Page 70 of Sun Warrior

“Eat if you’re hungry. Drink if you’re thirsty,” Nik said.

“Well, yeah, I figured that, but I meant—where are we staying tonight?”

Before Nik could respond, Mari spoke up. “Where do you want to stay?”

O’Bryan shrugged—Nik thought too nonchalantly, especially when his gaze kept wandering away to find Sora. “I think at least Davis, Antreas, Sheena, and I should stay here. What if those infected males show up? And Rose, Sarah, and Lydia have to stay here and heal—atleast for several nights. I don’t think they could make it back to the Tribe, provided they still want to go back.”

“Bast and I will stay,” Antreas said. “If that’s okay with Mari and Sora.”

“If Bast stays here I stay here,” Danita said quickly.

“Don’t you think you’d rest better back at Mari’s burrow?” Antreas said—not unkindly, but firmly.

Danita narrowed her gray eyes at him, and her hand found Bast’s head. “If Bast stays here… I stay here,” she repeated slowly and distinctly.

Bast’s bright yellow gaze lifted to her Companion and she began purring so loudly that it almost covered Antreas’s long-suffering sigh.

“That’s fine with me,” Mari said. “Actually, Nik, maybe we should stay here tonight, too. Sora might need help with—”

“Nope, don’t need any help at all,” Sora said through a mouthful of stew as she rejoined their group. “Or rather, Isabel, Danita, and even O’Bryan can help me keep things in order tonight. You rest or I’m going to end up taking care of you, too.”

Sounding a lot like Sora, Mari snorted. “That’s an exaggeration.”

“You almost fell over just a few minutes ago. Go back to our burrow. Brew yourself some of that chamomile and lavender tea I already put together for you; it’s in the basket—”

“I know where it is,” Mari said, sounding exasperated. “I just feel like I should be doing something more.”

All teasing left Sora’s expression as she answered her friend, “You saved the Tribe. You saved me. Mari, even Leda couldn’t have done more.”

“Really?” Mari asked.

“Really,” Sora said.

Mari turned to Nik and stepped into the circle of his arms. “Nik, would you and Laru and Rigel please take me home?”

“It would be our honor, Moon Woman,” Nik said as Laru and Rigel barked agreement and Cammy jumped happily around them.

CHAPTER 17

Mari expected the walk home to be a trudging trek of misery, but she couldn’t have been more wrong. The moon was fully risen and cast a soft, silvery light through the whispering cottonwoods and tall, regal cedar trees that was so bright she and Nik were able to stroll side by side, her hand in his, newly healed of its burns by moon magick, while Rigel managed to tease Laru into a game of try-to-take-the-stick-from-him. She and Nik laughed at the pup, whose paws and ears were still entirely too big for his adolescent body, and at Laru, whose patience was very obviously being tested.

“Laru’s really a sweet canine,” Mari said as Rigel tried unsuccessfully to take a stick from the adult Shepherd and then both canines sprinted down the path, scattering leaves and jumping over logs.

“He’ll always remind me of Father.”

Mari studied Nik’s face. “Does it hurt to be reminded of him all the time?”

“No.” Nik looked surprised. “Not at all. It’s comforting. What reminds you of your mother?”

Mari considered before answering. “Hm, lots of things actually. Maidenhair ferns, because she loved using them for hair on her favorite Earth Mother idols. Forget-me-nots, because they were her favoriteflower. She washed with rosemary and rosewater, so that herb and that flower remind me of her every time I cook with rosemary, or smell a blossoming rose. And, of course, the moon.” Mari lifted her face to the silver orb. “The moon will always remind me of Mama. You’re right. It’s comforting. It’s like part of her is still here.”

“Part of herisstill here. You’re part of her, Mari. As long as you remember her, and your children remember her, and even your children’s children remember, your mother will still be here.”

Those two words,your children,seemed to hover in the night air around Mari, mixing with the light of the moon, so bright that it tinged the forest with an aqua blue that made her feel as if she and Nik, Rigel and Laru, had passed through a veil and were walking in a magickal land populated only by them.Your children…

Mari snuck a glance at Nik. Trying to sound nonchalant, she asked, “Do you want children?”

When he didn’t respond, Mari felt her face flushing. Had that been a stupid question? She hadn’t ever been interestedlike thatin any male before Nik, and she suddenly felt like a bumbling fool. She’d thought he felt the same—had beensurehe felt the same—but his silence told her something else entirely.