by TR Cameron
She leapt over the sweep and blocked the expected counterattack from the other paw with a downward swing of her arm. The instant her boots hit the ground, she snapped out a sidekick at her foe and struck the tiger in the shoulder. It was like attacking a wall, and instead of sending her opponent flying, as it would have done to a human, the blow pushed Ruby backward. She stumbled and caught herself, but not in time to escape the tiger’s rush.
Idryll slammed into her, throwing her onto her back. The impact sent a wave of agony through her damaged face, followed by a moment of terror as the huge body blotted out the sun as it arced above her. She rolled to avoid being smashed, but a paw caught her with a glancing blow on her ribs before she could get clear. She shouted in pain, hurting her face more, and bounced up filled with anger and adrenaline.
Her opponent was as keen to mix it up as she was, and they met in a clash of bodies. Ruby reinforced the shield on her left arm and used it to bash her way in close, then punched with her right, two fast jabs and an uppercut. The finishing move would have struck true, but the tiger turned into Idryll’s cat-woman form without any visible transition. Her body was that of a Mist Elf but covered in fur except for her face, which was bare. Her eyes were still a cat’s eyes, and her long hair flowed in the same colors the tiger had worn.
Ruby spat a curse and lunged for her, but the other woman spun away with a laugh. This form was slower than the tiger but still faster than she was. The spin turned into a kick, and she ducked under the heel that sought her temple and the follow-up roundhouse kick that tried for her damaged ribs again.
This version of her partner wasn’t nearly as difficult to tackle though, and Ruby drove into her bodily, taking her down to the ground. The other woman shifted her body to make sure she landed on top, but the force shield took the brunt of the impact. Then it was all knees, elbows, and foreheads as they sought an advantage. Ruby took a shot to the temple that scattered stars across her vision but saw through them to get her foe in an armbar. She wrenched herself to the side for leverage, then pressed the joint down, threatening to break the elbow. Idryll shouted, “I yield,” and the fight was over.
Ruby collapsed off her, wheezing. Exhaustion washed over her for a moment, then passed, leaving her tired and sore but functional. A groan escaped as she climbed to her feet, and she gave an annoyed snarl at her partner when she bounced up as if they hadn’t been fighting. “You suck. By that, I mean that you suck more than anyone in the past has ever sucked. You’ve reached new and amazing heights of suckage. Or lows. Whichever it is.”
The cat-woman laughed and busied herself brushing the dirt and dust from her fur. “Please. I am the very model of restraint. You still have all your limbs.”
The truth of it was that the tiger form could probably have done significant damage, even through her shields. She didn’t have a read yet on the magic the shapeshifter possessed, and Idryll had rebuffed several questions about it. One day I’ll figure you out. She turned to face the other woman of mystery in her life as Keshalla walked up to them. “So, did I succeed?”
Her teacher nodded. “Yes. Once you retrieve your sword, you can clean it completely and thoroughly as a penalty for letting yourself be disarmed. Then, you can polish it, after which you whet it. Once that is done, you may sheath it and consider yourself adequate with the single blade. Then, you can take a healing potion to fix your face.”
Idryll commented, “Nothing can fix her face.”
Ruby stuck her tongue out at the cat before turning her attention back to her mentor. “Then I guess we’ll be starting with paired blades soon.”
Keshalla shrugged. “Perhaps. From what I saw today, you might need a refresher in unarmed combat.”
Ruby scowled. “I was fighting a tiger.”
“If you’re lucky that’s the worst thing you’ll ever face. One would be a fool to rely on luck.”
There was no arguing. She gave a small bow. “Yes, shenai.” Turning to her partner, she said, “I better get to it. I’m in desperate need of a bath, some aspirin, and a nap, hopefully in that order.”
The cat-woman’s laugh held both happiness and mockery. “You certainly are. I would hope not to have to fight hand-to-hand again with someone who smells as bad as you do anytime soon.”
Ruby clamped her lips shut, knowing that any reply would serve as a reward to Idryll. I’ll get you, kitty cat. I don’t know when, I don’t know how, but it will happen. And it will be glorious.
Chapter Three
Ruby sank into the oversized tub with a grateful sigh, her tired muscles getting the reward she’d promised them for hours. Setting her sword to rights and finishing up the other tasks Keshalla had assigned her hadn’t taken a ridiculous amount of time, but she had spent every minute of it imagining what this bath would feel like. It had only required five minutes after portaling home for her to draw the water, stash her sword, and get undressed. Now, with the liquid lapping up to her cheeks and the rest of her body submerged beneath a mountain of moisturizing bubbles, she finally felt a glow of accomplishment for successfully passing the test.
The sound of the door opening didn’t startle her. She’d locked the outer door to her room, so it could only be one person. She’d concluded that trying to preserve modesty where her shapeshifting life-partner was concerned simply wasn’t worth the effort. Idryll sat on the edge of the tub. “Better?”
Ruby closed her eyes again. “Definitely better.” It felt even more relaxing than the healing potion had, which was saying something.
She felt and heard Idryll swishing the water with her hand and smiled inwardly at what she thought of as cat-like behavior. The other woman observed, “You did well, all things considered.”
“I’m sure there are many lessons I should take from the experience, and I’m equally sure that Keshalla will share them with me. Repeatedly. Intensively.”
Her partner laughed. “That does sound like something she’d do.”
Ruby adjusted her position to get as much of her head as possible underwater while still being able to breathe. “It’s been quite a frenzy the last few days, with the test coming right on the heels of the kidnapping. If there’d been any chance of a positive response, I would have asked for some time off in between.”
“Speaking of which, we’re not planning to let the criminals get away with that, are we?”
Ruby shook her head, enjoying how her hair floated. “We are not. But we’ll need to be careful. They’ve shown a lack of concern about who they hurt on the way to getting what they want. While you and I can handle that, we’ll have to make sure it doesn’t blow back on anyone else.”
“Disguises, then.”
“At a minimum. Maybe it’s enough to tell Sheriff Alejo. I don’t know. It’s something I need to think a little more about.”
The other woman’s tone was decisive. “We should handle it ourselves. This is our place.”
“It’s also the sheriff’s place, and I’m sure she feels as strongly about the issue. As I said, we’ll have to think about it.”
Idryll scoffed, “You cannot think your problems to death. That’s why we have fangs.” Ruby opened her eyes to see the other woman’s grin displaying her teeth to full effect and laughed.
“Mine aren’t nearly as impressive as yours can be.” Her stomach growled, loud in the water, and she laughed again. “If there’s one thing I need as much as a nap, it’s food. Should be dinnertime pretty soon, so I guess I’d better head down.”
Idryll nodded. “I like this plan to get food. Be sure to bring me something tasty.” Unspoken was the remainder of the sentence, which went something like “If you’d like to keep your arms intact,” but the message still came across clearly. “I think I’ll take a nap.” The tiger-woman wandered out the door, and Ruby climbed out of the bathtub. She wrapped her head in one towel and gathered another around her body, then padded into her bedroom. It was elegant in an understated way, with lots of intricately carved heavy wood furniture.
> She grabbed clothes out of her dresser. Since she was planning to stay at the house overnight, she went with yoga pants and an oversized T-shirt, and once her hair was acceptably towel-dried, she pulled it back into a ponytail. She checked her look in the mirror and shook her head. “Not really dressed to impress.” It was good enough for family, though. They didn’t know about her role in thwarting the kidnapping, of course, but they were aware she’d been on Oriceran for her test, and she always returned from those in need of a rest. As she headed for the door, she passed Idryll, now in the form of a Bengal house cat of unusual size, and petted her before heading out of the room.
Ruby made it halfway down the stairs before spotting Matthias, the employee who more or less ran the house for her parents and who had been a third parent while she and her siblings were growing up. He was still tall and thin and still looked like he might have walked off the set of The Lord of the Rings. She broke into a grin and rushed down to hug him. The older man returned both the smile and the embrace and asked, “So, did it go well?”
Ruby nodded. “It was a challenge, of course, but I passed.”
The man’s grin grew wider. “Fantastic news, Miss Ruby. I’m so glad to hear it. The kitchen has made one of your favorite meals tonight.”
She took his arm as he walked her toward the dining room. “Pizza?” He shook his head. “Vegetable lasagna?” He repeated the motion. She smacked him lightly on the hand. “What is it, then?”
He laughed. “You’ll have to wait and see.”
She scowled. “Traitor.” Matthias nodded, seeming unmoved by the insult. “I’ll need a dish of meat for the kitty cat upstairs. A lot of it.”
“Of course. I’ll have it ready for you when dinner is over.” Idryll had some inborn magic that allowed her forms to function on whatever meal was appropriate to the shape she possessed at the moment. Her human version would be content as long as her cat form was full. Ruby had rather expected the situation to be more like the superhero The Flash, who had to eat all the time to sustain his metabolism, at least according to the TV show and the movies. “I don’t suppose Dralen is out of the house?”
Matthias chuckled. “No such luck. I believe he has a new idea for improving the casino to share.”
Ruby groaned. “Improvement is in the eye of the beholder, or something like that.” She released his arm and drew a deep breath as they arrived at their destination. “Okay, here I go.” She knew her complaints about family amused him and always laid it on thick for his benefit.
She stepped through the doorway to the dining room and found her relatives in their usual positions. Her father Rayar sat at the head of the table, her mother Sinnia on his right with Morrigan beside her, and her brother Dralen at the patriarch’s left hand. She took her seat across from her sister and stuck her tongue out at her. Morrigan responded in kind, and their mother rolled her eyes.
Rayar asked, “So, what news?”
“I passed.” Her father clapped, her mother beamed, and even Dralen grinned and nodded.
Morrigan congratulated her, adding, “From what I heard, you lost your sword.”
Ruby scowled. “I don’t know who you’ve been talking to, brat, but it was a strategic move. Entirely intentional.” She managed to hold the stern expression for a few seconds, but her sister’s knowing grin broke her restraint. “Yeah, okay, maybe not completely planned. It worked. That’s what counts.”
“I’ll have my test on the bow soon. Maybe you could come to watch.” Those who were less advanced couldn’t watch those of a higher skill level test unless they were involved in it, and then only until they’d done their part, to prevent them from getting too much information about what awaited them in their training. She imagined Morrigan had probably tried to be one of her opponents during the trial, but tradition would argue against allowing a family member into the mix if anyone else was available. Dralen hadn’t taken to the traditional weapons, and their parents had agreed to his request not to train. She was glad her sister hadn’t chosen the same path.
“I’ll certainly try to be there, assuming Keshalla doesn’t have me spend all my time relearning things I didn’t do well enough during my test.”
Her brother interrupted, “So, after the attack on the Atlanteans, we need to beef up security at Spirits. I thought Ruby could create some detectors that would look for dangerous technological and magical devices, plus any tools players could use to cheat at the tables.” He turned toward her as he spoke, and his expression was questioning.
She nodded slowly. “I could modify some existing sensors that do those separately and combine them without too much trouble. Adding in the anti-cheating stuff might be difficult, but if we’re willing to pay Margrave’s rates, he’ll probably agree to work with me on it.”
Dralen grinned and turned to face their father. “See? I told you she’d be into it.”
Rayar chuckled. “You were right. Truly, it seems like a good idea. The other owners I’ve talked to all plan to increase their security significantly after what happened at the Mist and the Ebon Dragon.”
Ruby asked, “The Council, you mean?”
He shook his head. “No, the Council hasn’t met formally about it yet, although obviously we’ll be in favor. In our capacity as individual casino owners, it clearly makes sense.”
The conversation paused as dinner arrived, big baking dishes full of tamales. Ruby grinned and grabbed the nearest before Morrigan could, shoveling several onto her plate. Her sister said, “I was chatting with a dealer and overheard a guard talking. Not one of the ones on our staff, but one from our security company. He said his employer has been getting pressure to sell out to a bigger firm.”
Her mother frowned. “Did he say which one?”
Morrigan shook her head. “No, that was all I heard, and I didn’t want to seem like I was eavesdropping.”
Ruby interjected, “Although you totally were.” It earned her another playful dirty look from her sister, but instead of returning it, she looked at her parents. “Will that change our plans?”
Her mother shrugged. “Perhaps, although these things happen in human businesses all the time, as I understand it. From our perspective, it will probably be invisible. They might not even change the company’s name.”
Her father looked thoughtful. “Nonetheless, it’s worrisome. Competition is a good thing, and if companies merge or combine, our options dwindle. Perhaps I should talk to the Council about creating our own security company, rather than relying on the mostly human businesses around here.” To Ruby’s knowledge, all but one was human-owned, and that one was human co-owned, although all of them employed magicals to one degree or another since many of the threats they would deal with in Ely were magical.
She let the conversation drop, and talk turned to more normal things: Morrigan's studies and training, Dralen’s work on his MBA, her parents’ plan to renovate the hotel portion of Spirits, which seemed to be forever under construction in one way or another. As dinner wrapped up, she caught her father’s eyes and glanced at the door to the study. He lifted an eyebrow before nodding. The family members all shared hugs, and Ruby declined the offer to play a game with Morrigan since exhaustion already nipped at the edges of her brain. She’d planned to go straight up to bed after the meal but now thought having a chat with her father was important enough to delay that priority a little. Maybe I can get him to spill some secrets. Worth a try, anyway.
Chapter Four
Her father took one of the big comfortable leather chairs, and Ruby sat in the other. Matthias brought them each coffee, and while she worried for a moment that the caffeine might keep her awake, she decided it would have to be pretty amazing to accomplish that feat given how tired she was. He asked, “So, what’s up?”
She frowned, wondering how to say it. “You know my roommate Demetrius, right?”
Rayar nodded. “I know of him, although we haven’t met. You should invite them all down for dinner at some point.”
; She waved a hand. “Once things settle down, maybe. He’s pretty well tapped into the rumor mill. He told me there’s a connection between one of the security companies and the kidnapping.”
Her father leaned forward. “Really? How does he know? Which one?”
The intensity of his gaze suggested he was acting in both of his roles, as the owner of Spirits and as Council member. Probably as a concerned citizen, as well. “A place called Aces Security is what he said. I have no idea about the validity of his source. He clearly doesn’t want to share that information, and I’m reluctant to ask for fear that he’ll be unwilling to tell me other stuff.” Keeping her first-hand knowledge of the company secret seemed like a smart move since it would be difficult to explain without revealing things she didn’t want anyone to know.
He leaned back in his chair with a frown and sipped from the heavy mug. “That’s not good if it’s true. Aces is one of the bigger ones, and the rumors I’ve heard say that if acquisitions do thin out the security companies, they’re more likely to be buying than be bought.”
“Could that give them a reason to be involved in the kidnapping? Maybe trying to make things seem more dangerous? Or putting direct pressure on the Atlanteans? I don’t think they provide security for the Kraken.”
Her father shook his head. “You’re right, and what you say is certainly possible. This is a matter I’ll have to share with the Council tonight.”
She sipped her coffee again, then set it aside. “Well, I thought it was something you might want to know. Now, it’s bedtime.”
She stood and stepped forward with a yawn, expecting him to wrap her in a hug. Instead, he rose and held her at arm’s length. “I think you should come to the meeting and relate this information first-hand.”
She blinked. None of the family other than her father had ever been to a Council meeting, as far as she knew. “Really?”
