by R. J. Blain
“Does Steel Heart often give you trouble?”
“Only when it has better things to do. Lately, with limited exception, it has had better things to do. My new son’s sword and yours were finished without incident, although I had to beg for its cooperation lately on other blades. And the blades they have done? They are not my best work. They will be tolerable blades for the youngest of warriors. My new son’s blade is a masterpiece the match of yours, and I look forward to you discovering your blade’s gifts. I look forward to him discovering his blade’s gifts, too. I hope you will bring change to the clan, especially when your groom proves his strength to the other warriors of the clan. They will find themselves shamed by his heart.”
Maybe if the clan had valued something more than brides and swords, they would have been able to see their other lost potentials. In Anatoly, I found many things no men from the blade clan possessed. “I think you’ll like him.”
“I know I will like him. Perhaps I have not been a visible presence in your life, but the moment I learned what had become of you, I kept an eye on you.”
That explained a few things. “And you showing up on that beach?”
“Then, I kept a close eye on you. I had not realized you held Sunder in your possession until it was too late to tell you a safer way, or what you meant to do with that weapon the enemy sought to use. It took much courage to do as you did, but I would much prefer if you did not do such a thing again.”
“Agreed. I don’t suppose you’ll neglect to tell Anatoly about that?”
“Neglect to tell me what?” my mate demanded from behind me.
Well, shit. At a nudge of my leg, Miracle whirled around. Anatoly led my champagne mare, and she snorted at me with her ears turned back. “You’re supposed to be across the city.”
“I was, but then a certain Starfall stone burst, and it decided to start exposing traitors, leading us to an absolute massacre. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
“I’m just sitting here riding my horse. Look! Miracle’s coat came in black.”
“Did you really need a third black devil horse?”
“I absolutely do need a third black devil horse. You have my Sweetie Pie. She’s my angel horse. She is so angelic she makes up for my three black devil horses. Why do you have my horse? You better not have been riding my horse. She’s too far along to be ridden.”
“She broke out along with Devil Spawn, and she wanted to follow me around, and I was asked to stay out of trouble. I was riding a spare, but then the spare was needed, so now I’m walking.”
Sweetie Pie stretched her head towards me, and I rewarded my mare with a scratch behind her ears. Miracle nuzzled the other mare, and the two horses decided they were far more interested in keeping each other company than paying attention to me.
With a little luck, Miracle would teach Devil Spawn and Dipshit some manners, but I had my doubts those two assholes would ever cooperate. As it was, I expected twin tantrums the instant I showed up at the stables.
Neither horse liked lazing about when a fight could be had.
“Anyway, Sweetie Pie didn’t want to be left behind, and I was slated to be the rear guard. For better or for worse, your pair of blacks were recruited for today’s activities. Madam President rode Todd until he broke his leg, then she rode one of the Secret Service horses. Her damned rabbit is riding Dipshit. Yes, we know Devil Spawn is too far along in her pregnancy to ride, but she broke out of her stall and followed us when the rebellion began. We tried to stop her, but we failed. As usual. I think your horses are the happiest of anyone today, as the last I saw them, they were creating mayhem, taking names, and adding to the bloodshed. Your aunt didn’t want you flattening the entirely of Charlotte if something happened to me. She figured your horses flattening Charlotte would be sufficient. As you would try to flatten Charlotte should anything happen to me, I thought I’d cooperate. That plus the First Gentleman gave me an ultimatum. I’d stay in the back and behave, or I’d wake up from a mystic-induced nap sometime after the cleanup was over.”
I needed to thank my aunt and her lecherous rabbit later, as I would have been inclined to destroy the entire city if anyone had done anything to my tiger. “You followed the glow from the Hope Diamond here?”
“I did. If I go to where Starfall stones burst, I’m bound to find you in the middle of trouble. I was not wrong. Again. You’re pale. What happened?”
“She is ill,” my father announced. “She recovers, although she recovers slowly.”
Anatoly eyed my father like he wanted to start a fight, which wouldn’t end well for me or my tiger. I tensed, and Miracle’s ears turned back.
“Who are you?” Anatoly demanded.
“I am her father. As you are my new son, I look forward to beating good manners into you. I will only have the perfect groom for my daughter. Your new mother is eagerly awaiting her chance to meet you, and she will beat you far worse than I will.”
Anatoly’s eyes widened, and he turned to me. “Jesse?”
“He forged you a Blade Clan sword, so I recommend you accept your fate unless you want him to beat you with it before forcing you to take it anyway. After he is done beating you, he will hug you. He enjoys hugging his victims. It only took a few beatings to learn this lesson. Don’t bother trying to escape. It’s futile.”
I’d earned every last one of his hugs for putting up with his lessons, thinly disguised as therapy to help me recover. Given a few more weeks, I might be able to do something other than barely stay in the saddle, assuming a mystic could figure out what was actually wrong with me and cure it.
I gave it low odds, but I kept my pessimistic thoughts to myself.
My mate relaxed, and he reached up and stroked my cheek. After so long apart, I leaned into his touch, fighting my initial urge to bite his hand and mark my territory again. “Got more exposure to affection, did you? You didn’t even flinch that time admitting you accepted a hug from someone.”
“I fear I’ve been acclimated to people hugging me. I no longer try to stab those who hug me before I’ve evaluated if I’m all right with them doing this. I find this custom of hugging to be strange but tolerable.”
Anatoly flicked my nose. I snapped my teeth at his fingers, but he evaded with a laugh. “Excellent. You’re obviously well enough for your sense of humor to have survived. We’ll work on making sure you maintain your ability to stab those who enter your space inappropriately. What happened? After you gave me the slip at the train station, all hell broke loose. Then, once we figured out what was going on and that they were after you for the Hope Diamond, we played along and pretended you were still with us to lure them off. I’m just glad it worked, but I’ve been worried.”
I’d been worried, too, especially when I’d reached the end of the line and had gambled everything to protect him and the rest of my family. I nudged Miracle away so I wouldn’t assault him while I was mounted. “I meant to scout, and I’d made a guess where they may have taken their weapon. My plans changed when I came across more dead horses. I found and destroyed their weapon, but it made me sick. The Hope Diamond helped Miracle; she helped me carry it to a place it could be destroyed. But it’s been disposed of, and they won’t be able to use it. After I recovered enough I could ride, we came here. My father and the clan helped with the timing.”
My father grunted. “She is only alive because of the Hope Diamond, and should it be taken from her, she will die.”
Sucking in a breath, Anatoly stiffened and focused on my father. “How do you know?”
“An unfortunate accident. I went to repair the necklace, which had been damaged, and I took the stone too far away. It returned of its own volition, but it must be kept close to her. It requires a new setting. She will have to keep the stone nearby during the repair. It also needs to be taught what it is for her to be healthy. As far as I can tell, it is maintaining her body, but it is but a stone and doesn’t understand how bodies are supposed to work. It
learns, as she improves a little each time it observes a healthy person, but it is still confused. I think we need to expose the stone to healthy women, preferably another Siberian woman, to teach the stone what it needs to know.”
“Where’s the Hope Diamond now?”
I lifted my wrist and showed off my bracelet, and since I didn’t need it out anymore, I moved it to the pouch on my hip, which held my collection of Starfall stones. “If I drop it, it comes back, so it seems to like me. Or maybe it likes you, and it is determine to keep you happy.”
Anatoly growled, and he eyed my throat. Reaching over, I placed my fingers on his lips. “You’re not allowed to bite until Henry and Cleo figure out what’s wrong with me. I don’t know if I have much extra blood to spare.”
He kissed my fingertips. “All right. If you’re admitting that, you’re worse off than I feared. Miracle wouldn’t mind carrying us both if needed. She is small but strong. I’d say Sweetie Pie, but while she’s willing, you’d kill me for suggesting it.”
“You will be burying my body in a shallow grave the day I can’t ride Miracle while conscious.”
“Jesse.”
“I’m riding my horse.”
My father chuckled. “Unless she improves more than I expect, within an hour, she will be tired enough you can do whatever you wish with her, include carry her at your whim. I have found it is best to wait until she is too tired to argue. It keeps the screaming, yelling, and roaring to a minimum. Of course, after a roar or two, she exhausts herself, so if you go that route, do scrape her from the ground once she falls from her horse.”
“Isn’t the idea to catch her before she falls from her horse?”
“Of course not. She will learn nothing if someone insists on catching her all the time. Let her fall. Once you scrape her up, that is when you gloat over her, which will make sure she does her best to keep from falling again. Do not weaken her strength on some fool’s quest to make her comfortable.”
With a scowl, Anatoly considered my father, and then he heaved a sigh. “This explains so much about your tendency to get into trouble, Jesse. It’s obviously genetic, inherited from both your parents.”
“Have you met my mother?”
“No, but I’ve met Stephanie. I’ve also met Gentry. I can’t imagine your mother being a wilting lily.”
She really wasn’t. “She’s somewhere around bashing heads in.” I gestured to the carnage and chaos around us. “The last I checked, I believe she intends to drag my father to the family and start a fight if anyone has any problems with her keeping him.”
“I thought their bride arrangement was finished.”
I snorted at that. “They don’t agree. In fact, they don’t agree so much they’ve been keeping each other company. The only reason they haven’t had any other children yet is because I’m that much trouble.”
“It is a rule,” my father announced. “We have to finish with the first child before we have a second, and this child is trouble enough. Once we worry less about the trouble this child creates, we shall have a second child.”
Anatoly shook his head with a smile, overlooking the vestiges of the battle. “Just have the second child. This one will be trouble for a long time, and it’d do Jesse some good to have a brother or sister.”
“It would?” I regarded my tiger through narrowed eyes. “How do you figure that?”
“Having a doting sibling is pretty enjoyable. I have one. She loves me.”
Had I not heard stories about Noona, I might have fallen for his trickery. “She loves beating you.”
“That, too.”
I turned to my father, expecting my tiger would continue driving me crazy just to hear me roar. “You don’t need anyone’s permission to do whatever my mother will let you do to her.”
“That is a great deal,” my father replied, and while his tone was dignified, he smirked at me.
“Some things I didn’t want to know. That’s one of the things I didn’t want to know.”
My father looked Anatoly in the eyes and said, “You will need much luck with her. I feel I should apologize for my part in your current difficulties.”
“I like her just as she is, but thank you.”
I doubted I would ever understand my tiger. “You need to see Henry about that, Ana.”
“I do not.”
Snorting at the Siberian only irritated him, and he growled at me. Rather than tire myself, I displayed my middle finger for his enjoyment.
The bastard bit me.
As always when it came to my damned tiger, common sense made way for impulse, and I lunged out of the saddle and went for his throat, teeth bared to bite and put him back in his place where he belonged. Anatoly tried to catch me rather than defend himself. I latched onto where his shoulder and neck met, dragging him to the ground. We landed hard, and I grunted without releasing my hold on him.
My teeth hurt, but I ignored the pain to mark my mate as mine.
After a brief scuffle, Anatoly won, pinned me to the asphalt, and freed his throat from my clutches. I’d made him bleed, and he chuckled at my assault of his person. To keep me from tearing into him, he captured my wrists in a hand. Then, as he knew it would drive me crazy, he pressed a finger to my nose. “You score full points for landing the first blow, but you’re going to have to do better than that, Jesse.”
I licked my lips, which tasted of his blood. “You’re delicious.”
“When was the last time you ate?”
“I don’t see what that has to do with anything.” As always when I bit him, the bloodied mark already began to heal, and I’d leave yet another pale scar on his skin. Given time, my favorite place would be a brand no one could erase, and I wished I could purr to express my pleasure over having claimed the tiger as mine.
“I fed her this morning, but she does require sustenance soon. Really, I find her voracious appetite following battle disturbing, but she still heals and needs to eat much. She is tired of the soup I feed her, however. Might you know of a female Siberian? I would like to teach the stone how best to care for my child.”
“Noona’s probably with her wolf, which means we’d have to take a trip to find wherever she took her brood this time. Any feline should work, and there’s plenty of Bengal ladies who wouldn’t mind helping.” Anatoly released his hold on me, got to his feet, and offered me his hand. Any other day, I might have gotten up on my own out of spite, but I accepted his help.
However much it disgusted me, I needed his assistance to get on my feet and stay there. My tiger pulled me into a hug, kissed the top of my head, and sighed into my hair.
“We will do this. It did not occur to me that shifter humans of different species might suffice for this.”
“Bears and cats are different enough you were wise to wait, but in biological terms, there are only minor differences between Bengals and Siberians. But, Noona should be somewhere in the city, and she won’t mind helping. Or she better not mind helping. If I can find her. She said she’d be here to help out. But she might have taken the brood somewhere nearby and means to help with the cleanup. Honestly? I have no idea where my sister is. She likes making me guess.”
I foresaw trouble, as Anatoly expected to get his way when he set his mind to it. The pair of Siberian siblings might destroy the rest of Charlotte. To stop the chaos before it could begin, I suggested, “Why not talk to Blossom?”
“We could,” he conceded.
“And she’s not a blood relative, so if the Hope Diamond is literal, there shouldn’t be a problem.” In a way, the Blade Clan’s practices made sense; with an all male population, with me as the sole exception, the bloodlines remained diverse, as there was little chance of brides being related to each other.
“I guess we’ll ask Blossom first.”
“Maybe we could have Henry and Cleo have a talk with the rock, now that we have a better idea of what’s going on.” Maybe the two mystics could talk sense into the stone.
Anatoly rubbed my back b
efore pulling away and shaking his head. “We’ll figure something out. Convince Sweetie Pie you still love her, and let’s find somewhere somewhat safer than here to talk. For some reason, I have a feeling you’ve gotten into more trouble than I expected.”
“It is like you have met her before,” my father muttered.
As they were right, I shrugged and went to shower my champagne mare with affection. Unlike Dipshit and Devil Spawn, she didn’t put me through my paces before forgiving me. Miracle insisted on receiving her fair share of attention, which left me with my hands full while my tiger talked with my father about the disaster that was my life.
Chapter Twenty
Henry and Cleo descended on Anatoly with the same growling force as a pair of grizzlies, and I observed the mystics tearing into my tiger with a raised brow. The conversation degraded to wordless growls and grunts, although I questioned if the mystics howling Anatoly’s name could count as a conversation. My aunt, her lecherous rabbit, and Gentry followed in their wake.
The trio regarded my father with narrowed eyes.
With the fighting all but over, I figured the grizzlies and the bunny were still hopped up on adrenaline and wanted to keep fighting, As I wanted my father to survive through the day, I said, “This is my father, and I will resent if you dispatch him. As a warning, my mother is around here somewhere, and she’ll resent it far more than I will.”
My aunt grimaced. “As far as threats go, that’s a potent one, Jesse. Are you all right?”
“No,” my father and Anatoly answered for me.
I eyed Anatoly’s throat and contemplated if I could land another bite before he pinned me to the ground again. “I was going to answer as fine as I can be considering the circumstances.”