Stripes of Fury (3 page)

“Yes. Do you shift into something else?”

He nodded. “I choose the form of a Pegasus. It allows me the option of running and flying.”

She nodded. “I have an odd question. How did your parents meet?”

Mark paused and chuckled. “In fey families, it was customary to buy a bride or groom to keep the line moving forward. My father was purchased for my mother, and she didn’t like him. I think she still hates him, but they do have four children, so they occasionally liked each other.”

“Is four a big family?”

“For the fey? Definitely. The decrease in reproduction is why this project has taken off with such determination. Our rulers want us to have little fey-shifter half breeds that will hopefully breed back into the fey line.”

“That seems a little mercenary.”

“We are dealing with extinction. Mercenary action is called for.”

She could understand that.

They ate in silence for a few minutes before he asked. “Now what about your father?”

“What about him?”

“What is his beast? I am assuming he isn’t a horse or your family would not have a problem.”

“He takes a horse shape and that is how he met my mother. She was in heat in a meadow, he was in that same meadow and I came along eleven months later.”

“Eleven?”

“Occasionally, when a shifter gets pregnant in her beast form, she has to carry the child to term in that same way. Since the beasts were in control and shifter magic would have destroyed me, her horse kept her in the beast form for her entire pregnancy.”

“Where was your father?”

She shrugged. “I am guessing he was at the fey court somewhere.”

Mark paused. “You are joking.”

“I am not. My father has pointy ears and very little sense when it comes to women.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah. My mother stopped talking to him when she found him taking one of the borders on a tour of one of the empty stalls.”

“He lived with you?”

“No. He was visiting, but he took the time out of his schedule to bend Mrs. Wexler over a mounting block.”

“That is... I have no words.”

She laughed. “Yeah, don’t worry, my mom had a lot of words that day, and she still lets Frennin have it anytime he dares to show his face.”

He sat up straight. “Frennin the horse lord?”

“Yes. Have you met him?”

“Oh yes. He despises the fact that I outrank him. He is not one who likes to turn his head to someone’s will, so I had to prove that it was within my power.”

“What did you do?”

“I enforced my position as lord of horses.”

“I beg your pardon? I thought that was Frennin’s title.”

“No, he is the horse lord. He takes the shape of a very handsome horse, and nobility can ride him into battle. I, on the other hand, prepare and maintain all the battle horses for whatever king I am serving.”

Nika giggled. “That must really chap Frennin’s ass.”

He smiled slyly. “You could say that. I have to ask, how is it possible that you even exist?”

“We discussed it with the equine guild. They said it probably had to do with the two beasts coming together in agreement for the purpose of reproduction. It was a meeting of the magics, and now, they swirl through me like the green band in toothpaste.”

“That is so poetic.” He pursed his lips.

“How about chocolate-vanilla swirl soft serve ice cream?” She arched her eyebrows.

“Better.”

Ice cream and peaches arrived, and she enjoyed her dessert, feeling markedly stronger now that she was properly fuelled.

When the dessert cups had been whisked away, Nika sat back and tried not to pat her stomach for a job well done.

“Is there any other part of my life that you want to delve into?”

Mark inclined his head. “Not this evening. Would you care to take a walk around the Crossroads?”

She smiled. “I think that would be nice.”

He got to his feet, and the server came by with the small pad that would take payment for the efforts of the restaurant.

When Mark offered her his arm, she curled her hand around it, pressing her breast against him as they walked out of the restaurant and into the night.

The crunch of the stone under her shoes was a peculiar beat. She got used to it after a few steps and no longer felt like running.

“So, where do you live?” She just threw it out there.

“I have a ranch with a few thousand acres. I just live day to day, taking care of my horses and livestock.”

“Who is taking care of them while you are here?”

“That is what brothers are for.” He grinned.

She looked up at him slyly and smiled. “Do they know how to cook?”

Two hours later, she was shivering, even with Mark’s arm around her.

Teebie took one look at her and urged her to have a seat in the sitting room while Teebie went for hot cocoa.

Mark started a fire with economical movements, and as soon as it was flickering, he wrapped her in a throw from the back of the couch and bundled her in his lap. “How did you get so cold?”

She made a face. “I am used to more physical activity. I depend on it. At home, I am running horses and throwing hay bales around. It keeps me warm.”

He was rubbing his hands brusquely over her, and she eagerly absorbed any warmth she could get.

“What would help?”

She smiled. “Push-ups.”

He blinked. “Seriously?”

“Yes.”

Shrugging, he unbundled her, and she tried to pull off her sandals with shaking fingers. Mark leaned down and helped her with the buckles until she kicked free of her shoes.

“Thank you.”

She rolled to her belly in front of the fire and started to push upward and lower herself on shaking arms.

“Will that really help?”

She grunted. “It will have to, unless I start lifting the furniture.”

Nika kept doing push-ups while Teebie brought in hot cocoa. When she began to work up a light glow, she switched from one arm to the other until her body felt more in control of its thermal condition.

“You glow when you exercise.”

She wrinkled her nose. She knew it was literal. “It is the only time that my fey half comes through in human form.”

“When you exert yourself?”

“Yeah, or when I sweat. Working in the barn, I do most of my work in daylight, so it isn’t much of an issue.”

She sat up and knelt in front of the fire. “See? All better.”

He handed her a cup of cocoa, and she sat with her legs crossed, sipping at the beverage.

Mark sat back and propped his chin on his fist, using the arm of the sofa for support. “You know, just when I think I have you assessed, you throw me.”

She was wiggling her toes where they peeped out of the edge of her skirt. “What do you mean?”

“You have the skills of a seductress, the moves of a confident woman, the appearance of a princess and currently the attitude of a child. It is a strange combination.”

She curled in her toes. “I am sure I don’t know what you mean.”

“Do not get me wrong, I am perfectly comfortable with your attitudes. It is just surprising that there are so many in that little body of yours.”

She snickered. “There are many moods you haven’t seen.”

“I look forward to being educated.”

The twist to his lips kept her attention longer than it should. He notice and it spread into a grin.

Damn.

She finished her cocoa and struggled to her feet. “Well, I thank you for a charming evening.”

He snorted. “I will walk you to your door.”

Nika bent and hooked her fingers through the straps of her sandals and waited for him.

He sighed and finished his cocoa, setting the cup back on the tray with a click. Mark got to his feet and offered her his arm.

Nothing he did was hurried. That much was certain.

Nika walked up the stairs with him; the thick carpet runner was lush on her bare feet.

“Is your name really Nika?” He raised his brow.

“Partially. My father asked for me to be given a fey name, so I am Annathalianika. I settle for Nika.”

“Very wise.”

“Yeah, my first day of kindergarten was a nightmare, so after that, I was Nika.”

They were moving down the hall, she pointed and soon they were at her door. She opened it and smiled. “Thank you for the evening.”

“No, dear Nika. Thank you. It has been entertaining and intriguing all wrapped into one. I rarely venture out of my comfort zone, but with the way I feel around you, venturing out should now become a habit.”

He leaned in and brushed his lips across hers. She felt her fey side surge and try to match him power for power. It was a very odd feeling, and by the time he pulled his head away, it was too late for her to get control of it.

“Good night, Nika. Will you join me for a picnic lunch tomorrow?”

She blinked, bemused. “That sounds nice. I will see you then.”

She drifted back into her room and closed the door on his smiling face. The lock was force of habit, but she really regretted it the moment the click happened.

She sighed and walked away from the door, dropping her shoes in the wardrobe and wandering to the bed, falling onto it with a huff. When she was in heat, she knew what to do.
What am I supposed to do now?

* * * *

Mark went back to the sitting room and collected the cups before carrying the tray to the kitchen. When he saw Teebie there, he asked her, “What do you think of Nika?”

“I think that she has many problems forming normal attachments, but she wants them more than anything. She wants a normal life and family more than you can imagine, but she has no idea how to go about getting one.”

Mark nodded. “Thank you; it was what I had begun to realise but confirmation is nice.”

“You are welcome, elder. Does she know who you are?”

“By title, yes. I do not think she knows what it means. She has not been involved in the fey community, so she might not understand fey social structure.”

Teebie smiled at him. “I wouldn’t be too sure of that. She seems like a woman who is very aware of the world around her.”

Mark nodded. “I was getting that impression as well. Did her father really deliver her here unconscious?”

Teebie snorted. “Yes. He flashed in, dropped her off and put a note on her chest and flashed out. That had to have hurt. Teal and Tony nearly took him apart before he managed to leave. We had to piece together who she was by the note and her signature. There are less than four of her kind in the world. It was easy to narrow it down from that point.”

That surprised him. “There are other fey-shifter mixes?”

“When the fey was in animal form compatible with the shifter, yes. It isn’t the best way to come into the world, but they adapt if they learn to take on human form.”

“Some don’t?” He watched as she shrugged.

“Their mothers don’t know how to coax them into turning or are so traumatized by the extended period in their beast form that they have lost ties with the human world. This is where some of the ancient and mythical creatures came from. Nika was lucky that her mom put in the effort.”

Teebie finished washing the dishes, and Mark scowled, “You can do that with magic, why are you doing it by hand?”

His host smiled. “As you know, when you do the little things with your hands, you retain appreciation for them. I like washing dishes. It gives me time to think and get in touch with my guests. I can tell what is going on in the rooms by the vibrations through the floors. If the floor is silent and no one is in, I do the housekeeping. That I do use magic for. You would not believe what folks get up to when there are no humans around to frighten.” She winked.

Mark chuckled. “I will keep that in mind. Good evening, lady djinn.”

“Good evening, elder.”

He left the woman as she prepared to mop the floor. Buckets and soap were flying through the air, but the djinn had a firm hold of the mop. Some things were better done by hand.

He headed up to his room and walked out onto the balcony that had been installed for him. Since the decline of the fey bloodlines, the desperate attempts to rebuild their species had gone from ridiculous to the criminal.

This was his chance to gain a mate who could and possibly would have children with him. He had no objection to sharing his power with her. She seemed to have more than enough energy to share with him, so it would go both ways. He did wonder how he was going to gentle her into showing her beast. He wanted to know what he was going to be dealing with.

He had agreed to take her as she came, but a zebra with fey stripes woke his curiosity.
Is she fey with zebra stripes or zebra with fey stripes?
He looked forward to finding out.

* * * *

She felt warm and happy with the way the evening had turned out. She also felt exhausted, but instead of sleeping, she found a pen and paper and started drawing out a sketch to turn into a digital drawing and, from there, into an embroidery pattern.

Her little sideline had gotten her and her mother through the rough patches when Frennin’s support had been sketchy and the recession had stopped folks from being interested in maintaining their horses. Six court cases had resulted in Argus Stables being the registered owners of the horses whose upkeep hadn’t been paid for in a year. Somehow, folks had simply assumed that the stable would be only too happy to pay out of their own pockets while the bills went unpaid.

Those six horses were now part of a tour of the local parks. They were fat and happy with plenty of folks to pet, care for and feed them. Annabella covered their medical bills and checked up on them regularly.

To make ends meet, Nika had seized on her digital and artistic skills to begin to create designs for the expanding market of digital embroidery. It had not been an easy start, but now, she had steady clients and worked with a few websites that carried
Kicking Zebra
designs. The income had kept her, her mother and their horses fed during lean times.

She finished the design of the fey warrior and tucked it into the bag that she had picked up at the general store. If it bore a resemblance to Markkios, it was just coincidence.