Embrace the Wind (7 page)

Chase whistled. “So, it’s your turn.”

“Yes, but she’s
different
.”

“What do you mean? How?”

“I don’t know.” He thought about what she’d been like after sex, how she’d shifted, gone swimming then called him out to play. He found himself smiling. “She’s … well … for one thing she’s part shifter and for another she’s really independent. Even remote.”

Chase laughed. “Sounds exactly like what you need.” He knew Zane well.

“Maybe you’re right. I don’t know anything anymore except that my realm is under siege and I only learned about the camp because the Ancient Fae took me there. Olivia saved my ass. I don’t think I would have gotten out of there alive without her.”

“Then we owe her.”

“Yes, we do,” Zane said.

“So, how long do you think the camp has been there?”

“I honestly don’t know. But given that Swanicott has always had more attacks than the other realms, maybe decades.”

“Do you think you could locate it again? This could be a tremendous opportunity for us.”

“I’m not sure I could,” Zane said. “But I’m confident Olivia has that kind of capacity. But on the other hand, I’m not liking the idea of a civilian being so closely involved.”

“Why? Is she upset? Is she super-sensitive like Emily?”

It struck him that in just about every way possible, Olivia was the opposite of his artistic, fae wife. “I’m not sure she’s sensitive at all.”

He heard her call to him. When he turned in her direction and she saw he was on the phone, she made a never-mind waving gesture with her hand. She then pointed in the direction of the backyard.

He watched her for moment as she went outside. Because of the sliding glass door, he could see she was headed to what he soon realized was a fire pit. She then crossed to a woodpile, returned and stacked some logs, kindling, and wadded up newspapers.

To Chase, he said, “She’s building a fire.” She lit a match and moved around the pit, setting the dry paper on fire.

He headed slowly toward the glass door, the phone still to his ear. She’d put on a dark blue, pullover sweater that showed off her blond hair.

The fire was starting to blaze and she now had a brush in her hand, working out the tangles from her damp hair.

She wore jeans again and with what he knew about her already, he was pretty sure she had a stack of them in her closet and not much else. She wore running shoes, probably another staple in her wardrobe.

Sweet Goddess, she was beautiful, with strong cheekbones and large, green eyes. Her brows were arched and suited her face really well. She had full lips. He’d loved feeling her lips beneath his own. And he loved that she still showed fur on the backs of her hands. He had the sense she liked the fur even though it wasn’t the usual thing to always have it on display.

Of course this led him to think about the other places she sprouted her fur and decided the next time he sexed her up, he would kiss that line of fur that went from hip to hip.

“Zane?”

Chase. Right. Sweet Goddess. One look at Olivia and he’d forgotten Chase was there. “Anything else?”

He heard Chase chuckle. “You tell me?”

Zane turned away from the sight of Olivia by the fire and focused on the matter at hand. “I’m going to stick around here for now. I need to find out more about this woman. FYI, she lives across from the Elf Lords Hideaway.”

“Barker’s Bend?”

“Yep. And can you take lead for the next few hours, field the calls from the Communication Center? I’m thinking at some point I’ll want to take Olivia into the mountains to confer with Luther. She hasn’t presented herself.”

“Shit. No kidding, but then she’s half-human. Maybe she doesn’t know the rules.”

“Maybe. But my gut tells me it’s something else. Not sure. And if you want to know what she looks like, I’m pretty sure she’s related to Luther.”

“She’s a beauty then.”

Zane felt a ripple of anger that Chase would actually comment on Olivia’s looks, whether he’d actually seen her or not. “You don’t need to be talking about how pretty Olivia is. Got it?” Had he just spoken those words? What the hell was wrong with him?

He was pretty sure he heard Chase stifle his amusement. “Good to know. Consider the subject off limits. I’ll contact Marian and let her know what you’re up to.”

“And give Sawyer a shout as well.”

“Will do. And Zane?”

“Yeah?” Chase wasn’t given to offering advice, but the question seemed geared that way. Zane was already annoyed. “What’s on your mind?”

“Take your time with this one.”

“What the hell do you mean by that?”

“I mean, don’t rush her off like you do all the others. She’s here for a reason and it might just have to do with Emily.”

Zane was thunderstruck. Chase knew better than to mention his wife’s name. The topic was forbidden. He was about to come down like fire on fuel-doused charcoal, but he realized the line was dead.

Smart move on Chase’s part. Zane was ready to start shouting at his second-in-command.

But why had Chase said that to him? He didn’t really rush women off; he never got involved in the first place. The weird thing was, though he’d just met Olivia, he already felt involved. Maybe that’s the way it was when a blood rose showed up, a sense of
engaging
whether you liked it or not.

With his phone tucked back into his leathers, he stood at the backdoor. Olivia was actually sitting down enjoying the fire and she had a couple of beers perched on a small table between two wood Adirondack chairs. The picture appealed so much to who he was that he was stunned all over again.

He knew nothing about her, yet what he saw, he liked; he related to her. The woman had no airs. She was very down to earth, very physical. A fire in the open air, a beer … yeah, he liked her a lot.

When he opened the door, she turned and called to him. “Hey, I thought maybe you could use a cold one about now.”

“Can you read minds as well?”

At that, she smiled and for a moment his heart got pulled into a knot the size of Swanicott. He could hardly breathe.

Sweet Goddess, was this what Malik and the rest of the mastyrs had gone through? Had each met up with their blood rose, then jumped into a full-blown relationship faster than his battle energy could fly through the air?

He forced his gaze away from her, trying to regain his equilibrium, and made his feet move in the direction of the waiting chair.

The fire was blazing and the air chilly. He sat down and picked up his beer. The first swallow, like heaven.

“Did you get everything settled with your lieutenants and your Communication Specialist?”

At that, he shook his head. “Is there anything you don’t know about me?”

“I’m psychic.” She tapped her forehead with her index finger, then laughed. But when he just stared at her, she added, “Hey, I’m kidding.”

“Listen, I’ve seen you run then bound off sixty foot high cliffs like they were nothing. You have this cloaking thing and you brought me out of a deadly camp at Angler’s Cliff. So why wouldn’t you be something as simple as psychic?”

“Point taken. But, no, I’m not psychic. I just enjoy the Realm Internet. I think I’ve read every blog and article there is about you. I mean, I suppose I sound like a stalker, but the truth is more that I’ve been really worried about my weird ghosting gift. And since that power seems to be attached to you, I wanted to know who you were, what I was in for.”

“I’m waiting for a verdict.”

“Oh, I don’t really have one. I think you are who you are. You’re a bit of a wild man, a player, but you take your job seriously and you support your friends. I imagine when Mastyr Malik asked you to help out in Ashleaf Realm you didn’t take long to say yes.”

“Of course not. All the mastyrs support each other. I don’t think we could survive otherwise.” He sipped his beer.

The wood crackled and sparks flew into the air.

“So, here’s the deal, Olivia, I don’t think I’ll be comfortable until you tell me about yourself. You know about me, so it only seems fair. And my guess is that I won’t be finding anything about you on the Internet.”

She rose to her feet, carrying her beer with her. She sipped a few times before she drew close to his chair. She then dropped down beside him, resting on her haunches while holding on to the arm of his chair.

“I’m weird, Zane. There. I’ve said it. I don’t have any friends. My abilities are too pronounced, and the way I sprout fur is kind of crazy. I own and run an organic farm to the south that services restaurants in Helm’s Watch. I’ve never had a long-term anything and I moved to Swanicott because of this.” She waved her hand in the air, the silver ruff beautiful against her creamy hands. “And because I like my fur, I rarely retract it.”

“I think it’s beautiful.”

Her brows rose. “You do?”

“Yes, I do. But you have to remember, shifters, and all their idiosyncrasies have been part of my life since I was born. I grew up round them, and I now have a Shifter Brigade.

~

Olivia stared into crystal blue eyes. The fire reflected in their depths. She couldn’t believe Zane had told her that her fur was beautiful. She’d always been distressed by it, especially as a child. The fur on the backs of her hands and her chest would appear spontaneously, before she could even form the thought to prevent its emergence.

She’d been teased a lot for being different.

Her mother had done her best, encouraging her to stand up for herself, to let everyone know her father was a fierce shifter warrior in one of the Nine Realms. But the kids had been cruel and their parents worse. She’d learned to live a very solitary life.

She’d been a runner as long as she could remember, whether on two legs, or as soon as she’d shifted for the first time, on four paws.

“Did you go to university?” Zane asked.

“Yes. I majored in Phys Ed. Not many jobs around, though, for human-shifters who can’t easily control fur-sprouting.”

He narrowed his eyes. “I can see this has been a huge challenge for you but I’m not really hearing any bitterness in your voice.”

“No, I’m not bitter. I’ve accepted who I am. I’m just really frustrated. Lonely. I know my life is isolated and I know that needs to change, but it’s not a simple thing to reach out. I’ve trained myself to my insular life.”

“You haven’t mentioned your father.”

“He was never in the picture.”

He nodded, frowning. “Do you happen to know who he is?”

At that, her heart beat hard in her chest. “No, and the truth is I’m afraid to find out. I guess as long as I don’t know, I can pretend he never knew I existed.”

“Well, given your level of ability, he’s no doubt a leader in one of the realm brigades if not an alpha of one of the packs. I could ask around, if you like. What’s your mother’s name?”

At that, she grabbed his arm, panic setting in. She wasn’t sure why she was so distressed, except that she’d always understood that her father knew about the pregnancy but didn’t want to be involved. That left her with a solid reason
not
to want to know more about him. “No, please don’t. I’m not up for that. Maybe down the road. How about for now, we just focus on what’s happening between you and me. I think that’s enough for the present.”

“You’re right. Forget I mentioned it.”

She eased back to sit on the grass, her forearms on her knees. She drank her beer and her gaze fell to the dagger tattoo on his neck. She had a sudden image in her head of kissing him right there.

But she really didn’t think it would be a good idea to start fantasizing about Zane’s body. They’d already had sex. Twice. Though the shifter in her thought a third time would be just right, she ignored the impulse.

She turned to stare at the fire. “I’m glad you made it, Mastyr. I don’t think Swanicott would survive without you.”

“Thanks. Those are kind words. And please call me Zane.”

She smiled, speaking softly, “Zane.”

She rose to her feet and set her beer on the table. She was heading for the wood pile to retrieve a couple more logs, when all her senses suddenly came alive. The fur on her wrists and chest thickened and her lips drew back. If she’d been in her wolf form, she would have growled.

“What is it?” he asked.

Turning, she saw that he was already on his feet, his beer also on the table. He’d either sensed her concern or felt something himself.

She hurried to position herself close to him and immediately accessed her cloaking vibration, letting the frequency flow over him. She switched to telepathy.
I’m not sure whether our conversations can be overheard or not, so let’s play it safe.

He slid his arm around her waist. She found it immensely comforting.
Good idea,
he said
. But what’s going on?

I think the bitch is back.

A sudden wind rose, blowing in from the south, lifting fall leaves into the air. It had a sickly sweet smell and carried a red tinge, a sure sign the Invictus were in the area.

You’re right because the air has the taint of a chaos wind. Let’s move slowly to the front yard and have a look; it might be a trap.

She glanced at him.
I’m right with you.

He took her hand and led the way around the side of the house, opening the gate then leaving it ajar as they passed through. She saw his thinking: If someone was watching the neighborhood, it would appear as though the wind blew the gate wide. No one would suspect there were two Realm-folk sneaking around beneath an invisibility cloak.

Once on the lawn, though well back from the street, Olivia sniffed the air once more. Definitely, Margetta.
Can you smell that, Zane?
She wasn’t sure if it was her acute shifter nose or if vampires could detect the same stench as well.

He nodded.
Margetta’s here all right.

Olivia felt edgy and ready to hit something.
And right now I feel incredibly irritable. That wind is bugging the shit out of me.

I’m pretty sure the purpose of the spell is to create exactly that kind of sensation. I’m expecting the bar to erupt any moment and for all hell to break loose. I’m going to get some of my Guardsmen over here, but I have to path Marian in order to do that, so hold on.