by RJ Blain
Sometimes, hiding behind the truth worked best. “For half a million, people are going to try to break into your house to get me. I’m not going to put your mares at risk, Todd, not with so many of them pregnant.”
“I’m aware of the risks.”
“It’s a live bounty. That’s good for me, right?”
“In theory.”
“Someone with a half a million to waste on a live bounty doesn’t go to Miami, and I haven’t ditched any men who could even possibly be that wealthy. I’ll wear makeup, stick to dresses, and change my sword for some other weapon until the banquet. At the banquet, who is going to be stupid enough to try to collect on a bounty?”
“Most of the attendees?”
I ran my hand through my hair and gave my scalp a good scratching. “Okay, you may have a point there.”
“Dresses like that little Chinese number you wore yesterday might work. Add a katana, use a bit of makeup, and dye your hair black, and you could even pass as a mix of some sort. Hispanic, maybe.” Todd turned to face me, looking me over. “A trim to change your hair length a little might help, too. With dark hair and a little bit of makeup, you might pass as Native American.”
“Make it longer.”
He frowned. “What?”
“Have Cleo make my hair longer. It’s much easier to cut hair than it is to lengthen it. If he’s a doctor worth his salt, he can make it longer, right?”
“All right. I’ll send someone out for everything you need. I want someone with you at all times. At least that way, if you do get grabbed, someone will know. You’re really not going to cooperate with me on this, are you?”
“You wouldn’t hide if you were the target.” I clacked my teeth together before I lost control of my temper and reminded him he had been grabbed by a rival mercenary guild once. Rescuing him hadn’t been part of my plan, but I’d gotten caught up in the fuss along with the rest of the Lancers.
He sighed and shook his head. “Fine. You’re insane, but fine. We’ll do it your way. Be careful. Stay in the house whenever possible. Take someone with you at all times. Maybe we’ll get lucky and the bounty will be cancelled.”
With an opening offer of half a million dollars, I really doubted it’d be cancelled unless proven fraudulent, and with so much money at stake, if the mayor hadn’t cleared the bounty first, I’d be shocked. Instead of arguing with him, I nodded. “I’ll play it safe.”
Todd yanked open the door to his room and bellowed for Cleo. I emerged in time to catch a glimpse of the mares retreating into the safety of their chambers, safe from their stallion’s frayed temper.
The donkey hurried down the hall, his eyes wide as he took in Todd’s furious expression. “What do you need?”
“Fix her hair.”
Cleo glanced at me. “What’s wrong with it?”
“Make it longer. Fix the color. I don’t know, make her look like a Chinese mix or something.”
With a long-suffering sigh, the mystic hung his head. “I can’t do mass alterations to her biology, Todd. There’s nothing Chinese about her. A hint of Hispanic, maybe, but not Chinese. I can lengthen her hair and maybe add a few streaks to it, but that’s it.”
“Your workshop,” Todd ordered.
Cleo’s workshop proved to be a medical facility, one so modern I whistled my appreciation of the machines lining the walls, the cabinets loaded with medical equipment, and the gentle hum of electricity.
“Holy shit, Cleo. This is amazing. Do hospitals even have half this stuff?”
“Todd takes his herd seriously,” the mystic informed me. “Up on the table. I may as well draw blood and run a DNA scan while I have you here. If you’re close to your first shift, there should be DNA markers indicating your species.”
Unwilling to set Todd off again, I hopped up on the padded table and swung my legs back and forth, wincing when Cleo drew a small vial of blood before working his magic on my hair, adding an extra six inches to its length. Instead of dye, he did something that made my scalp ache but darkened my hair in streaks. I itched, too, but I didn’t complain.
Itching beat being kidnapped any day of the week.
“This isn’t going to work, Todd,” the donkey muttered, circling me and shaking his head. “Too many people saw her at our guild. They know who she is. Half a million dollars is plenty of motivation to break guild bonds. They’d pay the fine and move on without blinking an eye.”
Todd spewed so many curses I thought he’d give himself a stroke before he managed to regain control of his temper. “She refuses to stay at the house.”
“Jesse, stay at the house. It’s only until the banquet. If your admirer has half a million dollars to spare, he’ll be at the banquet. Two birds with one stone. It’s much safer that way—and gives us a week to plan.”
While I wanted to smack Cleo around for siding with Todd, I frowned and considered his perspective. “That’s a fair assessment.”
The jackass smirked at me. “So you’ll stay at the house?”
“Fine. There’ll be a lot of chances for people to grab me going to and from the mayoral palace anyway.” I ground my teeth together and swallowed my curses. “If I die from boredom, Todd, I will haunt you.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Why don’t you go make arrangements for her clothes and weapons, Todd? She’s not going to run into any problems in my lab.”
Snarling curses, the stallion stormed out and slammed the door behind him.
“I don’t suppose you’d be interested in splitting half a million with me, would you?”
“No, Jesse. I’m not going to turn you in for your bounty and share it with you after the fact, especially without knowing who wants you and why. I haven’t seen Todd that angry in ages. What did you tell him?”
“I beat up four men in Miami and left them in a bar. He didn’t seem to like that very much. They didn’t look like they came from money.”
Cleo sighed. “Do you cause trouble and chaos wherever you go?”
Sometimes I did. Sometimes I didn’t. Trouble was for the living, and when I worked, all I brought was death. “I really should leave.”
Telling Nate I was Water Viper had likely caused the bounty on my head. If he told anyone, if anyone had overheard, it was possible the wrong people had learned who I was. When trouble came calling, I didn’t want to bring anyone else down with me.
“If it becomes dangerous, I’ll help you get out,” Cleo promised.
“You’re wise.” The weight of melancholy settled over me. There was nothing good about a live bounty, not if they hunted the Water Viper instead of Jesse Alexander. Instead of a quick death by a bounty hunter, I’d pay for my crimes with a lot more than my life.
I really was too stupid to live, and I had set the timer for my fall.
“Cheer up. It can’t be that bad.” Cleo gave my shoulder a companionable pat. “For all you know, you caught the eye of someone from a wealthy clan. Clan leaders have paid far more to make one of their members happy. Todd would pay far more to lure a stallion for one of his daughters if given half a chance. It might not be what you think.”
Ignorance was bliss, and I forced a smile and a nod for Cleo’s benefit. I said nothing at all so I wouldn’t have to add to the pile of lies I’d already told.
Chapter Nine
However tempted I was to kill Cleo for drugging me so I’d stay put, I ultimately accepted it as inevitable. Mystics cheated. It was part of why I ended up in bed with them rather than shifters. Sometimes, I couldn’t resist courting trouble, and mystics almost always managed to deliver. They often infuriated me with their underhanded tactics, and fury made it easy to walk away. When the heat of desire and passion cooled, we went our separate ways, content to move on to bigger, better things.
In my more lucid moments, I was aware of Todd snapping at Cleo, who withstood the stallion’s fury without a single sign of concern. I gave credit where credit was due; Todd didn’t like me drugged anymore than I did,
although the medication left me in a blissfully disconnected state. I had a hazy memory of telling Todd the insufferable jackass had the right idea.
Cleo laughed, Todd snorted, and the next time I woke, I dragged myself out of bed, staggered my way to the shower, and began the tedious process of digging myself out of my drug-induced mire.
I was hard at work trying to figure out what to do with my longer hair when Todd swept in with Cleo hot on his heels.
“I had nothing to do with it,” the stallion declared, halting in the doorway, his body tense. He slid into a defensive stance, which amused a dry chuckle out of me. When I didn’t answer, Todd straightened. “Are you all right?”
“When does the banquet start?”
“Tonight.”
I sucked in a breath through clenched teeth, struggling to come to terms with having lost almost an entire week. “Please tell me no one made a run at your house while I was napping.”
“No one did,” the stallion replied.
I stared at Cleo. The mystic grinned. “It’s true. It’s been quiet. The guild’s on alert, and Todd has made it clear he won’t tolerate anyone turning you in; you’re working a guild job, and it would smear our reputation.”
While money drove mercenaries, the guild losing its reputation meant fewer jobs, and fewer jobs meant less income, so the average merc balked at the idea of defaming their guild. The arrangement worked well, especially for freelancers like me, who judged a guild by its reputation, “All right. Did you find out who is behind the bounty?”
“Nary a peep,” Todd grumbled, stepping into my room and heading for the closet. “In light of your circumstances, I’ve made arrangements for us to stay at the mayoral palace during the banquet. That should keep most people from touching you. We have an entire suite of rooms, so it should be safe enough there. I’ve already taken the liberty of having your attire for the festivities taken to the palace. We’ll be leaving as soon as you’ve had a chance to get dressed.”
When appearances mattered, Todd had two choices: he could shift and arrive as a stallion in his full glory, or he could lower himself to riding in a carriage. “Carriage?”
Todd’s cheek twitched. “No.”
I felt both of my eyebrows rise. “I’m not walking five miles to the palace, Todd.”
“You’ll be riding.”
“In a ball gown.”
“Be grateful. Your dress for tonight was specifically chosen to allow you to ride. I trust you’ve ridden sidesaddle before?”
“Don’t be insulting.” I loathed riding sidesaddle. It required too much trust in a horse, it was near to impossible to keep a good seat, and I found it uncomfortable at best. “I make no promises I won’t bash the damned horse between its ears if it acts up.”
Todd grimaced. “Noted.”
The stallion’s pained expression stirred my suspicions. “You would never carry a rider, and even if you did, you’d never tolerate a saddle. Why do you look like you sat on a carrot?”
Cleo snickered. “He really means to say you’ll be riding sidesaddle style, since you’re right. He’d never tolerate a saddle. It took us all week to figure out how to decorate his majestic hide so when he shifted, he wouldn’t expose himself to every single bachelorette in attendance.”
“This was not the sort of ride I was hoping for,” the stallion complained, scowling and shoving his hands in his pockets. “Stupid mares.”
“He’s upset because the mares got together and came up with the idea. If you arrive at the mayoral palace perched on Todd’s back, everyone knows you’re favored by him, and a stallion simply won’t lower himself to acting like a beast of burden unless he has affections for the one riding him. Most will assume you’re one of his mares. It makes half a million dollars look a lot less enticing, and it cranks your prestige up substantially. Few in attendance will remember or care you’re a mercenary, and those who do know will assume you were pulled into Todd’s herd and are retired. That’ll make your job easier, plus it’ll open doors closed to the regular guards.”
Torn between hysterical laughter and tears, I sat on the end of the bed and covered my face with my hands. “I’m too tired for this.”
“The drugs will wear off in the next hour or two. I’ve made breakfast for you, and once you’re done eating, several of the mares have volunteered to help you get ready. They’ll be in attendance, too. Todd called in some favors with his colts, who were happy to offer their backs to their dams to keep their sire from biting them. He’s been a bit nippy this week. I recommend you smack his nose if he tries to bite on the way to the palace.”
It amazed me Cleo was still alive, considering his utter lack of fear of Todd and his temper. “One of these days he’s going to get tired of your attitude and flatten you.”
“He loves me too much to kill me, and he knows he won’t find a better mystic to take care of his precious mares.”
While I wanted to remind Cleo he wasn’t invincible, the instant I opened my mouth, Todd would happily open fire and remind me of all the various ways I’d tried to get myself killed over the years. I wasn’t much older than the donkey, which didn’t bode well for my winning the fight. Instead of arguing, I nodded, shrugged, and turned my attention back to Todd. “No leads on who is behind the bounty?”
“Nothing. It’s being handled by the Dawnfire Guild, and they aren’t talking.”
Of all the guilds and orders based in Charlotte, Dawnfire held the top spot for firepower and prestige. The best of the best got in, and those who did earn a place in the guild worked hard to stay there. They augmented government policing forces, and when someone wanted an ironclad bounty, Dawnfire handled it.
If Dawnfire backed a bounty, it was serious business. A shiver worked its way through me. With Dawnfire managing the bounty, I had several assurances. With them, live meant live, and the bounty payer was forbidden to violate the terms of their own bounty. It should have reassured me a little, but it didn’t.
Live only meant I had to keep breathing; it didn’t ensure my safety, nor did it prevent the bounty payer from imprisoning me for the rest of my life. It also didn’t stop them from inflicting a slow, miserable death on me.
They couldn’t torture me or directly murder me, but they could toss me in a cell, throw away the key, and wait for me to die from dehydration or starvation.
Whoever wanted me truly had the money and wanted me enough to legitimize their claim through the one guild with the reputation and standing capable of just about anything.
The thought of Todd and the Lancers’ Alliance facing off against Dawnfire worried me. “You didn’t approach them directly, did you?”
“Of course I did. Every guild leader in the city has approached them about your bounty. I ran into three of them when I went in looking for details. The bounty’s legitimate, Dawnfire’s been authorized to pay out if the bounty is fulfilled, and they’ve been authorized to rebuke anyone who violates the terms of the live bounty.”
“Rebuke?”
“Someone really wants you alive, and the party behind your bounty has stipulated if you’re injured or killed, those responsible will have a kill bounty of no less than ten thousand on their heads, dependent on the severity of your injuries.”
I groaned and sprawled on the bed. “I’m going to be safer than the fucking President of the United States with those terms.”
Sighing, Todd sat on the bed beside me. “Dawnfire doesn’t accept bounties from just anyone, either. The theory it’s someone attending the banquet is even more likely. Are you really sure you haven’t rubbed elbows with a sophisticate, Jesse?”
“The type of men I rub elbows with are not the type of men who’d ever attend a banquet, Todd. I’m not that stupid.”
Nate had been good looking, but nothing about him made me think rich or powerful, although him choosing to remain in the presence of a pulsing Starfall stone did put him among the insane or excessively brave.
Then again, I still had the damned thing, a
nd it was a miracle no one else knew about it. Todd valued privacy, so no one in their right mind would go through my things without my permission, not if they wanted to remain a part of his herd.
“I know you’re not. Leaving four men on a bar in Miami, however, wasn’t the brightest thing you’ve done.”
“They got in my space,” I grumbled.
“Just try a little harder to find out who you’re beating up before you leave them unconscious in a bar. That’s all I’m suggesting.”
“There is no way any one of them was good for half a million, Todd. No way.” I kicked my feet. “Just because the one was disgustingly handsome doesn’t mean he could pull that much cash out of his ass!”
Todd chuckled. “That’d be quite the trick. Do I even want to know what counts as disgustingly handsome in your twisted little world?”
“He’s just mad he’s not on the list,” Cleo informed me with a wink.
“Quiet, jackass,” the stallion grumbled.
“He was just my flavor of the month.” I thought about it for a few moments and shrugged. “If he weren’t a shifter, I would’ve taken him to bed before leaving him passed out on the bar.”
Cleo snickered. “I told you, Todd. She’s only interested in mystics she can ditch. Once she shifts for the first time? She’ll be playing for keeps. You don’t want her anyway. She’d kick all your mares out of your own house and hold you hostage. You’d be a stallion with a one mare herd.”
“Felines,” Todd spat, wrinkling his nose at me.
The conversation reminded me Cleo had stolen a vial of my blood. “Did you find anything out from the blood test?”
“I did.”
I lurched upright, staring at the mystic with wide eyes. “What did you find out?”
“You’re on a short fuse, and I really, really hope I am at a safe distance when you blow. You’re close to shifting, and I can confirm you’re a feline of moderate to large size. I even have it narrowed down to five or six potential species, but I’m not going to tell you what they are. It’ll be far more fun if you discover it on your own.”