Snake Charmer (3 page)

Liander had been assigned to her as a caregiver the second day, and he had held her for the healing as it regenerated her skin and the torn muscle.

Since that first day of freedom, every night she had woken fighting to free herself from agonizing restraints that were no longer there. The only answer was to remove herself from her room until she was tired again. Walking around and proving her freedom had become as essential to her state of mind as getting enough sleep to begin with.

She would feel fatigue eventually, and when she did, she would return to bed. Until then, she would just sit and stare into the fire that wasn’t there, wishing for a glass of milk with honey.

She stared into the fireplace, thinking of the man who wasn’t there.

Yvena sat at the breakfast table with a coffee and a muffin.

Teebie was bustling around and politely flustered.

“What is up, Teebie?”

“New guest. He is also a species I haven’t dealt with before.”

“What is he?”

Teebie winked, “That is his information. He isn’t an exotic; his people just tend to find their matches in their own circles.”

“Fascinating. My folk are similar. We can always find a match with our own kind, but the women are obligated to take on the burden of the family. My father was an exception and his work ethic and lack of sleep got him into a head-on collision with a tree on his way home from a double shift.”

“What do you look like when you are shifted?” Teebie relaxed and took a seat, but there was a faraway look in her eyes.

“I am about fourteen feet long, black with a yellow-grey chevron pattern that runs down my spine.”

“Oh, no eyes on your hood?”

“No, I am a different type of cobra. King cobras are a different genus than the others. We are delightfully neurotoxic if that is of interest.”

Teebie blinked, “Fascinating. I mean, I am aware of using king cobra venom in spellcraft, but I never thought to meet one. Mind you, I am not in the mood for a revenge spell.”

“We also can be used to repel or destroy other snakes. They are exceptionally tasty.”

Teebie shuddered. “I see. I think I will get you another muffin.”

Yvena grinned, “Please. More honey, too.”

Her host retreated to the kitchen, and Yvena nibbled at her muffin, smiling despite her short sleep.

Yvena had a run planned for after breakfast, though it would be more of a slow jog. The other guest and its companion hadn’t stirred yet, though Yvena’s senses had picked up on their heated hormones when she returned to her bed that morning. Whatever they were, they were compatible on the sexual plane.

She really didn’t need to see them in afterglow.

Teebie returned with another tray of muffins.

Yvena slathered one in honey and tucked a napkin under it. She felt the couple upstairs stirring.

“Time for me to get some exercise.” She winked at Teebie.

“With a muffin?” The dark blue eyebrows rose.

“Don’t judge the way I choose to exercise and I won’t critique your inky fingers. Been writing?”

Teebie looked at her hands and grinned. “You could see the ink against my skin?”

With a quick flick of her serpent’s tongue, Yvena headed for the door. “I can taste it.”

Outside, she ate the muffin and headed for the meadow containing the large rock that Teal had pointed out the day before. Her inner snake loved the idea of a hot rock.

With care, she licked every bit of honey from her fingers and folded the napkin neatly, tucking it into her bra for later disposal. Sighing as she started a slow jog, Yvena tried to get a handle on what she was really doing here.

In the harsh light of day, she wasn’t truly looking for a mate. She was looking for a hiding place.

Her kind could be vicious when backed into a corner, but no one had let her defend herself. They had used subterfuge and brute force to hold her, and it had ripped away the one thing that she always had before that moment. She had felt safe.

She never felt safe anymore. It was the legacy of being stolen and tortured.

Yvena found a large rock out in the sun, warming under the delicate rays. It was cool to the touch but warming rapidly. With care and determination, she removed her clothing and forced herself to shift out in the open.

Slithering onto the rock, she picked the highest spot available and curled up in a neat coil. It took nerve to be out where anyone could see her, but she forced herself into the spot and held her position.

If nerve would help her regain her confidence in just being herself, her inner beast might recover enough to take over now and then, but her cobra had been hiding inside her since she had been pinned. Her human had had to take over while in her serpent form, and it hadn’t been comfortable. The delineation between a shifter’s species was what kept them sane. The animal took care of animal things, and the human took care of the rest. Being forced to do both had shaken her faith in herself.

She couldn’t rescue her beast from torture and couldn’t shift back to human. She had the worst of all worlds, two bodies and only one faulty set of instincts.

Yvena remained on the warming rock as long as she could before she shifted back and got dressed. She was in the wrong place once again. She had no business being at the Crossroads. She needed to get home and find her centre.

It was time to talk to Teal.

The swan with the ivory hair smiled politely. “But you just got here.”

Yvena sipped at the tea and tried not to make a face. Tea was not her favourite beverage. Lemonade and coffee were her preferred daytime consumables.

“I know I just got here and one night dancing with strangers was all I needed to know that I am in the wrong place once again. I am still too damaged to seek out a mate. It is not fair to the man I would meet or the children I would have. I need to go home.”

Teal twisted her lips. “It is highly unusual and you will not be able to return. Why don’t you sleep on it, and if you still want to leave tomorrow, Tony and I will send you home.”

Yvena sighed in relief. “Thank you. It will make my time here a lot more enjoyable.”

“You have enjoyed your stay so far?”

“One day has taught me a lot about myself and how I relate to strangers. The current conclusion that I have drawn is that I would not be fair to myself or my partner to come to them in this state. I will return home and deal with my issues before I go and seek out a mate. I will succeed or fail on my own.”

Teal smiled, “Then you have made up your mind. Good. The survivors were allowed leeway when it comes to arrivals and departures. Our society has never had a situation like this. Dozens of representatives of species were taken and abused for sale to human magic users. For a while, we had deluded ourselves that the items we sold to get transporter service would be enough, but it seems that in their world, there is a black market and the lions sought to fill it.”

“There is a market for everything. Those who are using my venom will feel effects that they had not anticipated. It will cut both ways. They might gain their vengeance, but it will be at a physical cost.”

Teal took a cookie and raised her brows. “What will happen?”

“Well, from what I know of these things, the venom will be applied with heat. The moment that it evaporates, my pain and rage will be inhaled into their lungs and it will begin to degrade them.”

Teal winced. “Ouch. Well, hopefully, they will learn their lesson.”

She shrugged. “I hope so. I do give venom away for the asking. I believe that it was my regular requester who tipped the lions off to my whereabouts.”

“Nasty. What do you have planned for the traitor?”

Yvena sipped some tea and made a face. “Nothing. If they got any of the black-market venom, they will have been punished enough, and if not, they may not have known what information they were giving was going to lead where it did. I am willing to forgive and forget. I have learned that life is too short to cling to grudges. You have to stand up and get yourself in good shape. Once you are whole, you can help others.”

Teal gave her a look of admiration. “That is a healthy attitude.”

Yvena nibbled at a cookie with determination. “I am working on it.”

Playing checkers with Teebie for a few hours killed most of the afternoon. After that, Yvena headed for the café and got a burger to go with a cup of lemonade.

Tucked in her room with food and a good book, Yvena could hear the arrival of the new guest, and she made her way through the novel she was working on without truly appreciating the action or adventure.

She settled in to sleep at eleven and tried to keep herself relaxed. She would leave the next day, and she was in a safe place, there was no reason to wake.

She crept down the stairs with her robe around her and curled up on the couch once again.
Damn
.

Yvena sighed and tried to resign herself to waking in the middle of the night for the foreseeable future.

She stared into the fireplace and dozed. A hand touched her shoulder. “Here you go.”

She stirred and smiled, taking the cup of warm milk from him. “Thank you, Liander.”

She sipped and stared into the fireplace for a count of ten before she jolted upright, balancing her milk carefully. “Liander?”

He sat in a nearby chair. “Hello, Yvena.”

A dark lock of his hair fell over one eye, and she fought the urge to brush it back.

“What are you doing here?”

He smiled, “The same as you. I am looking for my soul mate.”

“Oh. I am leaving this afternoon. I have come to the realisation that seeking love isn’t really for me.” Her heart was heavy, seeing the one man that she wanted and couldn’t have.

“Do you really have to go? I thought that you could show me around.”

She bit her lip at his earnest expression. “I came to the decision with some difficulty.”

“I might be able to make it entertaining to stay another day.”

Yvena looked into his earnest gaze. Her heart swelled and thudded in her chest. “One more day. Just to help you get settled.”

He smiled. “Thank you. How have you been doing since you left the recovery centre?”

She sipped at her milk, cradling it carefully in her hands. “Fine. Going over the past in my mind has worn deep grooves in my psyche. But, by seeing the path, I believe I can go around it. I just have to get my snake back in touch. She eludes me, hiding where it is safe.”

“I thought she might come out when you left the recovery centre.”

“Nope.” She sipped at the milk and made a face. “Too many memories of my kidnapping at home. It was my safe place and now it isn’t. She resents that.”

“Understandable. How do you feel about it?”

She gave him a look through narrowed eyes. “I thought I had left the centre.”

He winced. “Right. From now on, I know nothing about you other than that you enjoy milk and honey at four am.”

Yvena grinned and extended her hand. “Hello, my name is Yvena.”

“Hello, I am Liander.”

She sipped at her milk. “Tell me about yourself, Liander?”

He grinned and sat back. “I am the second child of a family of five. I have three sisters and one younger brother. I recently left my job and am ready to move on to the next phase in life. My parents are both alive and enthusiastic about me coming to the Crossroads to find a mate.”

“What about your siblings?”

“They are less enthusiastic but still encouraging.” He shrugged. “What about you?”

“Hmm. Well, I make custom cards with creatures and shifters on them for birthdays and other events with cute sayings inside. I had an…accident a few months ago and am still in recovery. My business suffered and I am on the brink of starting from scratch.”

“You make a living making cards?”

“I have some money my father left me when he passed away. I have my mother, one adult sister and a little brother on the way.”

She didn’t mention the twenty part-time jobs she had had as well as all her investments. She had an extensive portfolio and enough funds for two decades of trying to figure out what she was going to do next before she touched the capital.

“How long have you lived on your own?”

She gave him a narrow look; it wasn’t something she had offered. “I have been on my own for eight years. Since I was nineteen.”

“Wow. That is quite the maturity.”

“My kind don’t stay with our mothers after it is no longer essential. Legally, I had to remain with her, so I took the burden off her the moment I was able to. She is still very protective, but we rarely speak.”

He smiled. “Would you care to get dressed and hit the café?”

She grinned. “No, but I would like to try and sleep again. Thank you for the milk and honey. I won’t even guess how you know.”

They got to their feet, and he walked with her up the stairs, his hand at her back. She wanted to lean her head against his shoulder and sleep there, but it wasn’t appropriate. They had a working relationship, not an intimate one. As tempting as it would be to curl up against him, she had to go to her room and him to his. He knew a lot of her secrets, but she had held back at the recovery centre. She was a much larger bucket of crazy than he knew.

At her door, he raised her hand to his lips. “Good night, Yvena.”

“Good night, Liander. Sleep well.”

“You too.”

She reached out blindly and opened her door. She backed away, pulling her fingers from his at the last possible minute.

He watched her until she closed the door, and when she was inside, she pressed her back to the solid surface. He was here. Her heart pounded in a thudding rhythm. He was just a few doors down.

This was going to be the longest night that she had experienced. She was looking forward to morning.

Yvena finished her milk and headed for bed. Time to let the night pass into dawn.

She watched the stairs cautiously and smiled when Liander appeared.

Teebie exhaled in relief. “I thought you were going to vibrate out of that chair, Yvena.”

Yvena shot her a look through her lashes and hissed lightly. That one hiss made her blink. She hadn’t hissed at anything in over eight months.