Free Amazon Queen by Lori Devoti Page B

are our best hope.”
    “The sons who are out of town? Who won’t be back for some time?” She watched me from the corner of her eyes.
    “They may not be. I don’t know, but Mel is coming back early. We spoke last night.” We hadn’t and it wouldn’t be that hard for Thea to find out I was lying, but I felt no need to be completely honest with her. Basic need to know facts . . . I was going to Madison to get information on the sons or the baby. She was staying here to help Areto protect the camp.
    I turned my attention back to the warrior. “You will be in charge until I get back.”
    Areto’s eyes flicked to the side toward Thea, but if the high priestess was annoyed by my decision, she didn’t show it.
    “Your friend left the tribe. What makes you think she will help us?”
    I smiled. “I don’t . . . or at least she won’t do anything
because
it helps us, but if I can convince her a child is at risk . . . ” I shook my head. “Goddess bless the son who gets in her way.”
    *   *   *
    I was asleep, or as asleep as I get, when two soft taps of someone’s knuckles on my door awakened me. I was on my feet, my staff in my hand, before a third could sound.
    Dressed only in an oversized T-shirt, I padded to the door and waited. Two more raps, silence, and then another. Code to let me know a warrior was waiting on the other side.
    Keeping the staff ready, I opened the door.
    Areto, her mouth grim, greeted me. “Bern. She found a body. One of the birders, we think.”
    I jerked on a pair of shorts and followed her.
    It was maybe one in the morning. The full moon was past, but the night was still bright enough to make out the two people in the yard. Bern stood with her arms hanging stiffly at her side. Thea stood beside her looking authoritative and in control.
    When I stepped onto the sidewalk, she strode toward me. “One of your bird-watchers?” She motioned to where a human-sized hump lay under the oak that dominated our yard.
    I glanced at Bern, but even with the moon’s light her expression was unreadable. As if sensing my thoughts, Thea flipped on a flashlight. “Bern says she found her next to the obelisk.”
    I cut my gaze to the silent warrior. “Dead?”
    She inclined her head slightly.
    I returned her nod and looked back at the body. “Were there others? Any sign more had been there?”
    A shake this time.
    Processing this, I walked to the body. I recognized her instantly—the woman who had challenged me, the leader of the group. She was dressed as I’d seen her earlier, same cheery yellow T-shirt with suns and daisies, same khaki shorts.
    “Heart attack?” I asked, this time of Thea.
    “No. It looks like she was strangled with these.” In her hand was a pair of nunchakus. The pair I’d lost in the woods while fighting with the son.
    “Are they . . . ?” She twisted them over. A crescent moon was carved on the end of one stick. I didn’t need to answer; that told her they were mine.
    “Of course, Bern . . . Areto tells me she’s an expert with these.” Thea paused as if waiting for me to say something . . . to jump on the story, to lay blame on Bern?
    I looked at the warrior who still stood silently watching. “Did you kill her?”
    “No.” Her first word, and I believed her.
    I looked back at Thea. “She didn’t do it.”
    “But if she didn’t, then who . . . ” She glanced at the crescent, then pressed her lips shut.
    “The son?” I offered, although I didn’t believe that either. The son had no gripe with the birders. Why would he kill one? Unless it was to make trouble for us.
    I bent down to study the body. The skin on her neck was waxy, almost transparent in places, but her face was a dark angry red. I picked up her hand; her fingers were limp. I motioned for Thea to direct the flashlight beam closer. As she did, I pressed my fingers against the flesh of the bird-watcher’s underarm. The white imprint where my fingers had touched shone white. I checked her eyes