54

Aindry sniffed around the base of the tree, evaluating the scents that pooled here. Anything left by passing carnivores she discarded immediately; those of deer, raccoons, squirrels, birds, a lone porcupine, she considered more seriously. There were plenty of deer around, enjoying the open ground around the abandoned houses, but she and Jaisan were too badly injured to hunt one; most of the rest were fast or fierce or both. She might be able to take that porcupine, though, since that took primarily skill and experience and she had those in her favour. If, of course, she could find it on the ground. The scent was fresh enough that she thought it might be possible.

Nose to the ground, she limped in pursuit. Her left hind leg was badly damaged, enough so that she doubted it would ever heal right without help from a doctor or a healer, but leading demons into Haven or into a mundane settlement that had no idea what really existed, that was unthinkable. Given how talking and chewing felt, it might be just as well there was nothing to talk about and there'd been little to chew, only a few mice swallowed more or less whole.

There'd been no further attacks, not in the couple of days it took to reach Unity, not in the days they'd been here. Could the demons not find them here? Or was there something else? Either way, they weren't going to heal at all unless they actually ate.

So she'd left Jaisan, who was trying so hard to pretend that he wasn't in pain with every breath, to see if he could find anything edible in the long-abandoned gardens. If they were lucky, maybe something had re-seeded itself; it was early in the year yet, but a few garden plants, and some wild ones, were edible or even better at this time of year. If not, he might at least find a few snails—they were vile, but better than nothing. If they dared the shore itself, they might do better, find amphibian or crustacean life, might even be able to improvise a fish trap, but first they'd have to conquer fear of the lake itself and what lay beneath those calm waters she glimpsed now and then from high ground.

The porcupine's trail took her to a creek, burbling its way cheerfully between the trees, and along it. She slowed her pace, taking care with each step to make no sound: even if she didn't find the porcupine, she might be able to surprise something drinking.

She found where the porcupine entered the water, and some disturbed creek-bed where she thought it ate some of the plants growing there, and then the place where it left the water and went up a tree. She looked up, spotted it high above.

There was no way she could possibly climb after it, even if she were stupid enough to try.

With a sigh, she went back to following the creek.

From the village itself, she heard Jaisan bark: a call to her, but without urgency. Probably he'd found something edible.

Well, she wasn't accomplishing anything here, and her leg hurt abominably. She turned back in his direction.

He was waiting for her, in a garden being gradually reclaimed by the wilderness, closer than entirely comfortable to one of the outermost buildings. If she let herself, she'd probably be able to remember who had lived here and then died here.

They'd ripped up clothes to improvise a sling that held Jaisan's right arm firmly against his body, since that helped with some of the pain. Even though that meant staying human-form, it was worth it, since putting weight on that foreleg was unbearable anyway. The dark livid bruising, purple-blue and red shading towards black with highlights of greenish yellow, bled through under the edges of the sling; it made Aindry flinch every time she saw it. Pulling a shirt over his head hurt, so with his own worn track-pants Jaisan was wearing only Aindry's stained grey zipper-front hoodie, unzipped to allow room for his arm.

Unfortunately, they'd failed to come up with a way to moderate her own pain at all, but at least it reduced Jaisan's a little.

“Nothing good,” he said apologetically. “But it's something.”

She changed back, and sat down awkwardly on her own sweatshirt that he'd spread there. The weight of two full backpacks had been just too much; they'd kept one set of basic clothing each, but almost everything else had been discarded. She hadn't realized until much too late that Jaisan had left behind all but one of his amethysts, keeping only his favourite tucked into the sling; that had made her want to weep. Her little brother knew as well as she did that they weren't going to live long enough to recover. And after what felt like forever struggling to protect him, there was nothing left she could do.

He'd used her t-shirt to gather green things, leaves and shoots, things she recognized by scent as at least safe, and possibly even appealing under some circumstances, fiddleheads and green onions and young dandelion and others.

“More than I managed,” she pointed out.

“Don't talk, silly, it makes you hurt.”

“Hurts you too.” She could see him wince, see the catch in his breath.

“No dinner conversation over salad, I guess.”

She shredded as much as she could and swallowed it without chewing. Her stomach grumbled, wanting something more substantial, but she ignored it. Be grateful for what you get.

Both heard the sounds of movement, footsteps coming rapidly in their direction, not quite at a run.

They traded glances wearily. No one should be here, in a dead place. That could only be one last demon that had tracked them down.

And any fight was going to be an extremely short one, with no doubt at all as to the outcome.

“Guess that was a waste of time,” Jaisan said sadly. “Oh well. So much for ever finding Jess. Hope this doesn't hurt him much.” He let the hoodie slide off his shoulders, began to fumble with the knots holding the sling.

“Wait,” Aindry said, puzzled. “Don't smell demons. Smell... human, with wolf and elf scent. And... cat?”

“What?” Jaisan raised his head, inhaled as deeply as his damaged ribs would allow. “You're right. Smells... familiar? But...”

Aindry took another breath. Yes, familiar, from somewhere deep in her memory, if she could just place it... Associations there of safety and love and comfort...

Around the building the source of that tantalizing scent came into sight: a woman, not tall, sturdily-built, her brown hair pulled back, in jeans and a denim jacket. She saw them, and quick walk turned into all-out run across the broken ground. A much smaller four-footed shape, deep vivid tortoiseshell with a brilliantly white tail-tip, raced along beside her.

“Samantha?” Jaisan said uncertainly, head tilted to one side, and looked to Aindry for confirmation. “Can't be Sam. Remembering wrong, right? Or a ghost?”

“No,” Aindry said in disbelief. “Really Sam. Alive.” She scrambled to her feet, but her bad leg brought her sharply back to reality; with an involuntary whimper, she fell hard enough to bring tears to her eyes. Jaisan, more successful, hesitated.

And then Sam reached them, and there were tears on her cheeks too.

“Mother of wolves,” she muttered. “Are you two sure you're alive? I've seen dead things in better shape.” She cupped a hand around Jaisan's cheek, eyes scanning his face. “I've been desperately hoping you dying wasn't what made Jess block off his own memories.”

Jaisan whined softly, every muscle suddenly tense. “Jess?”

“He's in Haven, more or less safe and sound, finally. Damn it, I don't dare even give either of you a hug, I might break you.” Sam looked like she was fighting the urge to start crying; she conquered it with pragmatism. “Right. Damage control first, sloppy reunions later. Dena would flay me for crying all over you instead of feeding you. Alfari, we just found Jaisan and Aindry. This is my special friend Alfari.”

Aindry remembered the “special friends” of that school of magic, and Sam's father's big shaggy black-and-white cat Rasputin who was fierce to strangers but always gentle and affectionate with Aindry's family. Even more, she remembered Sam's lithe orange Uri, who had adopted Sam's charges as his own and patiently endured hugs and tears and playfulness. He'd often slept on Aindry's bed when she envied her brothers their bond and their certainty of never being alone.

She'd stopped envying it forever, not long after they'd been separated.

This couldn't be Uri, back for another life: Sam couldn't possibly have found his body in time. Nor would Uri have needed the introduction.

She offered a hand, and Alfari came nearer to rub against it, purring thunderously. “Hello,” Aindry told her. “I'm glad Sam has a friend.”

Shyly, Jaisan leaned down to echo it, following her lead, with only a quiet, “Hi.” Alfari went up on her hind feet to meet him part way, and rubbed her cheek against his fingers. Did he remember Uri and Rasputin? Aindry wondered.

“What do you have with you?” Sam said briskly. “Back to the car with both of you. I'll come back and look for your names once you're there with something more to eat than wild greens.”

“You do better on four feet,” Jaisan told Aindry. “So you have three that work.”

“Just clothes,” Aindry said. “Nothing else. Our names are here?”

“I hid them,” Sam said, shooing Jaisan away to gather up clothing herself. The tortoiseshell cat circled around the trio. “Anything else? Good. I remember it was by a creek and there was a hill with a crack in it that I hid them in, but I don't remember exactly where. I just followed one creek from lake to source with no luck and I was looking for another one when I heard you.”

“Just saw one,” Aindry said. “Hunting. Will show you.”

“You will do no such thing! Just point.”

Reluctantly, Aindry pointed the way she'd come.

“Good. I'll try that one. Once you two are at the car!”

Aindry changed to wolf and limped along with them; Sam took the one remaining pack firmly from Jaisan's good hand, and he surrendered meekly, letting her help him pull the hoodie back on.

They only got as far as the road, which wasn't paved and was the worse for six years of neglect, before Sam commanded them to stop.

“Change of plans. I'm going to get the car, you're going to stay right here, and 'Fari's going to stay here with you. Don't move. Understand? Not an inch.”

“Yes,” Jaisan said, eyes low, and Aindry dipped her head in assent.

Sam regarded them both measuringly, and strode off along the road. Alfari reared up to swipe her cheek along Aindry's reassuringly, and climbed onto Jaisan's lap when he sat down heavily. Cautiously at first, then with more confidence when she responded with arched back and purring, Jaisan stroked her.

Sam returned before long in a newish red Cherokee, clearly well-used but nonetheless in good condition; she parked, hopped out, and circled around to the back to swing the spare tire aside and open the hatch. The inside smelled strongly of elf and wolf-bitch and human, with a thin overlay of Sam and Alfari, and fainter scents of other wolves, other elves and humans, dryads, cats and dogs: living scents, natural homey ones that should be there. Inside, anchored by bungee cords to bolts in the side, was a sturdy-looking cooler that Sam opened.

“If I know elvenmages... yep. Jerky, dried fruit, crackers, pop-tarts, sports drinks... dog biscuits, must be for Lindsay. Under the circumstances, no one in Coven Firedrake is going to mind. Interior's spelled to stay at a steady moderate temperature, so the drinks aren't exactly cold but everything's safe. Can I trust you to go slow and not overeat and kill yourselves?”

“Food?” Jaisan said hopefully.

Aindry changed to human. “We'll be good,” she promised. “Why our names, why now?”

“Because Jess needs to remember who he is and given what I had to work with, that seemed like the best bet.”

“Jess is in Haven,” Jaisan whispered, and started to laugh hysterically, but it dissolved into sobs. “The one place we've been avoiding.”

Aindry whined, slid an arm around him carefully. “Jais, don't, your ribs... we couldn't know.”

“For what it's worth,” Sam said, doing something in the cooler. “I've been there all along but Jess hasn't, not until recently.” She handed Jaisan a plastic bottle of bright-coloured liquid. “Here. Take a sip. Calm down. Not remembering protected Jess. All three of you remembering, staying still, but too young to defend yourselves might have gotten messy. I don't know. It doesn't matter right now. Don't cry now, wolf-cub, you're really going to regret it if you do. Drink. Don't choke.”

Jaisan struggled to obey the voice of compassion and authority. At the first swallow, instinct took over, short-circuiting the emotional storm, and Sam had to stop him from finishing the whole thing without a pause. He took a couple of breaths as deep as he could currently manage.

“It's perfectly understandable that you'd be scared,” Sam said, watching him sip it more slowly. Reassured, she wrapped an arm around Aindry's waist and urged her over to sit on the back of the Cherokee. Sam smelled of many animals of many kinds, and of Alfari, and of a male wolf, and catnip, and faintly of salt. “Get your weight off that leg. Here.” She gave Aindry a gentle kiss on her forehead, reached past her to the cooler, and gave her a matching bottle. Sunlight caught the thin wet track down her cheek, but it didn't reflect in her voice. “I found myself in Haven without meaning to, and by the time I reached any state of being able to decide, there was someone who felt like an oasis in the desert, so I stayed. Obviously, some inconvenient knowledge about demons hasn't been enough to make me worth the effort. I've been harassing every new class of students coming to Haven for the college for any news of black wolves—subtly, of course.”

“We stayed on the edges,” Aindry said. The simple drink made her body scream for more of it, and she could understand why Jaisan had found it hard to stop. “Mostly between. Visit each village, keep moving. There was... in Falias last year, a coven wanted us to stay. Were there two weeks, longer than usual. Wanted to stay, but scared to. They were very sad when we left. Coven in Aralu, not long ago, they were worried about us, wanted lots to help. If we stayed they'd be dead.”

“Demon attacks?” Sam asked gently, pausing with one back door open.

Aindry nodded tiredly. “More and more.” She'd have liked to assure Sam that they were okay, that she shouldn't worry and didn't need to feel so bad, but didn't think she could make it sound even remotely plausible.

“Want Jess,” Jaisan said, visibly torn, perching beside Aindry. “But don't want demons in Haven.”

“We've already got 'em,” Sam said grimly, reaching inside to fiddle with the catch that held the rear seat in place upright. “There we go.” She folded the rear seat forward and down. “And I suspect we need all the demon-wolves we can find to stop it before it gets worse.”

“We can't fight right now. Can't even hunt food.”

“Of course not! The coven Jess lives with have a house with massive and ancient shields, it was Alessandria's house. You'll be safe there, and we can get a healer to look at the pair of you. Now. Are you okay if I go look? Eat what you want but go slow. If Alfari tells you to stop, pay attention to her.”

Aindry gave her a faint smile. “Been hungry before. Know what happens.” The thought of how painful it would be for either of them to start throwing up right now was enough to counter any drive to stuff themselves indiscriminately. “You can prob'ly search faster with help.”

“I'd rather have her here. I hate letting you out of my sight at all and I wouldn't for anything less important. Just in case I really am seeing ghosts and there's no sign of you when I get back. Hop inside out of the wind and I'll close the door, I'll leave the tire out of the way so you can open it if you need to. Stay together, stay with Alfari, and all of you stay here with the car for anything short of hostile demons showing up, okay?”

“We will.”

Clumsily, Jaisan crawled up into the carpeted back, lying on his less-injured left side, and Aindry joined him, keeping her weight on her right.

“I'll be back as fast as I can,” Sam said, as Alfari leaped up on top of the cooler. “Eat something. If you fall asleep, it's okay. I'm going to get you to Haven and Jess and a healer as quickly as I can, I promise.” She heaved the back hatch down, but as promised, didn't replace the tire holder.

Aindry watched her walk away, long rapid strides, in the direction of the creek.

“Really Sam?” Jaisan whispered, raising his eyes to hers. “Really Jess? Not a demon trick? Not dreaming?”

“Yeah. Real. Demon-luck. Last-minute rescue.” It was so improbable that she could feel mad laughter trying to bubble upwards, but forced it away ruthlessly. “Food, please, Alfari?”

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