Roam again spoke to Raven. “Do you remember how I told you there are others like you and me? It seems some are less like us and more like our fathers.” Half turning, he lifted the tail of his shirt to expose the flesh above his bony ribs, which had been torn and bore partially healed, livid red scar tissue. Raven sucked in a sharp breath at the sight.
Blade looked between Roam and Raven. “One of you had better explain this to me right now.”
Roam lowered his shirttail and faced him. “All my life I thought I was alone in the world. Then three months ago, everything changed. I began picking up the presence of others like me, so I set out to find them. Most seem to blend in well enough with their communities and don’t have any unusual abilities. They might not even know what they are. But some of us don’t blend in at all. I thought there might be safety in numbers, so I’ve been approaching a few who have obvious talents.” His chin, with its faint, scruffy-blond, adolescent growth of hair, trembled slightly as his hands curled into fists at his sides. “I discovered that some of them don’t need protection. Or want it. And that others are banding together, but not always for safety.”
It was as Blade feared, and the Godseeker, Justice, had claimed. Spawn were more common than anyone suspected, and with the demons gone, some of them had grown into their abilities.
Roam turned back to Raven. “Someone has attacked some of the smaller outlying towns. They’ve tried to make it look like demons, but it won’t be long before people realize the truth. Already, rumors are spreading.”
Blade had heard those rumors. He considered the further implications of what he was hearing. Raven had not answered him when he’d asked her for reassurance that the world would not be threatened by demons if he helped her, especially since they were trying to summon her to the demon boundary for some reason.
And who was to say that she was the only spawn being summoned? He looked at Raven as she worried the edge of the thick wool blanket with her fingers. The low flames in the fire flickered. Soon he would have to extinguish it so it would not be visible in the night.
“A man named Creed asked me to give you a message,” Roam said to Raven. “I spoke with him a few days ago, in the mountains. He said it’s too dangerous for him to come for you and wanted me to tell you of a place where you can hide. By the time I found you, you were hallucinating and couldn’t understand me.” He shifted his gaze to Blade. “Her hallucinations have been acting like a beacon. Combine that with how she…defends herself, and she’s attracted a lot of attention from other half demons.” His expression grew boyishly awkward, and he evaded Blade’s eyes. “A lot.”
Blade, too, was aware that her natural defenses had been working overtime the past few days, particularly when the Godseekers had passed so close to them. He had worried they would sense her and be drawn to investigate. Now he had the additional concern that spawn would be drawn to her, too.
She turned in his direction, her gaze sharp and bright, as if she could read his apprehension. Perhaps she could. He did not yet know the extent of her abilities. He had an even greater fear, however, and he didn’t want to alarm her with it, but once word spread that spawn did exist and irrefutable proof was presented, the Godseeker assassins would become involved. Despite her faith in Creed, her friend would have no choice but to hunt for spawn too, and he already knew about Raven. It would not matter to the Godseekers if some of the half demons were peaceful. They would all be exterminated. Blade could see the sense in such an approach, and it was the one he would have taken.
But he was neither a Godseeker nor one of their assassins, and Raven remained his sole concern.
“You’re supposed to tell me where I’m to wait for Creed,” she said to Roam.
That was not the exact message Creed sent her, but Blade did not miss the way hope and longing lit her beautiful, golden face as she spoke and so he did not correct her interpretation. An unwanted thought occurred to him. Maybe she and her friend had not been lovers, but that didn’t mean they never would be. He knew she could defend herself from unwelcome attention—she had done so her entire life—but what if not all the male attention she received remained unwelcome? Particularly from a man who was willing to accept her for what she was?
Desire for Raven, along with the memories of how she had felt naked beneath his palms, of him inside her, filled his thoughts. He did not like the idea of another man touching her so intimately—or that she might respond to him as willingly. He was not yet ready to give her up and leave her in someone else’s care. The thought was not honorable, but he had done little enough in his life that was, so it hardly mattered.
Again, her head cocked abruptly toward him. This time he allowed his thoughts to creep into his eyes, passing a silent message from his gaze to hers. He watched as a slow blush crept from the collar of her shirt to stain her cheeks. If she could read his thoughts and emotions, she did not get to pick and choose what she liked. If she took some of them, she had to take them all.
Roam began to draw a map in the dirt with a stick. “Creed said that this abandoned village could be safe for more of us if we agree to lay low and not draw unwanted attention.” He looked up at Raven and grinned. “Apparently, it’s close enough to the Temple of Immortal Right that we’d be hiding right under the Godseekers’ noses. I plan to round up a few people who can travel like I do, undetected, and head there for the winter. Others who are slower can join us in the spring, after the snows melt.” The grin faded. “But you’ll have to get there on your own.”
He did not include Blade in his invitation. Raven did not agree or disagree to it, or answer his unspoken question about her ability to travel, but listened attentively as he gave her directions to go with the map sketched in the dirt by the fire.
Blade knew where the village was. He had grown up very near it. And the goddesses’ boundary would be on the far side of this mountain range. He had come here to see if he could pass through it, although it, too, was dangerously close to the Temple of Immortal Right. But Raven would have him to protect her. And there were other places along the way to leave her where she’d be safer than in a village a Godseeker assassin had chosen.
As Blade rotated the quail again, he noted the way the boy’s hungry eyes followed his movements. He drew one from the fire, tested it for doneness, then passed it to him. The boy accepted it with an awkward nod of thanks.
Blade removed the remaining quail from the fire and set them aside to cool. They would save the birds for the morning with the last of the bread Raven had taken from her stepfather’s house.
He watched Roam eat. “What kinds of abilities do the half demons you’ve seen have?”
“For the most part, they’re all different. I can sense others with demon blood, and I can travel long distances without being seen in a fraction of normal time. Some have two talents, others have three. I haven’t seen any more than that. A lot of talents are hybrids and unique to the individual. So far, no one seems to have inherited full demon strength.”
“How many have Raven’s ability to defend herself?” Blade asked.
“All of the females seem to, even the ones who don’t have any other talents,” Roam said around a mouthful of meat. “It’s a common demon trait. But to the extent she possesses, so far, I’ve seen none.” He swallowed, sending her a shy smile. “She’s unique.”
“How fortunate for me.” Raven’s dry tone indicated she thought the opposite.
Roam finished his meal and lingered a while longer before disappearing into the shadows, but Blade did not suggest that he spend the night. He knew that while Raven probably would have liked to, she would not offer Blade’s hospitality for him.