Heart's Bandit (Shifting Crossroads Book 48)

by Zenina Masters

  Yorin gave him a sober look. “She loved him and wanted him to have his own blood. She wrote a very impassioned letter of explanation that was filed in the archive before she was banished.”

  “This is getting weird. Banished?”

  “For giving up a girl child, halfling or not, shifter or not. The child looked completely human, so Miiravella used that as the reasoning. The child could have a shifter life with her shifter father. I don’t even know if Miiravella knows that he died.”

  Drak looked horrified. “Died?”

  “When Karolyn was less than ten years old. Her aunt has had the raising of her.” Yorin was comfortable knowing that Drak had an interest in the stories of their people and not in spreading them.

  “So, what are you going to do?”

  “I am going to have some fruit and then go for a walk. If I can convince her into a two-footed form, we might even go dancing.”

  “Do you need anything from me?”

  “Yes, I need a bottle of water, a bowl, and a bag of fruit.”

  “I will get that together for you. May I ask why?”

  Yorin grinned. “I am courting a raccoon. Bribery seems a great place to start.”

  “Understood. I will be right back.”

  Yorin ate an apple and waited before collecting Drak’s offering and heading out to track a hunter. From the moment he saw her dropping from the air vent, he knew that she was his destiny. Now, he just had to put himself in her path often enough to convince her of the same.

  * * * *

  She was sitting in the tree, her human legs straddling a branch and pondering her situation.

  Being a shifter, she owed allegiance to her clan and her guild. Being an elf, she owed allegiance to the king and then her family. Being herself, she hated owing anyone anything. She liked to work and help her aunt. That was done out of love for being tricky and love for her family. Obligation sucked.

  Now, there was Yorin. Yes, she wanted him. As with most elves of the higher castes, his body was great, he seemed to have a sense of humour, and he could follow orders.

  Still, she couldn’t see him milking goats or tending bees, and that was a large part of her leisure activities.

  She swung her legs and tried to think of what Yorin did for fun.

  Her raccoon took over when it heard a sound and wrapped her in fur.

  Wandering across the meadow behind the Axion, she saw the elf of her musings approaching her with fairly good accuracy.

  Her ability to use spells and glyphs should have been her first clue that her bloodline was wonky.

  Tol had always wondered at her ability to do it, but she had been trained in it the moment she entered the guild. She was the only one in her class that had been given the instruction. She thought she was just a really good pupil.

  Yorin stopped near her tree, in the meadow, and he flipped out a wide blanket. He settled on it and opened a basket, pulling out pieces of fruit to warm in the sun. The next move was peculiar. He set out a low and shallow bowl before pouring water into it from a gem-studded bottle.

  Her raccoon sat up and got excited. When he pulled out a knife and started carving slivers off an apple, she was out of the tree and scampering toward him before her human mind could figure out what was going on.

  She waddled up to him on her hind legs, and he extended a piece of fruit to her. She took the sliver of apple and moved over to the bowl of water. Her small hands washed the fruit efficiently, and then, she took a bite.

  “So, are you going to stay in that form?”

  She looked at Yorin and kept munching.

  “We have a few things to discuss.”

  She finished the crisp and cool apple slice and extended her hands to him, opening and closing her black fingers.

  He sighed and handed her a fat green grape.

  She washed it and nibbled as she transformed back into her human shape with her tunic covering her.

  “What would you like to discuss?” She held out her hand, opened and closed it toward him, and he handed her another slice of apple.

  She rinsed it to keep her raccoon happy, and she looked Yorin in the eye. “So?”

  “What do you think about the king’s decree?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I need to know a few things about you first.”

  “Just like that?”

  She shrugged. “My beast likes you. I told you before, that is usually enough.”

  He leaned back on his elbows. “What do you want to know?”

  “What do you do? I mean aside from getting captured and then lounging around a huge manor house?”

  He snorted. “I rarely lounge.”

  She waved a hand at his current posture. “Tell me that one again.”

  He glanced down at himself and snorted. “Fair point. Well, I fund small businesses for a share of the profits, I have opened several charities, and I attend a number of functions for those charities, both formal and informal.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “That sounds irritating. What are the charities for?”

  “They are for children and their families to have experiences they have not had before. Not something extravagant, just something they can share.”

  Karo slumped in shock. “The Daily Chore?”

  He grinned. “Yes, you know it?”

  “Yeah. I used to teach the kids and parents how to milk goats and tend bees when I was a teenager. They loved it, and many came back and volunteered during kidding season for years after. The bees... well only a few folks really took to the bees.”

  He sat up. “Seriously? I had no idea.”

  She chuckled and beckoned for a piece of fruit again. “Neither did I. We would usually meet five or six families. They stayed overnight in a bunkhouse on the property. We would wake them on our way to the barn if they weren’t up already, and whoever didn’t work the goats had to work the bees.”

  “So, you like farming.”

  “I like hobby farming. Doing it full bore is exhausting.”

  He chuckled. “It sounds intriguing. Self-sufficient with minimal reason for leaving home?”

  Karo laughed. “Something like that. It is more like choosing a routine instead of having one thrust upon you.”

  “Do you mind being a hunter?”

  “It is all I ever wanted to do, but lately, I am doing nothing other than breaking into mage strongholds and finding stolen objects. I feel like a thief.”

  He nodded. “Understandable. Now, have you ever thought of having children?”

  “Now and then, usually when I am showing the little ones how not to milk a goat. I have never met a male anything that made me want to share children with him.”

  He sat up. “Never?”

  She beckoned for more food. “Not me, but my beast has dreamed of small raccoons with manes and golden stripes. The mental image is both appalling and adorable.”

  Yorin blinked, and a light blush came to his cheeks. “How many little ones were there?”

  “It depends. As little as four and as many as eight.”

  He looked flustered. “That is a lot.”

  She smiled and took the next bit of grapes. “That is what the king wants. He wants to keep the fey bloodlines alive, even if they have to shorten those lives with shifter genes. He is trying to turn the tide of elven extinction.”

  “What do you think about it?” Yorin was in earnest. He handed her the next piece of fruit before she asked.

  Good, he could be trained.

  Karo shifted her weight and sat with her legs to one side, leaning on one arm, closer to him. “I think that every species wants to continue its genes. This last century of development has given the magic in the world a tremendous hit. I want my children to have my cousin’s children to play with. That means I have to have children in the first place.”

  “That is very complicated.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Why would you want to have children?”

  He grinned. “I am a man. If I have a b
ride and we get along well enough, children will be the result.”

  “That is very evasive. Children are not to be discarded as the result of a coupling. They are started by two, and they should be guided by two.” She was tense.

  Yorin leaned forward and took her hand. “I am sorry; this is not the day for flippancy. I want children to teach, to guide, and to love. My blood and the blood of my mate will bind together to create beings that will grow inside my heart.”

  She blinked and smiled slightly. “A much better answer.”

  He squeezed her hand. “Would you care to dance?”

  Unsure, she said, “Yes.”

  He grinned and got to his feet, steadying her as she did the same.

  He held her hands and faced her as music came to them through the trees, grass, and stone. He stepped, and she moved with him.

  They danced until the sun set, until Karo knew one thing in her bones, they were meant to move through life together, no matter what opinions they held on parenting.

  Chapter Eight

  Either Karo kissed him, or he kissed her, but the fire that moved between them and the magic that stuck to their skin made it hard to concentrate.

  She opened his shirt and caressed his skin. He tried to do the same, but she simply had the webbing move out of the way.

  He broke the kiss and leaned back. “I do not think that out in the open is appropriate for this.”

  She grinned and nipped at his jaw. “This is a dimension partially inhabited by shifters. Nudity is nothing new to them.”

  “I was referring to the fey who have their faces pressed up against the glass of the guest windows of the Axion.” He hissed as her fingers continued to move on his torso.

  She grazed her fingertips along the edge of his waistband. “That is a pity. It is a great night.”

  He put his hands on her shoulders and stroked up and down her arms. “And I would like to continue it if you can answer one question.”

  Karo looked at him and pressed her palms flat to his sides. “What is the question?”

  He dropped to one knee. “Would you be my mate?”

  She cocked her head. “Why?”

  He blinked. “Why?”

  “Why would you want to take me as a mate? Binding at the Crossroads isn’t like the normal world, there is no infidelity allowed. You wouldn’t even be able to get it up for anyone but me.”

  Yorin looked into her eyes, and he nodded. “I know, but the thing that the fey fear worst of all is being bored, and I know that you will never let that come to pass.”

  She chuckled. “I don’t easily do boring. But is that a good enough reason?”

  “I want you, you want me, and I will spend the rest of our lives trying to find things that make you happy.” He remained on his knee.

  A thousand thoughts whirled through her mind, but what emerged from her mouth was, “I will.”

  He sighed and pulled her down to him with a gentle kiss. “Thank goodness. I was getting worried that I would be just a fling.”

  She laughed and pressed her forehead to his, inhaling his scent for her beast to memorize. “So, what do we do now?”

  “Drak will book us a balance ceremony, and then, we can complete what we started.”

  She sighed and stood. “The water was a clever touch. Well done.”

  He grinned and swiftly cleaned up what was left of their snack. “I have watched a few wildlife documentaries in the last few days. The food washing struck me as significant.”

  He packed it all into the basket and offered her his hand. She slid her palm along his and turned her web into one of the elven court dresses.

  He chuckled as they walked back to the Axion. “I should have known something was different about you. Even my sister can’t control her webs with such dexterity.”

  “It isn’t the first time I have used one. I had to borrow one a few years ago for an assignment. There is a learning curve, but it beats wearing something uncomfortable for a few hours and having to climb a wall in it.”

  “I suppose so. Men’s clothing is only occasionally restrictive.”

  She smiled, and they walked back to the front doors of the Axion together. Drak greeted them with a relieved expression.

  “I was wondering where you were. Is everything well?”

  Yorin inclined his head. “It is very well. I would like to request a balance ceremony for Karolyn and myself. Do you know how long it will take?”

  Drak waved at the sitting room with the fire lit. “Please, have a seat. I will return in a moment.”

  Yorin set the basket down near the door, and Karo pulled him into the comfy room with the couches and a tray of dainties piled high.

  Yorin sat on the couch and tugged Karo down to sit across his lap. “Do you have any more questions?”

  “Two. The first, how old are you?”

  “Three hundred and seventy-three.”

  She blinked. “Right. Of course. The next question definitely applies, why haven’t you taken a mate before?”

  He sighed and stroked her shoulder. “It hasn’t been important before. Only a decade ago we were warned about the waning of the fey. The ladies were urged to sort through suitors and choose one, attempting to bring pure-blooded fey back to the world. Our men were urged to find brides in the shifters. That did not go over well. There were arguments and councils, but finally, the king put his foot down. If the seers found you a wife, you would wed her. It didn’t matter what species she was, fey or shifter, even mages were an option.”

  “So, you are depending on a seer?”

  “Several, actually. There are seers all over the world looking for ways to keep our people alive.”

  Karo leaned against his chest and relaxed for a moment. “I am more familiar with that sentiment than I like to think.”

  “What?”

  “My aunt recently had a violent reaction to her sedation during surgery, and she came out of it with a nasty infection that has weakened her. She is all the family I have left, well, she and her daughter. My fear for her is very real.”

  “We will do what we can for her. I have excellent immunologists on my staff.”

  She lifted her head and looked at him. “You have a staff?”

  “I have a charitable foundation; of course, I have a staff.” He wrinkled his nose. “Too late now, you already said yes.”

  She frowned. “I said yes to the sex, not the charity.”

  They were still giggling when Drak brought in a human woman with wild hair and patchwork clothing gnawing on a churro. She grinned and waved at them. “Hello. My name is Melwiss, and I will be balancing you this evening. I had an opening.”

  Karo got up and gilded her clothing before transforming it into a mixture of twelfth- and eighteen-century clothing. Basically, it was a fairy-tale dress with a metallic corset.

  Yorin straightened his clothing, looked at her, and took on a tunic with embroidered edging and a wide golden belt. His leggings were black as were his boots.

  She grinned. “Remind me to take you to a cosplay convention one day. I think we might take fourth prize.”

  He smiled, and they followed the snacking mage out the door and down the street to the Meditation Centre. A handsome man with dark brown hair and a cheerful mien accompanied the mage.

  Drak came with them, and as they passed through the Meditation Centre, they came out the rear of the building and into a wide space with a y-shaped platform and another small circle.

  Melwiss stepped onto the circle and beckoned to them while she wiped her hands on a napkin that her companion handed to her.

  “Right. Let’s do this. Karolyn and Yorin, please stand on the platform and take each other’s hands, taking mine with the free hands. I will ask some questions, and then, the fun begins.”

  Karo walked with Yorin holding her hand, and they stood together on the platform. She took Melwiss’s outstretched hand, and Yorin completed the circle.

  “Yorin, do you give to Karolyn all t
hat you are and all that you will be? Do you agree to share your memories of past and future?”

  He blinked. “I do.”

  “Karolyn, do you give to Yorin all that you are and all that you will be? Do you agree to share your memories of the past and future?”

  She smiled slightly. “I do.”

  “Then, let’s get this party started, just don’t let go before I say so. And then, you have a few hours before your beasts force you together.”

  Karo scowled. “What?”

  “Sex. You two will have to mate, or your beasts will take over. That could be a little awkward unless you are into that kind of thing.” Melwiss leaned her head back, and Karo felt the surge of her magic leaving and Yorin’s entering. The power spun around and around until it settled in her, filling her up until she felt that she was at capacity. Her mind spun with centuries of experiences and witnessed atrocities.

  His reason for the charity work was now clear. He had seen the hole in a part of humanity and tried to sooth it.

  Yorin looked down at her with dawning respect. “You have done much good in your life.”

  She blushed.

  Tony and Teal stepped forward. “This is your binding record. A marriage certificate will be produced back home unless you wish to do the whole ceremony and dress thing.”

  Yorin nodded. “I believe we will, but it has not been discussed.”

  Tony smiled. “The fey king can arrange it if he would like you married before the court.”

  Karo realized what she had just taken on. “This is pretty big, isn’t it?”

  Teal grinned. “You are mated to one of the royal princes, a grand nephew of the king, this is definitely pretty big.”

  Karo looked up at Yorin. “You had better be worth the bother.”

  He grinned and gave her a bow so graceful she wanted to applaud. When he straightened, he took her hand and kissed it. “I will endeavour to give you sufficient entertainment to make it worth your while to keep me.”

  Karo felt the heat of his kiss on her skin and memories and fantasies rippled through her. Some were of past lovers, and some were of the future. Yorin featured in every steamy, pulse-pounding moment. She had to give it to him, if the memories were true, he was very flexible for someone over three hundred.