Crucible by Mercedes Lackey Page B

raked his ribs.
    Pelten screamed, deep and loud and filled with the raw panic made of pure survival instinct. From outside, Nwah heard villagers as they came near.
    She had Pelten pinned, though.
    She enjoyed the way his body squirmed with fear. She smelled the fever of his blood. It tasted meaty and made her ache with the glorious anticipation of raw hunger.
    Lavie, the woman, seemed frozen to her place at the doorway.
    Nwah sensed Kade’s body on the table.
    Her sense of justice welled up, her anger raged.
    She hated this man. Despised him for destroying the one thing she cared about. She raised her claws, spat her challenge, and showed him her already crimson fangs.
    Fear colored the Healer’s face.
    :No,:
a thin voice cut through the mist of her rage.
    It was Kade.
    Calling to her.
    Kade. Her pairmate.
    :Hate isn’t the answer,:
he said.
    Nwah hesitated.
    Her claws remained raised, but her jaws clamped shut, and she took a cleansing breath.
    Kade’s touch calmed her mind.
    She glanced at the table and saw him reaching toward her, his eyes glassy and watery. Now that his link was open, she felt his intoxication so fully that she nearly swooned herself. And she felt the depths of his essence again, depths to a degree that he had not let her feel for so long.
    â€œWhat’s happening?” a man asked from outside.
    More footsteps came.
    â€œWhat are you doing here?” another voice confronted the woman.
    She turned, hiding the bag of coins with her nonchalance.
    Kade rose, then, shaking his head due to whatever cobwebs Pelten’s ministrations had left.
    â€œThese two,” he said with a groggy tongue, “are thieves.”
    One of the villagers hefted an ax.
    â€œTell us more,” he said.
    â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢
    :You saved my life,:
Kade said to Nwah as they left the village and picked their way through the woods.
    The villagers had captured Pelten and Lavie and had soon recognized them for the charlatans they were. A brief discussion led them to decide against punishing them here and now; instead, they arranged for a traveling party to deliver the pair to the Collegium to expose them to their own brand of justice. Lord Pelten, it seemed, had likely been banished from those halls some months back for his views and practices, rather than for anything resembling “Agathan structures.”
    From what Nwah could gather, it would not go well for him.
    She opened herself to Kade as they climbed a ridge.
    :It’s about time I was able to return the favor,:
Nwah replied.
    :I’m sorry I got us into that in the first place,:
Kade said.
:I—I didn’t understand what was happening.:
    :It’s all right.:
    :I just wanted to be able to . . . :
    Nwah chuffed at him. The sound would have been enough if Kade had been
kyree
, but even she knew it was lacking now. She wished he weren’t so despondent.
    :Perhaps we should travel to the Collegium ourselves,:
she said.
    :You would do that?:
    Nwah said nothing, but she thought about warm sun on her pelt.
    :I am sorry for my jealousy,:
she said.
    Kade smiled.
:It’s all right.:
    They came to the crest of the ridge to find a sheer cliff that fell into a valley. The stream at the bottom smelled cool and fresh. Birdcalls echoed in the forest around them. Nwah smelled spoor and wild wort and moss and the acidic tinge of an ant-eaten tree stump.
    She opened her link so Kade could enjoy the details of her perceptions.
    He smiled again.
    :I envy you, Nwah. I wish I could live as you live:
    :You do realize that you cured me in Pelten’s hut, don’t you?:
she asked.
    :Don’t be dense. I did no such thing.:
    :But you did, Kade. I was out of control. I was hurt. And by your voice and touch alone, you saved me. You cured my rage.:
    He was silent for a moment, contemplating.
    She reached out to the power of the forest around her and for the first time used it to open herself even further. It was scary to do it,