The Seer Rowan McAllister (top inspirational books .TXT) 📖

isn’t lying,” Daks argued. “Why would he bother? He could have just killed us outright.”

“You don’t know that. Horse seemed to spook him quite a bit. He wasn’t like any Spawn I’ve ever heard of. Maybe we’re wrong. Maybe he’s something else and he means to lure us to the wizard or something.”

“If that’s true, it’s the last place you should want to go.”

“You shouldn’t go either,” Ravi huffed, “but I know you can’t leave Shura, so we have no choice.”

Warmth spread through Daks’s chest at Ravi’s continued use of “we” and “us.”

“Besides,” Ravi added sourly, “someone has to come along to keep you from doing something stupid.”

Daks grinned. “You say the sweetest things.”

Ravi narrowed his eyes and growled. It was adorable… and sexy as hells. Daks cocked an eyebrow and licked his lips. “Maybe we should stop the talking. We seem to get off track with the talking.”

“Daks, will you be serious!”

“Sorry,” he replied, trying to sound contrite and probably failing. “I am being serious when I say I don’t want either you or Shura in danger, so this isn’t easy for me.”

“You told me to listen to my feelings. That’s what I’m doing. When you walked away from me, my Vision sent me after you. To me, that means together is good, apart is bad.”

“Was it only your Vision?”

The question slipped out of him before he could stop it, and it revealed a level of vulnerability Daks wasn’t ready to contemplate, so he shook his head and waved a dismissive hand. “Forget it. I—”

Daks actually slumped in relief when Horse snorted out a warning, drawing their attention to the giant black bird as it swooped out the sky and transformed into the lithe dark-haired young man from the night before. His relief was short-lived, because watching that transformation was seriously unsettling. Color drained from Ravi’s face, and Daks rolled to his feet and put himself between the Spawn and Ravi.

“You’re not ready to go yet?” the Spawn asked peevishly.

THE JOURNEY to the barbarian encampment was about as pleasant as Daks expected. The boglands were as cheerful as ever, and both he and Ravi were tense with anxiety over what they might be walking into. Privately, Daks questioned his sanity, but he kept following the black stallion Spawn anyway as they trudged along in silence, his hand never leaving the pommel of his sword, should the creature make any sudden moves.

He would have liked to have Ravi on the same horse as he was for some companionship and physical reassurance, to hold him close and murmur stupid, inappropriate things in his ear to distract them both… plus, maybe a little groping. But they needed their mounts as fresh as possible, in case they had to cut and run.

Daks spotted the lookouts long before they broke from the cover of trees into a large, recently cleared area along a fork in the Bael river. He was actually astonished at the number of buildings the “barbarians” had managed to erect in such a short time. All the rumors they’d heard said the mountain tribesmen had only left their home and invaded Rassa a couple of months ago. But instead of the crude tent city Daks expected, several wood buildings and even one made of stone occupied the space.

Curious eyes followed them as the Spawn horse led the way straight into the newly made village. Very tall blond men, women, and children paused in their work to study the strangers, but Daks didn’t sense any outright malice. He would have scanned the area with his gift as well as his other senses, but with the Spawn so close, he probably wouldn’t be able to sense anything else.

Ravi had drawn the hood of his cloak up as they’d entered the village, and the more people who surrounded them, the more he shrunk into its shadows. Daks felt a pang of regret and sympathy for him. He’d almost forgotten, in their last few days of freedom in Samebar, just how much more open and happy Ravi had seemed. The contrast now was stark.

Daks’s hand tightened on his sword, and he had to force himself to relax his grip and finally release it altogether. He couldn’t fight his way out of this one. With a Spawn, a wizard, and a whole crowd of giant mountain fighters, he wouldn’t stand a chance… and neither would Ravi.

“Daks! Oh, thank the gods!”

Daks started on Horse’s back and swung around. Those tall mountain men parted like wheat before a scythe as tiny Fara sprinted toward them, her gold braid flying behind her. She swung wide around the Spawn horse and skidded to a halt next to him.

“Thank the gods,” she repeated breathlessly as Daks’s anxiety tripled. Any fatigue he might have felt evaporated, and he eyed the people around him warily.

“What’s wrong? Where’s Shura?”

“She won’t listen to me,” Fara cried, her eyes filling with unshed tears. “She won’t let them help her. She’s hurt, and she won’t let them do anything. The tribesmen’s herb woman is the only one she’ll let close, but she needs more than that. You have to make her see reason!”

“Take me to her,” Daks ordered as he swung off Horse’s back, ignoring anyone or anything else around them except Ravi, who joined them a moment later.

“This way.”

She took off at jog, and Daks took Ravi’s hand and followed on her heels. When they entered the long log building, the smell hit him first, a combination of infection and medicinal herbs he wished he could say he didn’t recognize.

Seven Hells!

Shura lay on a small bed nearby, gray and unmoving, and Daks’s stomach flipped and his throat closed. He rushed over and knelt beside the bed, taking her hand in both of his.

“Shur?”

She cracked a glassy eye and smiled weakly. “Took you long enough,” she whispered hoarsely.

Swallowing past the lump in his throat, Daks gave her a grin that probably looked more like a rictus and said, “I had a few complications.”

She studied his face