Page 31 of Shadow Weaver
He chuffed as if in agreement and then opened his eyes. He studied me for a long beat and then backed away and lowered himself onto the hay set out for him.
Brady grabbed my hand and pulled me from the pen. He shut the door and then slowly turned to face me.
“Well. That was … unexpected.” Jemima crossed her arms under her breasts. “It seems Athos likes you. You got lucky. He could have taken your hand off.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I knew he wouldn’t.”
“You knew?” She snorted derisively. “And how long have you worked with hounds?” She sighed in exasperation. “I think you should take your friend back to the fortress, Brady, and explain to her that this is not a game. She’ll be paired with a hound of her own soon enough, and she needs to learn to follow my orders.”
Brady looked grim, but he nodded and then steered me away from the pens and out onto the moonlit path that led to the fortress.
He was silent as we walked, and unease pricked at my scalp. “Look, I’m sorry. I should have listened to Jemima.”
He stopped and looked down on me with a frown. “No. You followed your instincts. They were right. Athos likes you.” His smile was small, almost sad. “Another beast tamed by your touch.”
His attention was on my mouth, and I took an involuntary step toward him. He cupped the back of my neck, drew me closer, and pressed his lips softly to my forehead.
My skin tingled, and a shiver ran down the back of my neck. My hands fisted his shirt, tugging him closer, and reveling in the scent of him.
Shit, what was this? What was this swirling, topsy-turvy feeling?
He released me. “Come on, we best get back. It’ll be suppertime soon.” His tone was gruff, and there was that edge of sadness again.
“What about the troop meeting?”
He shrugged. “There isn’t one.”
He continued up the rise, and I followed. He’d lied to get me away from Hyde. Looked like Brady wasn’t afraid of taking what he wanted. And it seemed, right now, thatsomethingwas me.
Ten
The mist in sector two was thicker. Visibility lower, and yeah, stamina was tested. Right now, my legs burned and my chest ached as I ran, rolled, and ducked to avoid a strike from the barbed tail of the skitter. It was a cross between a worm and a beetle. Four feet in height and fast. The fact it was the same color as the earth didn’t help, and with the mist … Well, things were hairy.
Five solid minutes we’d been trying to take it down, and it had avoided any mortal wounds. At least my blade was getting some use.
Carlo and I worked as a team, taking it in turns playing bait while the other one tried to get in a strike, but the beastie was wily.
“Fucking hell,” Carlo said. “It’s a super skitter.”
I slashed and missed. Again.
The ground trembled.
“What was that?” I leaped out of the way of the skitter’s stinger.
“It means we have company and not the kind you’d invite over for tea and cake.” Carlo rolled out of range and grabbed for his radio. “Lloyd, horde incoming. Backup required.”
He sounded calm enough, but the wordhordedidn’t conjure images of glitter and rainbows.
My blade finally connected with the skitter, and it went down. “Yes!”
“Good,” Carlo said. “Real good. Now, we need to run.”
“What?”
The ground shook.
Carlo grabbed my hand. “Now.”
