by Autumn Dawn
Perhaps Scy had reached a similar conclusion. In the days they spent waiting for Andrea to recover enough for the trip home, Scy never said a word to Leo. If he saw her on the streets, he turned and went the other way. The times he checked up on Andrea and the baby, Leo was out. Rumor had it he spent much time hunting.
“I hate to see them like this,” Andrea said to Mathin after they went to bed one night. “Leo moves like she’s in mourning, and Scy…” Her eyes pleaded with Mathin. “Could you talk to him?”
And say what? Aloud, he sighed. “Andrea…”
“Please?”
“As you wish.”
CHAPTER 13
“It’s a good day for hunting.”
Scy looked up at Mathin, his face neither welcoming nor hostile. “It is.” He continued along the path leading into the swamp.
With a sigh for Scy’s stubbornness, Mathin followed. Not only had he promised his wife he’d talk to Scy, but Scy’s aloof attitude also roused a sense of challenge.
“Rather far from your wife, aren’t you?”
Mathin shrugged. “With all the men Jackson has stationed around Leo’s house, I doubt an insect could sneak in to harass her. He’s very thorough.” When Scy said nothing, he added casually, “I thought he and Leo would come to blows over his attempt to set bodyguards over her. She seems to delight in losing them in the swamp as often as possible.”
Scy snorted.
“Andrea wants to offer her the chance to visit. She wants to introduce her to some of my friends.”
That brought Scy to a halt. “How wise is it to introduce a charmer into a citadel swarming with male Haunt?”
A slight smile tugged at his lips as Mathin said slyly, “Not so difficult, if a Haunt were to take her in hand first.”
Anger radiated from Scy. “I’m not one of you!”
Arms crossed, Mathin stared him down. “I am the head of my family and your older brother. You are if you wish to be.”
Scy looked away. “Our blood ties are weak and you know it.”
Mathin drew a deep breath. “I would have preferred another way to have made them, but I’ll take what I’ve been given.” His eyes narrowed. “Or do you despise your Haunt blood so much that you’d rather not acknowledge it?”
His jaw tight, Scy took a couple of steps off the path and leaned against a tree. “It’s how I came about that I despise.” He gestured to the settlement, barely discernable through the trees. “As far as most of them know, I’m no different than they are. I was raised here; I’m one of them. Yet…” He kicked at a tree root, ground the bark off with his boot heel. “I can’t forget what I saw when we rescued Leo.” Resolute, he met Mathin’s eyes. “That could have been me.” Unspoken hung the thought that it might become of a child of his.
There was no easy answer to that. Mathin contemplated a leaf, still wet with the morning’s dew. “We know so little of these crosses. One of Jasmine’s sons can change—the other cannot. Yet he wears a symbiont and seems to have senses much like you.” He met Scy’s eyes. “There is some question as to whether they’ll be able to reproduce at all.”
“I don’t intend to experiment.” Scy straightened as if to move off.
“So you rob her of the pleasure and comfort to be found in your arms without asking her?” Mathin asked softly. “Is that more honorable?”
A shudder shook Scy like a volti shakes his prey.
Pressing his advantage, Mathin continued, “Have you thought that the attraction between charmer and Haunt is perhaps meant to be? And all other arguments aside, can you deny that Jasmine and Keilor, Andrea and myself are happy? Can you afford not to find out if such is possible for you, too?” Aware that any more words might work against him, Mathin changed the subject. He nodded at Scy’s symbiont. “How is it that you’re able to wear a symbiont at all? With their aversion to Haunt blood, it would seem improbable.”
Scy flicked a crawling bug from his arm. “You said yourself that one of Jasmine’s children was born with it. So was I.” He shrugged. “It would appear that I am more human than Haunt. Either that or my Haunt side is submerged enough that it doesn’t signify.” There was a moment of silence while he reflected on it. “If we were to marry, it would likely be best to marry into the side we resembled best. Presuming we aren’t such an unstable conglomerate as our dear, unlamented brother.” A humorless smile touched his lips. “I think it’s best he didn’t pass on any genes, don’t you?”
“That we know of,” Mathin added darkly, thinking of the women the man had bragged of raping.
Equally grim, Scy shook his head. “I assure you that none of the women he stole survived—including the one we recovered. There were no others.”
“At least there’s that.” More silence. “I never did thank you for all you’ve done for me and my wife.”
“It was nothing.”
“It was something,” Mathin returned forcefully. “And I won’t forget it. If there is anything, at any time, that I can do for you, you have only to name it.”
Scy searched his face. “Be careful what you offer, brother.” He smiled a little. “I might accept.”
“Do that.” Mathin left, satisfied that Scy would turn his words over.
It was strange how he’d become caught up in the desire to see Scy happy. He’d even caught himself thinking about inviting him to visit. He shook his head, exasperated at his own foolishness. Scy wouldn’t come. Nor did he need an older brother at his age. Picking up his pace, he returned to his wife.
“So what did you talk about?” she asked the minute he walked in the door.
Arrested by the sight of her nursing their son, he froze. Heat drummed in his veins, reminding him of how long he’d been celibate.
“Are you listening to me?” Andrea caught the direction of his gaze and pulled up the blanket around the baby so he would look at her face. Ever since she’d started nursing he’d eyed her poor, swollen breasts with the hunger of a starving man. “Tell me what Scy said.”
With a regretful sigh, he claimed a seat on the couch opposite her. “Very little.”
“Like what?”
He gave an irritable shrug, his mind, or rather his groin, still occupied with thoughts of forbidden fruit. “I don’t remember.”
Exasperated with him, she shook her head in disbelief. “You spoke for half an hour and can’t remember a word?”
Mathin raised a speculative brow. “Perhaps you could coax it from me.” The grin he gave her was pure invitation.
“I’m nursing,” she said primly, even though a mischievous smile played at her mouth. “Besides, I just had a baby.”
Not one to give up easily, he tried, “Just a little kiss? Surely that’s allowed. Besides,” he peered at his son, hoping it was true, “he’s asleep. Come and cuddle for a while.” He slid down on the couch, tucked one hand behind his head and extended his free hand. “I promise to behave.”
Anticipation flared as she gave him a dubious look, but stood.
Immediately their son began to cry.
She gave Mathin a helpless glance and patted the baby on the back. “It’s okay, honey. Go back to sleep.”
“Waaaah!”
Defeated, Mathin groaned and dropped his wrist over his eyes. Thwarted by an infant. What would Raziel say?
As it happened, it was Matilda and not Raziel who had much to say. Much to everyone’s surprise, she appeared later that day, riding behind the Ronin who’d been chosen as messenger between the settlement and the citadel.
“Andrea!” she cried as she dismounted, running to hug her granddaughter. Before Andrea could say a thing, she pulled back and demanded, “Where’s my great-grandbaby?”
The moment she was presented with the infant, she began to cry. “I thought this day would never come.” She sniffed. “Isn’t he beautiful?”
Leo, who was present at the time, rolled her eyes, but there was a faint wistfulness there as well. “And I thought my family was bad.”
In
between cooing at her grandson and directing Mathin where to put her bags, Matilda somehow managed to scold Andrea for not writing more and for making her come out to see the baby when she might have just came home.
Barely able to get a word in edgewise, Andrea protested, “We told you we’d be home the day after tomorrow. For pity’s sake, he’s not even a week old yet.” Of course her words fell on deaf ears. And baby hog that she was, Matilda barely relinquished the child long enough for feedings. Andrea had the feeling that if she hadn’t been nursing she’d have never seen her son.
Matilda and Shelarah hit it off right away. Within hours they had their heads together, and if their frequent glances in Leo’s direction were any indication, Leo’s days as a bachelorette were numbered.
“They make me nervous,” Leo whispered to Andrea as they sat at Jackson’s table, playing a strategy game. “Look at them giggling. I don’t believe that they’re just trading recipes.”
Andrea had to agree. While Mathin and Jackson carried on a conversation in the living room, probably about something boring like trade agreements, Matilda showed Shelarah how to crochet. Their hushed conversation might have been about granny squares, but she doubted it. “Do you think it’s too late to run for hills?”
When Leo continued to look disgusted, she decided to ask what had been bothering her for some time. “Leo? What happened between you and Scy after we got back?”
There was silence for a moment as Leo toyed with a game piece. “Nothing.” As if fearing Andrea would doubt her, she rushed to say, “We’ve barely seen each other since.” She slouched a bit, and the barest hint of a sad frown made her look younger. “Not that I care,” she added, but there was no conviction in her listless tone.
This called for action. Assuming the guise of helpful friend, Andrea nodded. “Good!” She moved her game piece with confidence. “Then he can’t be jealous if you show up at the town dance tomorrow night wearing a dress that will make all the men drool.”
An extremely dubious frown was her reward for that brilliant idea. “No, he couldn’t, if I were going, which I’m not. Especially not wearing a dress. Do you realize how hard it is to walk in those things? And don’t even consider riding in one.”
“Small price to pay to look good for a night.” Leo needed this, and Andrea was going to see she got it. “Besides, it’s not as if you have to start wearing one on a daily basis. Shock value counts for a lot.”
Leo took a gulp of her beer. “I don’t doubt that,” she muttered. She tipped her glass to Andrea in warning. “But I won’t do it.”
Andrea gave Leo her best gangster grin. “We’ll see.”
The next morning, well before the party was to begin, Leo presented Mathin and Andrea with a copy of her notes and sketches. “A gift,” she said simply.
Mathin was more excited than Andrea would have dreamed possible. “Do you know how much I’ve always wanted something like this?” he demanded of Leo, his eyes glued to the pages. “It’s almost impossible to get any information on the Beasts in the Dark Lands.”
Leo and Andrea exchanged pleased looks.
“Wait a minute.” His brows furrowed as he stared at the page. “I’ve seen this picture somewhere else, only…”
Both women leaned over his shoulder to see what had him so interested. It was a night scene with a sphinx in the background and two lovers entwined by a fire. Just the sort of thing that would have caught Mathin’s eye, Andrea thought, amused. The only thing was, instead of three moons in the night sky there was—
“One moon.” Andrea sucked in a breath. “Where did you see this picture, Mathin?”
He regarded her solemnly. “In Fallon’s library, on Earth.”
Leo froze. The light of a zealot flashed in her eyes. “Can you get it for me?” Her whisper shook with suppressed emotion.
“It will take time, but yes.” His eyes moved back to the picture. “Depend on it.”
Drunk on euphoria, Leo was an easy victory, Andrea thought smugly as she later viewed Leo in a new dress. It had been hanging in her closet, right next to more than one lovely creation—gifts of Shelarah’s—but since she was fairly certain it had never been worn, it fit the definition of new to her. Looking at her far-away gaze and lost smile, Andrea doubted that Leo was even aware of her outfit.
And a lovely outfit it was. Russet on gold silken material fell from one of Leo’s shoulders to the golden sandals on her feet. A dark red sash edged in gold and tasseled on the end emphasized her slim waist, and the skirt was split at the side to show off the straight, cinnamon skirt underneath. Her blond hair had been intricately braided with matching ribbons and piled on her head. Scy couldn’t help but be impressed.
“You look lovely,” Mathin said as Andrea lead her into the living room. She beamed, until she saw Mathin was staring at her and not Leo. Flattering, but with all the time she’d spent on the Leo Project, she wanted a little more feedback.
To give him a clue, she smiled pointedly at Leo. “Yes, doesn’t she?”
“I meant you.” He tore his eyes from her body long enough to flick a gaze in Leo’s direction. Startled, he did a double take and a slower inspection. “But yes, she does.”
Okay, that was enough feedback. Feeling a bit jealous, she edged in front of Leo and sat down on Mathin’s lap. The kiss she gave him just a bit more wicked than strictly needed for a greeting. When she pulled back, his eyes were glowing.
Yep. Still got it, she thought, feeling smug.
“We could skip the party,” he murmured in her ear, giving the lobe a hidden nip.
“Not tonight,” she told him primly, enjoying the novelty of teasing him while he remained helpless to prevent it. “We’re expected.”
His muttered answer brought warmth to her cheeks, but he let her up. There would be time for this later. Symbionts helped a girl heal fast.
Besides, she had to see Scy’s face when he caught his first glance of Leo.
The girl in question was waiting impatiently for them just outside the door. “Hurry up,” she said, poking her head in. “Shelarah was making snail puffs for the buffet, and I want to make sure I get some before they’re gone.”
“Can’t miss that.” With a droll smile for Mathin, Andrea followed her out, holding Mathin’s hand.
Scy looked like he’d been hit by lightning. One look at Leo and he’d frozen in mid-sentence and simply stared.
The man he’d been speaking to turned to see what was the matter. He was still gawking.
With remarkable aplomb for a woman in the center of a growing pool of silence, Leo headed for the buffet table, took a puff, and turned back to eat it while leaning on the table. The noise level rose as her neighbors pretended they hadn’t been staring.
Pleased, Andrea joined Leo at the table and served herself from the wine fountain. Matilda had charge of the baby tonight so that Andrea could enjoy herself. Matilda waved from the play area set up on the grassy commons for the small children, content as long as she could hold her grandchild. More than one man watched the sexy redhead regretfully, but she’d made it clear when she’d first arrived that she was attached, and the word had spread.
The bubbles from her effervescent drink tickled Andrea’s nose as she regarded Matilda over the rim. It was still difficult for her to picture Matilda as being wed to Raziel, but Mathin had assured her it was true. She didn’t know if the couple planned to have children or simply enjoy hers and Mathin’s, and wasn’t about to ask. After her trying experience with this pregnancy, she simply didn’t have the energy to contemplate anyone else going through the same. Time would have to unfold the answer.
Besides, right now she was far more interested in Leo’s love life, which seemed to be heating up. Already two men had approached her. She smiled at one of them and accepted his hand as he led her out to dance. Her partner said something over his shoulder to the other man, and all three laughed.
Curious to see how Scy was handling the competition, Andrea spied him in an inte
nse conversation with a young blond. After all her matchmaking she was annoyed he was speaking to the wrong woman, until she noticed that the girl couldn’t be more than seventeen. She looked familiar, and after a moment she realized it was Luna, Leo’s sister. She’d barely recognized the tomboy in a dress.
Luna radiated tension as she gripped his elbow – the matter was clearly urgent. Scy shook his head, and then glanced skyward as if seeking inspiration. Finally he sent a frown toward Leo’s admirers, and let the girl lead him off.
“Wonder what that was all about,” Mathin muttered at her side.
“I don’t know, but I’m beginning to feel like the unappreciated fairy godmother,” Andrea complained.
His grin sent firecrackers popping clear to her toes. Mathin took her glass and set it down. One quick tug pulled her into his arms, slightly bent at the perfect angle for a kiss. “I think I can do something to change that.”
A superb dancer, Mathin twirled her around the dance floor, his very grace as beguiling as his dark good looks. The man danced like he made love, and every burning look was enough to set her blood aflame. Schemes and plans for others were lost in the dreamy whirl of pleasure he inspired. How easy it was to love him.
It had been too long.
But tonight...tonight she could wait, for the pleasure of being held in his arms was real and warm. Tonight she would savor the dream of their love, for tomorrow they were going home to some very real responsibilities and challenges. Life would go on, ticking along its eternal track and bringing them new adventures. But for now she would hold him, and be thankful that someone had seen fit to shake up her mundane life and bring her a taste of something wild.
“I have to speak with you, Scy.”
“Can’t it wait?” He looked over Luna’s head to the crowd of men panting after Leo. Very well, so they weren’t panting, but they were far more eager than he liked. Who could blame them? That dress of hers was as thin as paint and showed every curve. What had she been thinking to wear it in public?
