Summon (16 page)

“What are you afraid of?”

“
Afraid
.
Na-uh.” Crossing my arms loosely, I cocked a hip. “I’m wary of large bodies of
water to the point of aversion.”

He sighed but gathered me in his arms, smoothing
his hands down my back. I arched into him. “You
will
learn, but not today. You do not want to discuss the Loa, or
learn to swim, and I am not ready to take you to our home.” He angled his head
to regard me. “Pray tell, what you want to do?”

Lacing our fingers, I pulled him into a walk and
changed our direction yet again. I headed off the path into the denser trees.
“Ever played truth or dare?”

“No.”

I grinned over my shoulder.

“What must I do?”

“We take it in turns to answer a question with the
truth or remain silent and play a dare as forfeit.”

He looked perplexed when we stopped at what I
thought was a pair of exceptionally pretty oaks. Twin trunks grew together,
entwining halfway up then separating to sprout wide branches laden with red,
brown and orange leaves. A dense mantle layered the ground and crunched
underfoot.

I kicked my way through them happily letting
Breandan think.

“We are no longer bound my magics to speak the
truth, but I would not lie to you.” He paused. “Ask whatever you wish. I will
tell you.”

I jumped onto his back and noisily kissed his
cheek. “I know that. I want us to have fun. Spend time that’s not focused on
responsibility.” He stiffened, and I dropped to the ground. My first try at
being a good life mate was falling flat. “Is that okay?”

Breandan spun, his face serious. “Who goes first?”

My brows lifted at his intensity. “Well, we could
mark and flip a stone, but I think leaving decisions to fate sucks. I like
winning
the right to go first.”

He flashed a grin. “Sounds good. It is fair to
compete. Healthy.”

“Totally say-so.” I patted the trunk I’d discreetly
been examining and leaned against it. “A race.”

His eyes shot up. When they fell, they twinkled.
“Highest bough and back?”

“Uh-huh. Both feet must touch the ground to claim
victory.” I pushed away from the tree. “And I say we scorch a mark at our
highest peak of ascent in case it’s too close to judge.”

“Alright.” Breandan rolled his shoulders. “I see
you have chosen a start point.”

I shrugged demurely, feeling smug. “I think you’ll
find I have mad skill.”

He stroked the bridge of my nose. The fond look he
bestowed me bordered condescending. “Shall I call Gunarr to mediate?”

“Nope. That’d cancel out the point of us being
alone.” I eyed him. He looked majorly keyed up. “Don’t get too competitive. Fun
time, remember?”

He grunted and pointed impatiently for me to join
him behind an invisible line.

Suspicious I’d roused a beast I rushed to stand
beside him. My pulse quickened with anticipation.

We stared at each other.

“On three?” he asked, enthusiasm deepening his
voice.

Blushing with a rush of excitement, I nodded.
“Three!” I bolted.

Breandan leapt a heartbeat later.

Bounding forward, I grabbed a low branch, kicked
off the trunk to give me a boost and swung my leg up and over as my arm
steadied me.
Ha,
too bloody easy.
Straddling the first bough, I didn’t wait to see
how Breandan fared. I climbed until the branches thinned and creaked under my
weight.
I’ve won this hands down.
With a swipe of my finger, I burned a line in the tree at eye level then
grinned as I sprinted along the branch and dove off.

I somersaulted and landed crouched sending leaves
exploding upwards. My spread wings rustled as they settled on my back, and my
tail relaxed from its rigid extension after keeping me balanced. “Hoo!” Jumping
up with my hands outstretched, my chest heaved as I looked up searching for my
mate. Seeing nothing, I scanned down then stumbled.

Breandan stood leaning against his tree tapping his
foot. “So slow, Rae-love.”

I gawked at him. “There’s no way in hell you
climbed up then down before me.”

Pushing off from the tree, he ambled over to me and
leaned until our noses touched. “My scorch mark is there. A climb will verify
the win.”

“How?” I asked, breathless and super turned on
because he beat me, hard, at my own game.

“I have, how did you say it? Mad skill.” Winking,
he jerked forward and slanted his mouth over mine in a mind-bending kiss. He
broke away panting. “Truth or dare?”

Dazed, I blinked, and licked my lips. My fingers,
toes and tail curled. “Dare.” Breandan would never give me a dangerous or
embarrassing task.

A crafty smirk stretched his arresting visage.
“Honey-cakes.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Lochlann

“Where,”
Gunarr grumbled. “Where is it?”

“Where is what?” Crouching alongside him, I searched
the darkness with keen sight, but saw nor sensed a threat.

Daphne crept up behind me, hiccupping softly.

Kian followed.

Drawing the sheathed dagger from his thigh, Gunarr
tucked the blade into his palm preparing to throw. He scanned the canopy with
slitted eyes.

A hoot from the east broke the tense silence.

We jumped then shot each other embarrassed looks
tinged with amusement.

“That.” Gunarr hissed, his tongue flickering at the
threshold of his green lips. “You must hear it. It flies closer.”

“
Sounds like
an owl
,” Daphne shouted in my ear destroying any chance of a sneak counter
attack if there
had
been an enemy.
She squinted at the sky. “Can’t see it.”

I rubbed the side of my head wondering if the
screech caused permanent damage. Kian disguised his laughter with a grunted cough.

Another hoot echoed through the trees. The distinct
sound of wings beating behind us surprised me. “To the west.” It was strange
the bird moved so swiftly, unseen, but it was nothing that warranted concern.

Gunarr spun, and the blade left his hand in a
deadly streak. There was a hollow thud when it found a mark. He sprinted after
it. Circling the base of a tree, Gunarr growled, and swiftly climbed to where
his dagger embedded half way up.

Head thrown back, arms wheeling, Daphne tottered
blindly after him.

Tossing fistfuls of dried seeds and nuts into my
mouth, I followed at my leisure watching her hips sway. My head cocked when she
tugged at the hem of the tunic she’d borrowed from Lily.

Not for the first time, I wondered why she wasn’t
wearing leggings under it. Wondered, but felt ridiculously happy her legs
remained bare. I found her knobby knees endearing.

“Hmmm.” Kian walked a step behind me, his gaze
fixed on Daphne. He sipped from his flask and licked his lips. “Tasty.”

“Indeed.” I slapped the flask from his hand. “Tasty
and mine.”

Kian’s eyes slid towards Daphne who bent over
studying something in the undergrowth then curiously at me.

Admittedly, my jaw went slack watching the vampire
digging a patch of moss with a twig, her behind swaying. I snapped my mouth
closed, and glared at Kian. “I asked you to watch over her as you would my
consort. Understand?”

“Ye–No.” Kian inhaled sharply then tagged on
a hasty, “My lord. No, I do not understand. You cannot-”

“I cannot what?” My voice was low, dangerous. It
inspired the reaction I craved.

Head bowing, Kian averted his gaze. “The vampire is
unmated. I like her.”

“What you like is irrelevant in this matter.”

“The Tribe will not accept her. Not as High Lady.
She’d be shunned, a pariah. You want isolation for her? You are a good male,
but I never thought you cruel.” He held my gaze. “I offer her more.” Kian
nodded deep in respect then left me to my thoughts, striding to see what
trouble Daphne prodded.

Gunarr pulled the blade free from the tree. A
handful of feathers drifted down.

“Impossible,” he muttered. The disbelief colouring
his tone reflected in a baffled expression. “No fowl is that smart.” His knees
clutched the slender trunk he straddled. Abdominals taut, he locked himself
into place. Rubbing his temple with the razor-sharp blade, he reclined to cast
his gaze about. “This black-feathered creature I hunt is not natural.”

“You missed,” Daphne observed. “No big deal.”

“I,” he barked, “am a Knight on the cusp of
becoming a Warrior. I
do not
miss.”
Extending his arm to thrust the dagger in her direction, he glared, daring her
to repeat the insult. “Never.”

Brows lifting, Daphne tucked her chin to her chest.
“Somebody needs a nap. Oh, look. It’s a … um….” Her voice turned hesitant.
“What
is
that?”

Quickening his step, Kian tugged her back. “You
attempt to stab an unknown creature with a stick because?”

“The Northern City is my home.” She shrugged.
“Never seen such tall trees and cute animals before. The Wyld is, well,
wild
. Makes me curious.”

Darting around him, giggling, she stuck her branch
deep into the hole.

Hissing angrily, a black and white stripped head
popped out of the ground. The creature attached itself to Daphne’s leg, threw
back its head then snapped it down to sink its teeth in.

“
Noooo
.”
Daphne’s screech rang so high I feared my ears bled. Her leg shook violently,
but the beastie clung on with fierce tenacity. She crawled up Kian’s front,
dragging at his clothes and hair. “
Get it
off.
”

“Beg Pardon.” Kian struggled to contain her
awkwardly thrashing limbs and preserve her modesty. “Your tunic is riding….
What are you
–?” He spluttered then
paled when her heel narrowly missed his crotch. It slammed into his inner thigh
and buckled his leg. Realising another kick may unman him, Kian promptly tried
to peel her off. “You called them cute. You said–” A stray elbow busted
his lip. “Argh!”

“
Kill it
,”
Daphne shrieked. She yanked on his pointed ear and screamed until his eyes
watered. “Before it
eats me
.”

“Down, female. Unhand me.” He yelped. “Claws!
Remove your claws from my–. Now, Daphne, retract your fangs….”

The sound of bracken crackling drew my attention.

I smiled as an antlered stag strode past followed
by two stippled deer. Twittering nightingales flitted into the tree canopy. A
wave of heat spread through the air, and the flowers unfurled. There was no
sunlight, but the woods brightened, the pulsing glow from the trees
effervescent. A squirrel darted across the branches above my head whilst a
wildcat prowled the undergrowth. It sneezed when its whiskers brushed a cluster
of orange fungi, startling the vole it hunted into scurrying away.

This revival of life in the Wyld I treasured acted
as solace to my angst-ridden soul. My exhilaration withered with the realisation
the flora would only bloom so beautifully in autumn if….

“
Lochlann
,”
Rae trilled, appearing from nowhere at my side. “Imagine bumping into you.”

Tucked in one crook of Rae’s arm was a snow-white
rabbit and in the other a hedgehog.

Long ears flopping around its paws, the rabbit
fixed its claret eyes on me. Its nose twitched, the sight so sweet my back
teeth ached.

I petted the rabbit’s head, wondering why Rae
sought me.

She’s
smiling at me.

After our disastrous conversation where she’d
extracted an oath I leave her alone, she also made me promise I’d keep my mind
open to the possibility of Daphne being my life mate.
It’s a sad day when your past almost-betrothed is compelled to give you
courtship advice.

“Why do you trouble me? What do you want now? My
firstborn? The blood running through my veins?” My hopes rose with an upturn of
the lips. “Or have you come to discuss the Loa?”

Eyes wide with false innocence, her head cocked.
Fireflies drifted around her head in fuzzy lights. Their bioluminescence ranged
from green and yellow to white. “I sense tension betwixt us.” She grinned. “See
what I did there? I said
betwixt
. I’m
trying to communicate with you better.”

Hopes dashed, my burgeoning smile melted to a
glower. “Rae?”

“Why would
I
want
anything
?”
Is she batting her eyelashes?
“The pleasure of your mighty company
is–”

“
Rae
.” My
gruff snap escaped half hearted since my attention was grasped by the hubbub
between my Knight and vampire, and the nervous breakdown Gunarr suffered above
them.

Kian fought valiantly to detach the furred ball
from Daphne’s ankle without wounding her further. She wasn’t making it easy,
snarling, and biting at anything that flinched with her fangs.