to her ears. I’d wager the male carrying her token was Theridiidae, which makes them our primary suspects.” He stopped short of me. “She left of her own free will rather than explain. You should prepare for what that might mean.”

Armand stepped forward. “Your guards—will they live?”

“No.” His jaw flexed. “They’re already showing signs of sickness.”

Without him telling me, I knew necrosis would follow. The skin around their wounds would blacken and die. The venom already pumped through their bloodstreams to their hearts.

“I’m sorry.” Having witnessed the same progression with Mother, I ached for his guards, for their families. Theridiidae venom was a merciless killer. Only antivenin made from the male responsible could cure the sickness. In this case, the male was long gone. So was hope for a cure.

In light of this news, I had to wonder if hope for redeeming Pascale had fled too.

“If one Theridiidae slipped past my guards, then others might have as well.” He closed the door. “I sent my best tracker to scour the tunnels. If Pascale used them, Vaughn will find her.”

“If she didn’t?” I searched his face for the truth. “What then?”

“I’ll arrange for more of my clansmen to aid in the search.”

“That will take too long.” I fisted my hands in his shirt. “She’s my sister. We act now.”

“We are.” He covered my hands with his. “You must be patient.”

I pulled his face close to mine. “If it were your sister out there—”

He cut me off sharp. “If it were my sister out there, I’d want Vaughn.” His cheeks flushed with his first show of temper. “He is my brother. I should know there are none better than him.”

Undercurrents ran deep here, but I hadn’t time to do more than wade in and pray I wasn’t swept away. “I’ll give him until sunrise, then I want answers. Some clue where she’s been taken.”

Two hard knocks silenced our argument. We broke apart, each staring at the door.

No one could have searched the tunnels so quickly. Unless they’d found… I swallowed.

“Don’t so much as breathe.” Rhys drew his blade and shoved me behind him. After waving Armand into a corner, he cracked the door. His tense shoulders wound tighter. “You’ve brought news?” he growled.

“I have,” said a graveled voice, almost identical to his. “Step aside.”

Rhys made the male, who must be Vaughn, wait. Why was his brother deserving of such posturing at a time like this? When he did step back, he ushered me aside and let Vaughn enter.

“Your sister is gone.” He acted aggravated by her disappearance, or by his call to duty.

“I know she’s gone.” I shoved Rhys aside and glared at Vaughn. “But
where is she
?”

“There’s no trace of her beyond the tunnel’s mouth.” He canted his head to one side. “Otherwise, I’d be out there tracking instead of wasting my time by reporting failure to you.”

My legs buckled under the weight of his words. Only Rhys’s grip beneath my armpits kept me upright.
Gone without a trace
. I heard the words. I understood their meaning. I just… “No. You’re wrong. They can’t have disappeared. Araneaeans don’t just vanish into thin air.”

Vaughn’s flat, black eyes flickered between his brother and me. “Is she questioning me?”

Rhys gripped my shoulders and led me back a few paces. “Steady, Vaughn.”

“Ever championing the weak is our Rhys.” Vaughn flashed him a cruel grin. “I suppose it’s expected, given what he is.” He smirked my way. “If you tire of him, my services are—”

I barely saw Rhys move. One second Vaughn leered at me, the next his head cracked against the wall. Chest pumping like bellows, Rhys leaned in a breath from Vaughn’s ear.

“If you touch her, I will kill you.” He cupped Vaughn’s chin, twisting hard to one side, his threat implicit. “What I am hasn’t hindered my willingness to kill. Don’t offer to her again.”

Blinking twice in rapid succession, Vaughn submitted and Rhys released him, the exchange so flawless I had to wonder how often similar conversations occurred between them.

What was he
? I hadn’t realized his pedigree was in question. Isolde hinted about Rhys having secrets, but I hadn’t pried. Perhaps I should have. Whatever his secret, Vaughn flaunting it slurred Rhys somehow. Unsure how he’d insulted Rhys’s pride, I was baffled by their feuding.

My hand lifted of its own accord to flatten against Rhys’s back. I petted down his spine until his breathing leveled and his shoulders slumped a fraction. “He didn’t mean me harm.”

“No.” Rhys’s muscle coiled beneath my palm. “He didn’t.”

My hand froze in mid-stroke. I hadn’t caught Vaughn’s meaning.

There were protocols in place if a maven wished to maintain her relationship with her partisan’s clan, minus her partisan. Prior to a thread binding, prior to a partisan’s ascension to paladin, another male of the same clan could usurp the titleholder, validating that union instead.

I was stunned by Vaughn’s bold offer to kill his brother and warm my bed in his place.

“While I appreciate your generous offer,” I said, and Rhys’s muscles tensed hard as stone, “I find my current partisan pleasing.” Rhys twisted around with his eyebrows arched as if asking,
you find me pleasing, do you
? Holding his gaze, I nodded. “I plan to keep him.”

His smile came slow and was, I thought, hopeful.

“Vaughn,” I addressed him coolly, “is there nothing else you can tell me?”

He measured me with a look before scrubbing a hand down his arm, wiping something from his skin. “I scented the male who took her.” His tongue glided across the edge of his teeth. “His scent is Theridiidae, but also Araneidae.” He inhaled deliberately. Scenting again? “I’d wager he was a guard. I’d imagine he had access to Araneidae clan heads.”

“I— Yes, the Theridiidae have guarded us for years.” I glanced from my brother back to Vaughn. “They saw Mother and Father daily.”

“Given the sudden nature of your parents’ deaths, I’d be unsurprised to hear he had a hand in their demises.” His eyes shone as mine widened. “You suspected that, didn’t you?”

My gaze flew to Rhys, who nodded I should confide in his brother. Madness if you asked me considering what Vaughn had offered. Why trust in him?
Males
. I’d never understand them.

“Your clan will talk.” Rhys touched my arm. “Between your mother’s sickness and the timing of this morning’s attack on the city, they’ll surmise the Theridiidae are responsible for double coups.”

“I hadn’t thought of it in those terms,” I admitted. Loss had dulled my thought process.

“Death of clan heads inspires gossip,” Vaughn said. “Conspiracy theories will abound.”

“He’s right, but such loss will unite your clan against a common enemy.” Rhys softened his expression. “They’ll focus less on why or how it happened and be content with who’s at fault. With any luck, by the time they get around to asking the other questions, we’ll have answers for them.”

“You sound so certain.” His surety anchored me yet again.

Turning from Vaughn, another slight if his flared nostrils were any indication, Rhys tucked a hair behind my ear. “I won’t fail you. We’ll find Pascale, and your answers.”

I wanted so badly to believe him.

Inhaling deeply, I covered his hand so it cupped my cheek. “What happens now?”

“My guards will sweep the area. She can’t have vanished.” Those words were directed at Vaughn. “If someone is masking her trail, we’ll find out how. We’ll follow it and get her back.”

“Good plan.” My fingers dug into his. “I’ll change and then you and I—”

“No.” He dropped his arm. “I won’t risk you. Once the clan home is cleared, you and your siblings will hole up in the spinning rooms while Vaughn and I head out to join the search.”