Chapter 6
Several times the man stumbled, yet he refused to put her down. Summer squirmed in his arms. “You must stop and rest. You cannot keep going like this.”
“I am fine. Worry about yourself for now because your concern for me is wasted.”
“Now, now, that is no way to talk to such a beautiful young woman.” The voice was that of a friendly woman. Summer looked around and saw a startling looking redhead standing off to the side of the path. Summer’s eyes immediately flicked to her companion as she felt his muscles tense.
Instead of issuing the verbal sparring she expected, the man smiled. “My dear Bree, but it has been so long since last we met. Am I to think that you have finally succumbed to my charms and are willing to run off with me?” The mask was so firmly in place that had she not seen him moments before, Summer would have believed that the man holding her was perfectly happy.
The woman named Bree fanned her face. “But you do still know how to make a woman long for you. Gods, H–”
The man immediately held up a finger. “As you have already noted, I currently have a lovely young woman that I am conquering. No real names, or I will have to release her.”
The woman’s laugh was almost contagious. “You say that seconds after trying to sweet talk me. How is it that you haven’t bedded every woman between here and Tarstan?”
The man laughed jovially, “Not enough hours in the day, and I only have the one body to work with.”
Summer looked between the two in confusion. “I thought he preferred men.”
Both sets of eyes swiveled to look at her before Bree burst out laughing again. “Oh, is that the cover you are using to get her? That’s sly.” She gave the man a wink, and Summer could feel the heat radiate from the man holding her. “So if I can’t use your real name, what should we call you instead?”
“We?” Summer looked back at the woman, half expecting her to split into several people.
“She is not alone. There are three others heading this way now, but the sorceress is able to travel much faster. She is like the harbinger of something either really delicious or something so awful you might as well off yourself.”
“Oh my, what flattery, dear stranger.” She fluttered her lovely lashes, and Summer felt a smile spread across her face at the gesture.
“You can call me Carrington. That’s the name I have been going by of late.”
“It really doesn’t suit you.”
“I bend to your whim, loveliest Bree. What name would you give me besides my own?”
“Wait, did you say sorceress?” Summer cut into their banter.
The woman grinned, “Yes, but I dare say that does not cause you any concern.” A slight frown crossed her face. “Although, I must say that I am at a loss for what you are. My loving Dedric, she has quite the aura to disguise herself. Even I can’t see through it.”
“That’s enough, Bree.” A tall imposing man walked forward out of the woods. The scowl on his face made him look like a vengeful god, at least that was Summer’s first impression.
“So you know a sorceress now?” Summer’s face turned toward the man holding her.
“It never hurts to get on their good side when they fall in your path. You should remember that.” He gave her a wink, and for a moment Summer’s heart fluttered. She had to tell herself that it was just an act to regain the progress of her thoughts. By the time she was aware of the conversation, Summer realized that the full party was in front of them. Interrupting whatever they were saying, she said, “I’m sorry, I have not met any of you. I am Summer.”
The imposing-looking man simply looked at her. The man standing next to him was equally handsome, but the smile made his eyes twinkle. “It is lovely to meet you. I am Elian.” A serious-looking woman stood beside him considering the scene before her. Though she appeared to be the least powerful of the people present, Summer got the distinct impression that was what made her so dangerous. The man beside her placed a hand around her shoulders and nudged her with his hip.
“I’m Annora.” The words were curt and to the point. In her mind, Summer swapped the dour-looking young woman with the vengeful god. That seems like a more natural pairing. Appalled that her first thought was to reorganize the pairings before her, Summer blushed.
Annora tilted her head to the side as Bree laughed, “Oh Dedric, she is just adorable. Treat her well, alright?”
The man beside her frowned, “Dedric? Who is Dedric?”
“The man right there holding our lovely Summer.” The man furrowed his brow, but before he could speak, Bree waved a hand. “Nothing you need to worry about, my precious Calixto. It’s mating stuff that is well out of your understanding.” The man’s frown deepened, but he simply looked at the pair.
Elian had been holding back a laugh. “Well, Leonides said that something was up, but he was busy at the time, so his report was somewhat scrambled in the telling.”
The man going by Dedric tensed again. He shifted Summer’s weight as he asked, “And how is Taja?”
“She’s fine,” Annora answered. Though the answer was short, Summer felt Dedric relax a little. Out of the corner of her eye she witnessed one of the rare sincere smiles.
“Thank you so much, Annora. Honestly, how anyone can call you Fiend is beyond me. I dare say you are a misunderstood demi-goddess whose sole purpose is to mete out justice and retribution.”
Elian held up his free hand. “Look, Dedric, you know she’s taken. The wedding is not too far off. We just came to collect you so that we could go take this son of a bitch down.”
Summer automatically turned to watch how her companion would respond. His expression was one of deep regret. “And I would love to join you. Really, I want nothing more than to kick some demon ass, but as you can see,” he held up Summer, “I have my hands full.”
Calixto sighed, “Seriously, think outside of your pants for one day. We need help and Cyprian is quite insistent on you being there.”
Summer was the only one who noticed the dark cloud pass over his face. As quickly as it appeared, the look moved on. Instead, her companion said, “Well, you can tell him that it is the thought that counts. He is overestimating me, my abilities, and my value.”
Bree smiled, “He thought you might say that, and in response, he wanted you to know that you are being an idiot. That the years have addled your brain and that you are letting the past cloud your judgment. He followed that up by threatening to come get you himself.”
Summer felt her body jiggle as the man laughed, “Oh, yes, that is quite the threat. Tell me, Calixto, what do you think of his words?”
“I want to trust him.”
“Of course you do, everyone wants to trust him, that is where he derives his power. He is not infallible, and up until Noely came into the picture, I lost a decade fighting to keep him from getting himself killed. If this is his way of saying thank you, I’m going to let him go through with it the next time.”
Bree frowned, “Now listen here, H–”
The man held a finger up and waved her off. “Not here, not now.”
Bree’s expression was far less friendly now. “I know Cyprian and I would trust him with my life. Put the girl down and let’s go before anything more serious happens. Or better yet, bring her along. Anyone who can put up that kind of a shield has got to be well worth having in a fight.”
Summer felt the man tense beneath her. “First, you are welcome for making sure you had another ally for the fight. Let him serve in my place. As for the fight, I have not been a part of any of what you guys have been planning. As I told you before, it is not my fight, and I will not be dragged into it. As for the woman in my arms, it isn’t her shield but mine that is blocking your ability to read her. Finally, Cyprian didn’t bother to wait and it isn’t me that he wanted you to find. He gave you a few hours before taking off himself. You are the distraction that he is using to catch up with me, probably only waiting that long because Noely insisted on ensuring that the tense situation between Phelan and the rest of you reds was calm enough to leave.”
Calixto’s eyes widened then narrowed as he scanned the skies. Elian frowned as he said, “There is no way you can know any of that.”
Bree scowled, all flirting aside. “No, he is right. He just passed through one of my detectors. Noely is with him.”
Calixto scowled, “He dares to come here, tells us how to operate, and then will not even entrust something this simple to us? Of all the–”
A hand on his chest quelled his anger. “You forget that we have not been party to whatever is going on here.”
Annora had never taken her eyes off of the couple. As if she had finished her assessment, she spoke, “Hisa, don’t take the water.”
The name was like a bolt of lightning. Images began flashing in Summer’s mind, causing her to grip the man tighter.
He responded by holding her tighter. “Thank you, Annora. Your tact and understanding of the situation is as irritating as ever.”
Elian stepped forward. “Leave her out of this, Hisa. We do not have to play along with your games and conquests. We have a fight brewing, and we need everyone we can get.”
Calixto was still looking at the skies, his mind clearly not on the conversation. Bree tried to get his attention as Hisa finally dropped his mask.
“Oh, yes, all of us running in together. Banded together by love and brotherhood. And why don’t you ask Cyprian how well that worked out last time? Surely you little reds have heard the stories and know enough about the history to understand a miniscule fraction of what you are in for. But let me tell you something that I doubt anyone has mentioned before. When I said demon, no one batted an eye, so that tells me that you really don’t know the truth and have not been enlightened about your foe. You are not going in against a demon – you are facing Chesed. Over 500 years ago he killed over half of our kind, but only 10% of the reds. You guys cowered in your mountains telling us that it wasn’t your fight. Every single one of the reds who joined the fight died, so of course your history is inaccurate, you backward, inbreeding fools.”
Summer watched as Calixto’s eyes moved down from the skies and onto Hisa. “How quickly you and Cyprian have reminded me why we have been separated for so long. Get out of here before I–”
“Calixto,” the voice was firm but pleading, “we cannot afford to be divided now. He is just trying to get a rise out of you.” Her eyes moved to Hisa. “As much as he deserves an ass-kicking, I think that will have to wait until a later time. We are needed elsewhere if he is not willing to join us.”
Elian spat at the group, “Let him and Cyprian fight it out. We should never have agreed to come here when it is our clan member who needs us.”
Hisa took a step forward. “Yes, your clan member, the one you kicked out to save face. The one who was left alone with a pregnant mixed pixie. What a fantastic job you do of taking care of each other.”
Elian stepped forward, his teeth bared. Before he could say or do anything, Annora stepped in front of him. “Hisa, how old are you?”
His eyes drifted from the men to the Fiend. “What difference does it make?”
“How many friends did you lose in the battle that others shunned?”
Summer watched as Hisa bit his lip, clearly not wanting to talk about his past with the people in front of him. Faced with the question, it was obvious he was not going to lie about the people who had died bravely – that would have been like sacrificing them all over again. Somewhere in her thoughts, Summer realized that she was a part of his answer, “Too many.”
Annora nodded, then turned away from him. “You have no right to judge him. He wears a mask to make people comfortable, but he is hurt far more than any of you ever cared to acknowledge.”
“Annora!” Elian stepped forward and grabbed her arm. “You cannot side with him. Did you not hear how he slandered us?”
The woman turned her startling eyes to her lover. “I heard him state facts. I lost both of my parents and a close friend to dragons. You know what it took to change my mind. I learned that you tried to stop them, that those attacks were condemned and the dragons hunted by their own kind, and that helped me to heal. If you had chosen to sit by and let the dragons kill, I would have hunted you down, too.”
Elian’s mouth opened and closed at her words.
Annora looked at Bree. “I am ashamed that you have become so callous toward anyone you feel has slighted your lover that you will lash out. You are not the girl I protected all of those years ago. She wanted to do what was right, not what would please her friends.” Her eyes moved over her fellow travelers. “You are so proud and condescending that you lose sight of your own flaws and imperfections. At least the majority of us humans do not suffer from such foolishness and delusions.” Annora then looked at Hisa. “I am sorry, Hisa, but there is no need for the charade. You cannot heal if you refuse to bind the wound.” With that, the woman walked away.
Summer watched the stunned faces of the three remaining people. The longer they stayed, the more she feared they would attack. Finally, Calixto sighed and looked to the skies. “And you wanted to leave her behind.” He punched Elian in the arm, causing the man to flinch and hold the spot. “You had better take good care of her or so help our clan, we are going to be lost. That doesn’t mean that I appreciate the provocation,” his eyes met Hisa’s, “but I can at least understand it now. We cannot ask you to relive a war that our kind largely refused to join.” With a slight tilt of his head, Calixto showed unexpected respect to Hisa. A thin smile crossed his lips. “And here I thought you were just a fop. Be safe.”
He grabbed Bree’s hand and dragged her toward the woods, following the same path Annora had taken. Bree kept looking back at him, a mixed expression on her face. Right before they disappeared, she called out, “I will find a way to slow him, so you had better run fast.” Hisa let out a little laugh at the parting words.
Elian watched them leave, then turned toward Hisa. “I want to apologize.”
Summer turned to look at Hisa, who wore a lopsided smile. “But right now your pride won’t let you. If you survive this, I look forward to it. If you die…” He shrugged, causing Summer to shift in his arms.
Elian let out a little laugh. “Be safe and may you find peace in this life or the next.” With that, he turned toward the forest.
Once Elian’s outline was no longer visible, Summer turned toward Hisa. “What is all of this talk of dragons?”
Shifting her in his arms, Hisa’s expression looked worn. “It’s nothing for you to worry about.”
“It is something for me to worry about.”
“Then can we talk about it tonight? You heard the sorceress, we have to get moving.”
“You are Hisa.”
Despite his obvious weariness, Hisa tensed. “Yes, one of the many revelations that Annora exposed that I had wanted to keep buried.”
“I like her.”
“Of course you do. You are honest to a fault and always want to be on the right side.”
“You know that because we fought together.” Summer was trying to remember the name, which was hammering on her mind like a battering ram. He was incredibly important to her history, but she had no recollection of him. Unlike Cyprian, the name Hisa did not conjure any images.
“Again, we need to get moving. So you must forgive me for not wanting to discuss this right now.” He took several faltering steps forward, stumbling once and nearly dropping Summer.
“I can walk.”
Hisa ignored her and picked up his speed. Summer noticed that their direction had changed, and she knew that their destination was no longer the port. Holding her tongue, she tried to settle her thoughts as the world moved around them much faster than it had all day.