Chapter Eleven
Not Without You
Aunt Ingenia used to say a warrior's greatest honor was to die in defense of the ones he loved. A warrior's second greatest honor was to die in battle-preferably one in which the defense of loved ones was at stake. Staring at the shocked, doe-eyed faces gathered around me, I could only surmise that Aunt Ingenia had been full of crap. It was pretty obvious that the other nymphs didn't feel any more honored than I did. Putting aside the fact that my aunt would have keeled over had she lived long enough to see her only niece don leather armor and pick up a blade, I wasn't at all certain this is what she meant by "battle." To me, it looked more like an impending mass slaughter.
"Aranu?" I raised a brow in his direction and waited until I had his full attention.
"Yes?"
"Do you feel honored right now?"
"Do I what?"
"Feel honored," I repeated, idly fingering the feathered end of one of my arrows.
"Are you feeling okay?"
"Just answer the question," I sighed, slipping the arrow between the strings of the blow and clasping the weapon lightly between fingers that were, somehow, remarkably steady.
"No," he finally said. There was a wealth of anger in that single, clipped word.
"You do realize you can't stay here." When his eyes clashed with mine, I reminded him of the plan. "If the coatyl-when the coatyl-come to the clearing, they're going to wonder why we're all here and armed to the teeth, to boot. And if they notice that, then they might start to notice other things, too," I explained with exaggerated patience. "Little things, you know, like how the lights on the fence don't all look exactly alike."
"Aries-"
I pressed cold fingers to the well-worn leather band on his arm, keeping my touch brief, fleeting, like ripping off a bandage. "The other soldiers wouldn't expect you to argue with me. We can't afford this right now, Aranu. Time is a luxury today, and it's not on our side. You have to go."
"Like hell," he cursed viciously. "I'm not leaving you alone here-"
"You have to," I bit out, truly irritated now. Whether it was coming from a good place or not, Aranu was about to get us killed. I glanced around, then behind us, where Mark and most of the other men had retreated to lie in wait for?whatever was to come.
Death, I realized. The single word reverberated through my head as I went toe-to-toe with Aranu, matching him scowl for scowl. Inside, horror became a deep, blooming stain working its way through my veins. Death was coming for us, for sure, if Aranu didn't leave and take the rest of his men with him. Fifty or so warriors stood tersely by, forming a loose, protective semi-circle around the nymphs. Except, in reality, they weren't protecting us at all. And if I didn't make Aranu leave? Fuck.
I had to make him leave. Minutes that we couldn't afford to spare were ticking by and I knew he would never leave willingly, on his own. How the hell was I supposed to "make" him leave?
Aranu's grip on my arm tightened and his chest heaved. Then it came to me. I had to convince him he wasn't wanted here. Because that was why he was here, refusing to leave my side. It wasn't just some misplaced sense of loyalty. It wasn't about childhood friendships. Aranu loved me. I could see that now.
I tilted my head to the side and regarded him through eyes that were beginning to sting with moisture, and for a second the forest, the artificially bright fence, the tension weaving thickly around us, was gone. For a moment, time stood frozen and I flashed on another time. Another life, deep in a gilded forest, not far from the dome?
My legs didn't work. I gasped and struggled in complete and total panic before figuring out I actually could feel my legs. Not gone, then, and probably not broken. Exhaling, I let myself go limp and concentrated on breathing normally for a few minutes. Gradually, my eyes became focused enough to see clearly and I took full stock of my surroundings.
Thick, heavy blankets were wrapped snugly around me and piled high over me. I shoved weakly at the covers and struggled to sit up, but it just wasn't happening. So weak?
When I lifted my head, the beige canvas tent walls swayed around me and my stomach seemed to lurch that much closer to my throat. I was in a tent? Minutes ticked by and a strange warmth spread its way across my arms and up my neck until my entire face was infused with heat, like I'd been lying too close to a fire. My eyes widened. Was I next to a fire?
My tongue snaked out to wet lips that were cracked and dry. The heat flared and I groaned. Time stopped and around me, the world burned. But wait, it wasn't the world, only me. Brief flashes of awareness broke through the fog that was doing its best to overtake me and I inhaled deeply, not smelling any smoke. The tent wasn't on fire, then. The realization was a welcome one but it didn't make me feel much better. In fact, when I tried to think of a time in my life when I'd felt worse, I couldn't. Then thinking was too much and the sea of fog drifted over my head, sucking me into the abyss.
Light. Too bright. Hands. Stop it. No? Voices drifted through the mist.
"How is she?" The strange voice was barely audible and it wasn't one I recognized. He was talking to someone. So cold. Why is it so cold?
"Her fever's back. The wet cloth seems to help only for a short time." This voice was closer and?familiar.
"Is she going to make it?"
"She'd better. Did you find them?"
"No. Not yet. It would help if we knew what the woman looks like, or where they were being held."
"Well keep looking," the closer voice snapped. "I want them found. At the height of the fevers, she rambles about a girl named Claire who was taken along with her. I'm assuming Aries managed to escape and this Claire wasn't so lucky. I can't exactly question Ari right now, so you know as much as I do. Just look for any woman in the company of the guards. If you find one, take her and bring her here."
"And the guards?"
"Kill them all."
My eyes wouldn't open. Darkness was coming for me again. It didn't matter. I was safe. Aranu?
A voice broke through and the memory evaporated faster than the time that was steadily ticking by. "They're coming."
I didn't bother to turn and look at the speaker. My gaze remained firmly fixed on Aranu. In the back of my mind, remnants of memories swirled and lingered. Aranu as a small child, dark skin and large, earnest eyes shining as he gave me his last cookie after I'd dropped mine on the ground. Aranu standing between me and Juliette, playing the peacemaker that time we'd fought over the last juice pouch in the barrel. Fast forward a few years, to a tall, awkward pre-teen at the base of an impossibly large gildwood tree, his arms braced wide as I climbed higher up the branches.
The breath raced into my lungs, faster with each passing scene, until I was thoroughly and completely off-kilter. In one final burst, several pictures ambushed me at once and every single one featured Aranu. And not the child from our shared youth, but the man. Tall, most of the time brooding and sometimes in the shadows, on the fringe of my world?but solid. Always there. Always?there.
The words echoed in the stillness that, for a moment, seemed to fill my soul. My lashes brushed against my cheeks, fleeting, before I stared up at him once more. His eyes widened, seemed to search mine and his expression softened.
"Please," I whispered, feeling moisture gather at the corners of my eyes, imploring him without the words that probably wouldn't have come out right, anyway. "You have to go."
He leaned forward until his forehead rested against mine. My heart clenched in time to the long fingers wrapped around my biceps, and I drew in a deep breath.
"I can't leave you here," he said.
"Aries?" Claire's shaky voice intruded on the moment.
"Aranu." I swallowed back what I really wanted to say. I love you. I'm sorry it took me so long to see it. I don't want to die. I can't stand the thought of watching you die here today. I think that maybe I need you? Dangerous thoughts. My needing him. Then again, did it really matter now? Odds were, none of us would survive the coming night, anyw
ay.
Swallowing past the aching lump that strained against my throat, I raised trembling hands to either side of his chest?because right now he needed me, whether he realized it or not. I had to make him leave, and to do that I'd have to hurt him. My heart stuttered at the realization of what I was about to do. But I drew strength from Claire's silent presence behind me and raised my eyes to Aranu one more time. Then I shoved him, hard.
"Ari-"
"No." I narrowed my eyes to slits and forced myself to hold on to the harsh expression. "Don't touch me," I warned, harnessing all the pent-up energy that charged the air between us. I drank it in and released it in an exasperated sigh. Inside, my heart was cracking, bleeding. ""Why won't you leave, already? I don't want you here."
Comprehension replaced confusion and he shook his head. "I know what you're doing, Aries. It won't work."
Well. Had I really thought it would be that easy? Injecting a hard edge into my voice, I strove for a demeanor that straddled the line between indifference and scorn. "You just don't get it, do you?" I gave a tight little laugh. "I didn't want to have to do this but you won't listen. So fine. I love you, Aranu." I stumbled slightly over the words, the mockery I was about to make of them. "You've been a good friend and I owe you that much."
My chest rose and fell and I forced myself to ignore the wounded look that clouded his gold-brown eyes. "But mostly I feel sorry for you. Since your parents and your sister died, you've got nobody in your life and I get that you want to be close to me, but this-" I gestured between us. "This constantly hanging on my coattails thing has got to stop." My hands curled into fists at my sides. "I'll always care for you but you're not the man I'm in love with. I'm sorry."
At this, I deliberately let my gaze slide toward the tree line to our right, the spot where Mike's light green T-shirt was just barely visible between darker foliage and deep brown tree trunks. "You're not him," I said quietly, swiveling my head back to the stricken man who stood, breathing hard, before me. "And you never will be. Now please go, and let me do my job. All you're doing is embarrassing yourself in front of your men."
"You kissed me back." His voice was harsh and I steeled myself before delivering the final, killing blow.
"Yes and even then, all I could see was him. He'd been gone for so long and?I'm sorry." I shrugged apologetically, ignoring Claire's horrified gasp. "I never intended to use you that way," I continued. "You caught me off guard and like I said-"
"I heard what you said," he snapped, his pain-laced voice cracking over me like a whip. "You want me gone? Fine."
I flinched from the world of contempt he infused into the word, and his eyes, he looked?disgusted. Never over the course of our lives had he ever, ever looked at me that way. That look cut deeper than I could have imagined and I watched with helpless regret as he stalked across the clearing. His long, even strides carried him farther away from me with each passing second. His men fell into step behind him and in the next moment they were gone, hidden from view but still watching, I knew.
I released the breath I'd been holding and turned to face the forest. I'd done it, done what I had to do, even if the victory felt hollow. My chest physically ached at the depth of pain I'd just inflicted on Aranu. Claire was a silent presence beside me.
"I had to do it," I choked.
"I know," she murmured, and when I dared a sideways glance, her eyes were warm and filled with sympathy.
I tried to smile, failed miserably. Then I felt the ground vibrate beneath our feet.
"Oh, hell." Claire's eyes went wide as the leaves beyond the fence began to rustle.
"This is it, girls. Hold your positions and stay calm," I directed the group around me.
Twenty women. There were only twenty women scattered haphazardly about the clearing as scores of coatyl emerged from the dense tree line ahead. Blood rushed through my veins at warp speed as I watched them slowly, steadily fill the space. Ten, twenty, fifty, and still they kept coming.
A strange gulping sound beside me tore my attention away from the coatyl.
"Claire!" I admonished "Is that a flask?"
"Yes, and it's filled with alcohol." She took another hefty swallow and offered up the small gold container.
I shook my head and refocused on the scene across the fence.
"You know what's so horrible?" Claire whispered, inching closer and clasping my hand. "They almost look like us? Ari, if I'm going to die right now, I'm glad it's with you. You're my best friend."
Her voice broke on the word friend, and I took a deep breath. Gently but firmly I pulled my hand from her white-knuckled death grip. "I love you, too, Claire. Now get off me and pull it together," I whispered back. "We aren't going to die here." Not without a fight.
Still more coatyl poured into the clearing. The ones on the front lines went still and stared hard at the fence. They seemed almost?confused. Claire and I exchanged a look as the first several rows of coatyl murmured among themselves, then one by one began to face forward and fix their glaring stares on us. Hundreds of malevolent eyes fastened on our small group.
Several gasps went through the crowd, and I sighed as many of the nymphs backed up. To Claire's credit, she didn't take a step back. If anything, she appeared to be rooted to the spot but her breathing was coming in tense, shallow bursts and her fingers were white around the shiny, metallic gold of the flask. So much for acting natural.
Murmurs of unease rippled through the clearing and the air became charged with nervous energy. I didn't blame them, really, and I knew exactly what Claire meant by "they almost look like us." The basic body shape of the coatyl did look like us?you know, except for the bone-thin frame and the sharp, angular features. But at first glance, a casual observer would think they were seeing a strange, emaciated person wearing white clothing. Then you noticed it wasn't clothing at all but bleached skin. After that, your eyes took in the sharp-clawed hands, the bulging eyes that were perpetually on the edge of rage, the long, stringy hair. When they smiled, a row of sharp, pointed teeth were bared and their eyes narrowed, much like now? I locked eyes with one that stood close to the fence and felt my stomach heave.
The creature's scowl deepened and he took a step closer to the barrier. His gaze lowered to the shimmering panel and he snarled, reaching toward the top rung. Instantly I moved forward, fear tossed to the dirt and trampled beneath the soles of my boots.
"I wouldn't do that it I were you," I cautioned, stopping at the border. I stood inches from the coatyl now. "On second thought?" I crossed my arms and forced a smile. "Go ahead."
The invitation was silky, mocking, and had the intended result. It brought the coatyl's head up and he leaned forward with an angry, animal sound rumbling in his throat.
"You were expecting us to be unprotected?" I asked coldly, another small smile playing at the corners of my lips. Dimly, I wondered if the thing could hear my racing heart. A fine, cold mist squirmed across the back of my neck and it was all I could do not to lean over and grip the fence to steady myself.
The longer I stood across from the creature, the more hyper aware I became of the livid anger emanating from him. If he reached out, raked a claw across my throat, I would be dead. This close to major veins and arteries, the venom in his claws would be deadly. A fine tremor began to tingle through my hands, and I clenched the muscles in my arms tight. Immediately I regretted the action. My head swam and I felt myself begin to sway. On the other side of the fence, my enemy seemed to sense that I was teetering on the edge of weakness. The black irises widened, narrowed, and his lips curled. I sucked in a deep breath, then leaned forward and let it out as a growl fierce enough to give the coatyl pause.
The brush of fabric against my right arm told me Claire had moved forward to flank my side. I didn't look at her. Didn't dare take my attention off the beast crouching in front of me. Crouching? Shit. He was getting ready to spring. Just then, a scream tore through the air.
"What the?" I looked beyond th
e coatyl and my previously narrow frame of vision and gasped. My hands fell to my sides, numb. Then I did reach out and grab the nearest fence post in an effort to steady myself.
Claire's hand shot out and captured my fingers in a hard grip. With my right hand, I returned the damp squeeze. With my left, I reached across her and plucked the flask from her hand. One-handed, I twisted the top and let the small, threaded gold cap fall to the dusty ground. The alcohol burned a trail that I felt sizzle through each and every nerve ending and I straightened, draining the bottle and letting it join the cap at our feet. New creatures were still filling the clearing, and my mind flashed to an earlier conversation, the phrase "worse than coatyl" filling my mind with icy cold dread.
"Aries?what the hell are they?" Claire shouted as a second shrill scream filled the air.
The tall, pale blue creatures edged into view, squeezing into each and every last available space in the clearing. One of the nymphs shouted, "Run!" I held both arms up, momentarily putting my back to the fence as I roared at my people. "No one runs! Hold your positions!" I was tempted to tack on "shut up" to those orders. I would have, if I'd thought it would do anything to quell the rising panic among many of the women.
As it was, the ones who weren't screaming were clustered together, identical looks of frozen disbelief on their pretty faces. "Hold your positions!" I repeated, louder now in case the men hidden behind us hadn't heard me the first time. "They must be Kahn's latest experiment gone wrong. Damn. I figured they'd come for us sooner or later, but did it have to be today?"
"Well, considering they're teaming up with the coatyl to kill us all, yes, it had to be today."
Claire pointed out the obvious and I glanced at her, noting she sounded much calmer than she had a few moments ago.
Probably the alcohol kicking in. I spared another glance at the half-hysterical members of our team and briefly wished we'd thought to bring enough for everyone.
"If they come through the fence, there's no way we're walking away from this in one piece," she said.
I swallowed as more of the life breathers filed in to take their place among the coatyl. "Yeah. But we didn't really have a chance before they showed up, so?" But wait. I braced myself on the fence, placing both feet on the bottom rung and boosting my body higher in order to better scan the mob before us. "Claire, I think the screams are coming from the coatyl."
Instantly, she was perched precariously beside me. "Are you sure?" She frowned, climbing to the top rail and leaning over in an attempt to see farther.
My hand shot out, fisting around the cloth between her shoulder blades, and I yanked her back just in time to prevent her from falling off the fence and into enemy territory.
"There's one hell of a commotion going on back there," I shouted over the ever-increasing noise level. At roughly the same moment, the ground began to shake beneath our feet. I didn't have to turn around to know the stampede behind us was hundreds of men rushing forward, out of the trees.
"What the fuck, Claire! Are you crazy?"
I did look back, then. Clearly, Mark was pissed. I'd never heard him swear like that. But considering we had bigger problems at the moment, I spun around and used one hand to shield my eyes, scanning the scene on the other side of the fence. Something wasn't quite right?or maybe it was. I grinned suddenly.
"Guys!" I tossed the word over my shoulder and strained for a better view. "I don't think the life breathers are here to kill us."
Mark and Claire stopped shouting at each other long enough to pay attention to their surroundings and grasp the implications of what I'd just said.
A hand pressed into my lower back and I spun sharply, coming precariously close to toppling off the fence. Mike's drawn face stared back at me.
"Don't fall," he cautioned, splaying his fingers wide to counterbalance my shifting weight. His other hand came up and framed my left side without actually touching me. My eyes held his for a fleeting moment but finally I nodded. I took a deep breath and let him help me down from the fence.
"They've formed a circle around the coatyl." Mark voiced what I'd already observed, his shrewd eyes skimming over the mass of white and blue figures.
More screams filled the air in the deepening twilight and now the coatyl were paying very little attention to us.
"They're attacking the coatyl, but I can't see that far back. I don't know how they're doing it." The translucent blue creatures wore no weapons as they moved swiftly around the sides to herd and hem the coatyl in. They were actively maneuvering their enemy? So, they were intelligent. And terrifying. I wouldn't have believed anything could be more intimidating than the dead-white, demonic-looking creatures gathered before us, but I'd been very wrong. These creatures stood a head taller than the coatyl's six-foot height range, and they were bulky. They possessed two legs and two arms but instead of skin, they sported something shiny and rough-looking?scales? Whatever it was, it covered only their faces and bald heads. Their eyes were large black orbs, deep-set and expressionless in the scaly blue faces. They had no nose that I could see, and a flat, wide, colorless slash of a mouth in place of lips.
Each creature looked the same as the next and they were thick through the chest. They were translucent through the torso and I stared, fascinated, at the largest rib cage I'd ever seen. Just then, the creature's flat line of a mouth opened wide and a fine crystalline mist puffed out from between the "lips." The hazy burst of breath touched a nearby coatyl and the pallid demon began to claw at its own throat and gasp. Seconds later, it stopped breathing altogether and fell to the ground. Dead.
"Whoa," Claire breathed.
"Life breathers." I nodded, cold fear arcing through me as the pieces clicked fully into place. "Kahn created them to eliminate the coatyl."
"After the coatyl were supposed to have killed us." Mark nodded, a small measure of satisfaction edging some of the tension from his voice and stance.
"Except that Aries' plan to recreate the enchantment stopped the coatyl from carrying out their mission."
"And now the life breathers are taking care of the problem for us," Mark finished. "The life breathers are a fail-safe. Kahn must have known he'd never be able to control the coatyl. So he found a way to eliminate them once they'd outlived their usefulness."
"Huh." Claire crossed her arms over her chest, watching the battle rage on. "It looks like he was a little premature in taking them out. Not that I'm complaining," she was quick to add. "Not unless they decide to come to our side of the fence," she finished, eyeing the scene before us grimly. All along the fence line, warriors watched the battle with rapt attention, backing up in slow degrees. A few turned and ran. More than one, I noticed, began to instinctively hold their breath.
"Hold your positions!" Mark called out.
Mike winced when one of the coatyl sent a clawed hand slashing through the torso of a life breather, but said, "It looks like Kahn couldn't control the life breathers, either. So, we're good, right?"
Mark nodded, watching as another life breather fell. It didn't take the coatyl long to figure out their opponents' weak spot was that translucent, apparently thin membrane of the torso. "We should be, anyway. It looks like there are more life breathers than there are coatyl. Regardless." He shrugged, sheathing his onyx-and-jade handled sword. "We'll sit back and let them kill each other for a while. Then we'll step in and finish off the rest."
"And hold our breath the entire time?" Mike asked skeptically.
Mark nodded, though he looked less than pleased with the decision. "We don't have a choice," he said simply before turning to speak to Claire in a low tone.
Crystal blue mist lingered in the air, twisting and weaving in the light evening breeze that swept through the trees. A wild-eyed coatyl saw it and dodged, trying to avoid it but to no avail. Within seconds, he fell, tripping over a dead life breather on his way down.
Soon I found myself engrossed in the fighting, unconsciously dodging and swaying in time to the
battle, flinching whenever another breather took a hit and went down. The coatyl had figured out that if they held their breath, they bought themselves a few much-needed seconds to escape. To put it plainly, the breathers were getting their asses handed to them.
A coatyl thrust his arm out, slashing toward his opponent. But his intended victim dodged the blow, falling back against the fence as another breather stepped in and exhaled his death mist into the creature's face.
The breather that had hit the fence straightened and in the next instant our eyes met, locked. Something flickered in the black depths of its eyes, and I was shocked to find they weren't expressionless at all, but rather?desperate, hunted. Pleading. I gasped and stood face-to-face with him-her? I didn't know. And suddenly it didn't matter.
The breather opened its mouth. Then Claire was beside me, frantically yanking on my arm in an effort to pull me out of the line of fire. I shrugged her off and kept my gaze fixed on the breather, united with the creature as its mouth opened wide, then wider still. Impossible.
Its jaw was?hinged?somehow and my heart thudded as I stared into the large gaping black hole that stretched over nearly half of its face. The breather's torso expanded and it let out the most horrific, shrill scream I'd ever heard. On and on the ear-splitting cry went, echoing through the trees and sending icy chills throughout my entire body. I clapped my hands over my ears and cried out. Beside me, Claire and several others did the same. "Stop!" I screamed, crouching down and pressing my hands harder against my ears.
Abruptly the eardrum-shattering noise ceased. I straightened, ignoring Mark and the others shouting at Claire and me to get away from there. Mark grabbed Claire and swung her up over his shoulder, forcibly removing her from danger. She struggled against him, all the while screaming for me to move.
I saw both Mike and Aranu moving toward me and I leaned over, quickly, breathless as I gripped the fence and shoved my face closer to the creature.
"Breathe on me," I demanded.