“Mmm.” Jaycee’s face twisted as she wrinkled her nose, as though her leopard had scented a bad smell. “I talked to her too, remember? From what I gathered in our conversation, this was a quick decision to save Rhianne’s life. I think we need to know exactly what happened between Lady Aisling and your dad, Rhianne. Why would he be so harsh to you? I can’t imagine doing anything to harm my own cub.”
A sudden longing flashed in her eyes. It couldn’t have been easy leaving baby Lucas behind to help out Ben, but Jaycee and Dimitri were trackers, having to obey their leader.
Dimitri puffed up with pride. “You should see Lucas already trying to get up and run. I bet he’ll turn out to be leopard.”
“Turn out to be leopard?” Rhianne asked in bafflement. “What does that mean?”
“Shifters from mixed heritage are born in human form,” Jaycee answered. “They don’t shift until they’re a few years old, so we don’t yet know if he’ll be wolf or leopard. Lucas has red hair, but his eyes are like mine.”
“And he can move,” Dimitri said. “He instantly grabs whatever he puts his eye on, never misses. He’s got deadly focus, like a cat. So I’m betting on leopard.”
“Could be.” Jaycee shrugged. “We’ll find out.”
She spoke casually, but Ben sensed her tension. She wanted to know, and he could tell she hoped wolf. Dimitri wanted leopard. The two of them were adorable.
Ben cut in before Rhianne could ask any more questions about the cub. Dimitri and Jaycee, like any proud parents, would go on about Lucas for hours. Ben didn’t blame them. He’d met the kid in his infrequent visits to Kendrick’s compound, and the little dude was cute.
“Anyway,” Ben said. “The best thing we can do is sit tight until we have more intel. Jaycee, since you’re so close to Lady Aisling, please try to get her to open up to you. That means tell her more,” he added for Rhianne’s benefit.
“Open up?” Rhianne widened her eyes. “My mother does not open up.”
“Doesn’t she? She talks to me a lot.” Jaycee caught Rhianne’s hurt glance, then added quickly, “Probably because she doesn’t see me as a threat.”
Ben watched Rhianne tamp down her sorrow. “My father has and always will be ambitious,” Rhianne said. “He uses anyone or anything to get what he wants. I imagine my mother is waiting for him to grow bored with whatever scheme he’s pursuing and turn to something else.” She sipped wine, brows furrowed. “How did he find me here? I doubt my mother let that slip—she’s much too careful.”
Ben shrugged. “There are many Fae spies in the human world. Even some Shifters are.”
“Liam or Dylan?” Rhianne asked in worry. Ben noted she didn’t name Tiger.
“No,” Ben answered quickly and Jaycee and Dimitri chorused the same. “Dylan loathes the Fae and he’d not give you up to a Tuil Erdannan working with one. Probably a human spy reported to his Fae master. Everyone knows me and where I hang out.”
“The psychic, Lily?” Rhianne’s expression told him he hoped not. “I gave her our names.”
“I didn’t sense treachery in her, and besides she didn’t realize what or who we were. She wouldn’t have been so shocked if she’d been on the lookout for us. No, I’m guessing someone who saw us in the restaurants, or the bakery, or the club, or on the street. Everyone knows me,” he finished glumly. He should have kept Rhianne at the house, but her longing to see this world and not be confined had touched him. He’d understood her feelings.
“I agree with Ben that we need more information,” Dimitri broke in. “I also think that we should sleep on it. Rhianne must be exhausted.”
Ben thought so too, but Rhianne showed no signs of drooping. A day and a night like she’d had would have wiped out a human, and likely a Shifter too, but Rhianne stirred restlessly.
Jaycee glanced at Dimitri. “I’m too riled up from the fight to go tamely to bed.”
Dimitri slid an arm around her. “I know what might calm you down.”
“Don’t you always? But I need a run. By myself—you know the kind where you won’t be able to keep up.”
“Nuh-uh. Too dangerous,” Dimitri said immediately.
“The crazed magic people are not after me, and I won’t go far. I run around here all the time. Walk out with me, Rhianne?”
Jaycee, always energetic, leapt to her feet. Rhianne rose quickly to join her. “I’d love to.”
“You will stay on the veranda,” Ben admonished Rhianne, his heart speeding in worry. “I don’t know how far the house’s protection extends.”
“Of course I will,” Rhianne said in annoyance. “I’m not a fool. My father is deadly.”
“Leave her alone, Ben.” Jaycee put her arm around Rhianne. “She needs to take a breath. And I seriously want a run.”
Without another word, Jaycee led Rhianne out of the kitchen. Rhianne glanced back at Ben, giving him a nod that he supposed was meant to be reassuring.
Once the two ladies could be heard talking on the stairs, Dimitri quietly set down his beer. “I’m going after them. In secret, of course.”
“Me too,” Ben said.
Dimitri shot him a grin. They waited until the veranda door had closed downstairs, sending a draft through the house, before they noiselessly descended and slipped out through a side door.
* * *
Rhianne leaned on the veranda railing, folding her arms across it, and watched Jaycee dance down the steps, discarding clothes as she went. Rhianne scanned the dark distance, not trusting her father enough to descend after Jaycee into the night. She’d be as careful as she’d promised Ben she’d be.
She tilted her head to gaze at what stars shone through the clouds, wishing she could spend all night with a telescope, becoming acquainted with the skies of this world. The stars were not as thick as in Faerie. Rhianne wondered if some of the distant suns were the same as those she saw from her observatory, or if this place was so alien it was surrounded by a different galaxy.
Watching stars always let her draw away from her emotions, and the ones Ben stirred inside her confused the hell out of her. Rhianne needed, as Jaycee had said, to draw a breath and sort out her thoughts.
Perhaps what she felt for Ben was simple infatuation for the man who’d rescued her. Correction, the being who’d rescued her. Ben was clearly not a man, and Rhianne knew so little about him. These longings churning inside her were the result of stress, fear, and gratitude. Weren’t they?
Jaycee stretched her naked body, beautiful in the moonlight, and then began to shift. She did it gracefully, as the woman did everything—dancing, fighting, or kissing Dimitri.
The leopard and woman merged, for a moment becoming something in between. No struggle through these stages, however. The leopard side grew more and more prominent until Jaycee dropped to all fours as a big cat.
She loped off, her speed increasing rapidly until she was a streak in the night, then she was gone.
Rhianne had to smile when she saw a wolf dart from the shadows and run after the leopard.
The night touched Rhianne, the silence and the stars comforting after the horrifying battle in the garden. If her father had been trying to separate her from Ben, he’d not succeeded.
She allowed herself a momentary flare of triumph before she sobered. Perhaps Ivor was trying to do just that. If Rhianne was forced to wander this strange human world by herself, would she survive?
Ben had showed her how to find food and drink, but she could do that only if she had money in the currency of this place. In Faerie, she had status and wealth, and respect as a prominent scholar. Here, she had nothing, knew no one.
Conclusion—she needed to stick with Ben, at least for now. Tiger had told her this as well. Whenever you are with Ben, you will be safe.
Why did the idea of being without him wrench at her so much? The emptiness the thoughts engendered came from more than worry about survival, and from more than gratitude.
Moon- and starlight brushed the rose vines clinging to the nea
rby trellis. A breeze brushed the wind chimes, and the tingle Rhianne had felt in her blood during the battle resurfaced.
As she’d noted before, the feeling wasn’t quite the same as when she called up her words of power. Magic, but a different sort of magic.
She straightened, fingertips touching the railing, and let herself explore the sensation. A tightening in her belly, a fire between her shoulder blades, a restlessness in her legs. Rhianne wanted to vault over the railing and run, run, run after Jaycee, to try to best the leopard in speed.
The breeze grew stronger, the chiming louder. A tremor ran under her feet, as though the house responded to the wind.
Rhianne’s skin itched. More than itched, it became fiery hot. She watched her hands tug open her tunic, buttons tinkling to the slatted boards in her haste. The blouse fell, and the silk camisole went next, the sapphire necklace landing with a tinkle next to it.
Rhianne drew a long breath, letting the cool wind refresh her bare skin. But it wasn’t enough. She slid off her new shoes and the stockings beneath, wriggling her toes.
Her body wasn’t satisfied yet. Rhianne glanced quickly around but did not see Ben. Jaycee was racing off somewhere in the darkness, her mate after her. Rhianne was alone in the night.
She quickly unfastened the leather pants and let them fall, then pulled off the undergarment beneath them. She tossed the clothes aside, amazed at herself for not tidying them, and stretched out her arms, welcoming the breeze.
Her hair felt heavy in the braid as it brushed her back. Rhianne loosened its bond until her hair flowed without impediment over her bare body. Sensual and warm, it brushed her skin.
A better feeling would be Ben touching her.
Rhianne wrapped her arms around herself, wanting to relive the heat of Ben’s body against hers, his kiss on her mouth, his hand lovingly cupping her breast.
For a moment, she remembered the feeling exactly. In the next, her thoughts were scattered on another peal of the wind chimes, this one louder and more insistent.
Rhianne opened her arms without realizing she did so, and she had the strongest urge to climb onto the veranda railing and perch there. Perch?
Before she could stop herself, she was doing it, balancing on top of the narrow railing as though such a thing was natural. She felt the house’s magic through her feet, liquid fire that reached all the way to the ley line buried far beneath the earth.
A sudden pain wracked her. Rhianne’s limbs twisted with it, and she cried out.
The pain vanished as suddenly as it had come. New strength took its place, along with a wild awareness that she could do anything at all she wished.
Another cry escaped her lips, this one high-pitched and inhuman. The sound pierced the darkness, floating across the night.
Rhianne leapt from the railing. The sane part of her brain, which had become small and insignificant, tried to stop herself in terror.
The newly awakened part of her mind laughed. The tingle in her body burned with sudden fury, and from every pore in her skin sprang a swath of feathers.
Feathers?
It was the last conscious word that formed. Rhianne spread her massive wings and caught the wind as she floated toward the ground, then she rose into the night, sailing for the moonlight.
Chapter Ten
Holy fucking shit!
Ben sprinted from his hiding place just inside the back door. He hit the veranda railing as the giant eagle soared upward, its screech cutting the night.
What the fucking fuck?
Ben stumbled down the veranda steps, dashing along the path that led to the outbuildings and the pool. The eagle cut into a swath of moonlight, then out again, vanishing into the darkness.
“Rhianne!” Ben’s shout was lost in the wind. He cupped his hands around his mouth and bellowed her name again.
Silence. From far, far away, he heard the triumphant howl of a wolf and the snarl of a wild cat.
Since when could Rhianne turn into an eagle? A golden one, it looked like from the flash he’d seen. Lady Aisling hadn’t mentioned this. Not that she’d mentioned her daughter much to him at all.
“Rhianne. Damn it.”
Get the hell back here! he wanted to yell. Right, like a Tuil Erdannan who could turn into a bird of prey was going to listen to him.
Ben pivoted this way and that, peering through the trees that now enclosed him. He could make himself look like a tree creature, one of the several forms he could take, but little good that would do him now. Except, he thought hysterically, he might give her a branch to land on.
Shit.
A rush of wings blew a downdraft across his face. The eagle skimmed just above his head and then surged upward again.
“Not funny,” Ben called. “Come down here. I need to talk to you.”
If the eagle understood, she ignored him. Ben reached the edge of the trees and watched the huge bird waft higher, then soar, wings spread, grace in the night. Beautiful.
He heard the wolf howl again, this time in surprise. Another snarl from the wild cat. Then pounding paws on damp ground sounded as Jaycee and Dimitri raced toward him.
The eagle circled above them, its jubilant shriek cutting the air. Its circles tightened until, with an unnerving suddenness, the bird plummeted to the ground, wings spreading at the last instant to let it land with a gentle thump.
Jaycee darted forward, claws poised to strike, but Ben stepped between her and the eagle. “It’s Rhianne.”
Jaycee’s paws skidded as she forced herself to halt. She rose into her half-beast state, leopard fur hugging her limbs, her eyes harshly golden. “What the hell?”
Dimitri changed, more slowly, into his fully human form. “Are you sure?”
Ben took a step toward the eagle. It cocked its head and stared at him from a brown-black eye that was all Rhianne.
Ben strode another step. The eagle fluffed out her wings, hooked beak opening in warning.
She was beautiful. Reddish feathers flowed from her head, becoming more golden as they skimmed down her back. Wide talons gripped the earth, and lighter blond feathers dusted her breast and the tufts around her legs. She was far larger than a natural golden eagle, standing as high as Ben’s chest, her wingspan massive.
“Rhianne?” Ben asked softly.
The eagle fluttered her wings once more, then settled them to her sides. Behind them, wind chimes rang on the veranda, jangling and dancing.
The air shimmered, and when it cleared Rhianne, unclothed, sat hunched in on herself in the exact spot the eagle had stood.
Jaycee started for her, but Rhianne cried out in fear, throwing up her hands as though she’d never seen Jaycee before. Dimitri put a hand on Jaycee’s shoulder, holding her back.
Ben carefully approached and went down on one knee. “Rhianne, sweetheart. You all right?”
Rhianne raised her head, her hair and face damp. “Ben?”
The word was shaky, on the verge of tears. Ben reached out and carefully took her hand.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were part Shifter?”
“I’m not … I don’t … I’ve never …” Rhianne gazed at him in absolute terror, then her face crumpled, and tears poured down her cheeks. “What is happening to me?”
Ben gathered her to him. Her warm hair fell around him, exactly as he’d fantasized, but now his desires were stemmed by worry and compassion. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
Sending a warning glance to the others, Ben lifted Rhianne, cradling her against his chest, and carried her back to the waiting house.
* * *
“She can’t be a Shifter.” Dimitri declared this as he lounged in the kitchen, his hands wrapped around another beer.
Rhianne was now tucked into a bed down the hall, her red hair fanning across the pillows. Halfway to the house, Rhianne’s tears had dried, and when Ben had laid her in the bed, she’d fallen into an instant and profound sleep.
Ex
haustion, Ben told himself. The stress of being captured by a hoch alfar asshole, then hauled away from everything she knew and brought to the human world against her will. Not to mention a long night dancing and battling snakes, plus the physical exertion of shifting into an eagle and flying around in the darkness.
“Why not?” Jaycee demanded, even as she leaned into Dimitri, seeking the comfort of her mate.
“Shifters don’t fly, for one thing,” Dimitri answered. “We have big cat Shifters. Lupines, and Bears. That’s it.”
“Foxes, remember,” Ben said. “Made by the Tuil Erdannan. Why couldn’t one of them make raptors as well?”
“Reason number two,” Dimitri went on. “Both her parents are Tuil Erdannan.”
Ben nodded from where he slumped on the bench at the window, his energy gone. “I agree. She doesn’t really have that Shifter look to her.”
Jaycee’s eyes narrowed. “What look is that?”
“Predatory,” Dimitri answered before Ben could. “You know a Shifter has an animal inside who’d tear out your guts to defend his territory, even while he’s smiling at you and throwing back a brew.” He lifted his beer in demonstration.
“You have a point,” Jaycee conceded. “Plus, there’s scent. She does not smell like a Shifter at all.”
No, she smelled like roses and the wildness of the night.
Ben pressed his fingers to the table. Tattoos on his right hand spelled out the word Ben, and on his left, Gil. “I have the feeling her dear father had something to do with this. Messed with her DNA or something. Experimented on his own daughter. No wonder Lady Aisling threw him out.”
“You think that’s what happened?” Dimitri asked.
“It’s a theory. One that fits with what a shithead her dad seems to be. Dylan wants to take him down? Well, I just joined Dylan’s team.”
Jaycee glared at both men. “Why don’t you two stop theorizing and ask her?”
“When she wakes up, we’ll have a talk.” Ben thought of the fear on Rhianne’s face that had wrenched his heart. “But I don’t believe she’ll have an answer.”
The Last Warrior: Shifters Unbound Book 13 Page 11
