Chapter Nine

Detlif had a really hard time reconciling everything he'd been learning over the past weeks since Leasharra and Penny had suddenly appeared. Now, here he was with Loralie again, and it was not at all as he'd expected.

He'd been a grumpy, surly idiot for years. Barking at his family and even at Gren, though the dragon understood better than almost anybody else why Det was so heartsore. When Leasharra had arrived with Penny, Delif had taken the red dragon aside and shouted at her too, accusing her of doing Loralie's bidding by bringing Penny to him at such a late date. He thought for sure that his nemesis, Loralie, was trying to manipulate him into something. But the dragon had shouted right back at him.

Leasharra had berated him because she'd discovered that Det had already known about Penny's existence. The red dragon got good and mad at him, accusing him of not even trying to find his lost daughter. But he had tried. Once they found out about her because of the energy drain she'd been on Petr, Detlif had tried his best to track her down, but he'd had no real starting point. Loralie had been very good at erasing every trace of her trail.

Leasharra had stood up for Penny, countering that the little girl hadn't been draining Petr's energy on purpose. Penny hadn't even been completely certain she had a brother. She'd thought he was just a dream, not real. And Penny had been living a hellish existence due to the mage who held her captive in order to gain Loralie's compliance.

Det had argued. He hadn't believed anybody could force Loralie to do anything. She was a powerful sorceress who had done…things. Terrible things. Things that were beyond the ability of most mages, even if they'd been concentrating their powers together with others of their kind.

The day after their argument, Leasharra had been called to speak with the mages of the enclave. Det hadn't been privy to that interview, but he knew they questioned the red dragon in detail on her knowledge of the North Witch. He had been told what Leasharra had shared about Penny's living circumstances and the way the child had been moved around to different places—sometimes terrible places—in order to force Loralie's compliance.

While suspicion about Loralie and her motives still ran high among the fair folk, there was a slight tempering of their anger at her after Leasharra's revelations. Particularly when Leasharra made it clear to the dragons and fair folk alike that she was not there to champion a woman who had done such bad things to dragonkind. Leasharra only suggested that they might not have the full story behind the North Witch's actions, and they should be willing to listen and observe for themselves before reaching any conclusions.

Penny had talked a little about what her life had been like as a prisoner. It broke Det's heart when she spoke of some of the places she'd been put and how she'd had to sneak away to spend short snatches of time with her mother.

Det closed his ears to any talk of Loralie after that. He just could not reconcile the conniving, scheming witch he'd thought she was for so long with the mother who had kept track of her daughter, always reassuring the child that no matter how far apart they were, she should never doubt her mother's love.

And now, here she was. Here, they were. So much water under the bridge. So many actions neither could explain or take back.

He hated her.

But he still loved her.

"I do not think we should fly through this storm," Grennulf's voice sounded in his mind, jarring him back to the problem at hand. "I am fine where I am for the night. The question is, can you stay there or should we try to get out of here now? In a few more minutes, it will be too dangerous to fly any distance at all."

Faced with a logistical problem, Det shook his head and walked back to the cave opening. Gren's snow white hide blocked almost all wind from entering, but Det was able to climb up on Gren's knee and then his back to look out into the storm. It was already a swirling maelstrom that didn't look at all safe to be trying to fly through. Damn.

Det shook his head as he returned to the main part of the cave. The only light was from the little fire that was slowly burning down. They'd have to do something about that if they were both going to bed down here for the night.

"It is a dangerous blizzard out there right now. Grennulf does not think it would be safe to fly out in this, so I guess we'll have to share this cave tonight." He stated it as baldly as he could, wanting no argument and no suspicion about his motives. When she tried to speak, he held up both hands palms outward. "I'm not any happier about this than you are, I'm sure, but the weather has forced our hands. One good thing is that nobody will be able to see any light out of the crag in the rock with Gren's body blocking the entrance, so we can build up your campfire for more warmth. I have provisions in Gren's packs, including firewood, since it is hard to find at these heights, and we always fly out prepared in case of just such circumstances."

"I suppose if it is truly dangerous out there, you should stay," she replied grudgingly.

"And we can talk more about your plan to kill Gebel," he agreed. He wanted to be in on any plan to seek justice for the hell his children had been put through in their young lives.

"Just so long as we're clear that the revenge is mine. I will be the one to kill Gebel. I owe him for what he's done to me and my babies."

Her voice was firm, and there was a deadly gleam in her eye that he did not choose to argue with. She had grown harder in the years they'd been apart. When he'd known her before, she was much more innocent and didn't speak of killing anyone with such fire.

He nodded but didn't say anything further as he went back to Gren and retrieved the emergency supplies. Gren had thoughtfully positioned himself in such a way so the packs were easy to reach.

"Thanks, Gren," Det said silently to his heartmate.

"You're welcome. I'll alert you if there's any movement down below, but I think everyone is going to be hunkering down until the storm ends. If you need me, you know I'm here. I'm sorry this has put you in a tricky situation, but perhaps this storm was sent by the Mother of All to give you two some time to iron a few things out."

"You really think so?" The dragon's words gave Det pause.

Gren resettled one of his wings after Det had removed the large pack from under it. The movement looked almost like a shrug.

"I think stranger things have happened. You two need time to talk. Now is your opportunity. Don't waste it with recriminations, accusations, or sore feelings."

"You are wise beyond your years, my friend. I will try to do as you say. But do me a favor. If I start to get off track, will you reel me back in?"

"Always," Gren agreed immediately, his inner voice tinged with the true and deep affection that ran between them.

Det returned to the main part of the cave with the supply packs and began feeding more wood into the little fire. It was cold in here and would only get colder as the night, and the storm, deepened.

Loralie was off to one side of the deep cave, accompanied by the pacas. He wasn't sure what they were doing, but the cold air and natural chimney effect of the crag in which they were camping mercifully counteracted any smells the animals might produce.

She led them back to the area around the fire a short while later, and they followed her happily, settling in on either side of her as if that was their accustomed position. She sat, holding her cold hands out to the warm flames that were now dancing happily.

"I put the supply of wood over there," Det said, pointing to a spot along the cave wall a short distance away. "It is yours now, as is the food and whatever else in the packs you can use."

"That's kind of you, but I brought my own supplies," she protested, gesturing toward the pacas and the small packs he'd already seen lining one of the walls.

It wasn't enough. For one thing, she didn't have much wood left. She would need more if she was going to be here for any length of time.

"If you plan to stay here long, I will ferry supplies to you, if you like. Gren is mostly invisible in this terrain, and we can bring you what you need," he offered.

That offer seemed to stop her in her tracks. She lowered her hands and just looked at him for a moment.

"Why would you do anything to help me? You hate me," she reminded him, pain echoing in her words that ripped across his senses uncomfortably.

"I may still have…issues with your actions, but I would not like to see anybody either freeze to death or starve up here when I could do something to prevent it," he replied. He wasn't sure himself why he'd made the offer. She was right. He'd hated her for years.

But right now? He wasn't so sure.

The only thing he was certain of at the moment was that he was very, very confused.

Loralie wondered how she'd ended up in this position. She'd meant to have only the pacas for company until she finalized her plan to end Gebel. Once she set the plan in motion, she'd release the beasts so they could have their freedom. They weren't so domesticated that they couldn't remember how to survive in the wild, and there were free herds of their brethren farther down the mountain that she was sure they could join. Pacas were social animals and wouldn't turn away newcomers to a herd.

If she lived through her confrontation with Gebel, she planned to go back to the Citadel and deal with Skir. Now, that, she didn't believe she would come out of alive. So, either she died taking Gebel down with her or she died securing Skir back in the ice. Either way, she didn't plan to come out of this alive.

And she certainly hadn't planned to have company besides the pacas. Especially not Detlif. And where Detlif was, Grennulf was not far behind. He'd be in the cave with them, if it had been big enough, she knew. As it was, Gren was guarding the entrance, which she had to admit would allow her to sleep soundly for the first time since she'd been camping here. She'd been too afraid to let her guard down and actually sleep deeply, lest she be discovered.

Sleeping with one eye open, so to speak, had caused her to be much wearier than she liked, but it couldn't be helped. Maybe tonight would be different. Maybe with Gren to guard—and if Det would just let her alone—she could get a truly restful sleep.

Or not. Det might keep her up simply by staring daggers at her all night. Though, she had to admit, he wasn't being nearly as combative as she'd expected. That offer to help provision her had taken her completely by surprise. She wasn't sure what was going on here.

She had no doubt he was still deeply angry with her for the choices she'd made about their children and the fact that she'd left him without a word of goodbye all those years ago. He'd seemed good and mad at times when he talked to her, but then, he'd offered to help her. She shook her head, thinking about it as she tried to puzzle out what was going on. Why had he done that? She still didn't understand.

Loralie settled between the sitting pacas, in her customary spot, holding her mug filled with a steaming, soothing tea in both hands to warm them. She watched Det move around the cave, setting up his supplies and organizing things. He'd brought a lot more on his dragon than she'd been able to pack on her two furry friends. If he left his supplies with her, as it looked like he was going to do, she'd be able to stay here comfortably for a lot longer than her initial plans.

But she couldn't tarry. She had a task to complete and a plan to make. The longer she took to act, the more likely it was that her presence would be discovered. She just hadn't figured out how to take Gebel down yet. In fact, he'd only just arrived, so she had to watch for a bit to see what kind of routine he established. Then, she would find a weakness and exploit it.

Det finished with the gear and took some of the boiling water from the pot she'd left on the fire. He made his own tea from his supplies and sat down across the fire from her. He sipped his tea before speaking.

"So, what is your plan?" he asked without preamble.

"Kill Gebel," she replied simply. "I don't know exactly how yet, but I am going to watch him for several days and formulate a plan after I see how he conducts himself," she admitted, though why she felt the need to explain herself to Det, she had no idea.

Maybe she felt, somewhere deep down inside, that she owed it to him. She'd done so much without his input, approval, or even knowledge. Now that he was here, she might as well at least let him know that she had things under control.

"Forgive me for pointing this out, but that's not much of a plan," he said skeptically.

"It's the best I've got at the moment." She refused to let him discourage her. She knew darn well that she didn't have a real plan right now, but she also believed that it would come to her in time. A few days of careful observation should make all the difference.

"I could help," he said tentatively. She looked hard at him across the fire. She thought she detected the barest hint of self-doubt on his face, as if he couldn't quite believe he'd made the offer himself.

"When the storm abates, you will leave," she said firmly, unwilling to admit even to herself how appealing the thought of having his help in her task really was.

She'd been alone most of her life. So very alone.

Except for those few stolen days—and nights—with him. Det had made her feel special. Cared for. Respected. Loved.

And yet, she'd had to betray his trust and leave without so much as a goodbye. It had been for his own good, but she'd always known he wouldn't see it that way. He'd seen it as a betrayal, and she'd had to learn to live with that.

"I will leave, but only to get more supplies and report back to my folk," Det agreed. "I will return. You know Gren can go unnoticed in the snow, and my own skills are not that of a novice. We can both help."

"Why would you help me?" she spat, trying desperately to hold onto her anger. The idea of having him around, even just for the short time left to her before she met her fate was all too tempting.

"Helping you helps my people, if you truly aim to take out Gebel. I might as well help make certain your action has the best chance of succeeding. It's selfish, really," he mused, sipping his tea with a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.

She thought about it for a moment and realized he had a point. She wasn't really a soldier. Evaluating what was going on down in the manor house wasn't something she was all that experienced with, although she had done her share of surveillance in the years since Penny's capture. Still, Grennulf had skills in the snow and sharper eyesight than any human. The dragon's observations would definitely be of use.

So, she admitted grudgingly, would Detlif's. He was a good strategist. He would not have risen to the rank of Guard Captain if he didn't have superior skills.

Dammit! What was she thinking? She needed rest. She was too befuddled by all that had happened and lack of sleep to make clear decisions right now. He was all too tempting. She had given in to her desires before and look where that had gotten them all. She had to be strong. And she needed rest.

She finished her tea and placed her mug near the fire for later use. Then, she settled her blanket over the pacas and took her place between them, settling with her head toward the fire instead of her feet this time. She wanted to be able to see Det a little longer.

Truth be told, she hungered for the sight of him. He'd grown harder over these past years. Tougher. Stronger. Perhaps more bitter. That was due to her, she was sure, and she regretted that. She truly did. But there had been no other way that she could see.

Damn. Her thoughts were rambling again. She really needed to sleep.

She allowed her eyes to close, her last conscious sight that of Det's blue eyes watching her from across the smoldering fire.