Page 180 of Sun Warrior

Dove froze. “I do not intend you any harm.” Dove spoke quickly. “I only wish to seal my vow with blood, as a proper oath should be sealed.”

“It’s okay,” Sora told the canines and their Companions, who each held drawn weapons ready, aimed at Dove. “Let her make her vow.”

“Thank you, Moon Woman,” Dove said. Then, with a swift motion, she sliced the blade across her palm. She held her wounded hand aloft, squeezing until blood began to pool in her palm and trickle into the ground. “I offer my blood to the Great Goddess who protects these people. I vow to tell this Moon Woman only the truth. As long as blood flows in my veins.”

“And you believe her?” O’Bryan said.

“I believe Mari,” Sora said.

“What does that mean?” Sheena asked.

“Just yesterday Mari had a dream, and in it a dove came to her asking for sanctuary.” Sora spoke to her Pack members but kept her eyes trained on Dove. “Leda’s voice told her to give the dove sanctuary, but only if she vowed to a Moon Woman to tell the truth.”

“It is a sign from the Goddess,” Davis said softly. “You did right to grant her sanctuary.”

“Sure, if she actually answers any questions,” O’Bryan said.

“Skin Stealers—that is what the Others call us.” Dove spoke up immediately, her voice clear and pleasing. “We call ourselves the People.”

“And now I ask you again, from whom are you running?” Sora said.

“We are running from the newly awakened God of Death,” Dove said.

Sora felt a terrible chill cascade down her spine. “Dove, you say you’re running from Death. What are you to Him?”

Dove’s lips pressed into a line and Sora could see her fisting her hand around the bloody slash in it. Her shoulders slumped and her head bowed, but her voice was steady when she answered the Moon Woman.

“I was His lover.”

“And you’re important to Him?” Sora prodded.

“My body is. I am not,” Dove answered with a frankness that none of them could deny.

“Please don’t send my Mistress back there!” Lily suddenly spoke, pressing her hands nervously to her throat. “The God is loathsome! He forces Himself on her!”

“I won’t send her back—not as long as she stays true to her oath,” Sora said. “Dove, you are the lover of the God of Death, and you have run from Him, yet you say no one is following you? Explain,” Sora said.

Dove didn’t hesitate. “Death does not follow Lily and me. He doesn’t even know we have escaped Him. He is far too busy readying his Reapers to invade the City in the Trees.”

The Companions who surrounded Sora looked physically ill, staring at Dove with expressions of shock and horror.

“When are they invading?” Sora asked.

“Today, after night has fallen,” Dove said. “Death will lead the People across the ravine and into the City in the Trees while the sick and wounded sleep.”

“Sick and wounded? How does He know the Tribe is sick?” O’Bryan asked.

Dove turned her face to him. “He poisoned them, of course. It started with just one of the Others—the one the People captured several weeks ago. Since then Death made sure the poison spread.”

“Bloody beetle balls! Thaddeus!” O’Bryan had gone pale. “It’s as Mari and Nik suspected. I have to warn the Tribe!”

“Whoever is with the Others tonight in the City in the Trees will be either killed or captured.” Dove’s pleasing voice was disconcerting. It almost sounded disembodied in its emotionlessness. “You may warn them, but you will not stop their fate; you will join them in it.”

“I must—” O’Bryan began, but Sora’s hand on his arm stilled him.

“She’s telling the truth. I think this is why Mari was sent the dream of the dove—so that we were warned about what was coming.”

“Someone has to warn the Tribe, too,” Davis said.