by Lisa Olsen
“Have you claimed her?” Bishop demanded and a flicker of distress crossed Rob’s face.
“You know I can’t.”
“Then shut the hell up,” Bishop growled, and this time I shoved my way between them, my hands forcing them apart.
“Guys!” I thundered, loud enough to get their attention. “Apologize to Rob,” I insisted, sending daggers to Bishop who immediately caved like a little boy caught next to a broken lamp.
“He started it.”
I stared at Bishop until he squirmed, but the words didn’t come. “Apologize to Rob, or I’m out of here,” I tried again, my voice low and threatening.
“Fine. I’m sorry,” he mumbled.
“Like you mean it.”
Bishop’s hands came up. “What do you want me to say, Anja? I’m not sorry he hasn’t claimed you, you must know that.” I opened my mouth to retort and his shoulders dropped in defeat. “But I’m sorry for making an uncomfortable situation worse,” he offered with the barest of shrugs. “What can I say, misery loves company.”
He wasn’t miserable, was he? I hadn’t intended to flaunt my relationship with Rob in front of him but there it was. Another argument for leaving Rob back at the plane.
“We both said things we ought not have,” Rob said with grudging respect. “No hard feelings, yeah?” He offered a hand and Bishop took it. For half a second I held my breath in case either of them came back swinging, but they parted without bloodshed. “Why don’t I wait down in the hall while you wrap this up?” Rob suggested, surprising me.
“Are you sure?”
“I trust you,” he smiled, leaning in and pulling me close for a kiss, staking his claim in private at least.
“Oh, and he doesn’t have to apologize?” Bishop muttered, turning away from the spectacle.
“I’m sorry,” I offered once Rob was out the door. “I didn’t mean to come up into your home territory and make things more awkward for you. It’s a difficult situation for all of us.”
“It’s fine. I think we both know Rob and I will never be the best of friends.”
“I’d pay money to watch that sitcom,” I teased lightly, relieved when I saw his answering smile.
“Make it a crime drama and I’m in,” he grinned. “But I guess I’d better go get what you came here for. You sit tight. It’s probably for the best to keep it quiet that the Elder of the West is requesting what is essentially an assassination drug and that I’m handing it over without argument.”
“I thought you weren’t worried about defending your politics?” I raised a brow at him but all he did was smile before closing the door on his way out.
It was hard to keep from looking at anything on his desk as my inner snoop kicked into overdrive, but after discovering that most of it was written in Italian, I lost interest. Besides, the antique phonograph in the corner of the room caught my interest instead as I tried to figure out if it still worked. I jumped back guiltily as Bishop reappeared, a small package in his hands.
“Here you go.”
“Oh, shiny, thanks,” I smiled, taking it. “Does it have to be refrigerated or anything?”
“No, it’s stable. I’ve included enough for several shots that’ll fit in the kind of tranq guns Mason carries. Will that work for you?”
“Yep, that should be great, thanks.”
Bishop held onto the package when I tried to pull it away. “You know what you’re planning is suicidal, right?”
“Why do you think I brought the spare shieldmaiden?” I tried to smile, but it came out as more of a grimace. “It’ll be fine, I can make this work.”
“Let me come with you, Anja.”
Not this again. “You know I’m with Rob now.”
He caught hold of my shoulders, bringing me closer. “He can’t protect you like I can.”
“Maybe I don’t need anyone to protect me for once?” I said, stepping out of his grasp. “I can do this, Bishop. You have to learn how to have faith in me.”
“I have faith in you, I do,” he insisted when I gave him a sidelong look. “I need to oversee the plans for the new HQ building in San Francisco, so you’d be doing me a favor by giving me a lift,” he said, shifting tacks but I shook my head.
“You don’t need a ride, you have the entire Order at your disposal. To be honest, I really can’t deal with you trying to win me back on top of everything else.”
“This has nothing to do with trying to get you back, I just need to know you’re going to survive this.”
“I will, I’m tougher than I look.”
I could tell he wanted to say something to that and changed his mind. Instead he laid a chaste kiss to my forehead. “Fine. I’ll do my best to respect your wishes and not swoop in to save the day whether you want me to or not,” he said with a deep sigh. “Goodbye, Anja. Be safe.”
I knew what it meant and I leaned up on my toes to deliver a peck to his cheek. Bishop turned and caught my lips by surprise with a soft kiss, but didn’t press for more, stepping back as if he didn’t trust himself.
“Goodbye, Bishop. Thanks for your help. I’ll let you know how it all turns out.”
“Any time you need me, just call.”
*
Despite the equable mood he’d been in when he left Bishop’s office, Rob was downright surly for most of the drive back to the airfield. I tried to get him to talk a couple of times before giving up and letting him stew over it.
It shocked the hell out of me when he blurted out, “Did you have to kiss him again?”
“How did you…”
“I can smell him on you.”
“You can smell that?” I gaped. No wonder he was so paranoid about PDA’s if it was that easy to sniff out. “It was just one kiss, like a goodbye kiss. It didn’t mean anything.”
“And I’m supposed to be fine with that then? You stealing off to see your ex for one more kiss every time we’re within a thousand miles of him?”
“I needed to see him.”
“You’ve made that abundantly clear.”
“For the ACBT, you know that.”
“You could’ve asked Mason or Jenessa for it and they’d have kept their tonsils to themselves.”
“Oh, I told you it was a simple peck goodbye, I didn’t make out with him for Pete’s sake. And you know they don’t have any on hand since the HQ got blown to smithereens.”
“Fed Ex ships ‘round the world in twenty-four hours.”
He had me there, but in my defense, it hadn’t once occurred to me. “Hey, pull over for a sec,” I said, laying my hand over his on the wheel, but he didn’t budge off course.
“We’d best get back to the plane or Lee will start to worry.”
“Come on pull over, I want to talk to you.”
“Ain’t that what we’re doing now?”
“No, we’re bickering like stupid kids, that isn’t the same.”
Rob pulled over and put the car into park, but wouldn’t look at me, not even when I picked up his hand and held it in my lap. “Hey, I’m sorry if it upset you to come here like this, but it really was important, I promise.”
“I’ve no claim to you, you can do as you like,” he said stiffly and this time I reached for his stubborn jaw to turn him to me.
“Like you said back there, I made my choice, and it’s you. Bishop knows that more than ever now.”
His eyes were hooded with pain when they finally met mine. “It won’t make him stop loving you none.”
“Maybe not, but I think seeing us together was a good thing. Maybe he’ll start to move on now?”
“Not bloody likely.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter because I love you, Rob, and I don’t care who knows it.” I let go of him and scrambled out of the car, my hair falling mostly free of the not-so-elegant twist in the brisk wind. “I lay claim to this man, my blood for his!” I yelled at the top of my lungs, spinning around, my hands in the air. “Do you hear me, world? I claim him, he’s mine!”
Rob came out of the car and leaned against the trunk, watching me with a half smile like I’d completely lost my marbles. “You about done scaring the goats?” he said for the startled bleating coming from the side of the nearby hill.
I approached the car with a skip in my step, feeling lighter for seeing that brief smile. “Almost, there’s another part that’s missing.”
“What’s that?” he asked as I laid my arms across his shoulders.
“The part where you claim me right back.”
“I dunno if I should,” he said, pretending to consider for a moment. “You’re a fair amount of trouble, yeah?”
“Oh, I’m sorry… I thought you loved me. I guess I mistook lust for love again, I hate it when that happens.” I sighed dramatically. “I guess I’ll go get back in the car again then.” I pulled away but only got two steps before he caught my wrist and pulled me back.
Rob brushed the hair away from my face, cupping my chin as he drew me near. His words were soft, but no less powerful than my noisy declaration. “I lay claim to this woman, my life for hers.”
I don’t know who kissed who first, I only know that we stood on the side of the road, the wind whipping my skirt and hair into a tangled mess but I didn’t care. All I cared about was the man in my arms. It wasn’t frenzied or sexual, but an admission of love so profound it transcended words and became music. It swelled between us, my heart so full I couldn’t contain it all, and tears leaked from the corners of my eyes.
His thumb brushed against the moisture gathered there when the kiss drew to a close. “You alright?”
“Just happy.”
“Silly chit,” he smiled with a shake of the head, pulling me into a tight hug, his body shielding me from the worst of the wind. Not that either one of us was much bothered by the chill in the air. It was a perfect moment in time. Despite his earlier urging to get back to the plane, Rob made no move to let me go. “This entitles me to certain rights, yeah?”
“Hmm, that’s true. Now no one else can taste me without your permission and vice versa.”
“I like the sound of that, you give your blood too freely.”
“I can’t help it, when I see someone in need, I have to lend a hand if I can.”
“Lend all the hands you want, it’s the other bits I’m concerned with,” he quipped.
I pulled back to look at him before I replied, very aware of what kinds of problems this very issue had caused between Bishop and me. “I promise I will try to consult you if possible first and I absolutely will keep it as clinical as possible, but there might come a time in an emergency situation when it might be needed. The line goes that no one else can taste me, but there’s tasting and there’s tasting. I think I know the difference.”
To my great relief Rob didn’t take much issue with it. “I reckon that’s fair. All I ask is you give some consideration into what it does to me to have to watch it.”
“I will, but it goes both ways. No tasting of you either unless it’s with my lips. Speaking of which… how about a taste right now?”
His eyes dipped to my mouth, the familiar hunger descending. “The things you say…”
Chapter Twenty-Five
I didn’t call either Jakob or Lodinn when we first got back to town. There were too many variables I needed to bring under control first. First and foremost, for my plan to go down I needed to reach Laveda for a spot of advice. The trouble was, Rob’s cousin wasn’t the easiest person to get a hold of, and I left multiple messages for her to get back to me before I decided to text her what I needed.
Nelleke hadn’t warmed up to us much on the trip home, spending her waking hours guarding the spear from non-existent threats. I did manage to learn that she hadn’t spent her entire life in the hidden valley and had actually attended college in Oslo for a few years. When I asked her why she’d chosen to go back to such a rustic lifestyle, she’d simply shrugged and said it was her home.
But she got all wide eyed and dreamy when she caught sight of Jakob’s penthouse apartment, especially when I told her she could have his master suite. Okay, so I know you’re not supposed to buy anybody’s love, but damn if it didn’t work. After a good night’s sleep in Jakob’s huge bed and a swim in his tub, Nelleke emerged much more relaxed and less standoffish. Maggie helped ease that transition, her gift for making people feel at ease going a long way toward drawing the blonde out. She still wasn’t the most smiley thing, but then again, that wasn’t a requirement for my crew.
I approached Rob as soon as he rose that night, eager to put the next part of my plan into action. “I have a proposition for you,” I said, taking a seat on the side of the bed.
“Do you now?” he said, his eyes lingering over my curves. “I’m listening.”
“Not like that,” I scoffed, pushing lightly at his shoulder. “I want you to show me how to handle a weapon.”
His eyes dropped to the part of him barely covered by the sheet. “You did fine with it last night,” he teased, and it took my best efforts not to give in and focus on that weapon for a while, but we didn’t have the time to monkey around.
“Would you be serious for a minute? I’ll be going up against Lodinn in a day or two and I want to at least have some idea how to fight with the thing.” I could tell it was the last thing he wanted to do with his night, but he gave a short nod.
“Alright, I’ll be out in two shakes to show you proper.”
I didn’t bother to grab my shoes, figuring we’d go barefoot like we did when we were sparring, even if we had to go down to the lobby to find a space big enough to practice. Rob surprised me by handing over a dagger and leading me into the living room. It was roughly the same size as the spear head, but curved slightly to a wicked point. He held an identical one in his right hand.
“Shouldn’t we be doing this in a big open space?” I objected when he wiggled his fingers, motioning me forward.
“Are you going to be fighting him in a big open space?”
“Mmmno, there will probably be stuff around,” I allowed.
“Do you give a shit if we damage any of his majesty’s furniture?”
“No, definitely not.”
“Then this is the best place to learn.”
I hefted the dagger in my hand, not sure how best to grip the thing. What if I screwed up and hurt him? “Are you sure you want to train with real knives?”
“That’s the best way to learn.”
“But what if I cut you?”
Rob seemed unconcerned. “You tell me. What happens if we cut each other to ribbons?”
“We heal like we’re made of a polymimetic alloy, but that’s not the point. Neither one of us is a machine, it’ll still hurt.”
“And you have to be willing to receive and inflict that hurt. Don’t worry now, I can take it,” he assured me with every confidence. “Right then, you’ll want to hold the dagger like this, easy now, not so tight.” Rob spent the next fifteen minutes showing me the best grip, which I didn’t mind at all. His touch was soothing and gentle and I could tell he enjoyed taking on the role of teacher again.
Maggie, Lee, and Nelleke watched with interest as we got started with actual sparring, which had the side effect of making me even more clumsy with my efforts. At least that was my story for sucking on such an epic level. I don’t know why I was so worried about cutting him, I didn’t even come close to nicking him once.
“See, I told you I needed the practice,” I panted after picking up my dropped knife again. “At this rate I might as well march in there and hand over the spear. There’s no way I’m going to come close enough to using it and he’s ten times faster than you are.”
“It ain’t as bad as all that.”
“Ow…” I sucked in a breath, only then noticing a cut along the side of my hand.
“Sorry ‘bout that, luv. Get caught did you?” He brought my hand up to his mouth and laved his tongue across the red stripe. The touch of his tongue made my insides clench in anticipation, but he didn’t
suck on the wound. In a few seconds it was healed over anyway and I forgot about the pain.
“She is not telling jokes, Anja is very terrible,” Nelleke agreed from the sidelines, reminding me that we weren’t alone.
“To be fair, she only tripped over her own feet once,” Maggie defended me and I shot her a sour grin.
“I seen worse,” Lee chimed in. “Course I can’t rightly recall when that was exactly,” he chuckled.
Rob’s eyes narrowed at them as he let go of my hand. “Oi, that’s enough from you lot unless you think you can do better.”
Lee’s smile widened. “That sounds like a challenge to me. Come on, Nelly, let’s show ‘em how it’s done.”
At first I thought she’d refuse, or possibly cut him for calling her Nelly, but the statuesque blonde stepped forward, holding her hand out to take my knife. “I am accepting the challenge.”
“Hey, neither one of you can heal as fast as we do,” I objected.
“And neither one of us is so clumsy we’d let the other get hurt,” Lee drawled, taking Rob’s knife. “This is just to show you good form.”
Rob led me away from the strike zone to where Maggie watched. “By all means then, show away.”
It was fascinating to watch the pair as they circled each other, lashing out with lightning fast strokes, much faster than Rob had with me. Nelleke proved herself fairly proficient in speed and agility and gripped the knife as it if was a natural extension of her body. Lee moved much faster than an old guy had a right to, confirming Rob’s confidence in his abilities.
All the while Rob bent near my ear, calling out what to watch in particular about their form or footwork or the graceful arc of an effective block. They tangled together, not just using the daggers as a focus of their attack, but their whole bodies. Very impressive, and when they were done, neither one of them bore a single wound.
“I could use a girl like you if you ever decide to take a break from the vale,” I offered with a smile.
“You have a use for a shieldmaiden in the new world?”
“More of a bodyguard, I guess. It’s a bonus that you can be out and about in daylight and you get along with Lee.”
