by RJ Blain
“You’re looking for her?” The instant I asked the question, I regretted my words, wincing at the callousness of my tone. No matter how I spun it, it’d come across as an insult.
“Of course I’m looking for her!” the grizzly boomed, his voice rising to a full-fledged roar.
The pencils and erasers bounced across the map, and I grabbed them before they could fall to the floor.
“I think Runs Against Wind was more inquiring about how you would go about it with so little to go on,” Henry murmured, his tone soothing while he kept his head bowed and his gaze lowered to the table. I recognized the posture as non-threatening and respectful. I wanted to growl; of everyone in the room, the mystic deserved respect.
He saved lives. The rest of us only took them.
Grateful for a way out of a sticky situation, I nodded. “It sounds difficult at best.”
Gentry grunted. “The Blade Clan, like all the weapon clans, are prideful. They take their rituals seriously. My niece was among their most promising, naturally talented with the sword, a gift from both sides of her family. She is also her father’s only child; the clan’s men are only required to have one child, and they typically do not try for a second out of respect for their woman. All weapon clans call the mothers of their children brides. Once the clans been given their child, the brides are released. Fortunately—or unfortunately, depending on how you view it—my niece was so promising he—she—was betrothed, which would have resulted in a permanent pairing with the potential of many clan children born. That’s where Anatoly comes in.”
The Siberian growled and flipped a rude gesture in Gentry’s direction. “I may have deserved that, but did you really have to mention it?”
“Yes. If I have to deal with this, so do you.”
Confused, I glanced in Henry’s direction. The mystic shrugged and held his hands up. “Don’t look at me. I’m not the one who signed the accord with the Blade Clan.”
Anatoly hissed. “I wasn’t, either. The Clan Council did, before I became a member, and I merely abide by the decision.”
“I don’t think I understand,” I admitted.
Gentry hopped out of his chair and sat on the table, grinning in Anatoly’s direction. “You will make an acceptable nephew-in-law, I suppose.”
“Gentry!” Anatoly snarled, rising to his feet and slapping his palms to the table. “That’s not funny.”
“Oh, it’s funny.” Todd chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back in his seat. “The Blade Clan takes its agreements seriously, and since a bride was no longer necessary…”
“I’m pretty sure I’m aware of the repercussions of the situation, Todd.” Anatoly growled with each breath. “We’re having a disagreement over the matter, thank you very much.”
My eyes widened. I’d never met the woman who was supposed to become my bride, and I’d never thought beyond the fact the woman wouldn’t be subjected to me all of her life. “What agreement?”
Todd laughed long and hard. “Anatoly’s sister, born a few minutes after him, was in an agreement to become a bride for the Blade Clan—Gentry’s niece’s bride, to be specific. Since Gentry ended up with a niece instead of a nephew, the agreement transferred to Anatoly, who’s stuck with it. That’s part of the agreement for the birthing of weapons clan children. So, for all intents and purposes, he’s mated to a woman he’s never met and has been for years. Until proof of death—or she’s found—he’s stuck, since he’s a Siberian. Fooling around isn’t an option for him, although the Blade Clan doesn’t really care if he has cubs with some other woman, as long as he does his duty to their clan should Gentry’s niece be found. The Blade Clan made a bit of a mistake, however. The agreements are very much dependent on gender. So, the father always gets the Blade Clan child, and the groom is the only one who has the option to sever the agreement with his bride after she provides a Blade Clan child. So, by their own laws, Anatoly gets to keep the child. Knowing him, he’ll keep his mate, too, since he won’t accept anything else. Siberian tigers tend to be the most unreasonable of the monogamous species. The Blade Clan would have gotten a nasty surprise with his sister, too. They’re as stubborn as they come, and Nonna’s determined when she wants to be. Since she’s been released, she hunted down a wolf and has given him entire litters of little children. What was the last count, six, Anatoly?”
Between Gentry and Anatoly, I could barely hear Todd over the growls.
The implications sank in, and it was a good thing I was seated, else I would’ve fallen to the floor from shock. At first, I couldn’t decide which of the pair to stare at, but I settled on Anatoly, who kept snarling and, judging from the way he shifted in his chair, kicked Todd under the table.
“Seven,” Henry supplied.
Todd chuckled. “The Blade Clan’s loss. Nonna would’ve been quite content to raise entire herds of children. Instead, they get to deal with Anatoly, whom I wouldn’t wish on anyone.”
“This is really not relevant to the Hope Diamond situation,” Anatoly growled.
Silence fell between them, and I struggled to accept everything I’d heard. Anatoly’s sister having the misfortune of being my bride astonished me enough. The thought of him—of anyone—being forced into such an agreement boiled my blood.
It didn’t help I, in a complete freak coincidence, had tattooed Anatoly—Nate—with my mark, claiming him as my target. If I adhered to the Blade Clan’s ways, I belonged to him, as I was the bride.
Why couldn’t I break free of who—and what—I had once been?
Gentry sighed. “It is. We’re not the only ones who know the Blade Clan has lost someone—their only clan-born woman, too. What if they thought Runs Against Wind was that woman because Steel Heart burst at her feet? It’s easy to find out the Hope Diamond gave birth to Steel Heart. There’s logic to it. The Blade Clan has gone out of their way to imply Steel Heart works only for someone of the blood.”
I froze, my eyes widening as Dawnfire’s guild master hit the target dead center.
Todd’s eyes narrowed, and his gaze locked on me. “Now that’s an idea. If we openly declare we’ve found the Blade Clan’s missing daughter, if they’re after her for that reason, we could lure them straight to us. We could get to the bottom of this once and for all. When we’re done, we can sever Anatoly’s contract with the Blade Clan, send Runs Against Wind home where she belongs after pointing out to the weapon clans they have no right to her at all, and everyone’s happy. Anatoly can find a proper mate and ditch decades of frustration.”
My heartbeat hammered in my throat. “I fail to see how that makes me happy.”
“Right. Details. We’re mercenaries.” Todd paused, reached across the table, and grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen. “We pay well for this sort of work. You’d be compensated for helping us with a very difficult situation, and there’d be Presidential recognition if we can get the Hope Diamond back. If money doesn’t appeal to you, we can make arrangements for horses, or I can inquire if one of the young colts or fillies want to enroll in courier service as your partner. It’s unusual, but some do like to roam and don’t mind carrying a rider. We can come up with fair compensation for the risks you’ll be taking. The Blade Clan will be informed of the truth—after the thieves are dealt with. She’s probably dead by now, but if she isn’t, she’s freed then, too. It’s a good deal for everyone except you, but you’ll be paid well for the ruse.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose, closed my eyes, and sighed. If I cooperated, I had a chance to disappear forever. All I had to do was pretend to be myself without anyone catching on I was who I was pretending to be. How difficult could it be?
No one would believe the truth.
“Let me make sure I understand this. You want me to pretend I’m someone who may or may not be alive. You want me to do this so I can become a target, probably of the same people who kidnapped me once already and almost cost me my hands and my feet. You want me to do this so they are either lured out, or in
a worst-case scenario, take me to the Hope Diamond, where it can be recovered.”
The two guild masters and Clan Council member stared at each other for a long moment. Of the three, Anatoly seemed disgusted and concerned by the prospect. I couldn’t tell what Gentry thought.
Todd smiled, and his smirk chilled me to the bone.
I slumped across the map, resting my forehead on my arms. “What could possibly go wrong?”
“The real one could show up,” Todd offered.
A low laugh rolled out of Gentry. “Anatoly might decide you’d make a good mate for him. He’s a very frustrated man.”
Anatoly watched me and said nothing, which worried me most of all.
Chapter Thirty-Two
I should have said no, but I somehow forgot to notify anyone of my refusal, which was interpreted as my acceptance of their scheme. Anatoly, Gentry, and Todd dove into making plans while I sat in stunned shock.
No matter what I did, I would be courting trouble, and a lot of it. It wouldn’t take much for Todd to recognize me; living in Wyoming, far from Charlotte, I’d seen no reason to change any obvious habits. I scoped out rooms before entering them. When I decided to protect someone, I stood a certain way, watched everything, and expected assassins in dark corners. I wouldn’t be able to change how I moved, light on my feet and quiet, not without significant effort. Most importantly, no matter how I dressed the blade, few owned a katana the quality of mine.
I feared he’d recognize me the instant he saw my weapon.
My chance to escape slid through my fingers, and I watched it flee through the door along with my common sense. I blamed exhaustion. Exhaustion always made me make stupid decisions. If I got a good night’s sleep, I could reevaluate the situation—and figure out how to keep my identity hidden, get through one more job for Todd, and head back to Wyoming, where I’d hopefully be forgotten.
I wasn’t supposed to be like everyone else, who had family and friends, secure in their faith someone would miss them if they disappeared. Those of the Blade Clan lived by the sword and died by it, honored and allowed to slip into their final rest with little fanfare.
Gentry’s words proved I had a mother out there somewhere, someone with a name and a family—someone who was more than just my father’s bride. I had a father, too, and while I was sure I’d seen him in the clan, I couldn’t remember what he looked like—or if I knew which one of the many men was actually him.
It hadn’t mattered.
Outside of the Blade Clan, it did matter, and I often forgot how much it mattered to those who had choices about the life they lived. Day by day in the Blade Clan, life went on in an endless cycle.
Brides provided children.
Children picked up a sword and learned how to kill with it.
Children grew into men.
Men took brides.
Brides provided children.
I’d gotten one part of the grand scheme right; I’d learned the sword. I’d learned it so well my bride had been picked for me before I’d turned ten—before I’d made a mess of everything and chose to become a woman instead of a man.
A new thought pierced through me. What if I hadn’t actually made a mess of everything? What if my choice to become a woman had opened a lot more doors for me than it had closed?
The idea someone like Gentry could care for someone he’d never met—some mysterious niece he knew existed through his sister’s word and a binding contract—baffled me. The idea someone like Anatoly would put so much of his life on hold because of a piece of paper and a decision someone else had made for him horrified me.
I wanted to free Anatoly, but I feared he would attempt to live up to his obligations if he learned the truth about me. No one deserved to be trapped into an agreement because I had chosen to become a woman instead of a man.
What would have happened if I had stayed with the Blade Clan? Would I have accepted Anatoly as mine, following the clan’s belief we were entitled to a bride—or in my case, a groom—without question? The thought worried me even more than the possibility of Anatoly hunting me for reasons beyond my having shifted into a Siberian tiger.
If they’d spoken the truth, I’d shifted early, something supported by my lack of knowledge of how the Blade Clan shifters found their animals—if they ever did.
Most died to the sword they lived by. Few died from old age, the smiths numbering among them, their skills far more valuable than their ability to fight. I couldn’t remember how many smiths belonged to the Blade Clan, but they were held in as high a regard as their Starfall stone, Steel Heart.
So many things would’ve been different if I’d known Steel Heart for what it was. I never would have marked Anatoly. I never would have brought the stone with me to Charlotte. What else would I have done differently, if only I had known the Starfall stone’s name?
A hand waved in front of my face. “Earth to Runs Against Wind.”
I blinked at Anatoly, who leaned over Gentry’s desk. “Sorry. What?”
“We were trying to ask you if you had any suggestions, but it seems you clocked out for a while there.”
“I tried telling you she’s tired. You three are not exactly normal shifter specimens.” Rising to his feet, Henry joined Anatoly, elbowing the shifter aside. “Healing is taxing, and she’s undergone a lot of it lately. You need something to eat and some sleep.”
“Palace,” Gentry ordered. “You, too, Anatoly. You’re a potential target as well.”
“He is?”
“He rescued you, and he’s tied to the Blade Clan. They might try to get him hoping to get a hold of Blade Clan members. Until he produces a child for them, they’re interested in keeping him alive. They take that sort of thing seriously.”
“That’s awful. Say no.” The words left my mouth of their own volition, and I blinked.
Anatoly growled. “It’s not that simple.”
Part of my job as a courier was to have a basic understanding of common laws, and with a mix of mystics, casual shifter species, and monogamous species, there were a lot of laws regarding rape—and people capable of determining the truth of a situation. “Rape is rape, and no clan has the right to bypass the law. If you don’t want to mate with this woman, it’s rape, and due to your species…”
I waited for them to figure out what I meant, sitting straighter in Gentry’s chair.
The grizzly figured it out first and chuckled, the sound rumbling in his chest. “And due to his species, it would be categorized as a federal offense. And since Anatoly honors agreements made by his clan, he probably never even thought about how to invalidate the contract. Since he didn’t sign the paper, he hasn’t waived his right for recourse.”
“Correct.” I glanced at Anatoly. “Freedom is a single form away. Then you can choose your mate for yourself.”
Of the reactions he could have made, I didn’t expect his smirk. “Are you sure it’s wise encouraging me to do that?”
I blinked. “What? Of course it’s—”
Henry slapped his hand over my mouth. “You’re a single Siberian tigress. One form away, and he’s a single Siberian tiger. Unless you’re volunteering to keep his attention fully focused on you, it may not be a wise idea to encourage him directly. He’s a male tiger. He’ll take that as an invitation. That is what they do, as male tigers, especially Siberians, are as wired to find their life-long mate as any wolf. Should you give him any invitations, you’ll need a sword, a baseball bat, and maybe chains to keep him away. He’s very determined when he wants to be.”
It took me longer than it should have to comprehend Henry’s words, and when I glanced at Anatoly, his smirk broadened into a full grin. “Encourage me,” he growled, the sound suspiciously like a purr.
Gentry rose from his seat, pinned Anatoly’s arms to his sides and lifted the tiger shifter, walking halfway across the office before setting him down. “He’s aware of his rights, Runs Against Wind. He simply understands he would insult me grievously if he ran away fro
m his obligations to my niece. Of course, I’m a reasonable man—”
Henry’s hand over my mouth kept me from laughing. A snort burst from Todd, and then the stallion doubled over, one hand slapping the table. Anatoly covered his chuckle with a cough.
I reached up and pulled Henry’s hand from my mouth. “So, you’re holding him hostage so he can be your nephew?”
“Yes, I am. Someone has to bully him around. Otherwise, he becomes insufferable. I’m doing everyone a favor. And should my niece be found, I thought I’d simplify matters for her by helpfully providing her with a man worthy of the air he breathes.” Gentry grinned at me. “Aren’t I helpful, Runs Against Wind?”
“As helpful as a sword in the eye.” Turning to Anatoly, I looked him over from head to toe. “What makes you think you’re good enough for me?”
While he gaped at me, I folded the map, gathered the notes scattered across Gentry’s desk, and headed for the door without waiting for an answer.
I almost made it to Dawnfire’s lobby before Henry caught up with me, the others close behind him. I considered picking up my pace and plowing my way through the mercenaries lingering in the large room, but the thought of running into Ferdinand stopped me.
I remembered him and his intention to claim me as his mate. Nothing but death could undo the damage wrought by a wolf’s bite, and killing one of Dawnfire’s mercenaries to escape his influence wouldn’t endear me to the guild. Until I had my horses back and could leave Charlotte free and clear, I needed to play it safe.
Drawing additional attention to myself would hurt my cause far more than help it.