Army of the Goddess: A Bona Dea Novel (Stormflies Book 2) Read Free Page A

Quinn prayed they would eventually end all together.
    He drew her closer into the nook of his shoulder and kissed the top of her head, inhaling the fragrance of sweet laurens from her favorite hair treatment. Spring was in her hair. He chuckled at his own humor.
    “What's funny now?” she questioned.
    “A bad pun in my head.”
    “Oh,” she acknowledged, allowing him to leave it where it was.
    She failed to show any interest in laughing, and Quinn realized he missed hearing her laugh. For now, they accepted the silence of the evening.
    +++
    12 th Unimont 308 (Hopesday)
    Holton Elgar Hannely glanced at his watch and attempted to hold his irritation at bay while Ole fumbled through his inventory of seeds. Parchment packages were stacked in precarious columns, each supported by another stack. If one collapsed, the others would scatter like dominos. Each packet rattled on a different note like a hollow gourd depending on the size and quantity of the seed inside. Ole collected these seeds from travelers as they came through Range End, and the catalog was amazing. From winged seeds of the towering Leviathanus hardwoods of the Northwest forests to the triangular seeds the size of pinheads from the creeping chime flower that struck musical chords when disturbed. And the Lacaria flower, a delicate tropical orchid from the island of the Sleeper, a dormant volcano a thousand kiloms south of the mainland.
    This was Holton's last stop before catching the morning bus to Undun City in order to catch the noon bus to North Compass to get home tonight before midnight. He didn't want to be stuck in Undun overnight, not if he might run into his brother Quinn by accident. The likelihood of such an accidental meeting constituted a slim percentage of possible events, but he didn't wish to test the statistics. If his mother found out he was in Undun for any stay-over, she would needle him about spying on Quinn and his new wife-to-be or, even worse, making a visitation call.
    Holton didn't want to see Quinn any more than his brother was interested in seeing him. He was quite content that his little brother, by two years, had chosen to abscond from his hometown and family and stay away. Quinn had no place interfering with the lives of the Elgars. He advised his mother to force the youngest son to surrender his family name, but she refused to relinquish hold over her child completely.
    “Ole, get a move on, please,” Holton pressured, rocking on his feet. He watched the frail, white-haired man carefully navigate the collection, anticipating an avalanche of paper packets. What few tufts of hair remained on Ole's head danced like wisps in the breeze. “I have somewhere else to be.”
    “Bah! You're always in a hurry,” the white bearded man scoffed his urgency. “If you wanted to make that bus, you should have showed up last night, instead of extending your visit with Miss Jenny. Stay awhile. Why do you want to get home?”
    Holton felt his cheeks blaze with embarrassment. No one was supposed to know about Jenny. He didn't want any word getting back to his wife, especially if Canna felt he was being unfaithful, which he wasn't. He enjoyed her companionship when he was away from home, and she understood he was only interested in a platonic relationship, despite her flirtatious efforts. She respected the boundaries.
    “I made this appointment with you weeks ago,” Holton hissed impatiently. “You knew I was to be here this morning. Why don't you have my package ready?”
    Ole just waved with a shaky hand and continued to dig into his piles, careful in his movements despite his symptomatic quivers. “Ah. Here we go. Twelve Lacaria seeds, ready to germinate. You'll need to plant them in containers where you can keep them warm. Your northern temperatures are too harsh for these delicate blossoms.”
    “Yes, yes. I know. Mother is planting them in the house.” Holton snatched the packet from the old man's hand. “And here are your requested