“Devlin stands for the candidate,” a voice growled. A massive redheaded shifter stepped in front of Rhodry to stand next to Cristobal as an answering growl rumbled from several throats behind him.
“As does Martyn,” Fionn agreed.
The room teetered on the brink of violence for several seconds before the words were taken up by shifters from all over the Hall, and repeated until the rafters trembled with the massed roar of voices.
Orrin glanced down at her and grinned. “Welcome to the Guild, Amanda.”
Chapter Fifty
It was fully dark by the time Amanda got out of the Guild Hall. Orrin Brady had invited her to stay and celebrate her success, but she’d had enough testosterone to last her a lifetime. She thanked him, and begged off, saying she wanted nothing more than a hot bath and a soft bed. He studied her for a moment, then nodded, clearly satisfied with whatever he found.
“You’ve three days to recover before reporting for assignment. I look forward to working with you. It should be interesting.”
She smiled and headed for the front door, stopping only to exchange a brief word with Rhodry, who’d been deep in conversation with some of his cousins and the Ardrigh.
He made excuses to Cristobal when he saw her coming his way and stepped into her path, stopping her just inside the door. He was bathed and dressed in fresh clothes, his still-damp hair braided neatly down his back. She wondered if someone had done his hair for him, and felt a pang of jealousy for whoever it was. Standing next to his freshly-bathed self made her feel even grubbier. And the feeling only intensified when he reached out to take both of her hands in his—hers rough, scratched and grimy, and his clean and calloused, with no healing scratches marring the perfection of his shifter skin.
“You’re not staying?” he asked.
“I need a bath,” she joked halfheartedly, feeling inexplicably sad. “I stink.”
He laughed, and seemed to agree, which didn’t exactly make her feel better about things.
“I’m going home,” she said abruptly, pulling her hands away. “You’re welcome, if—”
“I’ll be returning to the palace,” he interrupted to say. “The Ardrigh has—”
“Of course,” she said quickly, not wanting to hear whatever excuse he’d come up with. Hadn’t she worked this out for herself earlier? He was a clan chief, and she was nobody.
She caught sight of the redheaded Devlin giant over Rhodry’s shoulder. He was watching the two of them closely, as was the big blond, Aidan, whom she’d met at the dance that first night.
“You’ve got your cousins here now. You’ll want time with them,” she said, providing him with even more justification for avoiding her. She turned for the door.
“Amanda.”
She stopped and looked back at him. He didn’t say anything, just scowled at her.
“Take care of yourself, Rhodi,” she said, then hurried out of the Guild Hall and down the stairs. She heard him swear behind her, followed by the rowdy laughter of someone who was probably one of his cousins. Apparently, she was a cause of some amusement among them. The Earther girl who’d fallen for the de Mendoza clan chief.
Of course, the Devlins had supported her at the critical moment, and probably turned the tide of opinion in her favor. She’d never forget that. On the other hand, she’d saved Rhodry’s life, and the mountain clans were said to be very big on honor and obligation.
She couldn’t get away from the Guild Hall fast enough.
Limping slowly down the empty streets of Ciudad Vaquero, she headed toward her apartment, while contemplating her absence of female friends. She could have used one right about now. How had it happened that the only people she knew really well on this planet were all shifters? It was a matter of circumstance rather than choice, she decided. She’d been so focused on qualifying for the Guild, spending all of her free time alone out among the trees, or hanging around the fringes of the Guild Hall, hoping to learn something. She hadn’t had much time to make friends of the female variety, and it would seem not many of the male variety either.
Lost in thought, her weary legs stumbled around a newly installed planter and she stubbed her toe on the sharp edge. Talk about adding insult to injury. Like she wasn’t already banged up enough. She leaned one hand against the side of a closed and shuttered store, rubbing the offended toe against the back of her calf and trying to massage away the pain. A soft foot scuffed on the dark street behind her, and she spun around, seeing no one there.
It was early evening, with tomorrow a regular work day, and, as always, the streets had rolled up at dusk. It was nearly as quiet here as out in the Green, with only the occasional loud voice from a nearby home or apartment to break the silence.
Amanda pretended to keep massaging her toe as she listened carefully. And there it was again. A movement so soft she never would have heard it if she hadn’t been expecting it. Had one of the shifters decided to make sure she didn’t make it to her first Guild assignment after all?
A quick survey of the street showed her a balcony overhang a couple of storefronts away. Quietly dropping her backpack into the shadows behind the planter, she slipped her bow over her shoulder and sprinted silently ahead, reaching her target with a few quick strides. The elaborately carved support posts were hardly a challenge to her tree-honed climbing skills, and she easily shimmied up to the balcony.
Once up top, she ducked down below the balustrade and waited. It didn’t take long. Her shadow was a shifter. No surprise there. No one else could have moved that quietly. He was big, bigger even than Rhodry, with dark blond hair and enormous hands, his clothes neat and simple. He was frowning when he came into view, probably aware that he’d lost her somehow, and hurrying to catch up, too intent on his own irritation to use his nose to track her.
She waited until he’d passed by and she had his back in her arrow sights. “Whoever you are,” she said grimly, “you should know I’ve about had my fill of shifters for the evening.”
He froze in place before putting his hands out to the side and turning slowly, letting his gaze travel up until he found her staring down at him along the shaft of a drawn arrow.
“Ah, lass, don’t shoot me,” he said sorrowfully. “I’d never hear the end of it.”
She blinked in confusion, but didn’t drop her aim. “I don’t know you,” she said.
“I’m Cullen Devlin!” he announced brightly. “Rhodi sent me to watch over you while he meets with the Ardrigh and such, to make sure you get home safe and sound. Now, don’t go off on me, lass,” he hurried on before she could protest. “Rhodi says to tell you he knows you’re not needing any protection. You saved one of our own, and the Devlins will have you safe.”
She lowered the bow. How nice. Rhodry couldn’t bother with her himself, so he’d sent his cousin to watch over her and fulfill his cursed sense of honor. Her lip curled in a snarl.
“You go back and tell Rhodry de Mendoza where he can shove his—”
“I’ll not be doing any such thing. Despite he’s my own dear cousin and all, I’m scared to death of the man. Besides, what can it hurt if I just follow you close-like for a bit?”
She let her arrow drop, catching it in her fingers and sliding it home in her quiver with a resigned sigh before skimming quickly back down the support post to the street.
“Now that was nicely done, lass. Don’t think I’ve ever seen a norm climb quite like that,” Cullen said in admiration.
“That’s because I’m not quite a norm,” she muttered, striding past him to recover her backpack. She took a good look at the enormous shifter, and decided it would be too much work to dissuade him from following her. “As long as you’re here, you might as well make yourself useful,” she said, and shoved the heavy backpack into his arms. She slung her bow over her shoulder and said, “I’m going home.”
Rounding the next corner, she caught sight of the science center two blocks away. Normally, it would be as dark as the rest of the city. Tonight
it was lit up like a Yule tree. Even the exterior lights were on, as if they were having a party. She frowned and tried to remember if today was an Earth holiday of some sort, and realized she wasn’t even all that sure what day of the week it was, much less the date. And also…she didn’t really care.
Cullen saw her staring at the brightly lit building and, ever helpful, volunteered the information she needed. “A shuttle came in yesterday.” He sniffed, wrinkling his nose as if smelling something foul. “You can probably tell by the stink in the air. Hard to miss.”
Amanda was reluctant to admit she was interested. “Was it a supply run?”
“Can’t say, lass. I’ve never seen one before. There was a bit of a fuss down at the landing field when this one showed up. It wasn’t really my concern, though, what with Rhodi being dead and all.”
Amanda glanced over and found him watching her with a crooked grin. He winked. “We’re sure glad you brought him home safe.”
She managed to swallow her laugh, but the smile escaped. Cullen noticed and his grin widened. “You want to pay a visit?” he asked, jerking his chin at the brightly lit center. “Maybe you’ve got friends there?”
Her smile disappeared. Cheerful voices were coming from the blocky building, like they really were having a party. Maybe the crew was about to change, and this was a farewell celebration. It all meant little to Amanda. Cullen was wrong. She didn’t have any friends there either. Laughter drifted over the quiet night, floating above the hum of voices.
Amanda turned her head sharply to listen as a familiar voice followed on the laughter, and she began to run.
Chapter Fifty-One
“There’s my girl!”
Amanda dropped her gear and ran to her mother, heedless of the hard-paved walkway jarring her already sore legs. Elise opened her arms and hugged her much taller daughter, laughing delightedly.
“If I’d known I’d get such a welcome, I’d have visited long ago!”
Amanda held on tightly, breathing in the familiar scent she didn’t know she’d missed until now. It abruptly reminded her of her own rather fragrant state, and she stepped back. Elise’s arms tightened briefly, and then let go.
“What are you doing here?”
Elise beamed up at her, lovely as always. “My only child is making history, and you think I won’t want to be here? Really, Amanda,” she teased. She ran a professional glance over her daughter’s many injuries, and Amanda blushed, knowing what she must look like. She grabbed Cullen’s arm, dragging the surprised shifter forward.
“Uh, this is Cullen,” she said, trying to distract her mother’s attention. “Cullen, say hello to my mother, Dr. Elise Sumner. Cullen’s my new bodyguard,” she explained.
“Cullen Devlin, ma’am,” he said properly, giving Amanda a reproving glance. “It’s a pleasure—”
“Bodyguard?” her mother exclaimed, interrupting Cullen. “Why do you need a bodyguard?”
“Amanda’s having a bit of fun, Dr. Sumner,” Cullen clarified. “Truth is, it’s my cousin Rhodry who’s been guarding her body. I’m just a poor substitute while Rhodi meets with the Ardrigh.”
“Call me Elise,” her mother said absently, turning to Amanda. “Who’s Rhodry?”
She gave Cullen a dirty look, which he returned with a raised brow that said she’d started it all.
“It’s a long story, Mom, and I’m—”
“Amanda!” Guy Wolfrum’s booming voice announced his arrival a moment before he reached to embrace her.
“I really need a shower,” she joked lamely, and shied away from him. They hadn’t seen each other more than a handful of times in the last several months, and then only to nod hello in the corridor. So why the hell was he acting so friendly all of a sudden?
“I was telling your mother and Admiral Leveque how proud we all are of you.”
Ah. Admiral Leveque was here, too. That explained the sudden effusiveness. He was under the mistaken impression that she and Leveque were close. Might as well disabuse him of that right now, and save them all the embarrassment.
Before she could say anything, Wolfrum moved in uncomfortably close, and leaned in to whisper in her ear, “You’ll have to brief us on everything you’ve learned about these shifters now that you’re one of them.”
She concealed her jolt of surprise. No one from the fleet was supposed to know about shifters. Sure as hell not Leveque, or even her mother. She stepped back, putting enough distance between them that she could study his face. The rumor had been that he’d stayed behind on Harp for love. Had it been for something else? She might have imagined the greedy undertone of his whispered words, but then again, there was no doubting the challenging stare he was aiming at her. Was he threatening to reveal everything if she didn’t tell him what he wanted to know?
Stupid man to do that in front of Cullen, whose shifter hearing would have picked up the whisper. And he wouldn’t have missed the implied threat either. Shifters were apex predators. They understood threats. And every word of this conversation would be reported back to Rhodry and the cousins.
“I’m not one of them,” she demurred. “I’m simply a member of the Guild.” She met his challenge head-on, daring him to make an issue of it.
Her mother interrupted the uncomfortable moment, taking her arm and steering her toward the science center. Wolfrum stirred, and would have come along, but Cullen blocked his path, demonstrating with a flat stare what a real threat looked like, and proving she’d been right about him picking up on the subtleties of the encounter.
“What you are, sweetling,” Elise was saying, ignoring all of the byplay, “is coming right inside where I can take a proper look at you. You’ve been out in that wilderness for weeks with no word. Oh, yes,” she added, seeing her look of surprise. “I know exactly how long you’ve been gone. Admiral Leveque and I had dinner with Cristobal Martyn—a lovely man, in more ways than one. So many of them are here, aren’t they? Anyway, we heard all sorts of things. Randy wanted to do an overfly of that big forest you were lost in. We brought his pinnace down from orbit, of course. I said, no, my Amanda’s just fine, you’ll see.”
Amanda’s eyes misted up at her mom’s vote of confidence, and she saw a matching shimmer of tears in Elise’s dark eyes. “Thanks, Mom.”
Elise sniffed. “I know my daughter. Now, come along. You must be starving.”
“Mom, I’m filthy. I can’t—”
“Cullen, could you?” Elise gestured with her chin at Amanda’s gear, ignoring her protest.
Cullen picked up the worn gear, and followed her indomitable mother down the walk. “I could eat something, Elise,” he chimed in, his cheer restored now that Wolfrum had departed without another word, hurrying back onto the street away from the science center.
“Excellent. I had Randy’s chef pack a cooler,” she confided. “I didn’t want to trust what they had here at the center. Scientists can be so odd at times. You’re limping, Amanda. Why are you limping?”
She laughed, and decided it was good to be back after all.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Elise had tried to persuade Amanda to return to the Leveque Industries starliner which was waiting in Harp orbit. Apparently Randy had commandeered the luxury ship for this trip to visit Amanda—one of the perks of belonging to a preeminent industrial family. From what she could gather, they’d been in orbit for more than a week, waiting for her return.
She had politely declined her mother’s offer. The last thing she wanted was a return to space with its recycled air and claustrophobic environment. Not to mention water-saving showers. What she wanted was her comfortable, familiar apartment with its decadent bathtub, its big, soft bed, and Rhodry. She’d have to settle for two out of three, which wasn’t bad.
Elise had put up only a token argument. In the final analysis, she really did know her daughter. She had insisted on medical treatment first, cleaning and bandaging Amanda’s many injuries and pumping her full of antibiotics. The thigh injury was going to
leave a terrible scar. As Elise had observed with some disgust, the healing process was already too far along for treatment to make a difference now. She was quick to point out, however, that reconstructive surgery would be an option in just a few months.
Personally, Amanda thought she’d leave it—a lasting memento of her first (and hopefully last) encounter with an ice bear.
While her mother worked, she delivered a decidedly censored recitation of her journey. Admiral Leveque made a brief appearance, mostly, she thought, to reassert his claim on Elise. Her mother didn’t seem to mind, and since Elise’s happiness was important to both Amanda and Leveque, they were both polite and something that resembled friendly.
By the time the visit was over, she was exhausted, with barely enough energy to walk the short distance to her apartment and climb the stairs. Cullen carried her gear without being asked, and dropped it just inside her door.
“I’ll be downstairs for a bit, lass, if you need anything.”
“Go home, Cullen,” she said wearily. “Or wherever it is you’re staying. I’m not going anywhere tonight, and besides I’ve lived in this apartment by myself for a long time. Trust me. I’m fine.”
“Of course you are, lass. I’ll just hang around for a bit.”
She watched him glide down the stairs with shifter grace, and wondered what it was with these Devlin males that made them so damn certain of themselves all the time.
“And why are you wasting your time wondering about Devlins, when you could already be soaking in the tub?” she muttered, closing the door. If Cullen wanted to lurk in the shadows of her perfectly safe street, it was no skin off her nose.
She was drowning. The water was rising over her head, filling her nose, trickling down her throat to her lungs. It was cold and…it smelled like lavender?
Amanda sat up in the big tub, sputtering, choking on bath water. She’d fallen asleep, lulled by the hot, scented water, by the soft light of the candles she’d lit all around. And she’d been out long enough that her fingers and toes were wrinkled past the first knuckle, long enough that the soothing oil-scented water had turned cold and slimy. She grimaced at the greasy feel and knew she’d have to take a shower now, or she’d never feel clean. And she was determined to feel clean before going to sleep tonight in her very own bed with its heavenly soft sheets.
Shifter Planet Page 34