The Wild Rites Saga Omnibus 01 to 04

by Anna McIlwraith

  She came to stand in front of him, which put his dark eyes on a level with hers. “You are one of the scariest fuckers I’ve ever met, but I’m not afraid of you. I trust you.” It wasn’t what she really wanted to say — that in spite of knowing he had his secrets, in spite of the fact that he kept the secrets of others when Emma would’ve killed for some straight answers, he was pretty much the only person she felt comfortable with now. Given the way everyone treated her after Russia, she was so grateful for his quiet, no bullshit presence over the last few weeks that her chest ached.

  He broke eye contact gently, looking past her, scanning the thin crowd of early morning shoppers and the occasional car pulling in off the road for gas. “You make me feel pretty normal too, Em. Way you handle my curse and all. It’s like — what?” He stopped when he saw her face.

  She shook her head. “I thought you knew. I haven’t felt the pull of your curse since Russia. Since after. I think the — I think with my power awakened, whatever that actually means, it made me immune.” Red just looked confused, and maybe a little suspicious, so she hurried on. “I can still feel you, um, your power I mean, but it doesn’t affect me the way it did before. The way it affects everyone capable of being affected. Red?”

  He blinked. “You’re serious?”

  She bristled. “Yes, Red, I can tell the difference. I may not have as much experience wielding power as you bigshots, but I’ve got a handle on things. Generally.”

  The look in his eyes changed from confused to speculative, and one corner of his mouth turned up. “So the way you look at me sometimes…”

  Oh jeez…

  Emma took a deep breath, straightened her spine, and reminded herself she was an adult. “You’re not exactly hard to look at, Red.”

  He blinked at her again, not looking away now, holding her fully with his stare. Then he threw back his head and laughed so hard and loud Emma thought the general store windows might shatter. “Oh, sure,” she said over the racket. “Go ahead and yuck it up.”

  She stomped up the steps to the general store. “I’m collecting my package and a bag of M&M’s and then we’re getting the hell back to the ranch, Chuckles,” she called over her shoulder.

  Damn shapechangers.

  Emma and Red materialized out the back of the ranch, a few yards away from the back porch, which was covered with guards. Most of them new. Anton was there too, the only one who didn’t look surprised to see Emma and Red Sun appear out of thin air. He stepped forward, dark brows lowered over those incredible green eyes.

  Great. “So much for stealth.”

  “Brace yourself kiddo,” Red said under his breath.

  But before Anton could even make it to the first stair down from the porch, one of the guards pushed through the crowd and elbowed Anton out of the way. Leah came down the stairs at a trot, blond ponytail bouncing.

  “Emma! I mean my lady! You look great!” Leah — five feet and eleven inches of muscle and holy-shit gorgeous, dressed in what looked like the Adidas version of Black Widow’s catsuit, complete with loaded shoulder rig and thigh holsters — wrapped Emma in her arms and pressed her lips to Emma’s ear. “You can thank me for the diversion later,” she whispered. “And you don’t look great.”

  She pulled back, her gaze sliding for a moment to Red before she shook herself and frowned down at Emma. “Who the hell is feeding you, woman? More like not feeding you. Jesus.” Emma couldn’t think of a response, because usually it was Ricky who fed her, he was the one who cooked. Mostly. And it wasn’t his fault she avoided the kitchen for reasons that had nothing to do with food.

  Emma held up the bag of M&M’s. “I’ve got food.”

  Leah’s brown eyes widened. “Jesus,” she repeated. “Come on.” Herding her away from Red and up the porch steps. “I need lunch.”

  “It’s only nine in the morning.”

  “Hush.”

  Anton looked like he wanted to block their path through to the kitchen, and he lifted a hand as though to grab Emma’s arm. “Emma —”

  Leah growled. “Food!”

  Nobody who valued their life would touch Leah after that, so they made it into the kitchen in peace. Sort of. Leah started banging around the center island, pulling out plates and utensils and pawing through cupboards.

  “Do you even know what you’re doing, Leah? You’ve never been to the ranch before.”

  Her blond head popped up from behind the island. “Shapechangers live here,” she said. “There will be steaks in the fridge.”

  Leah was not wrong. A few minutes later, two steaks were sizzling under the broiler as Emma set the kitchen table with cutlery, condiments, and a plastic wrapped bowl of potato salad pulled from the fridge.

  “You could have this kitchen renovated, you know. Expanded.” Leah straightened from checking the steaks. “No idea how you manage to feed everyone here.” The kitchen was big, but Leah still had a point.

  “I don’t even know how big a kitchen would need to be, ” Emma said, “to fully cater for sixteen guards, twelve ocelot maidens, six other residents —” other meaning her, Katenka, Rain, Zach, Ricky and Fern — “and however many of you Seshua’s sent this time.”

  Leah crossed her arms, sighed. “Eleven more. You’d need to install a commercial kitchen. The palace kitchens are the size of this house, the downstairs anyway.” Her brown eyes got serious, and she looked at Emma as though taking her measure. “He even sent Marco.”

  Emma held Leah’s gaze, not even blinking at the non sequitur. “Seshua told me he was sending his best. All of them. I didn’t see Marco on the porch though.”

  Leah nodded. “He took off for a run around the perimeter. With a few of the others. I stayed here to stop Anton from strangling you when you got back.” She grinned. “He’s cute when he’s angry.”

  No arguing with that — Em had flirted, literally and figuratively, with an attraction that turned out to be a lot more for Anton than it had for her. Things were still awkward, but that ship had sailed. She wasn’t about to tell Leah that though — not with Anton on the front porch. Shapechanger hearing and all.

  Which reminded her that Red Sun had said to talk to Anton about what was up with Ricky. Normally, she’d just ask Ricky what was up with Ricky, but when Red made a suggestion, she listened. So she had to appease Anton somehow.

  Maybe use that shapechanger hearing to her own advantage. Emma cleared her throat. “He was right to be angry,” she said as Leah bent to slide the steaks out of the broiler. “I wasn’t exactly thinking straight when Red Sun and I took off. I’d just spoken to Seshua about the — uprising?” Leah made a dark noise. Emma continued. “It hasn’t been the best morning.”

  All true, and she’d managed to phrase it in a way that made her sound like she was sorry without actually claiming that she would have done anything different. No lies, no false apologies. Living with shapechangers meant drawing a lot of personal bottom lines, because otherwise they’d walk all over you and leave you at the bottom of the heap.

  Leah didn’t quite wink at Emma as she served up their steaks, but her eyes held an amused — and feral — glint as she sat down across from her and started spooning potato salad out. “Well, my lady, steak for breakfast can only improve things.”

  “I thought you said it was lunch.”

  “It’s only nine in the morning.”

  “That’s what I said!”

  Leah shrugged, popped a chunk of potato in her mouth. Chewing expansively, she pointed at the package on the kitchen table with her fork. “What did you go into town for, anyway?”

  Around a mouthful of steak, Emma mumbled, “They’re for Fern.”

  From the doorway to the living room, Fern said, “What?”

  6

  Emma had not planned for an audience when she gave Fern his present. For a moment she could only stare up at him with her half-chewed mouthful of food miraculously turning to cardboard behind her teeth. He blinked, his expression blank and expectant, for once wit
hout hurt sharpening the corners of his eyes.

  What had she expected, though? When would have been a good time? It was stupid, she realized, that she’d been subconsciously pinning all these hopes and fears on a stupid gift. Hopes and fears that she did not want to examine. Not even a gift really — like getting socks and underwear for Christmas, or a birthday.

  At least it wasn’t actually Christmas.

  And he didn’t know his own birthday.

  They were just clothes. What difference did it make, whether he cared or not?

  She swallowed her food and pushed the UPS package across the table. “I ordered you some sweats a while back, off the ‘net. Just wasn’t sure if they’d arrive or not, they were from, um.” Emma had to look away, looked at her food, started cutting another bite of steak. “Italy or something. If they don’t fit, it’s no big deal.”

  He cleared his throat. She looked back up at him. She saw a muscle in his jaw flex, and it emphasized how pronounced the bones of his face were.

  “I was about to do laundry,” he finally said. “So.” Cleared his throat again, grabbed the package off the table. “I’ll throw these in too I guess?”

  Emma nodded. “But if they don’t fit, maybe someone else can —”

  “They’ll fit.” He ducked his head, gaze sliding away. “Hi Leah,” he said to the tabletop, and then left.

  Putting her knife and fork down, Leah turned to Emma with her eyebrows climbing her forehead. “What the hell — ”

  “Don’t even, Leah. Just don’t.” Emma pushed away from the table, so done with the food. “Look, what can you tell me about the serpent priesthood. Seshua was real vague.”

  “Nothing ‘til you finish that steak.”

  “Leah…”

  “I’ll tell you, but you have to eat.” The patronizing tone went out of Leah’s voice. “I’m serious. You’re training right? More than usual?” At Emma’s nod, Leah leaned forward. “You need the protein. I am not joking. These boys here don’t have to think about it because they’d live off tacos and burgers and bacon if nobody forced them to eat a salad once in a while, but you’re female. And human,” she added with a sigh. “You have to pay attention, make sure you’re getting enough. More than enough.”

  Focusing on cutting her meat, Emma nodded again. “I get it, Leah. I just haven’t been hungry much lately. Seems like every time I sit down to eat my stomach says hell no.”

  Silence. After a moment, Emma realized Leah wasn’t even breathing, and she looked up to find the jaguar guard’s face as white as milk. Impressive for someone with such a deep tan.

  “Nausea?” Leah sounded like she was being strangled. “Every day? Since…”

  The murmur of male voices from the porch died. Emma almost choked on her food as it dawned on her what Leah was asking. “No! Leah, no, it…” She dropped her voice. Even knowing the rest of the guards could still hear her, she dropped her voice. “Trust me. It’s not that.”

  All the air seemed to go out of Leah. She sagged in her chair. “Jesus. I guess it could be all the training. Maybe you need to back off.”

  Not gonna happen. But Emma said, “Sure,” and popped the last piece of steak in her mouth, feeling triumphant.

  Together they cleaned up after breakfast — or lunch, whatever it was; Leah washed, Emma dried, and they talked easily, even if the topic wasn’t in the least bit fun. “The serpent priesthood thinks that if they take out Seshua and the Palace, they neutralize you, destroying your strongest ally. Or destroying those who control you.” Leah snorted. “But they’ve been slithering around, looking for a way to successfully challenge Seshua’s power for a long time.”

  “If they don’t think I really am the Caller of the Blood, they don’t believe the prophecies and blah blah blah, why is it so important to them to “neutralize” me?” Emma had meant the air quotes to “neutralize” some of the “holy shit the serpent priesthood is gunning for me” vibe, but it didn’t work.

  One shoulder lifted in a shrug as Leah leaned back against the sink. “Because the rest of the races believe. And if Seshua has you, he has a lot of power.”

  Emma mirrored Leah, leaning against the center island, in an effort to stop herself from pacing. “That’s always been their problem though. Why escalate things now? Why does it change things, that Alexi leads the priesthood now?”

  Leah opened her mouth to reply, then looked past Emma just as footsteps sounded on the back porch steps. Emma turned to find Red coming through the screen door — with Anton behind him.

  A look back at Leah told Em that the other woman had lost her train of thought at the sight of Red. Leah was trying to hide the effect Red had, but her nostrils flared and her eyes went glassy.

  Emma grabbed Leah’s wrist and squeezed, a lot harder than she’d squeeze a human’s wrist. “Why don’t you go get settled in, Leah?”

  She looked down at her with eyes that had turned amber, but her smile was grateful. “Good idea.” Emma let go of her wrist and Leah lifted a hand in a little wave to Red and Anton. “Later.” Then paused when she got to the living room doorway and pointed at Emma. “Protein, remember? Every few hours, at least.” Then her blond ponytail swished out of sight.

  Pretending not to notice the way Anton’s eyes had followed Leah — but pleased about it — Emma poked Red in the side. “I’m assuming you knew about Alexi’s promotion to king of the serpent priests or whatever they call it. Could have told me.”

  “I didn’t know what it meant, either. Truth be told, I didn’t know there would even be a serpent priesthood left after he’d finished.”

  Something in Red’s voice — and his eyes — and the way his mouth turned down…

  Emma’s scalp prickled as a piece of the puzzle fell into place. How had Alexi wrested power from the serpent priesthood all the way from Russia?

  “You were there.” Red just looked at her. “If Alexi had to go back to the temples, you were the only one who could make that possible. You were there, and you didn’t tell me?”

  Anton started backing away. “I should head over to the guard’s quarters…”

  “No,” Emma said with more force than she intended. “Please, I need to ask you something.” She looked at Red. “Red and I can talk later.” Shook her head. So much damn talking, and none of it with the people she most needed to talk to.

  Red nodded, clapped Anton on the shoulder and left, but he didn’t look ashamed of having kept secrets from her. This was Red Sun — older than dirt and tougher than steel, and very much accustomed to pissing people off.

  But why did he keep it from her?

  No — it wasn’t just Red. Everyone who had been there at the compound that night to rescue her and Katenka, must have had some idea. She narrowed her eyes at Anton.

  He held up his hands, green eyes wide. “I didn’t know that you didn’t know, Em.”

  Well. That took the wind out of her sails. She laughed and put her elbows on the center island, leaning her forehead into her hands. “I must have looked pretty scary just then.”

  “You have no idea.”

  Emma looked up at him. “You’re serious.”

  He met her gaze dead on, his eyes a little rounder than human eyes were meant to be. “You are scary. Sometimes.” A longer pause. “When you’re annoyed, your eyes tend to, y’know…” He waffled a hand through the air. “Go kinda black.”

  “Kinda black ? Since when!”

  He shrugged. “And bigger. Since Russia.”

  There were times when the only thing that could really sum up your feelings about the situation was a long string of cusses, but that would draw attention from the rest of the ranch.

  So Emma put her face back in her hands and scrubbed at it. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t tell me this, Anton, because I’ve had a bad morning. How are the new guards settling in?”

  “They’re pissed Seshua sent them here when the palace is under threat. But that’s not what you wanted to ask me about.”

  E
mma looked up. Anton’s eyes had gone back to human shape. “Red already told you, huh.”

  Anton’s mouth turned down, and he leaned forward to rest his elbows on the center island, mirroring Emma. “Yup.”

  “Why do I get the feeling Red knows exactly what’s wrong with Ricky but he wanted me to ask you about it just…”

  “To get us talking,” Anton finished for her. “He’s old, and he is a manipulative asshole. He’s just a lot more likable than most old ones. Look, Em…” He straightened, drumming his fingers on the countertop, not looking at her. “I’ve been an asshole too. Since Russia. Didn’t know how to act, what to do. It’s just been —”

  “Shitty? Craptacular? FUBAR?”

  He blinked down at her, and then laughed. His laughter was edged with fear, just a touch, but it was genuine laughter all the same and it made Emma smile.

  “I was gonna say it’s been hard, but yeah. That works too.” One half of his mouth still turned up, he reminded her of how he’d looked when she first met him. But his hair was short now, and there were lines around his eyes and mouth that hadn’t been there when he showed up on her doorstep, full of fire and conviction, to tell her life as she knew it was over.

  “Can’t believe it was only five months ago,” Emma said, looking down at her hands. When Anton was silent, she looked back up and instantly regretted saying that last; his smile was gone, his mouth a grim line, and his eyes were full of pain. “Anton —”

  He shook himself, nostrils flaring, and squared his shoulders. “You wanted to know about Ricky. We should walk.”

  Emma nodded. Change of subject. Okay. Anton led the way out onto the porch and down the steps, headed for the fenceline, where the horses tended to loiter in hopes of receiving bits of carrot or apple or a good scratch. The air was still painfully cold, but the sky was cloudless and the sunlight on Emma’s skin felt good, so she didn’t regret not grabbing her jacket.

  “I don’t actually know what I want to know about Ricky,” Emma said when they’d put distance between themselves and the ranch. “He just — Red Sun told me to ask you about what was up with him. I thought he was just pissed at me for…Fern’s sake, I guess.”