by RJ Blain
I’d count myself lucky if I emerged alive and free.
What should have taken an hour took two and a half, and Todd enjoyed wasting precious minutes posing for everyone who made the mistake of looking his way. The sun set, leaving us to navigate the streets under a mix of electric and mystic-made lights. Several times, I considered fisting my hand and clobbering the stallion between his ears for making us late and taking his time prancing around like an idiot.
Marie noticed and laughed at me.
When the first Starfall stone had smacked into Canada and left a huge crater in its wake, bathing the Earth in a shockwave of magic, other stones had also fallen from the sky. One had destroyed the heart of Charlotte, and in the years following the stone’s excavation and removal, the stubborn, surviving residents decided to own the ruins of their city rather than abandon it.
With the magic the stone granted—or cursed everyone with, as some believed—the people of Charlotte had rebuilt their home. The crater remained, a three-mile wide depression in the city’s center. The mayoral palace rose from its depths, and bridges spanned the lake surrounding the white marble building. Evidence of the shields meant to keep the place dry remained; pillars etched with runes and embedded with exhausted Starfall stones stood silent guard at the crater’s borders.
My last visit to the palace had resulted in the death of the previous mayor, a kill I still savored and refused to regret. Then, the stones had glowed a faint blue, and there’d been a lot less water beneath the magic-wrought bridges.
Two pairs of police officers defended the way to the mayoral palace. Like me, they wore a sword and a gun each, which put them as part of the task force assigned to protecting the mayor and other important dignitaries visiting Charlotte. With so many clan leaders gathered in the same place, it wouldn’t surprise me if they’d called in members of the Secret Service to help protect the important people, Todd included.
The equines didn’t have a clan leader. Stallions in charge of large herds were as close as the species got, and Todd’s herd ranked among the strongest I knew of.
“Your business?” one of the officers barked, and a faint yellow light lit his eyes.
Anger-born heat rushed through me, and I flexed my hand on the katana’s hilt. I opened my mouth to snarl a reply, but Marie’s son bumped into his sire, pulling my attention away from the cop to Marie.
“I am Lady Jacobson. We’re representing the Lancers’ Alliance and the Charlotte herd. We are here for the banquet.”
The four police officers exchanged looks before staring at me, Marie, Danielle, and Cleo. The man with the burning eyes frowned. “I do not see Lord Jacobson here.”
Todd snorted, his muscles bunching beneath me. I snatched his mane and swung my leg up and over his neck, grateful for the slit in my dress allowing me to pull the maneuver off. I clamped my legs around his barrel moments before he reared, squealing his outrage over the cop refusing to acknowledge his presence.
I spat curses, and once I was certain I wouldn’t go sliding off his back and land on my ass on the road, I leaned forward, fisted my hand, and pounded the stallion between his ears. “There will be no biting, kicking, trampling, or otherwise mangling police officers, Todd Jacobson!”
The last thing I needed was explaining to the police why four officers were flattened beneath the hooves of Todd and his sons, who were stallions in their own right. It’d be a messy—and disastrous—start to a wedding party.
The fires of hell burned in Todd’s eyes, and he turned his head to glare at me, snapping his teeth. At least he settled back to the ground, his front hooves clattering to the pavement.
Marie cleared her throat. “Lord Jacobson has honored Miss Alexander by being her escort for this evening. Our sons have seen fit to honor the rest of us. If you send word to the palace we have arrived, you will discover you are expecting us, a party of eight, to be in attendance. Our luggage for the week arrived earlier today.”
“Please excuse me. I didn’t mean any insult, Lord Jacobson.” The cop bowed, low enough to seem respectful, but the light didn’t extinguish from the man’s eyes.
I got the feeling the cop wasn’t actually sorry, and I stiffened on Todd’s back. If I said anything at all, I’d lose my temper, so I ground my teeth together to keep silent.
No one moved or said a word. Todd lifted his head, took two steps forward until he was within biting range of the police officer, and snorted. Globs of thick goo splattered onto the man’s face, and with a softer, indignant huff, the stallion guild master of the Lancers’ Alliance trotted across the bridge as though he owned the place with his herd trailing close behind him.
I considered jumping off the bridge to put an end to my misery before it began, but I sighed my surrender instead.
Chapter Eleven
Every set of cops between the bridge gates and the palace stopped us, and by the time we finally reached our destination, I was contemplating the consequences of cutting someone a little with my new sword.
With so many shifters living in the United States, the laws regarding assault and justifiable homicide accounted for provocation.
“No one would convict me,” I informed Marie, tightening my grip on my katana.
“If Todd can hold his temper, so can you.”
“He was going to paste that cop back there for refusing to bow to his stallion prowess. If I hadn’t played burr, he would’ve left me on the pavement.”
Favoring me with a smile, Marie slid off her son’s back, leaning against him and reaching out to pull his majestic, gleaming head to her. “I’m sure Todd’s very, very sorry he almost bucked you off.”
It took me several long moments to coordinate my dress so I could swing my leg up and over Todd’s rump and slide to the ground without falling on my ass. “Thank you, Todd. I’m not sorry I clobbered you, though.”
“He deserved it.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she stared at her stallion, her eyes narrowing. “Didn’t you, dear?”
Todd sighed. The process of shifting varied from individual to individual and species to species. The horse melted away, and the fabric that had been draped around him settled over his shoulders, enveloping him and shrinking along with the rest of his body. In the time it took me to suck in a breath, he’d finished his transformation, and the cloth hugged him, falling down to his ankles.
The Lancers’ Alliance guild master glared at me, shifted the heavy fabric on his shoulders, and sighed again, a gusty, annoyed sound. “Did you have to hit so hard?”
I scowled and went to work smoothing my dress, relieved the long ride hadn’t wrinkled it too much. I suspected some sort of magic at play, though the thought of a mystic wasting their powers on something as trivial as a gown bothered me.
“Yes, she did.” Marie put her hands on her hips and gave a single nod towards the staircase leading into the mayoral palace. “Behave yourself. Escort her into the building properly, and at least pretend you want to play nice with others. I swear, you can be such a child sometimes.”
“He ignored me.” Todd lifted his chin, and in the glow of the mystic lights, his jawline whitened. “He insulted you.”
“Hardly. As if I would lower myself to be insulted by such an ignorant little wolf.”
Like their father, Todd’s sons shifted with enviable speed and grace, their cloaks settling around them and preserving their decency until they had a chance to change into more appropriate attire. At a loss of what to do, I watched Todd and waited.
With one low, muttered curse, the stallion offered me his arm. “Assuming no one else attempts to interfere with our plans, we will retire to our suite long enough to change, and then we will be announced at the banquet proper. Tonight is a casual buffet and social greeting. You’ll take your rank from me, as I am your escort for the event. That means you’re equal with Marie. Those who address you should refer to you as a lady; should they not, you are not obligated to acknowledge them.”
“How wonderful,” I mutter
ed, linking my arm with his and resting my hand on his wrist, something I’d seen the real ladies of the city do. If I pretended to be everything I wasn’t, I’d probably survive the banquet intact.
In some ways, the farce wasn’t much different from my dual life as an assassin with a full-time job as a bodyguard. I understood the number of lives I protected would never account or pay back for the lives I took, but at least I evened the scales a little in my favor. It helped knowing the people I chose to assassinate deserved their deaths while the ones I protected deserved their lives.
“Cleo, stay close and keep an eye out for anyone who is taking too much interest in Jesse.”
“What about us, Dad?”
I realized I didn’t even know the names of Todd’s sons, although I did recognize all four of them from the Lancers’ Alliance. Bothered by my oversight, I clacked my teeth together, vowing to ask Marie for all the information I needed about her children, although I doubted they needed me to protect them.
In truth, I had no idea who I was supposed to be protecting, which made me the world’s most useless bodyguard. Keeping an eye on Todd and Marie made sense; while they weren’t clan leaders, they were important enough in their own right. The true clan leaders would also be a priority, in addition to their guests.
The more I thought about it, the less I liked my circumstances. While sedating me to keep me safe had made some sick sense, it left me at a huge disadvantage. With the extra time, I could have learned more about who needed to be protected at any cost.
I hated having to wing a job.
“Go find something useful to do with yourselves,” Todd muttered. “And put some clothes on before you start strutting before potential mares. I don’t want angry fathers hunting me down because you have no dignity.”
“Pot,” Todd’s colt grumbled but took his place behind us and a little off to the side.
“I think I might like you,” I informed the younger stallion.
Instead of answering, the dark-haired man smirked at me.
“Don’t give him ideas, he has too many of his own as it is,” Todd grumbled, guiding me up the steps. After riding sidesaddle for so long, my body protested walking in heels and climbing stairs.
The guards posted at the door said nothing, nodding respectfully to Todd and Marie while giving the rest of us curious looks.
With the surety of someone familiar with the building, Todd led us through a maze of marble hallways, which were decorated with far too much gold leafing for anyone’s good, to a pair of double doors.
“This place is a mausoleum,” I complained, narrowing my eyes as I took in the carvings of a great tree and falling leaves decorating the entry. “What did they do? Kidnap artisans and force them into slavery to make this place?”
“I do believe they were paid rather competitive salaries,” Todd replied, opening the door and pulling his arm free of mine to gesture us inside. “Rumor has it the artists got into a pissing contest over who could create the most elaborate designs. Delayed the completion by almost two years.”
Sometimes I forgot how old Todd was; shifters lived longer than mystics, and those who had survived Starfall lived longer still, unless someone killed them. The confidence in his tone reminded me most everything he knew about history didn’t come from books like it did for me.
He’d lived in Charlotte when the stone had wiped out most of the city. He’d watched—and helped—the efforts to build the palace. For all I knew, he might have been one of the ones working on its construction.
Todd’s youthful appearance always made me forget he wasn’t a little bit older than me.
“Old fart,” I muttered, shaking my head. “How about something useful for me? Like, say, the identity of the person who issued that bounty?”
Marie laughed. “I can’t say she’s wrong, dear.”
“If I find out, you’ll be the first to know. I’ll get changed, and we’ll make our official appearance. We’re to be the last guests to arrive, and our presence will signify the full start of the banquet. Cleo, you’re on watch.”
The donkey saluted and stood near the door to wait while Todd and his sons left the entry, walking through a doorway leading deeper into the suite.
“I don’t know the names of your sons.”
While Marie’s eyes widened, a playful smile curved her lips. “They have names?”
I stared at her, my mouth open.
Cleo clucked his tongue, and I jerked to face him. Still at a loss for words, I pointed at Todd’s lead mare.
For a brief moment, the donkey smiled. “You’re a wicked mare, Lady Marie.”
“When they prove themselves worthy of your attention, they will tell you their names. Until then, call them whatever you want. I favor Idiot Number One through Three.”
Marie’s daughter snickered. “You’re horrible, mother. You’re just mad they went off on their own and made herds instead of remaining properly subservient to you and Dad.”
“I still think we should have sold the brats to the highest bidder. Want a colt, Jesse? I have a few extra kicking around. Five’s nice, and he thinks it’s amusing to take mystics and the human types for a ride on his back. No dignity, him.”
“I’m not sure Todd would like if you sold one of your sons.”
“Take two,” the stallion in question hollered from the other room. “I’ll even sell them for you at base value if you promise to make them earn a living. Bottom feeders, all of them.”
“I think he’d be fine with it. Five and Seven won’t ever lead their own herds. Six is a little hellion; you don’t want him. I’d watch yourself with Eight. He’s just figured out what sex is and finds it to his liking, but he hasn’t figured out restraint or selective breeding yet. If she moves, he views her as fair game. I’m sure he’ll figure it out soon.”
I struggled with the idea of someone having so many children numbering them made a twisted amount of sense. “How many foals do you have?”
Danielle laughed so hard she doubled over. “I think they stopped counting after twelve. Now they just say, ‘Hey, you!’ and everyone answers. Add in the rest of the mares, my half-siblings, and those outside of the herd but within our household, and it’s chaos. Put us all in the same room? There’s no point in names. Actually, there aren’t many rooms big enough to fit us all in at the same time. We have six girls named Emily. Father’s simply way too fond of the name Emily. All from different mares, too.”
I was going to need several beers and a lot of time to come to terms with Todd’s family. “So, ‘Hey, you!’ will actually get their attention?”
“Yep.”
“And what if someone approaches me about them?”
“Point them to Dad or Mom. They’ll handle it.”
“And what if someone approaches me about you?”
“I’m only interested in the nice ones. If he seems like a creep, toss him off a bridge into the drink. Otherwise, point him to Mom. She’s reasonable. Dad is not.”
I heard a snort from the other room.
Suddenly, the thought of just turning myself in rather than evading the bounty seemed saner than trying to understand Todd’s herd—or acting as a judge of males on Danielle’s behalf. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Please do,” Todd’s daughter replied in a tone so serious she left me with no doubt she’d plant her hooves in my ass if I made the wrong choice on who to send her mother’s way.
What had I done to deserve playing matchmaker for a stallion’s favored daughter, one who was probably older than I was? Sometimes I really hated my life.
I hadn’t understood just how repressive herd life could be until the pretty, blond-haired man in a crisp blue suit announced Todd as ‘Lord Todd Jacobson’ while the rest of us received the honorable mention of ‘and his herd.’ It made me want to unsheathe my katana, which I vowed I’d never give back to Todd as long as I lived, bury it deep into someone’s gut, and twist the blade around for a while.
The fault fo
r my anger rested solely on my shoulders, which only made me angrier.
Marie, Danielle, Cleo, and Todd’s three handsome, easy-going sons were people. Living, breathing, funny, sweet people—people I would have loved to call family if I could stomach the thought of becoming just another face in a crowd.
To the gathered guests, most of whom I assumed were shifters, we were property. In that moment, I understood what Todd had meant.
If we weren’t addressed by a title, we were being treated as Todd’s property. It sank in deeper and deeper as Todd kept my arm linked with his, guiding me into the banquet hall filled with the mayor’s guests.
Maybe the party celebrated the union of a tigress and a lion, but fathers and mothers arrived with the intention of finding suitors worthy of their children. I could almost imagine someone setting up a podium in the center of the gleaming marble floor, calling out names and opening bids, shifting power from family to family during the forging and breaking of alliances.
Men and women of all shapes and sizes mingled. I recognized the guild leader of Dawnfire, which wasn’t hard since he stood a head taller than anyone else in the room. The feather mask obscuring his face, however, took me by surprise. Clumps of his red-tinted blond hair poked out through his headdress, confirming his identity.
I knew of no other man who liked to wear his hair in a red and gold mane, especially when I was fairly certain he wasn’t a lion.
“Oh, look. It’s your best friend in the whole wide world, Todd. Aren’t you excited to be breathing the same air as him?” Gentry Adams would pay whoever delivered me, and I wanted to take off his headdress and shove it up his ass.
He knew of me, and he likely knew exactly who had registered my bounty. Why he hadn’t claimed me from Todd’s estate baffled me. Those in Dawnfire could, probably without triggering a single one of the stallion’s alarms when they did it.
“At least try to pretend to be nice, Jesse. It’s only for a few days.”