Panthers of Brigantia Shifter Box Set

by Lisa Daniels

  Haiden coughed, reminding Hector that Itzel was not the only one there. “Hector, we know that you are not happy with the situation, but surely you know how precarious her position is. I don’t want to see what happened to Iris happen to the queen.”

  Itzel was surprised by how cold Hector became at the comparison between Iris and Freya. “The dangers of what could happen if the queen were to become emotionally volatile are far worse.”

  Itzel smiled to herself. He does realize it. Good. Just don’t take too long or everyone will be in real trouble. Keeping her thoughts to herself, Itzel spoke straight into Hector’s mind, What do you know of Natalya?

  Haiden was momentarily shocked. The mental bond between them should have been broken when Freya fled. But here they were, talking without her help. Itzel raised an eyebrow at him to remind him that he would need to talk to Hector at a later time to find out how it was possible. Haiden’s jaw clenched, and he was clearly unamused by her obvious reminder.

  Unaware of their exchange, Hector responded, I know that she was the king’s lover and I know what she did to a young child until the king’s death. I know that the queen is hiding something about her, something you just learned. Unlike you, I will not press her because if she has secrets, she will reveal them when she needs to, to the people who need to know.

  Haiden spoke up as the voice of reason, She is in grave danger, yet she is exacerbating it. He did not tell Hector that the champions and assassins were well aware of the corruption. After what had happened to the seers, the mystics were probably the only magic users foolish enough to think they were immune from Unwashed infiltration. Even the druids had taken a number of precautions to ensure that none of their corrupted sisters could ever return. If the Unwashed ever figured out how to corrupt a druid. So far all they could do was add them to a heart, which was terrifying enough to the druids.

  Hector responded in a way that was predictable. She has spent her entire life in grave danger.

  Itzel knew that a little push was needed to make him stop being so damn stubborn. You do not understand the full extent—

  Hector’s thoughts cut her off, I would like to remind you about being condescending. What I do not know about Natalya is nothing compared to what you do not know of the queen. His eyes were colder than when they had met, but still so much warmer than Darius’s. He bowed. “I hope you have a pleasant trip.” He did not wait for a response.

  As soon as she knew he was out of earshot, Itzel groaned, “Gods, but this is such a shock to the system after the last few weeks.”

  Haiden held out his arm to her. Itzel beamed at him as she threaded her arm through his. “Thank you, kind sir.”

  The conversation was light as they moved away from the palace. They talked merrily for a few miles as they headed to a small café on the bay. The place was relatively secluded a little distance from the port, which was guaranteed to be busy. It would be tricky to blend in with Haiden’s appearance, but at least he wasn’t carrying his weapons. This would draw less attention. Itzel’s appearance would have drawn attention, but she could easily be mistaken for a mystic. Few people had ever seen a druid, so she knew that most of them would assume she was a mystic trying to hide her identity behind a fake hair color. Keeping her eyes trained on Haiden, she knew that no one would notice her strange eye coloring.

  They sat outside and ordered drinks. As soon as the wait staff was gone, Itzel placed a small bubble around them.

  Haiden’s smile immediately dropped. “I hope that you had a good reason for angering both of them.”

  “They are in love, but neither is willing to be the first to admit it again.”

  “Again?”

  “You don’t want to know, Haiden, you really don’t want to know. Just enjoy your Harmony and appreciate that she is so much more honest about her feelings than those two fools.”

  Haiden shook his head, “They aren’t the only fools.”

  “I made my admission long ago, and it did not last. He wanted something else, and these days I have to agree with him.”

  “Putting on a brave face will only eat you up inside.”

  “You are quite right, Haiden, and I would listen to your advice if it applied. Fortunately, it isn’t one of my current problems. I was in love with him when you were a cub. It’s not like he is that enthralling.”

  “I will always be available to you if you want to talk.”

  Itzel smiled at him. “Haiden.” She placed a hand on his and scooted her chair closer. “I love you.”

  Pulling his hand out from under hers, the champion rolled his eyes, “I don’t mean now. When you are ready to talk. Honestly instead of with all of your diversions.”

  Itzel giggled, “There is nothing to talk about. Really, that was so long ago and he isn’t that irresistible.”

  “I disagree. I find him to be pretty irresistible.” Haiden smiled at her.

  “You’re a jerk.” Itzel giggled.

  Haiden put an arm around her and pulled her close. “You will be okay. Just put that incredible intuition to use on yourself so that you can heal properly. I really want to see you more often, which you won’t be able to do if you are stuck at home.”

  “I am stuck there no matter what anyway.”

  “True, but with everything going on, clearly they are willing to let you slip away once in a while.”

  Itzel placed her head on his shoulder and let herself feel the warmth of someone else for the first time in several hundred years. “Harmony is a very lucky lady. You make sure to tell her I said that.”

  The way he laughed was comforting, but it caused tears to spring to Itzel’s eyes, and she looked away from him. Not noticing the change in Itzel, Haiden responded, “I would if she knew who you were. That is how little the rest of the world knows about you; not even some of the most well-traveled seers have heard of most of you. That will not change if you stay locked away. The assassins are the only ones who get any recognition, and I dare say they get far too much exposure. It’s like they thrive on their reputations. I cannot imagine there are any the world doesn’t know about.”

  Blinking rapidly to fight back the tears, Itzel made sure he couldn’t see her face. She couldn’t help but laugh at his words because there was one assassin who definitely did not want to be known. “We are known when we need to be. That is enough for me.”

  “We both know that is not true. You don’t need to lie to me, Itzel.”

  The druid looked at the horizon with mountains looming much closer. “The view isn’t as pretty from here. The mountains look almost like they are smoking.” She laughed as she tried to change the subject, then something clicked in her mind. “Oh, shit.”

  “Itzel.” A low voice behind them caused Haiden and Itzel to turn around. Their eyes moved down to the water where sitting in a little boat was a man with white hair and pink eyes. He wore a very large and floppy hat that did not match anything about his demeanor.

  “Darius!” Itzel stood up so quickly, she knocked the chair over.

  “We need to leave.”

  “What did you do?” Itzel stood at the edge of the café’s porch, leaning over the rails. “What did you do?” The smoke from the mountains across the water was getting thicker.

  Haiden pulled her back and placed himself between Itzel and the man in the boat. “Who is he?”

  The cold pink eyes looked up at him without any emotion. “I’m Darius. A guardian.” He moved the hat so that even more of the white hair was obvious, then he placed it back on his head.

  Haiden looked over at Itzel. She pursed her lips, saying, “Darius, this is Haiden. Haiden, Darius. And Darius, Haiden isn’t an idiot.”

  Darius looked up at her, “You know that I’m not going to take your word for it. Having his arm around someone like you in broad daylight in a place like this does not inspire positive assumptions about his intellectual capabilities.”

  Haiden’s eyebrows went up. For a moment, no one said anything. Then he burst in
to laughter. Pulling her closer and whispering in her ear, he said, “If not for the fact that you are clearly with him, I would have believed him. I’ve never heard of a Darius before. I think you owe me some information.”

  “I don’t know what you are talking about,” she mumbled, her eyes trained on Darius.

  Haiden traced a finger along her face, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. She knew he was drawing out her discomfort, and she tried to brace herself for whatever he was going to ask. “Have Draven or Maverick seen you within the last 50 years?”

  Itzel screwed up her face. That was not what she had expected at all. “They have both been by in the last decade or two.”

  His mouth was still close to her ear as he said, “It figures Draven would pick up on it. That bastard. Still. I would rather give money to him than that asshole Maverick.” He pulled away. “It is my pleasure to meet you, Darius. Do tell the Order I said hello.” He placed an arm around Itzel, then kissed her on the top of the head. “I withdraw my offer. Clearly, you were actually being honest, and you will be fine.”

  Itzel stood still. “What is that supposed to mean? Haiden? Haiden!” Haiden walked away from them, one hand in his pocket, and the other waving. Itzel wanted to talk to him longer, but it was obvious that he was not going to talk. Realizing that Darius had stirred up a hornet’s nest nearby, Haiden would definitely be in trouble because there was no question he was a jaguar shifter. “What about protection?”

  He stopped and looked at her with a sly smile, “That isn’t going to be necessary.”

  “But Harmony would be happy to know that you had it.”

  “Oh, you mean that protection.” He tilted his head to the side to consider it for a moment as Itzel tried to figure out what he had thought she meant. “Nah, it’s fine,” he said, then began to walk away again. “I would say see you back home, but I will probably have Harmony out of there before you make it. Not that you guys bother to come around to say hi anyway.” He gave her a lopsided grin before turning and leaving.

  “Haiden, don’t you just walk away. You know this place is dangerous now, don’t just walk away without any—”

  “I have Harmony’s protection, and that is enough. Besides, I know that I would not win, so I’m just going to decline your generous offer.”

  “What are you talking about?” Itzel was showing more emotion now than in the entire time she had been in the palace.

  “It is so good to see you so lively. And being so much more open. I look forward to hearing about it. And I don’t just mean from Draven.”

  The champion moved very quickly and was nearly out of earshot when he turned, “I won’t forget to tell him about Legend. I look forward to hearing about it in a few months.”

  “What do you look forward to hearing about? You son of—” Itzel was on the verge of throwing a fit when a low voice cut across her shouting.

  “That son of a bitch left you to take care of the bill.” Itzel felt a hand wrap around her arm. “We need to go.” The sound of metal hitting the table made her turn her focus to a different problem. One where she needed a lot more details to know how to react.

  Taking a deep breath, the druid turned to look at Darius. His eyes were watching Haiden leave, but there was something in the assassin’s eyes that Itzel did not recognize. “What is wrong with you?”

  This seemed to snap him out of wherever his thoughts had been. “I hope that things were as productive for you as they were for me.”

  “Darius,” her voice was full of warning, “you will tell me now what you did, or so help me—”

  “Look out toward the mountain and tell me that you still want to waste time yelling at me here.”

  Itzel rolled her eyes, then looked out at the water. Having eyesight more like that of a hawk than a human, she could see robed figures running around preparing a few boats. “They wouldn’t cover over here and let it be known that they were in the country.”

  “You have no idea how many corrupted they have. Had. Still, I’m not going to underestimate their stupidity. We need to go.”

  Itzel let him pull her away from the little café. “Darius, what did you do?”

  There weren’t many patrons, but the few that were there were blissfully unaware of the danger just on the other side of the bay. They had lost interest in Itzel and Darius after Haiden had disappeared from sight. Most of them where regular humans who worked in the mystics’ country. Unlike the seers, they knew that the magic users were in charge, not humans, and they were more than happy to ignore whatever magical intrigues were occurring around them. Solona was on the rise, and everything was right with the world. It made things a little easier for the druid and the assassin. Since Darius looked like a guardian, the café patrons and people on the street barely paid them any attention, not wanting to get caught up in whatever was happening.

  Itzel felt a small twinge of jealousy for how easy their lives were. It didn’t last more than a second, but that was long enough to remind her what was at stake. Shaking her mind out of the confusion of Haiden’s departure, she began to move quickly, trusting Darius to get them to a safe place.

  Chapter 4

  A Little Wager

  Itzel was finding it incredibly difficult to keep up with Darius as he walked quickly away from the water. Talking really wasn’t an option for her because she needed all of her air just to keep pace. She attempted to mask her labored breathing as she struggled to keep Darius only a few feet away.

  Surprised at her silence, Darius looked back at her and noticed how much she trouble she was having. Without a word, he swept her off of her feet and lifted her onto his back.

  Itzel rested her forehead on his back and tried to catch her breath. His hat slipped to the side, and she automatically reached up and held it to his head. She finally managed to pant out, “I swear, it has only been a few hours since I told you to stay out of trouble.”

  “I’m not in any trouble.”

  “Not yet, you aren’t. But you will be.”

  His toned body shrugged under her. “I’m fairly certain no one is going to be upset. Well, no one who matters.”

  “Darius, you potentially started an international incident.”

  “No, I left that up to you in the palace, but judging by Haiden’s relaxed physique, it wasn’t as much of a disaster as it could have been.”

  Itzel pursed her lips, “I’m certain the visit will pay off. It’s all up to Hector now.”

  “Really, you put this all on Hector? Shouldn’t the queen be taking care of her people?”

  “Freya has put too much distance between herself and everyone else. She’s more like a petulant child than a queen.”

  She felt his entire body tense then release, letting her know that he was silently sighing. “You are always so much harsher to your own gender.”

  “What? I am not.” Itzel pouted, “She time shifted and ran away so that even Hector couldn’t reach her. Try telling me that isn’t childish.”

  “There is no doubt it is. Almost as childish as refusing to admit when you were wrong.”

  “When was I wrong?” Itzel’s head shot up and she stared at the back of the assassin’s head.

  “Coming here was wrong. You noticed how many Unwashed were moving on the other side of the bay. There isn’t time for a pair of lovers to work things out. Well, there wouldn’t have been time.”

  Itzel let her head fall back onto his back. “Thank you for buying them time.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  They were quiet for a few miles as he moved them to a safer place away from the city. Both of them reflected on the events of the day, but neither was ready to discuss anything in detail. Itzel was wary of talking about something emotional with someone who scoffed at emotions. She had no idea why Darius was now remaining so silent. Perhaps he didn’t feel the need to talk now that the meeting had occurred. There was no need to persuade her of anything, so perhaps he didn’t have any reason to talk to her. Itzel relax
ed against him, waiting for the enigmatic assassin to talk.

  “I think this is far enough.” His rapid walking slowed.

  Itzel looked up and noticed that they were in a forest. “Why are we here?”

  “We need to prepare.”

  “All of our stuff is already prepared and waiting for us. We just need to make it back to the vessel.”

  He placed her down. “That is now going to be put on hold.”

  “What?” Itzel placed her hands on her hips. “Why?”

  “There are Unwashed preparing to head across the bay to the capital. Are you okay with just leaving things as they are?” His tone was emotionless, but the look in his eye told her that he was amused by her lack of forethought.

  She rubbed the back of her head with her hand. “You ran off and stirred them up, and now you want to finish the job.”

  He gave her a wicked grin.

  Itzel closed her eyes and let her head drop back, forcing her neck to pop. “Ah, that’s better.” Moving her head a little, she opened her eyes again. “Yeah, you were right, we should not have come.”

  Darius raised an eyebrow. “Too late for regret now.”

  “That’s not how regret works. Any time after the event is the right time to regret.”

  He let out a rare laugh, and for a moment Itzel couldn’t help but stare at him. It’s a shame he doesn’t laugh more often. Her thoughts were strangely less annoyed at the situation and more intent on her companion. Tilting her head to the side, she asked, “And just what is so funny about that?”

  “Regret is one of the most easily avoided emotions as long as you think before you act.”

  “Not everyone is as emotionally devoid as you, Darius. Thank. The. Gods.” She smiled at him.

  He returned the smile, “I’m not emotionally devoid. Just not controlled by them. That’s why I don’t understand the right time for regret.”

  “May you never learn. Honestly, I am feeling enough regret for several people at having come here.” She looked back the way they had come. “No, I regret that I had to come. Rosaline would have been a better choice.”