42. Scent and Secrets #2
Anara shoved down her impatience. “Halla and Kai will be fine. We’ll bury them under the bags in the trunk; they won’t even be seen.”
“What about—?” Darien nodded toward the back of the bed where Calder sat still bound and blindfolded.
Anara paused. Calder did present a problem.
“I’m with the Perle Princess.” Masai crossed his arms. “Those sentries are most likely my people.”
Anara didn’t bother hiding her irritation. “They either get out of our way or we make them; it’s that simple. This is war, Masai. Or do you want to go back to serving Calder and Shiko? Like mother, like son?”
Masai folded his arms, his muscles tensing against the sleeves of his shirt. “So then let’s give them a chance to get out of our way.”
“So they can attack us first?” Anara argued. “This is why Smaragd lost.”
A vein ticking in Masai’s neck was the only proof of his waning patience. “If you would stop talking for more than a second, I’ll tell you my plan.”
Anara made a grand mocking gesture with her hands, inviting him to speak.
“These men will recognize me, or they will at least have heard of me. I’m sure my mother has given some reasonable excuse for my absence, so they won’t doubt me.
Even more so, they will have heard the ghost stories of the Empress’ War Dog.
” He jerked his head toward the back of the truck.
“If we tie up everyone else in the truck bed, I can drive to the roadblock and let them know that the War Dog is taking prisoners to Safír as a bargaining tool against Torsten and his armies. Then the War Dog will drive up after me and confirm my story. We’ll be let through without anyone the wiser. ”
Anara laughed out loud. “You think Calder will help us get through the roadblock? Are you insane?”
“I wasn’t talking about Calder. Most people don’t recognize the War Dog on sight.” Masai tilted his head toward Darien. “All we need is someone of similar build and height to wear the uniform and call the shots.”
Darien’s face paled. “You want me to pretend to be Calder. And what, he’ll just sit back here quietly tied up with the rest? He’s a wild card we don’t want to play. What if his gag gets loose?”
“Couldn’t you persuade him to be quiet?” Halla asked from the passenger side.
Darien shook his head. “I can’t break his block. There’s something wrong in his mind.”
Halla quieted; even Kai looked down at his feet.
Masai reached for the saddlebags on either side of his bike, digging to the bottom of one until he pulled out a small glass bottle filled with dark violet liquid.
“With this, you won’t have to. It’s extracted from the Svefn flower and concentrated into a nectar that will knock him out for an hour at the most, so we’ll need to make this quick. ”
Anara narrowed her eyes. “And why didn’t you offer that before?”
“It’s best to use it sparingly. It loses its potency with repeated usage, just like every other nectar.” Masai stared at their confused faces. “You didn’t know that?”
Anara rubbed the scar on her abdomen that pulsed with discomfort, then dropped her hand, realizing Masai had watched her do so. “That would’ve been nice to know.”
Darien eyed the nectar. “He’s not going to take that willingly.”
“He doesn’t get a choice. Stay here,” Larissa instructed with a pointed look at Halla and Kai. She threw open her door, her hands already glowing with galdr as she approached Helga’s bed. “Let’s just get this done.”
They moved toward the open tailgate after her. Calder waited, his body tense as he rose to his knees. His head turned back and forth as Helga rocked under the weight of Larissa and Darien pulling themselves up into the bed.
Larissa raised her glowing hands. Instantly, Calder’s body stiffened under her galdr , but sweat beaded on her forehead. “He’s fighting me, hurry up.”
Darien pulled Calder to the metal floor, tilting his head back and ripping away the gag.
Anara gripped his legs in case he should break free of Larissa’s hold.
Masai tipped the bottle into his mouth. Calder gurgled, until Darien squeezed his nose, forcing Calder to swallow the liquid.
As Larissa lowered her hands, Calder cursed them, but his words slurred and his body fell limp.
Cautiously Anara released her hold on his legs as Darien did the same. She was suddenly aware of Kai’s presence behind them who stared at Calder in horror. “Is he dead?”
“No,” Darien said shortly. “Just asleep. Masai, help me with his clothes.”
Catching his tone, Anara analyzed Darien, noting the way he set his jaw in determination as he removed his own jacket. This would be hard enough without an audience.
Anara grabbed Larissa’s arm. “Let’s give them a minute. And you—” She shot Kai a glance. “Weren’t you supposed to stay in the cab?”
Hardly needing to be told, Larissa followed Anara back to the front of Helga. Even Kai followed, his eyes studiously downcast. Halla jumped down from the cab to nudge Kai’s shoulder but said nothing. Anara crossed her arms, waiting for the rustling of Darien exchanging clothes to settle.
Masai approached. “We’ll have to bind the rest of you together in the truck bed if you want this to look real.”
Larissa’s soft gasp drew Anara’s gaze past Masai.
Darien came around the truck, tugging at the black sleeves of his armored jacket.
The Empress’ symbol of the three diamonds intersected by the Isa rune stitched across the right shoulder looked strange on Darien.
From his boots to the collar, Darien looked every bit an Empress’ Kafteinn , but the discomfort on his face ruined the effect.
Masai shook his head. “You need to stick your nose in the air and look down on us all if you want to fool anyone.”
“It wouldn’t hurt if you tried to imagine killing us all every time you looked at us too,” Anara pointed out. “Murderous thoughts and all go hand-in-hand with the uniform.”
Darien stuck his nose in the air and glowered at them. Anara had never felt less threatened. “Any better?”
Larissa bit her lip. “Um, a little.”
Halla giggled.
“Practice it on the way,” Anara offered, stifling her own laughter. “You three get in the back.”
“It wasn’t that bad.” Masai slammed his hand against Darien’s back.
“No?” Darien asked.
“No.” Masai’s voice was too encouraging. “But you probably should practice.”
Anara met Larissa’s gaze, and they both nearly lost it.
Kai and Halla scrambled into the truck bed, careful to skirt Calder’s unconscious form.
Though he wore Darien’s clothes, the bitter metallic scent still clung to Calder’s skin mixed with the incense of a pendant.
Anara reached down, yanking it from his neck and stuffing it in her pocket to be investigated later.
Masai arranged Halla and Kai so that they leaned up against each other back-to-back and began circling the rope around their bodies.
It was a fail-knot, with the loose tie hidden in Halla’s hands in case they should need to unbind themselves.
Anara grabbed the coil of rope Masai threw her way to bind Larissa in a similar fashion, but Larissa wasn’t there.
She stood with Darien behind the truck, grabbing one of his hands. Only Anara’s sharp ears caught Larissa’s whisper. “What’s wrong?”
Darien swallowed, letting his fingers intertwine with hers. It was such a familiar sight; Anara allowed herself a small smile.
“Calder’s body.” Darien stopped. He shut his eyes tight. “It’s covered in scars.”
Anara could hear Larissa’s heart beat faster, could nearly sense the way Larissa’s galdr welled up inside of her in response to her emotions.
Larissa ground her teeth. “Shiko.”
“Yes.”
In the ensuing silence, Anara nearly interrupted, but there was something too intimate about their position.
Something about the way Darien’s head tilted toward Larissa’s, as if he found comfort and strength in simply being near her.
Anara had watched Lovisa and Darien’s friendship grow to something else, but this, whatever Larissa and Darien had, was so much more than that.
It wasn’t just affection; it was survival, as though only they two breathed the same air. She couldn’t understand why they were fighting it. Who cared about a centuries-old story of some giftless child? A love like theirs was a far better gift than galdr .
“Darien, if Shiko twisted his mind with some type of illusion, do you think that Aeron could still be in there somewhere?” Larissa asked.
Darien shook his head. “I don’t know, but if he is . . .”
Anara moved toward them, hating her words before she said them. “If Shiko worked on him for years, getting Aeron back may be impossible.”
Darien and Larissa turned to her with grief-stricken faces. They didn’t know, couldn’t know, what the War Dog had done for decades in the Empress’ name or how many people he’d killed. No one could come back from such atrocities.
Anara raised the rope in her hands. “I’m sorry, but we need to go. That nectar will keep Calder out for only so long.”
Larissa nodded, letting go of Darien’s hand and pulling herself up into the truck. Anara leaned Calder’s back up against Larissa’s to keep him upright. Larissa shivered at the contact.
“You okay?” Anara asked.
“Oh yeah, never better,” Larissa muttered. “You should trade spots with me and see how comfortable it is.”
Anara smirked. “I’ll have to take your word for it.”
Darien walked out of sight, and Helga’s engine roared.
The back of the truck shook with the effort.
With nothing left to say, Anara shut the tailgate and took to the sky just as Helga pulled away, following Masai’s lead down the road.
Soaring high above the treetops, Anara took the straightest path toward the blockade, leaving the road behind.