Page 49 of Commanding Blood And Bonds

He huffed, looking sheepish, but his eyes bore the weight of our separation, a tangible agony still embedded in his skin. The image of him filleted open ached like a wound still healing in the flesh of my mind rather than my body.

Finally, he breathed, “Dad is fine. Or Ansel, if the former feels disrespectful to the humans who raised you.” It didn’t. I loved them, was grateful for their incessant rules and open arms, for what they provided for August, James, and me, but…they felt like a memory, where Ansel was real, standing right before me.

“I quite missed being your daughter,” I admitted. “I think I’ll savor it.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

“Yes, well,” I swallowed hard, choking back the emotion welling in my throat. “Thanks, Dad.”

“Anytime, babygirl. What’s next?”

“I have a pretty good idea.”

“Took you long enough,” I muttered, even as my heart leapt right out my ass. The harsh sun streamed through the treetops the following day, glimmering over splashes of colorful flora and illuminating a lone waiting figure in full Paladin attire. His black mask was pulled up over his nose, hood hanging low so only a strip of skin and his eyes were visible—just like mine.

Well, granted, mine was a bit outdated. And even in the winter, the layers were insufferably muggy this far south.

As expected, the armory was magnificent, though it held no hint of a pathological weapon. Illuminated LED walls stocked every kind of weapon I could imagine. My knuckles were now wreathed in brass, a monkey fist swinging from one hand, pockets all full of goodies, and a semi-automatic strapped across my back. A decent haul. One they likely wouldn’t have noticed had I not been terrorizing them all week. But it was the box of data they’d locked behind a steel safe that I was most excited about.

“How did you know where I’d be?”

I held my ground as the figure canted his head curiously, then took slow, meticulous steps forward, assessing me. Christ, he was tall. Nearly Aren’s height, though the comparison stopped there. Where our Commander, Ansel, Alec, and August were all racked with muscle, this silhouette was long and abnormally lean.

“Wanted women are hard to miss.” That rich baritone tickled some distant part of my brain, the southern lilt stronger than Blaz’s, but not by much.

“Well,” I giggled girlishly, dramatically settling a hand over my heart as I took a step to the side, back toward my car. “As flattered as I am,” I drawled in my best mockery of that Southern twang, “I have plans, Stretch.”

My confidence faded as the unmistakable croak of a raven ricocheted off the trees a beat before the call was echoed from all directions. A flicker of a memory tugged at my mind—a human memory, fresh from this life. But it couldn’t solidify because, as if that had been their signal, half a dozen looming figures emerged from the trees. My head swiveled, tracking them all.

I may have underestimated the value of that lab.

Six silhouettes. One to every side. Twenty yards to the drive, another thirty to the road. Or forty yards back to the water, but I wasn’t in the north anymore. Water meant gators, and I wasn’t particularly inclined to test the efficacy of my shields.

The wind kicked up around us as my assessment grew grim. If I’d learned anything from my sire, it was that confidence was half the battle, so I just slowly began twirling the steel ball at the end of the rope.

“Can I help you, gentlemen?”

“Well, you see, we were mad enough when we thought you were just looting weapons, but this”—the first figure nodded toward the box in my hand—“presents a whole new problem.”

“Who sent you?” A second voice—also male—asked from behind me.

“Nothing but an orphan looking for some quick cash,” I said, lifting a shoulder like the thing of value was the weapon on my back.

“Bullshit,” a third voice declared, this time from my right…that itch in my brain intensifying.

“Start talkin’,” the first demanded as they slowly closed ranks around me. They were cautious, I noted. No doubt waiting for an element to come roaring to life to defend me. Based on the Paladin attire, I could safely wager each one of these assholes had shadows. Hence, rifling through their shit in the middle of the day.

“You caught me,” I said, holding my free hand up. “Not an orphan. Though I could use some quick cash,” I allowed as my plan began to formulate.

Another call between the ravens sent my hair on end, eyes flicking up to realize there were as many birds as men.

Because that wasn’t disconcerting.

A shiver rocked down my spine, and I did my best to hide it as I took a leisurely step forward. They were assessing, not attacking, which told me they needed something from me before they did away with me.

“We can do this the easy way,” the lanky one promised. “Who sent you? Grayshell? Bellaton?”

Scoffing, I said, “You clearly don’t know me.”