Pathfinder's Way (57 page)

“You and your damn interference are the
reason nothing has gone according to plan.”

Shea couldn’t argue with that and didn’t even
try, concentrating instead on catching her breath. She’d need it
for the upcoming fight.

Indra gave her a cruel smile. “It’s to my
fortune that you stopped me. I can finally dispose of the
hindrance. Once you’re dead, Fallon should be easy enough to
kill.”

Shea snorted inwardly at that. She doubted
it. The lady was mad if she thought so.

“Thank you for making it so easy to get rid
of you,” Indra continued. “It’ll spare me the trouble of having to
do so later.”

“Anyone ever tell you that you talk too
much?” Shea asked.

Indra gave her another smile that didn’t
touch her eyes and then feinted towards her. Shea leapt back and
watched carefully.

Indra closed in, her blade moving almost too
fast to follow. It was mostly luck that Shea parried at the last
moment. The more experienced woman forced Shea back as she executed
a series of complicated maneuvers, scoring a strike on Shea’s
forearm and left leg.

Shea sidestepped and circled quickly in the
opposite direction, feeling the sting on both her arm and leg and
then the cold slide of blood. The one on her arm wasn’t bad,
striking close to bone but still shallow and being no longer than a
finger length. It was the wound on her leg that worried her more.
That one had bitten deep and bled profusely from a slice longer
than her hand.

She needed to finish this quickly, before
blood loss weakened her.

“Why do this?” she asked.

Indra liked to talk. Shea hoped to indulge
that need.

“Why? Why?” the woman’s voice rose higher on
each word. “Why not? That man had everything I ever wanted, and he
wouldn’t even look twice at me. When I proposed our union, he
laughed at me. Me! He should have been licking my feet in gratitude
for even offering to mate with one from such poor family
lines.”

Anger suffused Indra’s face, turning her
beauty into a thing of ugliness. She swung at Shea, her movement
lacking the same grace and pinpoint accuracy of moments before.

Shea evaded and then reversed her swing,
missing but only because the other woman stumbled, falling and then
rolling out of the way.

“I though Fallon’s grandfather was the
warlord before him?”

“But his mother was a common Lowland
strumpet,” Indra spat. “He’s not even full Trateri. His father used
the Trateri’s venom to bring her into the clan. The same ritual he
used to make you one of us. I guess he and his father share similar
tastes. All the more reason to get him out of the way so he can’t
taint our bloodlines any further.”

Shea gave her a wicked grin. “Sounds to me
like you have more in common with a strumpet. Trying to bargain
your way into power with what’s between your legs and all.”

Her words had the effect she intended,
driving Indra into a rage. She attacked without hesitation,
hammering at Shea’s defense.

Shea waited for her moment. Numbness was
spreading from the cuts on her legs and arms, making her slow. She
blocked Indra’s attacks over and over again, her arm growing weary
and heavy.

Anticipating victory, Indra fell into a
repetitive pattern, her blows becoming predictable as she committed
all of her strength behind them.

Shea smoothly stepped to the side of one
strike, letting Indra’s forward momentum carry her as Shea twisted
and drove the point of her blade into Indra’s shoulder.

Indra made a peculiar gasp as she bent and
flailed with one arm, trying to knock Shea back.

Shea ducked and then hooked one leg behind
Indra’s, grabbing the flailing arm and bringing it down over her
waist to force the other woman off balance.

She felt it as the woman’s weight reached the
point of no return, following up smoothly as Indra fell to the
ground with Shea on top of her. She trapped Indra’s sword hand with
her knee and then brought her blade up to her neck.

“Shea!”

“What was that you were saying?” Shea asked,
panting slightly “Something about removing the hindrance. How about
I help you with that?”

“Shea, that’s enough,” Caden said from right
next to her. His sword was out and pointed at Indra.

“Do it,” Indra hissed, raising her head and
trying to impale herself on Shea’s blade.

Shea smiled at the woman under her. It wasn’t
a very nice smile, evidenced by Indra’s barely perceptible flinch.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? But, no, I think that would be too
easy a punishment for you. I’m sure Fallon and Caden have some
questions for you.”

“Coward.”

Shea paused in the act of climbing off Indra.
She bent down, bringing her face close to the other woman’s.

“I don’t think so. I’m not the one fleeing
from the consequences of my actions. That would be you. Seems those
pure bloodlines you have don’t protect against common defects of
character. Such a pity.”

With that, Shea stood and let Caden take
over.

Two men moved past her and grabbed Indra,
flipping her over and binding her arms behind her.

“Thought you agreed to stay hidden and not
interfere,” Caden said, glaring at her.

Shea shrugged. “That was before I saw her
fleeing. I saw a need and pursued it.”

He rubbed his head. “Fallon’s going to have
my head.”

“I don’t see why. I did catch one of the
conspirators.”

He gave her a look. One that said he was this
close to relegating her to idiot territory. He grabbed her injured
arm and jerked it forward. Shea couldn’t help the moan that
escaped, fighting to stay on her feet as black spots ate at the
edges of her vision.

He grabbed a length of cloth and pressed it
against the wound to staunch the bleeding, forcing another moan out
of her.

“This, this right here is why he wanted you
to stay hidden,” he said, wrapping another strip of cloth around
her arm to hold the compress in place. “He wants you safe,
girl.”

“There’s no such thing as safe in the Broken
Lands,” Shea said faintly. Boy, she was beginning to feel a little
lightheaded. “I think I need to sit down.”

Caden cursed, the words out of his mouth
heated enough to blister the air. A pair of firm hands guided Shea
to a resting spot. It was a good thing too because black spots had
stolen nearly all of her vision, and she wasn’t entirely sure she
would have been able to find her seat on her own.

“I’ll let you tell him that,” Caden told her,
continuing their previous conversation.

He jostled her as he pressed another wad of
bandages against the wound on her thigh and then wrapped it
tightly.

“Tell him what?”

“That there’s no such thing as safety when it
comes to you. Then I’ll sit back and watch the explosion. It should
be a good show.”

“I don’t know why you think that. It’s a
fact. Had he left me back at the camp, his enemies might have been
just as likely to eliminate me. And, in this situation, I did
capture the woman.”

A dry bark escaped Caden. It took Shea a
second to realize it was a laugh.

“Fallon lives to keep the people he cares
about safe. He’s done all this to build the foundation of something
that will guarantee the survival of the family he intends to have
someday. You willingly jeopardizing that is not going to go over
well.”

“Family?”

Caden sighed, his intense gaze meeting hers.
“You. And whatever children the two of you create.”

Shea’s faintness returned.

“I thought I was just a passing fancy. That
he’d eventually grow bored and move on,” she whispered.

Caden snorted. “For all your brains, you’re a
bit slow.”

He stood and shook his head. Shea watched him
go with an open mouth.

Family. Her. And Fallon.

She’d just begun to accept that they might
have a chance at a small romance. That she might have some feelings
for him. That she’d miss him if he was no longer in this world.

Last night. She’d accepted that fact last
night.

She wasn’t ready for the rest of it. And
definitely not the tiny people who would depend on her for
everything. No. Just no.

“Bring the traitor. Fallon will want to see
her,” Caden ordered. He pointed to a third man. “You. Help the
idiot down to the valley. Things should be wrapping up there by
now.”

The trip went quicker than she would have
thought. In her pursuit, she had steered dangerously close to the
battle and was more than half way there already.

Fallen had indeed wrapped things up and
emerged victorious from the ambush. The lack of attack from above
combined with the poor timing of the two ambush groups had worked
in Fallon’s favor. His men had routed their attackers handily,
sustaining no casualties on their side and only minor injuries.

The enemy had been decimated. Bodies clad in
black were strewn between the trees, their life’s blood watering
the forests’ roots. Only a handful had been left alive. Shea had
little hope they were long for this world.

Amid this carnage was Fallon, standing apart
from the rest.

“My lord, we’ve brought you a present,” Caden
announced. “It seems you were right, and she couldn’t resist
watching your defeat.”

Indra was shoved to her knees at Fallon’s
feet, her hair grabbed and head dragged back.

Fallon’s eyes skipped over Indra to land on
Shea’s blood stained figure. He stiffened. Rage gripped his face,
flooding the air around him until the nearest people took a step
away. Indra whimpered.

Even Shea, all the way across the clearing,
fought to keep from retreating. It was scary. He was scary. His
anger, so intense that it felt like the roar of a wildfire, singed
her skin even at this distance. It was like being stared at by a
great, wild beast held in check by only a thought.

His eyes shot to Caden. “I thought I told you
to keep her hidden and safe.”

Caden glared dourly at Shea. “She had other
thoughts. She chased the woman down before I could stop her.”

Fallon’s eyes said they would discussing this
later. Shea’s responded that there was nothing up for
discussion.

He finally looked down at the woman at his
feet. The rage drained from him, leaving a dispassionate
disinterest in its place.

In a way, that unsettled Shea more than the
anger. You could accomplish some truly heinous things once emotion
has been tucked away.

Anger dies, eventually, if you sate it with
enough blood. Hate fades. Grief dwindles. There are reasons behind
emotion. Such is not the case with true detachment.

“Where is her blade?”

Caden held out the blade Indra had used
during her fight with Shea. Fallon took it, examining the dried red
still staining it.

Shea’s blood. She swallowed hard, not liking
seeing evidence of it outside her body, where it did not
belong.

She wanted, no, needed, to sit down. Shea
stiffened her legs. There would be no showing weakness right now.
Not with the air so thick with tension and anger she nearly choked
on it.

It was the response of a wild animal, trying
to avoid the attention of a bigger predator.

Fallon touched the blade gently. His arm
flashed out carving a path down Indra’s arm and leg before she
could react.

For one long moment, there was silence as she
stared up at him disbelieving. Then, a small sound escaped. A
longer wail followed as Indra fought against her two captors,
trying to stand, to get away.

The wounds Fallon had made were in the exact
same spots as Shea’s.

“Who are your co-conspirators?” Caden
asked.

“No one,” she cried.

Nobody moved as Fallon drew the blade down
the opposite arm.

“You are not smart enough or bold enough to
have planned all of these assassination attempts. Tell us who
helped you.” Caden crouched beside her. “Tell us quick, and we’ll
give you a clean death.”

“I was in it alone.”

Shea couldn’t help feeling a grudging
smidgeon of respect. Not much. Just a hint really.

Caden heaved a sigh and stood. Fallon joined
him.

“Shea, come here,” Fallon ordered.

Shea didn’t care for being called to heel but
obeyed. She didn’t know how he would react to any resistance in his
current frame of mind.

Fallon’s hands lightly skated over the
bandage on her arm and leg before one came to light softly on her
neck. A thumb lightly caressed the skin there, sending a shiver
racing down her back.

Speaking to Indra without taking his eyes
from Shea’s face, he said, “You hurt the one most precious to me.
Do not imagine for a moment that I retain even an ounce of mercy
for you.”

“Your precious one,” Indra nearly spat out
the last two words, “is nothing more than a mongrel’s leavings. She
is not fit for even the lowliest of our people. I only wish I had
finished her when I had the chance.”

“But you couldn’t,” Shea snapped. “You
weren’t good enough. This lowly mongrel beat you. I won. You
lost.”

Fallon’s lips twisted into a semblance of a
smile as his hands dropped from Shea. “This woman is going to rule
at my side as I conquer these lands and lead my people into a
golden age of prosperity. Our children will rule long after we have
left this world and their children after them.”

Shit. He really did plan on children.

No, she hadn’t agreed to that yet.

“They will do this never having heard of you
or the Snake Clan. In my future, there are only six clans. I am
going to wipe every person who ever claimed kinship with the snake
from this world. You have a child among the snake, if I remember
correctly.”

“No,” Indra moaned, her mask of calm
superiority crumbling. “You can’t. He’s just a babe. He has nothing
to do with this.”

Shea felt a stirring of unease.