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2024-10-29 19:42:56“Another hour. Why?” Leo looked at her in the rearview mirror.
“It’s so desolate. How do you make a living here?”
Leo laughed. “We eat what doesn’t eat us.” At Andrea’s wary silence, she added, “We farm and hunt the swamp. We mine the minerals here. Many of our technologies are deliberately kept low-tech and sustainable, however. We use wood, natural fiber, stone, metal and leather instead of synthetics or chemicals, and we still make our soaps with fat and lye. Many of our lights and heat sources are oil or wood.”
Fat and lye? Wood stove cooking? Andrea was dismayed. Even the Haunt had something like electricity. “Tell me y
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Scent of Danger 66
Scy glared at her. “You couldn’t find a glass?” He removed the wet pitcher from its precariously balanced position, set it on the floor and wiped at the wet leather with his hand.“She might be very thirsty.” Leo gave him a cheeky grin.“Leo, love,” Scy wrapped one arm around her shoulders and escorted her to the curtain. In the crook of his other arm he held the bowl. “Do you see this curtain? Beyond it is my kitchen. I promise not to tell anyone you’ve turned domestic if you go in there and set out a meal for us. You won’t even have to cook; I’ve taken care of everything. Just take out the roast and the vegetables, warm them, and set out a few plates. Can you do that?” Again his words were mild,
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Scy frowned. “Charge?”“What is your going rate for services? I can pay you.”“Oh.” His brow cleared. “Truthfully, I won’t be doing much until the birth. Can you cook?” He gave her a boyish grin. “I admit to having an incessant sweet tooth.”Andrea grinned. “Just give me your favorite recipes. I think I can fulfill your every dessert fantasy. Leo can introduce me to any ingredients I might not be familiar with.”“Leo!” Scy stared at her, incredulous. “You might want to find someone who can actually cook.” A low growl came
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“Scy?” Leo spoke as if drawing a total blank.Annoyed on his behalf, for she liked the healer, Andrea retorted, “Yes, him. He’s cute.”Leo’s lip curled. “He’s a healer. If he weren’t also a fine hunter and very skilled at woodwork…” She shook her head. “I will not marry a nearly useless healer.”Baffled at her attitude, Andrea frowned. “Doctors are very respected where I come from, and well paid.”An odd look crossed Leo’s face, then it cleared. “I forget you have no symbionts. Such men as Scy are all but unneeded here.
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Certain he would follow through with his threat, she sighed. “You remember Mathin?”His gaze sharpened. “The Haunt who chased you around Jayem’s citadel and halfway into the swamp? I remember.”She rolled her eyes and leaned against the deck rail. “It was a passing fancy for him.”“She’s his?” He shook his head, irked. “What did you think, that I would force her to leave or see her harmed after I learned of her condition? You know how I feel about my own wife and children.” He looked out over the village, his eyes troubled. “Besides, she’s not the only woman to come back carrying a questionable child.”
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“Whatever.” Andrea waved her objections away. “It worked. Two: So far as we know, only Haunt can detect the charmer. So we ask Scy if there is any other way he can think of, then see if he has any records from his predecessor that might indicate human/Haunt crosses in your midst.”Leo sat up. “That’s not possible!”Andrea placed a hand on her stomach. “Is. Scy did say it was rare for your women to have hard labors, seemed to think it a strong indicator of rape, maybe by Haunt. Cases of pre-labor sickness could give a strong clue.”A little green, Leo nodded. “You’re right. I never thought of it.”
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A pink blush made Leo’s expression of misery more acute. “I’m sorry…” She stumbled on the words, unable to go on.He picked up the wood he’d been carving, just held it. “It doesn’t matter.”But it had to. Andrea’s throat ached. How apart he must feel; one of the Ronin, but more as well. Was that why he hadn’t yet married? Did he dread his wife discovering who he was and possibly loathing him for it? To be the child of rape...she couldn’t imagine. But this was so much harder. “Do you have any brothers and sisters?” she asked softly.“No. No family that acknowledges me. Mathin’s other spawn and I don&r
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Andrea jumped up and put one hand on each of them. They didn’t really want to go there, did they? “I believe you, so let’s not waste time with this, shall we?” Her calm tone belied her thumping heart. “We can just as easily come up with a new plan, can’t we, Leo?” When both combatants stared at her suspiciously, she lifted her brows in mock surprise and made an “O” of her mouth. “Unless you’d like me to leave you two here alone to resolve this?” She tried for a leer.It was comical how swiftly the two broke apart.“Stay out of trouble,” Scy warned them. One hand rested on his hip while the other ran distractedly through his hair. He was half-turned away, and breathing rather hard. Andre
Scent of Danger 73
Mathin read his wife’s latest letter, and then sat in silence before the fire in the banquet hall.This might be difficult.He took a long drink of his wine, smiling without humor. His wife had a gift for understatement.Thought you needed to know…Had he? Had he really? He crumpled the edge of the letter in his fist and then tossed it aside. For most of his life, he hadn’t known about these strangers spawned of his father’s madness. No doubt they were content to keep it that way as well. What did his wife think, that the three of them could take up friendly relations as easily a
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Scent of Danger 81
“Wonder what that was all about,” Mathin muttered at her side.“I don’t know, but I’m beginning to feel like the unappreciated fairy godmother,” Andrea complained.His grin sent firecrackers popping clear to her toes. Mathin took her glass and set it down. One quick tug pulled her into his arms, slightly bent at the perfect angle for a kiss. “I think I can do something to change that.”A superb dancer, Mathin twirled her around the dance floor, his grace as beguiling as his dark good looks. The man danced like he made love, and every burning look was enough to set her blood aflame. Schemes and plans for others were lost in the dreamy whirl of pleas
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The next morning, well before the party was to begin, Leo presented Mathin and Andrea with a copy of her notes and sketches. “A gift,” she said simply.Mathin was more excited than Andrea would have dreamed possible. “Do you know how much I’ve wanted something like this?” he demanded of Leo, his eyes glued to the pages. “It’s almost impossible to get any information on the Beasts in the Dark Lands.”Leo and Andrea exchanged pleased looks.“Wait a minute.” His brows furrowed as he stared at the page. “I’ve seen this picture somewhere else, only…”
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“At least there’s that.” More silence. “I never did thank you for all you’ve done for me and my wife.”“It was nothing.”“It was something,” Mathin returned forcefully. “And I won’t forget it. If there is anything, at any time, that I can do for you, you have only to name it.”Scy searched his face. “Be careful what you offer, brother.” He smiled a little. “I might accept.”“Do that.” Mathin left, satisfied that Scy would turn his words over.
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Mathin stilled. Taking her hand, he placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles. “He stayed home with his wife, my love.” His tone became sorrowful. “They lost the baby.”The color drained from her face. Her eyes welled. “No,” she whispered, and slumped to the bed. Jasmine had been so happy!He didn’t try to make it better with platitudes, just held her. “I know.” He rubbed his face against her hair. “I know.”She grieved, but even as she cried for her friend’s loss, in her heart Andrea had to wonder. Had the baby been lost because of some unavoidable defect, caused by the mixing of such alien blood? Might the child have been born
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“Can you help her?” Andrea tried to control her shivering. Scy kept one eye on the swordsmen while his symbiont worked on Leo’s head. Still unconscious, she didn’t move.“I’m trying.” He handed a gun to her. “Fire if you get a clean shot. If anything happens to Mathin, you won’t have time for more than one. Got it?”“I...yes.” Determined to control the contractions that squeezed her lower belly, she tried to keep her eyes on the fighters. It wasn’t easy. Not only were they moving in a virtual blur, but the cramps distracted her. They didn’t feel like the false contractions that had squeezed her whole stomach as the pregnancy advanced. No, these were lower, more intense. They felt like t
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Shivering as much from the spookiness of that as from the damp chill, Andrea glanced toward the dim light coming in from the single exit. A brackish puddle had collected in the sunken depression under the stone tiles, and it reflected a bit of the light and the occasional shifting shadow of a guard. Odd how she’d never felt so wary of her Haunt, but then they’d gone out of their way to put her at ease. There was nothing remotely friendly about these dark warriors.Every now and then Leo would stand up to stretch, but her chains didn’t allow her to lift her arms past her hips. The bolts in the floor were very solid; she’d tugged on the chains enough that she’d bled, trying to loosen them.“I’m sorry.”
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The cycle eased out of the gate, gathering speed as it headed up the road through the village. Naked fields flashed by as the woods edged closer.“Hang on!” the Ronin tossed over his shoulder, and suddenly they were flying.Eyes narrowed against the wind and flying insects, Mathin felt the rope bite into his wrists where he’d looped it. He held on as best he could with the toes of his boots against the edge of the platform as the cycle began a series of fast maneuvers around the trees that blurred past. The slight lip on the edges wouldn’t prevent him from flying off on one of the turns if he weren’t careful.As if to prove his point, the platform took a sharp dip,
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“I wasn’t going to ask her any,” Leo protested. “Scy…” When he continued to ignore her, she placed her body right in front of him. “This is very important to me.”A light like golden foxfire hazed his blue eyes. His body began to tremble. “Don’t,” his voice was hoarse and he couldn’t seem to tear his eyes from Leo’s mouth. “Don’t get so close to me, woman, unless you want to get close to me.” His nostrils flared as her eyes widened. “I’ve long run out of herbs, and you’re provoking far more than my temper.” He brushed past her.“I’m not afraid of you!” she yelled at his back.
Scent of Danger 73
Mathin read his wife’s latest letter, and then sat in silence before the fire in the banquet hall.This might be difficult.He took a long drink of his wine, smiling without humor. His wife had a gift for understatement.Thought you needed to know…Had he? Had he really? He crumpled the edge of the letter in his fist and then tossed it aside. For most of his life, he hadn’t known about these strangers spawned of his father’s madness. No doubt they were content to keep it that way as well. What did his wife think, that the three of them could take up friendly relations as easily a
