Rawiri glanced both ways before he stepped onto the forest path and made haste to return to thepaon the hill.He called out a greeting to the warriors manning the entrance and strode to hiswharewhere he currently lived alone.
Tohungapassed knowledge and experience on to their successors, and his uncle, who had lived a long life and had never taken a woman to wife, had chosen Rawiri as his successor.Along with teaching Rawiri tattoo skills, his uncle had passed on darker arts, which he’d made Rawiri promise to use only as a last resort.
When Rawiri reached hiswhare, he ducked under the low entrance decorated with beautiful and meaningful carvings he’d done himself.He crouched next to the firepit and fed the glowing embers.Although summer loomed and thepohutukawabuds had burst into fiery red, a chill had sunk to Rawiri’s bones, and he needed the warmth to ease the working of his mind.
Rawiri sank onto the woven flax mats and held his hands to the heat from the flames.The more he thought about this, the more he knew he must take a stand against his brother.Aroha was the best candidate for the mother of his children.He’d spotted her amongst the other maidens early one morning after a vivid dream had shown him the way.
Immediately, he’d known her beauty and goodness made an excellent foil for his intelligence, his skill, and cunning.They would produce beautiful offspring together, giving birth to a great legacy that would span many, many generations into the future.
For long hours, he sat and stared into the flickering flames.
Thinking.
Planning.
He considered everything his uncle Arepeta had told him during his oral teachings, twisting and turning the possibilities.He rejected some ideas and accepted parts of others.
The hour grew late, and still, Rawiri poked at his fledgling plan.He built it piece by piece, then tore it apart and strengthened the foundations until his scheme was a thing of beauty.
Fail-safe.
Rawiri pushed to his feet and almost fell as the blood raced back into his limbs.He rotated his hands and ankles and stepped gingerly around hiswhareinterior until his strides no longer sent prickles through his legs.
He had a plan.
An audacious one, but he was of warrior stock too.In this, he was willing to take risks.
He would let the relationship play out and pretend he was a gracious loser.He’d offer his brother a unique wedding gift, and the moment his brother accepted, the fates would pivot and smile upon Rawiri.
Once his strategy played out, he’d swoop in to console Aroha.He refused to let her slip through his fingers.
Aroha was his woman.
1
Escape
Present-day, Papakura, New Zealand
Thedinnerguests—amarriedcouple and two single men—departed with smiles of thanks and waves.Nyree Wirihana stood in the doorway to her apartment and forced a return smile, despite the ticking time bomb standing at her side.
“See ya tomorrow.”Ari Steele, her live-in boyfriend, bid a cheery farewell to his friends before shutting the entrance door with a decisive click.
“I’ll stack the plates in the dishwasher,” Nyree murmured, every instinct shouting at her to retreat and to do it now.The fresh citrus and bold amber notes of Ari’s aftershave filled her nostrils, and she lengthened her steps to escape both the overpowering scent and him.
Unfortunately, Ari followed, and the fear simmering inside her ratcheted sharply upward.
“I told you I’d invited friends to dinner.”Ari’s tone hovered near a snarl.“You promised you’d be home in time to cook a dinner to impress.”Ari’s handsome face contorted into an ugly mask of fury.
Nyree took half a step back, trying to distance herself.Her breaths emerged in frantic pants.Audible gasps that signaled her panic.“I apologized.”
“You went to the pub with your friends,” he roared.
“We had one drink after work,” she tried to explain.“One drink to celebrate getting a new client.Your friends seemed to enjoy the meal,” she added, inwardly wincing.The wrong thing to say.“I’m truly sorry, Ari.The dinner slipped my mind.”
“I’ll give you sorry,” he snarled and raised his fists.
The next day, Nyree hunched in the bus seat and waited until the other passengers stood to exit before she gritted her teeth and forced her legs to carry her weight.
