CHAPTER 5

Scet of the Amber Aerie sat on the rocky ledge, one that turned out quite a bit smaller than he had predicted, with a sharp stone jutting into his left butt cheek, and gritted, wind-washed sand in places a man didn't want such things. Still, he sat, ignoring his discomfort, and watched the woman sleep.

He had been right about her exhaustion. Six, she was hardly more than a walking corpse, too slender by far, for lack of food, with large hollows beneath her blue-green eyes that spoke to many nights without sleep. By all accounts, the horrors she had faced in that cavern should have rendered her both physically and mentally unstable. He had seen the place himself and its memory was likely to sit with him for a long time to come. Yet not only had she kept up with him, she had proven that she remained witty and reasonably clever, her inner spark still somehow intact and exuberant. It made him wonder what she had been before the cavern. What manner of brilliance did she hold within her? Some fire that matched her hair, perhaps?

His lips turned downward. It was not particularly honorable to think of her such, as she lay unconscious and vulnerable next to him. Nor, he admitted, had it been honorable to enjoy the press of her breasts against his back, or her legs wrapped around his waist, as he climbed. The fact that he had lied...or exaggerated about her repressing his breathing should bring him shame, at the very least.

Yet he found himself as unable to control his desire as he had been unable to manage many points of his life over the last month. Indeed, his body reacted to her even now, his cock hardening as if they weren't abandoned on some Gods forsaken ledge and she hadn't succumbed to exhaustion.

He forced himself to look away and into the forest, scanning the area for trouble. Illaise certainly followed, though he hoped they had gained time against her. Stubborn fool of a woman. He had almost been too late, as well, had taken his time tracking, more than a little curious where the woman was going. And it had almost cost him. Illaise had been wise to stay away from the girl's direct path; he almost hadn't sensed her presence until the end. He clenched a fist at his side, remembering the sight of Illaise's arrow aimed straight at the woman's chest.

He'd revealed the bear then, though he had been attempting to keep the new form a secret until he understood what it meant.

He ran a hand through his hair, feeling the ends tumble down and tickle his shoulders.

What did it mean? Did it somehow relate to this plague, the growing number of his people, mangled and maimed? And how was he going to stop it? He sighed. There was too much to consider, too many variables and not enough information. Perhaps that was why he had felt the inescapable urge to follow the girl. She had spent more time with the creatures than anyone else reliable, could she lead him to some form of answer?

He pinched the bridge of his nose. The truth was, he didn't know; didn't know whether this path would get him any closer to the truth. It almost certainly wouldn't explain his change of shape.

The bear had appeared, in place of his wolf, the day he saved the lady, Gayriel. He had slipped away from the battle as soon as he knew she would live, for if Dynarys found him, the Dragon would kill him for sure. Still, he didn't mind, if it saw the lady alive and his Alpha and pack intact.

But when he had faded into the forest and shifted, it was not his wolf he became. It was the bear. Perhaps he should be happy with the new form, he had tested its limits thoroughly and they were far greater than his wolf.

But it hadn't been his choice. And since the change, he had noticed strange inclinations, as well. An obsession with collecting weapons, for one. They were cached in many places around his cabin. The urge had seemed useful at first: a Shifter on his own did, indeed, need weapons. And it was a good idea to have them accessible when he shifted from wolf. It had fast become excessive, however, and he felt more than a little bewildered by it.

A little like his draw to the woman.

He risked a peek back at her. She lay, slumped in deep slumber. So still, she might have been dead, if not for the deep and even breathing.

So beautiful, even with the bags under her eyes and the bruise forming on her upper cheek.

He had felt attraction before, and had his share of bed partners while still part of the Amber Aerie pack. He even believed she would have been one to draw his attention, to entice his interest, were they to meet under kinder circumstances, so it wasn't surprising that he was attracted to her. In fact, given that he had been celibate for more than a month, it would have been concerning if he didn't react to a beautiful woman. But this draw he felt toward her was something more, and it troubled him. Lust was to be expected, but this was more than that, this was an urge to protect her, to draw near. As though she was familiar...as though they had been* intimate*.

He found his body reacting again, to his chagrin. Perhaps it would be better to spend his time with a useful venture, instead of lusting after her.

He lifted his nose to the breeze and sniffed. One of his new-found talents that seemed to come along with the bear form was an even more enhanced sense of smell, one that could pick out the smallest amount of food scent, even from a great distance. From his inspection, he could tell there wasn't much around, his best bet was the melon fruit. It tasted as dull as it looked and he suspected it wasn't particularity nutritious. He had eaten enough of it during his exile that the thought of more turned his stomach slightly. But it looked as though the girl hadn't eaten in weeks; she would no doubt appreciate food upon waking. They were close, too. He could see them hanging heavily from the branches surrounding the cliff-side; he wouldn't have to leave her unattended to retrieve some.

He nodded to himself, confirming his decision in his mind. His spirits lifted slightly, to have a course of action, something he could do. Then he climbed down into the forest, leveling one last look at the sleeping form and trying to pretend the pang of longing he experienced didn't exist.

---

Darkness surrounded her. In the background, noises such as should never be heard. The sounds of men and women going mad, raging against their own souls, and tearing at their bodies in desperation.

Was she back in the cavern? No, something else had happened, but she couldn't quite remember what.

“Adda.”

A voice, familiar, one that would be lodged in her mind for all eternity. Harvok.

“Adda, the orb, it was a lie, it was all a lie.”

She tried to open her eyes, to move her limbs, but for some reason, she could do neither. Harvok. She wanted to talk to him, he was speaking nonsense and she had questions.

“If we just had the strength to command them, to use their own shadows against them.”

Who? The Quatori? What was he talking about?

She hated being paralyzed, such a terrible, helpless feeling, but it was worse when the rat found her.

It nipped, she could feel the sharp teeth sinking into her arm. She could see nothing, but she knew it had ragged little teeth, yellow with age and disease. She had to get it off, but she couldn't move. The air around her was tight, suffocating, like a heavy weight above her. Like drowning under layers and layers of water.

Boiling alive. That's what was happening.

“Adda.”

Not Harvok this time, Lisrith.

“Adda you must come home. Our people, they suffer. I cannot heal them alone. Do not abandon us.”

Lis?

The rat was back, and this time he wanted blood. She could smell it on his breath. Panic drove a wildness into her chest. She needed to get it off. Get it off.

“Adda.”

Rough hands shook her. Hard. She could feel them, calloused and warm. And the ground beneath her, too. There was a deep aching all over her body and a sharp throbbing pain on her arm where the rat had bit her.

She leapt upright, opening her eyes to a bright daylight that had her blinking rapidly. The rat. Where was it?

But there was no rat, only a man. The Shifter. He stood before her, watching her warily.

It was just a dream. She had slept...sort of. She relaxed, no longer searching for rodents to smash.

But if it was a dream, why did her arm sting where she was bitten? She glanced down at the throbbing pain and gasped. There it was, a rat bite, red and swollen around the wound. She resisted the urge to clutch the sore and rock back and forth a little.

“What happened to the rat?” Maybe the Shifter had killed it. Odd that he hadn't noticed it approach, he couldn't have been more than two feet away, the ledge would not have allowed it.

“Rat?”

“Yes the nasty creature that gave me this,” she showed him her wound. He might have been a woman's fantasy come to life, but apparently he was not very observant.

“I watched you scratch those gouges yourself.”

Adda stared at him. No, that couldn't be. They did not look like something she inflicted, they looked like rat bites.

But dread crept into her spine. All those possessions, the men and women tearing their own skin and eyes away. Was this how it began?

His eyes narrowed toward her, but he did not speak. It was unnerving, actually.

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.

Positives.

The aching muscles and burning wound on her arm meant she was alive, still the top of the list. Day had come, too, so that should make travel easier; she wouldn't have to be as vigilant for Quatori...not the ones without bodies, anyway. The possessed, well those were a different story.

She frowned. Somehow, she had drifted into the negatives, which worked against the purpose of the exercise.

“Have you had enough rest? You were not asleep for very long, and if you were dreaming of rats...”

“I'm fine,” she interrupted, mostly because she had no intention of going back to sleep, not with that nightmare dancing at the edge of her memory.

“You are certain?” He lowered himself to a sitting position at the edge of the outcropping, angled so that he could watch the ground below, yet still see her. He cocked his head a little to the side with the question, nudging a pebble with his toe. “It will be a long day, I had to lead us a long distance from the path to throw Illaise off of my intent.”

He turned his torso and reached for something behind him. She noticed then a pile of oblong shapes that hadn't been there before. He grabbed one and tossed it at her.

The olive colored skin was familiar. Melon fruit, something her pack had discovered in the time since their exile from the Onyx Aerie. A meaty fruit with such mild flavor that it was nearly tasteless, but one could not be picky when exiled, and the melon fruit grew wild and plentiful if one knew where to look. Adda scanned the surrounding trees and found several of the dark leaved branches within view. They bounced every so often, a product of moving birds, or perhaps monkeys.

Her stomach lurched, filled with the hollow ache of hunger. It had been a long, long time since she had enjoyed real food.

Her insides twisted a little, inducing a bit of nausea, her fingers trembled, too. She would have to take it slow. With careful deliberation, she tore the skin open, revealing the golden flesh beneath.

The Shifter watched her with a hooded gaze. He was even more flawless in the bright noon sun: deeply tanned skin, with muscles competing for space along his biceps and shoulders. And they continued lower too, firm ridges that defined his stomach and waist. The gray in his hair fascinated her, not an aged gray, but the color one would see on a wolf, as though the wild aspects of his creature form bled through into his human shape. And, indeed, he lacked the look of a civilized man; something about him spoke very much of all things wild.

A brow rose toward his hairline. He was not meeting her gaze directly, but he was watching her, and he had caught her staring...again.

She looked away, back to the fruit she was mangling with her fingertips. She was nothing but a foolish girl.

Eagerly, but with what control she could muster, she pulled off a chunk of the fleshy fruit and raised it to her mouth.

The second the bland, and partially dry, morsel hit her lips, she knew something was wrong. Her insides lurched, a warning that the nourishment would be rejected. That must be wrong. She knew she was hungry, weak with it almost. Yet when she tried for the second time, she couldn't even bring the golden bit to her mouth, the smell of the fruit curdling her stomach. So much for eating. Was this part of the possession? A curse of starvation until she was driven mad?

Blood is the only thing that will sustain us.

Adda groaned inwardly, but set the fruit down without taking a bite. Sure, and now you'll tell me to wait for dark and attack him.

That would be foolish. He is larger and stronger than you.

Right, she cringed. Why was she talking to evil? It's not like it would understand the common courtesy of not eating one's friends.

This is the forest. There are no such things as friends. There are those below you on the food scale and those above. This you best learn before your softness sees us both overwhelmed.

Adda ignored the voice. The Shifter was still watching her, a wary stillness on his features, as though he sensed her internal conversation.

“What is your name?” she asked, following her determination from the night before to learn more about him...and to distract him from her oddities.

Ignore me if you wish, but you should find sustenance at the next opportunity, before the hunger overwhelms you and drives you mad.

Fantastic, because she needed more troubles to plague her. Find sustenance. Like drinking something's blood was a simple matter. Sadly, though, the thought of blood was more appealing than it should have been, and she was too tired to spend time worrying over the fact.

“I am Scet. You should eat, we leave soon,” he gestured to the fruit.

Adda hid a flinch. She hadn't distracted him at all. He was as observant as he was muscular. It would no doubt be wise to leave him as soon as an opportunity arrived. She couldn't have him guessing at her little problem. No doubt that would be the end of her.

The knowledge drug her spirits lower. She was tired of the impossible odds, of scrambling at the precipice's edge, just trying to stay alive. Not that another presence would change that, but it would be nice not to have to face such things alone. In the end, she was a Shifter, and she was lost without her pack.

You are not a Shifter any longer, you are greater. A high predator. And high predators are always alone.

She picked at the fruit, frustrated mostly, and peeked at Scet through her lashes. What was his game?

“You mentioned leaving. Leave where, exactly?”

Hazel eyes assessed her before sliding away in true Shifter style. “The Amber Aerie. Your sister will be there. I will deliver you to her safely.”

Ah, so that's what he was up to, why he lingered. Well, it wasn't going to happen. A strange Dragon Aerie was the worst place for her to go, even if her sister was there. She could feel the cool slime that was Nex agreeing in her mind.

“Why are you shaking your head woman? I don't remember offering you a choice,” Scet growled, and with his wall of muscles backing him up it was an intimidating sound.

However, it was hard to intimidate someone who had spent the last week in a pit with the vilest demons known to the forest, ending up being possessed by one. Really, what more could he do?

“My head is shaking because I am not going in that direction.”

If Scet was surprised by her edict, the expression did not make it past his scowl.

“Look,” she gave up on the melon fruit, leaving it in a pulpy pile where she had been smashing it with her fingers. She stood and brushed at the most recent layer of dirt on her skin. It was a shame, really, that she hadn't made it to the little pond, a wash was definitely in order. Yet, she had bigger things to worry about. “I appreciate your help with those Shifters, and for keeping guard while I rest, but I will be moving on now.”

She stepped toward the cliff-side where Scet had hauled her up, but before she could make it further, he stood, blocking her path. Trepidation crawled through her as she neared the edge; she wasn't certain she could make it down on her own. Physically, she felt much better, but the climb still looked perilous. It didn't matter, though, since Scet refused to budge and let her by. Instead, he used his big body to crowd her. She had two choices: retreat back where she came from, or wobble on the cliff edge.

She backed up, but only a little, which was awkward, because they were close...and naked, and he was firm in more than the 'set in his ways' sense. How he seemed to miss the fact was beyond her. Her gaze kept drifting to the area, like a stream is drawn to the sea.

“You willingly eschew my protection and guidance to the safety of your sister? After all she did to pull you out from beneath that mountain?”

Adda swallowed, and then nodded, forcing her eyes to his.

In truth, it was an easy question. It was precisely because Lisrith went to so much trouble that she had to stay away from her, and why she couldn't just lay down and give Nex possession, not while she still had fight left in her.

“Why?” Scet's voice had gone from incredulous to suspicious.

Hmm.

She hesitated to tell him the truth. 'Hey, I'm possessed. But I have a way to fix it...according to the half-crazy man I was beneath the mountain with.'

Great Six. She would be lucky if he didn't snap her neck and leave her to the predators.

“There is something I must do first.” She edged a little farther away, only so that she wasn't so near to...temptation. “You can tell Lisrith that I will return as soon as I have completed it.”

It was Scet's turn to shake his head. “I am no Gods forsaken messenger,” he growled again. She was starting to think that snarly might be his default attitude. “Tell me this thing that is more important than your sister.”

Adda flinched at the barbed words, and the commanding tone in his voice. Whoever he had been before going rogue, he was used to being obeyed. The urge to submit pulled at her Shifter instincts...and was quickly opposed by the urge to survive. What should she do? He looked about ready to make her obey, to pick her up and carry her if he had to, like he had hauled her up the cliff. She could fight him, maybe she could outwit him and escape, but there was no guarantee, and she would be losing precious time.

You should have run when I told you to.

She had no choice, she was going to have to tell him the truth, or, at least, the same version of it she had given the woman...the woman that hunted her now...she drew a breath...would Scet be any different? He seemed honorable.

*Your determination to trust the honor of others is going to get us killed.

Then you'd better pray to The Six that you're wrong*.