Page 122 of The Weaver

Ketahn nodded. “It was no easy choice, but I could not leave the two of you out here alone. I had to join the search. And where safer a place for my mate and broodling than Kaldarak, in the den of thedaiya?”

Chittering, Rekosh glanced at Urkot and Telok. “You had to drag him away, did you not?”

Both males nodded, their mandibles rising.

“Ivy commanded him to come,” Telok said, “and we carried out her command.”

Ketahn snorted. “I came of my own will.”

Garahk chittered.

“You needed a bit of aid to allow your mate and broodling out of your sight.” Mirth dancing in his eyes, Urkot lowered hisvoice. “And Telok may not want to admit it, but we would not have found your trail in time without Ketahn.”

Telok grunted and thumped Urkot’s hindquarters with a leg joint.

“Many words to share,” said Garahk, “but this is no place to share them. We must make our own wild den for this night. The gods will not favor us if we den where they have been disrespected.”

Ketahn moved back, dipping his head to Garahk. “Yes. Let us see to our friends’ wounds and hasten from this accursed place.”

“I will remain and watch over the area,” Telok said. “There may be more of Zurvashi’s worms yet to return to their camp.”

“Two of Kaldarak’s best will keep watch with you,” Garahk said. “When the sun crests, they will guide you to our wild den.”

“What of the…shrine?” Rekosh asked.

The thornskull pounded the blunt end of his spear on the ground. “Crushed to dust. The Blooddrinker Queen will not rise again while Kaldarak lives. This is true, beneath sun and sky. By my blood and fury.”

“Queen of dust,” Rekosh said with a snap of his fangs. And that quickly, he dismissed Zurvashi from his thoughts, shifting his attention to his mate. He brushed the long, black strands of her hair from her face and tucked them behind her rounded ear, his fingers lingering to caress it. “I will tend to you,kir’ani vi’keishi.”

Ahmya smiled and looped an arm around his head, tugging him down so she could touch her forehead to his headcrest. In a soft voice, she said, “And I will tend to you, myluveen.”

Rekosh closed his eyes. He felt every wound he’d suffered over the last few days. Every struggle weighed upon him, every stress clawed at him. But none of it mattered, because his mate was in his arms, alive, and they were going home.

CHAPTER 31

Ahmya lookedout over the valley from her perch astride Rekosh’s hindquarters.

She remembered the first time she’d seen Kaldarak. It had been wondrous and magical, like a fairytale village with its treehouses and rope bridges, backed by an ancient temple and a shimmering waterfall, where rainbows danced on the mist when the sun hit it just right.

But it had also been terrifying. A new, unknown place, populated by giant, spiky spider-beings who might not have been so accepting of a bunch of shadowstalkers and humans.

The terror had long since passed, but the beauty of Kaldarak had only grown.

Placing her hands on Rekosh’s shoulders, Ahmya clenched her thighs on his hindquarters and lifted herself higher to peer past him, ignoring the aches and pains in her body. Despite the distance, she could see the thornskulls gathered on the main platform. She could even make out the humans standing amongst the vrix.

We are home.

She settled back down and smiled as excitement rushedthrough her. She couldn’t wait for this new beginning, this new life with Rekosh. “Will we be living in your den or mine?”

A thoughtful hum rumbled in Rekosh’s chest as he followed Garahk and the other thornskulls down the path into the valley. “Nalaki may offer us a den for a mated pair, as she did for Ketahn and Ivy. But I would rather live in your den than mine,kir’ani vi’keishi.”

“Why mine?”

“Because it is made for your comfort and is where you grow your flowers. And because I want to be wrapped in your scent.”

Ahmya blushed, but her smile widened. “Will you make us a fluffed silk bed? I don’t think you’d fit on my little pallet.”

He chittered. “Anything you desire, you shall have. Only the softest silk to cradle you, mynyleea.”

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