by R. J. Blain
“Nate is good enough for her,” my uncles chorused.
Huh. I relaxed against the couch and inched towards Anatoly. He lifted his arm to make room for me, and I claimed my rightful place snuggled against his side. “I agree with the rabbit and the grizzly. He’s more than good enough for me. I like this tiger, and I will keep him. I may murder anyone who tries to take this tiger from me.”
“That goes both ways, Jesse,” Anatoly replied.
“Only if you beat me to the chase.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
I snorted. “You have a brain, and on occasion, you decide to use it.”
“It’s true. Splendid male tiger specimens, such as myself, do tend to become quite focused on our duties as splendid male tigers. We develop a very concentrated sense of focus. I’ll work hard to make sure you don’t have to lift a finger to beat interloping males or females. Unless you want to. But since you’re you, you will want to. Every day. I’ll have my work cut out for me.”
As it was true, I shrugged. “Obviously, I need to have a talk with my mother about this. And my father. Preferably in the same room at the same time.”
“That might not be a wise idea,” my aunt replied with a grimace.
“Why not?”
“Well, knowing your mother, having listened to her rants, and otherwise having done my best to contain her general impulses, should they be in the same room together at the same time, you might bear unfortunate witness to the creation of a brother or sister. My sister is likely the reason you turned out to be a Siberian, as she’s got all of the general tendencies of a Siberian while trapped in a grizzly body.”
Knowing my aunt liked to yank my chain at every opportunity, I turned to Gentry for verification.
Like his sister, he grimaced. “It’s true. She would, and she’s not at all shy, and if she thought she could tame your father again, she really would. And she’d likely steal my swords to do it.”
Ah-ha. Swords. Somehow, I’d forgotten my real purpose in visiting. “I’m stealing your swords, and I’m going to use the short one, and Anatoly is going to use the longer one, and we’re going to beat up a weapon clan. We’ll give them back when we’re finished.”
He sighed. “You would. Are you sure you don’t want weapons of your own?”
“If I’m going to shame the Blade Clan, I’d like to do so with a quality weapon. Their pride would never recover if I beat them with inferior steel, Gentry. I’m mean, but I try not to be cruel. That would just be cruel.”
“I will temporarily loan you the weapons, but wouldn’t it be better to have a blade that better suited you?”
“I have a twig someone picked out of an alley that was shaped to somewhat resemble a katana, and it will probably break if I crossed it in battle with a toothpick,” I complained.
“I think I can find you something better than something that crude. But you work well with a katana, and it suits you. You’d be better off with a katana.”
“Where the hell am I going to find another katana of that quality?” I complained.
“That katana was a showcase blade, Jesse. I don’t think it was ever truly meant to see battle. It was a badge of honor and a gift from the Blade Clan. And while it did see battle—and did well for years—it was always more meant to be a thing of beauty than a thing of war.” Gentry shook his head. “I retrieved the weapon and had it reforged.” The grizzly lumbered towards the door, cracked it open, and muttered a few words to someone outside. “But since you’re ready to wage war with me to get your hands on a good blade so you can keep your tiger, I suppose now is the time you should have it.”
“You had my katana reforged?”
“It was too beautiful a thing to waste, and you loved that sword. Of course we had it reforged. Todd helped. He knows the blacksmith who forged the original. The blacksmith was eager for a second chance with the blade, as he’d always found it to be a labor of love more than functionality. An odd sentiment from someone of the Blade Clan, but it is what it is. I think you’ll be pleased.”
“I will be? Why? I mean, beyond having my sword back.”
“Todd says the blacksmith believes this to be the best working of his life, and after having seen the blade, I believe him.”
“But the Blade Clan lost their stone,” I muttered.
Everyone snorted, and I raised a brow at that, but rather than asking what they meant, I waited. In time, they’d tell me—or they wouldn’t.
I didn’t wait long, and Gentry grinned, leaning against the room’s curved wall. “Apparently, it ‘showed up at the appropriate time’ before wandering off. He didn’t seem all that disappointed it rolled off on its own business again. In fact, we were informed we could kiss his ass if we thought he’d be ‘that damned stone’s keeper.’ He seems to think it has business to attend to, and he’s quite happy letting it attend to its business. He was quite pleased it showed up long enough to assist him in the reforging of your new blade.”
“Yet the entire government is freaking out that it can’t retrieve the stone to give it back to the same person who just forged that blade?” I lifted my hands, yanked at my hair, and yowled my fury over such rampant stupidity—stupidity that kept Anatoly busy all of the time.
“The Blade Clan, admittedly, is the least concerned over the loss of their Starfall stone. They’ve adapted a rather casual take on the stone coming and going as it pleases. According to the report, he finished five blades in the time the stone stuck around, which armed their best young warriors. They’re happy. If they’re happy, we’re happy. The problem is with Sunder.”
“Sunder?” The name implied it was another Starfall stone, and a worrisome one at that.
My aunt huffed. “I wish you’d stop running your mouth, Gentry. If you’d stop running your mouth, we’d have a few secrets left, damn it!”
“If you had fewer secrets, the little girl here would be far more cooperative, as she’d better understand the stakes at play here. So, I’m solving the problem. It’s so much better if she works for us than against us. It’s one thing to keep her in the dark while she’s ill; the mystics didn’t want her being stressed. But now? She’s on the prowl, her tiger’s on the prowl, too, and there’s absolutely no reason for us to not make use of all of the people available. That includes both of them. In their full capacity. Stephanie, she’s an adult. I know you want to treat her like a little girl, but she’s back on her feet. You can’t turn her into a child again. It doesn’t work that way.”
“I don’t see why not.”
“That’s not how life works, Stephanie.”
“It should be.” My aunt huffed. “Very well. Jesse, Sunder is a rogue stone. The clan who once wielded it has been wiped out. They lasted a single generation. Sunder’s ability was the cause of their demise, as nobody wants anyone possessing a Starfall stone able and willing to destroy anything in its path. The only thing it can’t break is another Starfall stone. So, if Sunder ever crosses your path, do not let it touch your weapon. Unless your weapon was forged with a stronger stone, and that stone sees fit to preserve your blade, it will shattered. I don’t know if a Blade Clan weapon can survive Sunder’s touch. I’d rather you not find out.”
Ew. “I don’t like that stone. What does it look like?”
“A smooth, black sphere that has similar qualities to the Hope Diamond. We theorize Sunder was a piece of the same Starfall stone that made the Hope Diamond. It’s quite distinctive, really.” My aunt wrinkled her nose. “It’s about the same size as Steel Heart. All those stones are. But for now, I’m going to have you focus your efforts on Steel Heart. You’re the only one we have with a hope in hell of keeping it from wandering off, as you’re a part of the Blade Clan.”
The last thing the world needed was another Hope Diamond. One of them created enough trouble, especially for me. “Anything else I should know?”
Gentry and my aunt exchanged looks, and my rabbit of an uncle tossed his head back and laughed. “You two ju
st told her, without a shadow of a doubt, there’s something else she should know. You may as well tell her, or she’s going to create trouble for you. Remember, she was named Runs Against Wind for a reason, and she is not afraid of doing difficult things.”
“We lost track of Ferdinand,” my aunt confessed. “He’s been stricken from Dawnfire’s roster, stripped of his rank in the guild, and otherwise blacklisted, but he’s a threat. I have no idea where he is. Nobody does. But he’s a mad wolf now, and he’s a mad wolf who had his eyes on you, Jesse. Keep a watch out. Truth be told, I didn’t say anything because you’ve been using Nate as your personal chew toy, but if he comes around, he’ll try something. It’s a concern. It’s less of a concern now that you’re using Nate as your personal chew toy. The situation has changed. He won’t be able to use his wolf magic on you.”
The last thing I needed in my life was a damned wolf trying to make a mess of things. “What do you want me to do if I run into him?”
“Considering Nate got his teeth on you, and that you got your teeth on him, I want you to play along should you cross paths with Ferdinand. There’s not a lot of information on what happens if a pair of wolves try to fight over the same woman with their bite; from my understanding of it, he who bit first wins. Nate bit first, so Nate wins. And since he’s been chewing on you probably as much as you’ve been chewing on him, Ferdinand isn’t going to have a hope in hell of establishing a bond with you. I’ll write up a contract tonight. Play along, pretend Ferdinand is getting his way, learn what he’s up to, and put an end to it. Mad wolves are easily deceived, so you shouldn’t have a problem. But there’s a catch.”
“What catch?”
“I’d rather we keep this from Todd. He’s been hurt enough, especially considering his problems with Marie. While Ferdinand was Gentry’s wolf, they’ve worked together, too. Usually on joint efforts between the two guilds. Oh, they had their fights, and Todd has a certain amount of dislike for him now, but still. Todd doesn’t want you having to do work as an assassin. To add to the complexity of the problem, once upon a time, Todd and Ferdinand had been friends. Do your work quietly, knowing of Ferdinand’s guilt without shadow of a doubt—and don’t feel a need to give him a proper mark. He isn’t worthy of even your needles.”
Gentry heaved a sigh. “However much I hate agreeing with you on this, Steph, you’re probably right. Todd wouldn’t react well to us asking this of Jesse, either. He’s basically assigned himself as an honorary uncle, as it seems Jesse doesn’t have enough uncles doting on her.”
While it had taken me time to accept having a family, I’d learned I enjoyed the relationships I had with my various uncles, even the damned rabbit.
In the end, Ferdinand needed to be dealt with, and one concern rose above the rest. “Do you think he’s bitten anyone against her will?” I asked, my voice refusing to rise above a whisper.
“I know so, which is why I’m authorizing you to use lethal force. I trust you to do what is necessary.” My aunt grimaced. “I believe he’s tried to, or has, taken more than one woman, which is a good thing for them. The more times a mad wolf bites, the less of a hold he has on the women he’s ensnared. I can only hope they’ll emerge relatively unscathed once he’s killed.”
Anatoly growled, which I recognized as his precursor to having a fit over my aunt’s edict. I rammed my elbow into his side. “And the women?”
“Do whatever you can for them. He’s old, he’s cunning, and he’s got more tricks up his sleeve than most. It’s safer for all of us to assume he’ll try something, and that he’ll use his every resource—even your compassionate nature. You’re the one that got away, and he’s aware of your nature and why you operate as you do. That’s part of why I’ve been trying to keep you under close guard. I’d rather if he came to you, he did so where the Secret Service can deal with him—or the guilds. It’s a concern.”
When my aunt viewed something as a concern, she meant it kept her up at night from worrying. “I can do that. But I’ll skip on the contract and take a pardon instead. This one? This one is on the house.”
I’d already killed family once under contract, and for all Ferdinand lacked blood ties to Todd, they’d been friends for a long time. To me, that came close enough.
If the situation deteriorated to the point I needed to kill the wolf, I wanted to be able to look into Todd’s eyes, tell him the truth, and promise I’d done my work out of necessity rather than money. It wasn’t a lot, but in the world of mercenaries and assassins, it would be enough.
Chapter Four
While almost everything about my katana had changed, I recognized the hilt as mine, although it had undergone significant modification. The blue fire opals and diamonds remained, but turquoise joined them in decorating the weapon, a nod to the Cheyenne tribe who’d fostered me for so many years out west. Gold and platinum still played their parts in the design, a testament to beauty and strength working together to make a perfect whole.
Gentry handed me the weapon, and when I gripped the hilt, a blue and black gleam ran across the length of the blade before soaking into the fuller. I’d seen Starfall-touched blades before. I’d lusted for one as a child. Steel Heart had touched my first blade—and my second—but neither had shown signs of power. They hadn’t been the true, prized blades of the clan.
My new weapon held secrets, and I looked forward to discovering each and every one of them.
“It matches the Hope Diamond,” I whispered.
“So it does. I’d noticed that when Todd brought it in. It will zap anyone who tries to take it when it doesn’t belong to them, too. I believe it already knows you’re its proper owner. I did notice the blacksmith had made some of your modifications to the original hilt permanent.”
I stroked my fingers over several of the turquoise stones, which had replaced some of the more precious jewels. “I wonder what happened to the other opals and diamonds.”
Gentry took a bundle from one of the Secret Service agents standing by the door and tossed it to Anatoly. “You can’t have my Blade Clan swords, but you can have that. It is a thank you gift for having done the Blade Clan a service.”
Anatoly caught the bundle with a grunt, set it on his lap, and tore the paper off to reveal a bastard sword. The design of the hilt matched mine, although Anatoly’s blade featured more diamond than opal, and the turquoise made a single showing as an accent stone near the sword’s pommel.
“But for what?” my tiger asked, training his fingers along the blade’s length. A trail of orange and black followed his touch, and every now and then, a spark of green appeared, a match for the light in the tiger’s eyes when his passions ran high.
I could only hope Steel Heart had granted Anatoly’s blade sufficient power to protect him no matter what he faced.
“Your weapons don’t glow like this,” my tiger observed, narrowing his eyes. “Why not?”
“Steel Heart favored my blades with strength and durability; I haven’t had to sharpen either one since I’ve had them, and they have seen a great deal of use. I asked what they did, and Todd just shrugged and said you’d have to find that out on your own. The blacksmith, however, is very pleased with them. Hers is better than yours, but not by much.” Shaking his head, Gentry took a seat on my aunt’s desk and ignored when the President of the United States glowered at him for invading her workspace. “Not even the smith knows what they’ll do once in battle. Jesse, while you were recovering, we sent the stiletto over as well. It has been properly sharpened, and your tribe has been notified that the weapon has a purpose. The dagger’s dark past should become a bright future in your hands. The tribe sent an interesting message back.”
Uh oh. The last time the tribe had sent me something, I’d coughed blood all over a table and made a mess of a bathroom before being hired to murder two of my uncles. “What message?”
“They sent a new feather for you, some beads, and three pairs of moccasins. I replied that you’re going to turn into a bird if they
keep putting feathers in your hair. As for the moccasins, they expect you’ll wear them out with how you roam. They also sent a request for another foal from Dipshit and Devil Spawn. They’d like you to hand deliver the foal so you can join them for some celebrations.”
Well, that part would be easy. “I seem to have a mare in foal for some reason, and I have the exact right number of horses. Sweetie Pie, Miracle, Dipshit, and Devil Spawn are the exact right number of horses, except Sweetie Pie and Devil Spawn shouldn’t be ridden until they’ve foaled.” I shook my head at the insanity of it all, and how my stallion breaking out and having his way with a bunch of mares had turned into a blessing in disguise. I considered the issue of the feathers, which I wore most of the time. “I’m not headed out west without my tiger, so you’re going to have to give my tiger time off work. I also refuse to take the damned train.”
My lecherous rabbit of an uncle dared to grin at me. “Your tiger does need to meet with the feline clans out west at some point anyway. We’ll plan his visits around your trip to Cheyenne. You can also handle courier work for the government at the same time and any other tasks we might have for you. As for the train, it would be much faster if you were to take it.”
“It would also be ridiculously expensive, and the foal needs to learn how to survive the roads and handle the terrain out west. Riding is much better, thank you. You might have to convince Randal and Simmons to wear something other than a suit. Their pretty suits would die terrible deaths on the road, and that would be a pity. They can bring their wives along, too. They might forget what they look like.”
My tiger snickered. “We can’t take the train anyway, if I’m meeting with the clans. Most of them live a hefty distance from the stations, so we’d be stopping at every station and losing days backtracking. Riding the entire trip is sensible. We’ll just have to plan accordingly. Jesse probably knows more about cross-country traveling than all of us combined, and that’s including my tendency to drag Henry around wherever I feel like going. I mean, she took me out in a bar like I was a beer nobody had claimed. She knows her business.”