Born of Shadows (The League Gen 1 #3)(18)
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon

Narcissa had always been ambitious. When I’m queen, you’ll all bow down to me. But don’t worry. You can both serve in my Guard like Kara used to for Mother.

How many times had her sister said that? Yet Desideria had always assumed she was joking or wishing.

What if she hadn’t been?

Dear gods, how could she have been so stupid as to miss that? Of all the people she’d suspected of being behind this, the most obvious had eluded her until now. Panic consumed her at the thought.

Unable to stand it, she started pacing as the horror of it all raced through her mind. That was why the Guard was backing her sister and helping to assassinate her mother. If her mother was murdered, Narcissa, as their next queen, would have the power to pardon them and spare their lives.

Suddenly, it all made sense. It was insidious and cold, and it came hard on the heels of her being promoted to adult status. That made her the heir apparent over her older sister. Yes, she’d have to fight for it, but she would be the one challenged. If she survived the fight, she’d be queen.

Narcissa wouldn’t even be eligible to try for the crown. But if both Desideria and her mother died, Narcissa would rise to heir status even as a minor and could fight to be queen…

And why was her mother’s Guard backing her sister? Because they all thought Desideria was the dirt under their feet. A crossbred mongrel that the Guard resented breathing their air. Of course they’d back her purebred sister over her.

And cheer when she died.

Suddenly, Caillen was beside her, pulling her into his arms. “Shh… it’s all right. I know it’s a shock. You’ll get used to it.”

She would push him away, but honestly it felt good to be held while her world unraveled itself and she was faced with a harsh reality she didn’t even want to contemplate. She was alone in the universe with no one to rely on. No one to turn to.

Her own family was trying to end her life. And no one knew the truth except her.

“How can you cope with the thought of your uncle trying to kill you?”

He shrugged. “I’m only surprised when people don’t try to kill me.”

“Well, I can understand that. You are annoying.”

He smiled at her and that expression made her feel a little better for reasons she couldn’t even guess at. “If you don’t like the thought of your sister coming for you, is there anyone else you can think of?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. No one else made any sense. “My mother has two sisters, but one married an offworlder, so she can’t rule so long as she has a foreign husband, and my other aunt was removed from succession when my mother defeated her in combat for the throne. Kara could rule as a regent, but never as a full queen and she would be replaced as soon as one of us was skilled enough to challenge her.”

“Then it is what it is. Your sister’s a self-serving bitch out to collect your heads—sorry. My father keeps telling me it’s an enemy after him, but I don’t believe it. An enemy would gain nothing other than personal satisfaction. And while I can understand that motivation, it wouldn’t lead them to me. If both my father and I die, his brother takes the throne and right now, his brother is his chief advisor which means none of the laws would be changed. If it is one of his enemies after him, no reason to risk prison or execution for something that wouldn’t affect them at all. They’d be trying to take out his brother too so that they could change things. I’ve run through a thousand scenarios, but all of them lead straight back to my uncle with no side roads.”

Just like all of hers led back to Narcissa… “My mother will never believe me.”

No one would believe them.

“I know. We have to find evidence. It’s the only way to save their lives.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but Caillen motioned her to be silent. He stepped back and drifted toward the front of the cave while hugging the wall.

At first she thought it was more of his paranoia until she heard the soft whir of a motor. Her heart stopped beating as a shadow fell over the entrance.

It was a military prober and it was scanning for life forms…

13

Probers were small, electronic scanning devices that checked for living organisms and reported back to a search force. Desideria had no doubt that she and Caillen were the target of this one. If that thing picked up even the smallest trace of their presence, the Andarions would swarm all over them.

Move slowly, Caillen mouthed to her. Get against the wall.

She did exactly what he told her to. She focused on her heartbeats to keep from panicking. Any little sound might be detected…

Even her breathing.

Time stretched out like an arthritic snail before the prober finally pulled back.

She started to move, but Caillen motioned subtly for her not to.

Sure enough, another prober popped up from the ground and scanned for several minutes more. Only after it left did Caillen inch his way back to her. He stood between her and the door, shielding her. He was so close that she could feel his body heat.

“Are we safe?” she whispered in his ear.

“We’ll know in a few minutes.” His breath tickled the skin of her cheek and his warmth went a long way in soothing her ragged nerves.

They stood right beside each other, waiting. And she didn’t miss the fact that he was protecting her with his body. Though whether he did it out of habit or on purpose, she couldn’t tell. Yes, she could take care of herself, but she found his actions sweet and unexpected.

Most of all, she found them strangely endearing.

Caillen glanced down at Desideria to make sure she wasn’t panicking.

She definitely wasn’t. Her lips were parted while she stared past him, toward the entrance. But that wasn’t what held his interest. It was the deep cleft between her br**sts. Her top was so tight, it pushed them up to the point it appeared that even the slightest breath would spill them out.

Sneeze, baby, sneeze.

Unfortunately, she didn’t. Damn. He’d like to have some good come to him after the freight load of crap that’d assaulted him today. Even if it did mean the Andarions would find them and he’d have to battle his way out.

Some things were just worth it.

And he had a gut feeling seeing her nak*d was definitely one of those things.

Just a tiny taste…

Desideria went rigid as she realized Caillen had his head practically buried in her hair. “Are you sniffing me?”

His warm, low laugh sent chills over her. “I prefer to say I’m admiring your scent, but yeah, I guess you could say I’m sniffing you and you smell really good.”

Normally that would creep her out. Instead, she was actually aroused by the gesture. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say she was aroused by his presence. Even dressed like some phantom creature, he was sexy. Only Caillen could pull off that look. And she had a strange curiosity about what his fangs would feel like grazing her skin.

As if he could hear her thoughts, he dipped his head closer to hers. But before he could make contact with her lips, a loud voice sounded outside.

Desideria listened intently. Nothing was remotely familiar to her. Not a single syllable. “What are they saying?” she whispered in Caillen’s ear.

He placed a gentle finger against her lips as he listened. That sensation sent a chill over her and made her wonder what it would have been like to kiss him. I shouldn’t be attracted to him.

Yet she was…

He didn’t move until the voice had drifted out of her hearing range. When he spoke, he whispered low in her ear, raising even more chills along her body. “They’re calling in search animals that will be able to sense p the mirrors. We’ll have to get out of here.”

“And go where?”

“Wherever there’s something that can mask our scent.” He moved away from her to retrieve his backpack. “We’ll need a cover story should we cross paths with the natives. I’ll be using the alias Dancer Hauk. Call me Hauk around other people.”

She curled her lip at his choice of alias. What a stupid name. Surely that would get them caught faster than her appearance. “Dancer Hauk?”

He held his hands up in surrender. “Believe me, I know the name’s a freakfest. But he’s actually a real person and he’s Andarion. With any luck, they’ll know his name and not his face. If we’re really lucky, they’ll have heard about his fearsome reputation—which will definitely buy us some prestige.” He slung the pack over his shoulder. “If they know his face, well… we’ll deal with it. Let’s just hope we catch a break at some point today.”

Her jaw went slack at the way he moved through the darkness. Light of foot, with the fluid moves of a trained dancer, he picked the light stick up and extinguished it before sliding it into his pocket. It was obvious this was his natural habitat—hiding from enemies… not cruising on board a ship full of aristocrats.

In a few heartbeats, he eliminated all traces of their presence, then sprayed something she assumed would mask their scent from the animals. He crooked his finger for her to follow him. At the opening, he removed his mirrors, returned them to the pack and led her back into the woods. He sprayed more of his bottle’s contents, but she couldn’t detect anything at all coming out of it.

“What is that?” she asked.

“Aquibrade.”

He said that like she should know what he was talking about. It was gibberish to her. “And it does…?”

“It’s erackle pheromones.”

Her head was starting to ache from his unfamiliar vocabulary. “What’s an erackle?”

“One of the ugliest-looking animals you’ll ever meet. But they secrete a scent that if inhaled by another animal screws up their olfactory glands for days. One whiff and they won’t be able to find us.”

“Should we bathe in it?”

He gave her a charming grin. “We could, but if we happen upon an erackle, it would try to mate with us. Trust me, that would get ugly fast.”

Yeah, but that might not be a concern for them. “Do they have those here?”

“No idea.” He handed her the bottle. “If you’re willing to risk it, I’m willing to film it and make a lot of money from it online.”

She glared at him. “You’re not funny.”

“Not trying to be. Simply an opportunistic entrepreneur in the purest sense of the word.”

She scoffed at his light tone as she made sure to keep her voice to a whisper like him. “How many sisters did you say you have?”

“Three. Why?”

“Tell me how it is they let you live this long?”

He pointed to the scar on his head. “I assure you, there was no lack of trying to kill me. I’m just really resilient.”

She followed him over a fallen tree. “Apparently.”

He slid something into his ear as he led her through the thick overgrown weeds, deeper into the forest.

She gestured toward his ear. “What is that?”

“An amp for sound, so please don’t scream or shout. It’d take out my eardrum.”

Which would be bad. Last thing she needed was for him to go down since she couldn’t show her face on this planet without being imprisoned or eaten. That thought made her draw her cloak tighter as she rushed to keep up with his long strides. “Is that what you were trying to tell me with all the earlier hand gesturing?”

Holding back a low-hanging limb, he paused to let her pass in front of him. “You don’t know League sign language?”

“Never heard of it.”

He shook his head as he retook the lead. “It’s a hand language soldiers and assassins use to communicate with each other when they’re on missions.”

That explained why she’d never seen it before, but not how he knew it. “Were you in the League?”

He laughed out loud, then instantly lowered his voice. “No. I learned it so that I could tell what they were saying while trying to capture me.”

Now that was interesting. What kind of criminal was he? “What exactly did you do before your father found you?”

“I survived, Princess. Most days only by the skin of my eyeteeth.”

She opened her mouth to ask him to elaborate, but before she could, he pointed up. She followed the line to see the hovercraft coming in.

Why wouldn’t they give up?

But that wasn’t what concerned her. The fact that a blast of orange shot through the clouds and into the ship did. She watched in horror as the ship disintegrated and then rained down burning debris all around them.

Oh dear Lord. The assassin had found their crash site and was coming in for a rematch.

Caillen took her arm and led her toward a small cut-out growth in a large tree. He pressed himself against her as the area around them was salted liberally with fire. “Looks like our friend decided to join the party.”

Desideririmaced as a part of the bark cut into her back. “How offended do you think he or she would be if we rescinded the invitation?”

“Well since their home-warming gift for us was an exploding Andarion hovercraft, I’d say they’d be real upset. They’d probably want to hurt us.”

She rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. “Do you have any weapons in your pack?”

“Not a one.”

She was stunned by that. He’d been so prepared for everything else. What kind of lunatic wouldn’t have at least one weapon at hand?

He winked at her, then unzipped his jacket to show her an arsenal strapped to his body.

Now that amazed her, especially given the close proximity she’d had to his body over the last few hours. “How have I not felt those?”

“I’m used to wearing them. And it wouldn’t do much good if a frotteur or pickpocket could feel them on me.”

Yet another word she didn’t know. “Frotteur?”