Shadow Runners Read online

  “As the crow flies … no. We do not have wings,” Jarek said tightly. “We are likely to run upon an army by the time we reach the border. Rumor has it that King Socorro is gathering an army.”

  Sonja didn’t have to feign dismay. She felt it, deeply. Moreover, she had to wonder how he could’ve heard. King Vladislav had only just heard the news from his spies a matter of days earlier. “How have you heard rumors of such a thing … here?”

  She glanced at the others. “We haven’t even met up with anyone!”

  Jarek shrugged. “News travels fast within Shadowmere.”

  And mysteriously!

  She recovered with an effort. “There are always rumors flying about,” she said dismissively, “and rumors are not necessarily news or the truth, but if what you say is true then I must certainly get there before there is any possibility that the border will be closed against me! Isn’t there some shorter route we might take?”

  Jarek studied her assessingly for a moment. “There is, but I am not certain that it would be what you would want.”

  “If it is a quicker way …?”

  “It would require traversing the Valley of Shadows.”

  Chapter Seven

  It unnerved Sonja that Jarek appeared reluctant to enter the Valley of Shadows. Of course she was, but she was a natural and even crossing into Shadowmere at all was considered reckless to the point of insanity for a normal. The Valley of Shadows was filled with such unspeakable things that it did not even figure into the horror stories told to children to make them behave. People did not mention the name without glancing over their shoulder first and, mostly, they did not speak of it at all.

  Sonja discovered that her imagination failed her, however. It was simply impossible to believe that there were worse creatures there than in any of the other Shadow Lands.

  And, when one got right down to it, she didn’t see that Jarek and his brethren were all that frightening. True, they could take the form of beasts, but in point of fact she’d been no more fearful of them in that form than she would have been if they actually had been wolves. There was no doubt in her mind that they could be dangerous, but she did not believe they could possibly be any more monstrous or do more terrible things than many of the naturals she’d dealt with.

  “Even so,” she said finally and decisively. “I’d rather not risk taking so long that there is upheaval in Thalon that would prevent me from reaching … my parents. I would prefer to take the shortest route.”

  Surprise flickered in Jarek’s eyes. Finally, he shrugged. “We could not take you further than the border of Shadowmere. The wolf clan has no passage to cross the Valley.”

  “Oh.” Ignoring the tightening sensation in her belly, Sonja considered that, but finally dismissed her reservations since she’d already concluded that the Valley was no worse than any of the other Shadow Lands even if it was no better. “Well, I suppose I will have to seek permission to cross there once I arrive. I can not think of any reason why it would not be allowed.”

  The men exchanged speaking glances, which she pretended not to notice. “You have no reservations about crossing the Valley?” Rafe asked after a prolong silence.

  “I did not say that,” Sonja responded. “There is always danger in travel, however, and more danger in some places than others. I will certainly be as careful as I can, but that isn’t your concern. If you can only take me that far, then I will have to make my way alone from there—unless of course I find someone willing to escort me across the Valley.”

  Jarek’s face hardened at that. The vixen! He couldn’t decide, however, whether she actually had no qualms about offering to trade her favors for passage with whatever inhabitants she happened upon, or if the comment had been for their benefit—to make him jealous. She had succeeded regardless, he realized in disgust.

  “You’ve heard none of the tales of that place, then?” Byron asked curiously.

  Sonja chuckled. “Indeed not! I heard many about this place as a child, but folk in the other realms are too fearful to speak of the Valley of Shadows even to make up tales about it to frighten children. Do not take this as an insult, for it certainly isn’t intended as one, but I have met far more ‘monsters’ in the lands of man than I have here. They are almost more frightening because they do not look like monsters.”

  She changed the subject abruptly. “I don’t suppose there is any place close by where I might bathe some of the soil of our travels off?”

  Thorne indicated that there was a stream nearby and pointed her in the direction she needed to go. Getting up, she stretched to relieve some of the kinks from her muscles and left the campsite to relieve herself and bathe a little in the stream. She would be heartily glad, she told herself, when she had finished her task and could settle somewhere in comfort for a bit. Not that there was much point in thinking about it now. She could not reward herself until she had collected her pay and she must complete the task and return for that.

  It appeared that she must consider that it might well take more than the two weeks that she’d calculated before she set out. Then, too, she didn’t trust King Vladislav any further than she could spit. She didn’t think it would be wise to linger in Doral once she had collected her reward. She rather thought she should move on very quickly indeed.

  She considered possibilities while she bathed. King Davirico’s realm was closest, but she wasn’t certain of her welcome there. He hadn’t been pleased that she’d expected to be paid in coin for her services—the prick! As if she was such a fool as to fall for a few shiny baubles that weren’t even real jewels! Mayhap Paloma, then? It wasn’t that much further and she’d never been there.

  Shadowmere was far as either and the thought teased her that it was ideally situated to be a home base. It was an intriguing concept—the possibility that she might find a place where she would not need to be constantly on her guard that an enemy or former patron would slip up on her and slit her throat. She’d enjoyed the adventure before almost as much as she’d relished the thought that she was ridding the world of evil, but she realized she’d grown very weary of traveling, always moving.

  She dismissed the thoughts. She could rest when she had amassed a sufficient fortune to retire and not before, she chided herself. Perhaps she might even consider finding a companion to settle with although, truthfully, that didn’t hold a great deal of appeal. She couldn’t envision finding a man who didn’t bore her to tears within a very short space of time, both inside the bedroom and outside of it.

  She was pretty certain her life had spoiled her to the ordinary sort of life everyone else settled for or even enjoyed. It was a shame, and yet she wasn’t certain that she would’ve been happy settling for that even before she’d begun adventuring. In fact, she knew better. If she hadn’t been the sort of woman she was the adventuring wouldn’t have appealed to her to start with.

  The men, she discovered when she returned, had made a large enough pallet with the furs they’d bundled and carried as packs all day to accommodate the lot of them. She eyed it with some misgiving and finally decided that tact wasn’t something that worked any better with these men than it did any man! She plunked her hands on her hips and looked at them sternly. “This simply will not do! I am completely willing to accommodate you all—just not all of you every night! It is far too fatiguing to attempt it. I am not as you are, and you will do well to keep that in mind! I do not care how you settle it, but some of you must expect disappointment tonight! Particularly if you mean to drag me out of my bed before dawn and march me all over hell’s creation tomorrow as you did today!”

  They men instantly exchanged challenging looks. Jarek sent them away with a jerk of his head and dragged her down onto the center of the pallet, stripping away the layers of clothing she wore and tossing each piece impatiently away as he unveiled a new patch of flesh. Sonja was so thoroughly aroused by the time he’d stripped her of half of it, that she shoved at his shoulders and, when he rolled onto his back, mounted him, s
queezing her eyes in delight as she felt her body sheathing his. The vicious snarling of a pack of wolves distracted her as she leaned forward to set the pace and she lifted her head.

  Jarek’s eyes gleamed. “They are settling it.”

  Sonja lifted her brows, listening for a moment more and then she focused on her pleasure. “I was thinking more along the lines of drawing straws,” she murmured with wry amusement. “But whatever works for you.”

  She was almost disappointed to find Rafe and Thorne awaiting her when she’d finished satisfying Jarek. Byron and Arman worked so wonderfully well together as a team, she thought, but then again Rafe and Thorne were hardly a disappointment themselves. She felt wonderfully satisfied, warm, tingly and totally relaxed when she’d made love with them … and yet she also felt a faint prickle of guilt that she hadn’t accommodated Byron and Arman. Finally, she dismissed it. If Jarek was correct, they had several more nights to enjoy one another. She would make certain that she gave Byron and Arman extra special attention the next night.

  Sonja was totally in charity with her wolf pack the following morning when they set out. She felt well rested and thoroughly satisfied sexually. Unfortunately, that sense of well being and charity with the world in general and the beast men in particular didn’t outlive the day. By mid-afternoon Sonja had verified something else that had been troubling her since they’d set out.

  They were traveling in a circle.

  * * * *

  Sonja was angry. She thought she was more annoyed with herself than she was with them, though.

  Maybe not, but she spent a good deal of the remainder of the day mentally kicking herself both for underestimating the men she was dealing with, again, and for failing to suspend their disbelief. Somehow, she hadn’t been convincing enough. Aside from being irritated about it, however, she didn’t waste a lot of time dwelling on it since that seemed to be a lost cause—for the moment anyway.

  She supposed, however, that she might have been further ahead to have taken them into her confidence—at least to a degree. Clearly, they’d heard the rumblings of unrest within Thalon. If they’d known about it as long as she had then she might have convinced them that it was in their best interests to get her to Thalon as quickly as possible.

  And maybe not. She couldn’t be sure that they had known about it. They may have just learned of it and, if that was the case, then they probably wouldn’t have believed her if she had told them. Then again, the main reason she hadn’t been more direct was because she’d learned that it was never a good idea to be too trusting of the motives of others. Even if they had perceived Thalon as a threat, there was no predicting how they might react to the news. The chances were, though, that it wouldn’t have spurred them to help her get there.

  The point was moot now. Telling them, or at least weaving another story that included that little detail would probable only make them more suspicious of her.

  Clearly, they were already deeply suspicious and that was what irritated her the most. She’d underestimated their intelligence.

  Well! And they had underestimated hers! By design, of course. She didn’t hold it against them that they apparently thought she was slow witted. She did, in point of fact, consider that at least one ray of sunshine in what was otherwise becoming a pig wallow!

  She still had that advantage. The question was, how to use it? Obviously, she could fuck them until she put herself in the grave and that wasn’t going to make them any more malleable!

  She saw no alternative but to elude them and continue her quest on her own. She wasn’t terribly happy about it, but she tried to be practical. If she couldn’t persuade them to take her as she’d hoped, then there was no alternative except to give up and that wasn’t something she could afford to consider in her line of work! Certainly, her work was of a clandestine nature. She could not do it at all if that were not the case, but she would lose the stature she’d worked so hard to build if she failed and that would mean she couldn’t count on being called upon the next time. Someone else would grab the purse and she would find herself literally making her living on her back!

  Of course, she did a good bit of her negotiating and plotting on her back now with her toes pointed at the ceiling, but that was merely an end to a means, a tool of the trade as it were. Prostitutes could barely keep body and soul together with the pittance they earned and that wasn’t for her—early retirement with the pox and then the grave!

  It disturbed her that it was going to be far harder to shed her escort than it had been to acquire them. They weren’t just suspicious and wily. They had senses far more acute than mortal men.

  As little as she liked the necessity, she saw that her only option was to bounce back across the border she’d breached and make her trek the long way around. The down side of that was that it would take longer and she’d already wasted several days. The upside was that the bastards hadn’t traveled far from the border. They were further now than they had been due to the fact that they’d circled around, but not much.

  Fortunately for her she had a very good sense of direction—which had failed her previously because they’d worn her to the bone fucking her half the night and dragging her on the trek at a killer pace. She countered that the best she could by dragging her feet the remainder of the day and complaining of having a stone bruise from an imaginary pebble her shoe had picked up. She hadn’t expected sympathy or indeed any sign of concern for her distress. She had expected that they it would provoke impatience or even anger. It was disconcerting, then when Jarek called a halt the moment he learned of it, pulled her shoe off in spite of all she could do, and then examined her foot for the imaginary injury. She’d winced very convincingly despite the lack of any sign of a bruise for the simple reason that her feet were killing her from all the walking! What surprised her most, however, was that they nearly fell into an argument over who was going to carry her and settled it by taking turns carrying her. She was still tired when they stopped to make camp for the night, but she thought she could manage a dash to the border if she could successfully elude them long enough to get a head start.

  It didn’t take her long to stumble upon the only available option for accomplishing that. As tempting as it was to try it while they were out hunting for food, she waited until she could account for all of them before she announced her intention of going down to the stream to relieve herself and bathe. She wasn’t the least surprised when Jarek pointed out the direction and told her it wasn’t far. The bastards had been following the damned thing since they’d left the caverns!

  Smiling her appreciation, she stretched and then strolled toward the creek, making every attempt to appear as sore and decrepit as possible. She listened intently for them as she settled in the brush to relieve herself, trying to sort the sounds and make certain all of them were still gathered around the campfire they’d built.

  It was disturbing that she couldn’t, but then they weren’t prone to chatter, she thought wryly. Dismissing the uneasiness that one or more might have followed her to keep an eye on her, she headed for the stream still listening intently for any telltale sounds that might indicate she was being followed. Without pausing, she stepped into it, lifted her head to get her bearings, and then began to hurry along the streambed as fast as she dared. Unfortunately, although she knew the water must confuse her scent, slogging through it made far more noise than she liked. Moreover, she was going to have to leave it at some point and change directions if she had any hope of reaching the border since the stream didn’t cross it.

  Anxiety began to get the better of her very quickly. After considering it, she decided that she’d gained as much benefit from following the stream as she was likely to get and stepped out. Gathering her damp skirts high to keep them from tripping her, she began jogging toward the border, hopeful that she could keep strength in reserve in that manner for a burst of speed if necessary.

  She was no more than a quarter of a mile from her goal by her reckoning when a shadow ap
peared from behind a tree so abruptly she didn’t have time to put on brakes. She slammed into him hard enough to knock the breath from her.

  Jarek grunted at the impact, but he managed to grab her as she bounced back. “Where are you going?” he growled.

  A jolt of dismay went through her but Sonja flung herself at him. “Oh Jarek! Thank the gods you found me!” she exclaimed in a wailing voice. “Something got after me and I ran.”

  “The wrong way,” he said neutrally.

  “I was frightened!”

  He tried to pull away to examine her face, but Sonja burrowed closer, clinging frantically while she tried to work up tears. “It was horrible! Just horrible! I am so grateful you rescued me!”

  Damn it! Damn it to hell!

  He managed to disentangle himself enough to bend and grab her. Expecting to be cradled comfortingly in his arms, Sonja wasn’t prepared when he tossed her across his shoulder instead. It forced the breath from her in an inelegant grunt.

  “We’ll just have to keep a closer watch on you then, won’t we?” he growled.

  Chapter Eight

  Sonja managed to burst into tears without any difficulty then, tears of frustration. She struggled for several moments with the urge to bite him but finally discarded the notion. Even if he dropped her she was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to outrun him and get across the border.

  She covered her face with her hands and wept louder when he dumped her on the pallet in their camp. “I’m just so distraught about my sister—and now all of this!” she wailed.

  “Your sister?”

  She peered at Jarek between her fingers when he barked the question and then wept louder. Since she’d finally managed to squeeze a few tears out, she abandoned hiding behind her hands. “I lied,” she said dramatically. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I suppose I just wasn’t thinking straight at all. But I so desperately need to get to Thalon as quickly as possible!”