Echoes: A Second Skin Novel (Second Skin Book 6)

by M Damon Baker

  They’d only been beneath the shade of the trees for a few moments when Endreí felt Kara step closer beside him. Her fingers laced between his almost immediately, and he simply couldn’t bring himself to spurn her silent overture. The distance he’d put between them hadn’t been an easy thing for him to endure, and he knew it had been even more difficult for her. Walking next to her among the shadows of the trees where they’d spent so much time together, Endreí felt more comfortable letting his guard down. Although her gesture had been a tentative thing, once Endreí accepted Kara’s grasp, he felt her finally relax for the first time that morning. He’d all but rejected her for the past two weeks, yet any resentment she may have harbored for that seemed to vanish in an instant once she had him back again.

  He walked hand-in-hand with Kara while they began scouting the forest, feeling the weeks of separation practically melt away as they renewed their bonds. The comfort that came with that made Endreí briefly consider abandoning his quest to break free of her, but he immediately rejected the thought, rightly recognizing it as the growing influence of the magic that was manipulating them both. He’d never noticed it so easily before, but now that he was aware that it was affecting him as well, the true extent of its power was becoming much more apparent to him.

  Endreí’s musings had drawn his attention away from what should have been his real focus: scouting the area for any signs of an approaching threat. Realizing how absent he’d been from his responsibilities, Endreí dismissed his private thoughts and resumed searching the forest more closely. His renewed attention drew immediate results when he noticed a trail almost as soon as he scanned the ground; dark tracks marring the earth only a short distance away—tracks that were so obvious that he or Kara should have noticed them a long time ago. Clearly, her attention had been diverted just as his had been, a lapse that they simply couldn’t afford out here in the dangerous wilds. More than their own lives would be at risk if they failed to discover some threat lurking out here; others might very well pay the ultimate price for their carelessness.

  “Look,” Kara was brought to a halt when he stopped suddenly.

  Her eyes followed where he pointed, and Kara seemed shocked when she noticed the trail for the first time. The expression on her face told Endreí all he needed to know—Kara recognized their negligence, just as he had.

  “Goblins,” she replied after looking over the tracks more closely.

  They’d encountered a small group of the nasty little creatures on their last trip, but none of the other scouting teams had found any sign of them since. Seeing such clear indications of the monsters in this stretch of land was an ominous sign, but were they just passing through or taking up residence?

  “Wherever they’re headed, they’re trying to get there in a hurry,” Kara announced while she continued examining the wide trail of churned earth the goblins had left in their wake.

  Although he was nowhere near as skilled as her in tracking, that much was plain to Endreí as well. Despite how close they’d come to the village, the creatures had made no attempt to conceal their trail. In addition to the obvious footprints, broken branches and even scattered debris left a path that was quite easy for them to follow. The only question was, should they?

  “This group is either just running through or so large that they don’t care if we know they’re here,” Endreí voiced his concern. “We need to be very careful about tracking them.”

  “The trail’s a mess,” Kara replied to his observation with a sense of confidence. “But I’m pretty sure there’s only about a dozen or so.”

  As was so often the case when they spoke, Kara didn’t need to finish the thought for Endreí to understand her completely. She agreed with his assessment, and the rough number she’d quoted did not amount to a band of goblins strong enough to ignore even a settlement as modest as their own. This group was clearly on its way somewhere else, passing by their home only as a matter of coincidence.

  “We should still follow them, at least for a little while, just to make sure,” he answered.

  Kara nodded in agreement and then led the way, tracking the goblins’ movements through the forest for several hours until their theory was confirmed. The trail continued in the same direction, nearly due south and away from their home, and they returned to their normal reconnaissance once they were confident that the creatures presented no threat.

  When the sun began to fall lower in the sky, Endreí felt the first thin strands of nervousness creeping through him. He knew Kara was upset; she’d made that obvious enough for even him to notice her displeasure, and once they were settled in for the night, he fully expected to receive a complete account of her grievances. His anxiety over that looming confrontation only increased as they drew closer to their destination.

  Although he hadn’t used the device with Kara since discovering the traces of the magic that bound them together, Endreí had taken to carrying the Orb of Detection with him almost constantly. It had provided the only glimmer of hope he’d discovered to aid him in unraveling the mysterious power that had affected them so strongly, and over the last two weeks, he often found himself absently toying with the Orb while he worked. Now, alone with Kara in the wilds, Endreí rolled the tiny sphere between his fingers while he advanced towards his doom—seeking some reassurance in its familiarity but finding none.

  The darkness was growing as they approached their refuge for the night and made their way through the thick tangle of brush that surrounded the location. Although they’d worked to keep the place in somewhat decent shape, crawling vines climbed along the outside walls of the old abandoned cabin. The hidden retreat had served as their overnight haven on nearly all their forays into the wilds, providing both shelter and an opportunity for Kara to visit her sister’s grave. Over the years, Kara had added a ring of traps around the cabin, offering protection while they slept while also serving to alert them if the place was ever discovered by anyone else in their absence. Yet that wasn’t their only source of protection during the nights they stayed there. Endreí had advanced his Detect Life Spell to the point where it would keep watch over them as well, waking him if anything threatening crossed its threshold. Once they passed through the thick hedges, Kara quickly circled around the perimeter to ensure that none of her snares had been triggered, and when she found them all still in place, they were finally able to relax in relative safety.

  Before venturing inside, they stopped and shared a solemn moment beside Trish’s resting place, covered in a thick layer of flowers Kara had planted there during their many visits. Kara reached for his hand as they stood there in silence, and Endreí couldn’t bring himself to reject her. She held on to him more tightly than usual, but he was surprised when Kara released him as they turned to head indoors for the night. Endreí was even more surprised when the quiet between them stretched out longer still, and Kara never took the opportunity to confront him over his near abandonment of her. He almost began to believe he’d escape completely when she finally broke the silence.

  “You’re not going to make me sleep alone, are you?”

  They typically spent the nights beside each other, and that closeness served to feed the connection between them; holding the forces that bound them together at bay and keeping them from growing into something more. Yet with his new understanding of just how dangerous those forces had become, Endreí had indeed been planning to do just that. The pained tone of Kara’s voice caused him to reconsider that decision.

  At most, they would be spending only one more night together like this. After three years of profound closeness between them, ending things so abruptly was almost cruel of him, especially considering the fact that the magic that had drawn them to each other was still exerting its influence over them. He may have had the willpower to limit things, but Kara had admitted that she was falling deeper under its spell, and Endreí realized that his sudden withdrawal from her must have been difficult, to say the least.

  “No, I won’t do th
at to you,” he smiled, giving in to her all too easily. Endreí had to admit that the separation hadn’t been comfortable for him either, and he was actually relieved that Kara had been the one to broach the subject.

  Kara returned his grin before stripping off her armor in preparation for bed. Endreí grew a bit alarmed for a moment, thinking she might not stop with that, but Kara only removed the padding beneath, leaving a light shirt and pair of shorts on as she crawled beneath the covers, just as she’d always worn when they slept beside each other.

  Endreí could sense Kara’s tentativeness as they lay next to each other in the cabin’s sleeping loft, but after only a few moments, she rested her head on his shoulder and draped one arm across Endreí’s chest. The familiar feeling of her lying with him like that brought back a rush of emotion for Endreí, and all the comfort he’d been denying himself over the past two weeks flooded back to him in an instant. Even though he recognized the magic that was at play, Endreí couldn’t bring himself to deny the pleasure that went along with it. It may have been based on manipulation, but the sensations were simply too powerful for him to ignore, and Endreí was able to fall asleep peacefully, holding Kara in his arms.

  Chapter 5

  Endreí woke the next morning and stretched slowly, trying hard not to disturb Kara as she lay beside him. He was not only glad that his anxiousness over the confrontation between them had been misplaced, but also that he’d allowed himself to share another night with her. Endreí had missed Kara—far more than he realized—and knew that the next two weeks would be even more difficult for them both. Still, even knowing all that, Endreí understood that pulling away from her had been the right thing to do. One way or another, his link with her would be severed. Holding on to it until the bitter end would only make things harder on both of them.

  Endreí prepared breakfast while she slept, although there really wasn’t much to that. Despite the security the cabin offered, they never dared to cook anything while they stayed within its confines. Endreí’s heightened senses could detect the presence of scents like that from quite a distance, and he had no doubt that there were other beings—ruthless and evil creatures—who possessed similar abilities. So, rather than risk giving away their secret refuge, Endreí and Kara opted to consume their cold trail rations instead.

  Kara woke only a short while later and favored him with a wide grin as she rose and got dressed before joining Endreí for their morning meal. Even after all the tension his withdrawal from Kara had caused, it had only taken that one night to erase everything. Once they’d eaten and packed up their gear, Kara led the way outside and then back into the forest, resuming their scouting mission and beginning the journey back home.

  After the near catastrophe the day before, Endreí and Kara were much more diligent, searching the forest carefully as they slowly traced their way among the trees. Only when they stopped for a midday break and a bite to eat did she reach out for him, but as he took hold of her in return, Kara glanced away.

  “It wasn’t easy,” she spoke barely above a whisper. “Even though I know we’re being manipulated, it’s getting harder to resist. I almost did something last night… Something I might have regretted later.”

  She paused for a moment as Endreí realized that his apprehension the previous night hadn’t been misplaced. He tried to pull away from her, but Kara only gripped his hand more firmly when he did.

  “I know the time I have left with you is short,” even looking away from him, Endreí could feel her struggle with the words. “I’m going to fight this as much as I can, but part of me also wants to give in; to let it happen at least once before it’s all over.”

  “It hurt to have you reject me the way you did,” Kara finally turned back to look him in the eyes again. “Maybe telling you this will only make you do that again, but I can’t lie to you anymore, Endreí. We won’t have each other for much longer, and whatever happens, I want… I need to be honest with you about it.”

  Kara’s grip on him had grown stronger while she spoke, as if she feared that he might pull away from her once she confessed her growing desires. While Endreí was troubled by what she told him, he also understood what she said far more clearly than he wanted to admit, even to himself. His sense of alarm the previous night while Kara had been undressing had been tinged with anticipation as well. Part of him wanted her to tempt him, to test his will, secretly hoping that it would crumble. Although he was still strong enough not to push for that himself, Endreí recognized the increasing influence the magic was wielding over him. They’d managed to escape from their night in the cabin still faithful to their spouses, but he doubted that would be the case next time.

  “I feel it too,” he said the words out loud, admitting the truth not only to himself but to Kara as well. “I won’t cut you off like I did before, but we can’t do this ever again. If we spend another night together, we’ll be doing a lot more than just sleeping next to each other.”

  “I already know that,” she replied, staring into his eyes far more intensely than he was comfortable with. “But tell me, Endreí, in two weeks when it’s time for our next mission, are you going to even care?”

  Probably not.

  “I’ll back out; pretend to be sick or something,” unable to look her in the eyes, Endreí’s flimsy excuse answered Kara’s question all too clearly.

  “No, you won’t,” Kara didn’t move, yet Endreí felt the heat of her body closing in on him. “Neither of us are going to be able to resist it by then.”

  With a reluctant sigh, Kara pushed herself away from him and gathered up her gear as she prepared to move on again. Before continuing through the forest, she paused for a moment and offered him one final thought.

  “We’re going to destroy both our marriages very soon.” Kara’s voice was tinged with her resignation to that fate. “I’m not sure what will happen after that, but you should make the most of these last few days of happiness; it’s what I intend to do.”

  With his pack only halfway secured in place, Endreí froze as her words sent a chill through his entire being, but once she’d laid bare that truth, Kara turned her back on him and headed off towards home. All he could do was follow in her wake as he realized just how ominous her statement truly was.

  Thoughts of the dire consequences of his seemingly unavoidable future actions plagued Endreí for a while, distracting him from his responsibilities once again until he was forced to simply banish them from his mind. Time passed quickly while he focused on the trees and ground around him, and Endreí was surprised when Kara stopped just inside the thick cover of forest beyond the cleared fields that surrounded their home.

  He knew without asking why she’d paused there and stood silently beside Kara as he took hold of her hand. This mission had been far different than any other they’d been on, each of them having confessed just how strongly they were beginning to desire the other. He knew that the next time they were in this position, it would not be as mere friends, but lovers instead. Although both of them were fighting hard against the unknown magic that was pushing them in that direction, they’d given up hope of overcoming its power. The only thing left was the dim prospect of Endreí’s success in somehow breaking the enchantment, a faint hope that was growing ever darker by the hour. Their quiet moment was not only an opportunity to seek comfort in each other one last time before returning home but also perhaps the final chance to cling to the remnants of their friendship before it became something much more.

  Almost in unison, they broke free from each other before taking the last few steps and entering the open fields that surrounded their village. Their silence continued as they walked together, and once inside the gates, Kara headed off to make her report while Endreí made his way back home.

  Things seemed a bit more hectic than usual as he slowly walked through the common grounds, but Endreí paid no mind to the commotion that was going on around him. He had enough to occupy his thoughts without concerning himself over other people�
�s problems. So far, he’d been able to convince Rissa that he was the master of his own desires, but he finally recognized that for the lie it truly was. Endreí wasn’t sure exactly how things would play out, but he was certain she’d see through his deception this time—if he couldn’t even fool himself anymore, he had absolutely no chance of deceiving her. The only question he really had was whether it would be a matter of minutes or hours before Rissa discovered the truth.

  Endreí opened the door to their home and stepped inside fully prepared to face Rissa’s questioning, but he was greeted with only an empty silence instead. Although part of him dreaded the reunion with his wife, now that he was home, Endreí could feel her influence slowly creeping over him again. The strong feelings he had for Kara began to wane, replaced by the genuine love he felt for Rissa; despite its power, the illusion yielded to reality—at least for a time. He had only just pulled off his backpack and sat down for a moment when the front door flew open, and Rissa burst inside. Endreí’s heart lodged in his throat as she hurried towards him, the distraught look on her face telling him that all his fears had already come true.

  “I was so worried! I thought they might have gotten you. What are we going to do?” He was completely thrown off by Rissa’s unexpected flurry of words.

  “You haven’t heard yet, have you?” She skidded to a halt as she noticed the look of utter confusion on his face.

  “There’s an army out there,” Rissa waved her arms in the direction of the village gates when she finally explained. “Irina was out hunting, and when she came back, her village was surrounded. She hid in the forest to see what happened next, but they found her, and she barely escaped with her life.”

  Endreí remembered Irina from the few trips he’d taken north to their neighboring settlement. She was something of a loner with few friends, yet she still cared for her people dearly. It must have pained her to leave them in such dire straits, but it sounded as if she’d been left with little choice in the matter. But his concerns focused more on what her arrival meant for his village and the people he loved most.