Brynna (Stone Society) - Faith Gibson Page 0,31

it too? When?”

“At the armory. My beast was agitated, but neither Uri nor I saw anyone.”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions yet.” Uri set his cup down on the table and went to Banyan, rubbing his shoulders.

“Maybe we should,” Travis said. Brynna hadn’t heard him come into the kitchen. “I turned on my laptop before I came downstairs to check my messages. My system has been wiped.”

“Did you lose everything? All your work?” Brynna met him at the door and put her arm around his waist.

Travis brushed a kiss against her temple. “No. I always back my work up on the server at the office, plus I keep whatever I’m working on at the time on a thumb drive. Julian will be able to get everything put back in just a couple minutes, but the point is, someone hacked me.”

The door opened, and Marcie entered, followed by Lawrence. Both were loaded down with takeout bags. “Oh, the power’s back on,” she said. “We brought breakfast.”

“It hasn’t been on long, so thank you for this.” Banyan began pulling food from the sacks while Marcie set mugs out on the table. She had picked up a large container of coffee to go with the food. Even though Uri had already made coffee, the extra wouldn’t be wasted.

As they ate, Brynna filled Marcie and Lawrence in on what happened at the power company as well as the feeling she and Banyan had about being followed.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if Drago has someone following us. I wish we had our swords from the States with us,” Uri said.

“What makes those different?” Lawrence asked. Brynna thought it was a good question since they had their own armory, and there were probably twenty weapons on display throughout the manor.

“Julian came up with a special coating. It contains hellebore root, and although the amount isn’t enough to completely paralyze an opponent, it definitely slows them down.”

Brynna pushed her empty plate back and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’d like to get some sparring in. If there’s a chance we’re going to be attacked, I want to be ready.”

“You won’t be fighting anyone,” Banyan said.

“Excuse me? I’m not some fragile human.” Brynna turned to her mate and friends. “Sorry, no offense.”

“None taken,” Travis offered, brushing Brynna’s hair back over her shoulder.

“Help me out, Travis. Are you willing to let Brynna fight?” Banyan mirrored Brynna, crossing his arms over his massive chest.

“I would rather she didn’t, but I’m not about to tell her what she can and can’t do. Your sister’s a badass with a sword. Just ask Uri.”

Banyan turned to his mate, scowling. “Something you want to tell me?”

Uri shrugged and cocked his head to the side. “She came by the armory one day. We may have sparred for a few minutes.”

“Uh huh.” Banyan narrowed his eyes at Brynna. “Okay, Little Sister. Let’s see what you’ve got.” He slid his chair back from the table and stood. “If you can go ten minutes without losing your weapon, I’ll not argue with you about fighting.”

“Yes!” Brynna pumped her fist, kissed Travis on the cheek, then ran to her bedroom to get her favorite sword. And yes, she had more than one. When she told them Gautum trained her, she might have left out a few details. While she was upstairs, Brynna changed out of her cute dress into clothing more suitable for sparring. She also braided her long hair to keep it out of the way. When she returned to the kitchen, Travis’s eyes widened, and his mouth fell open.

“Damn, Princess. You look hot,” he muttered.

“He’s not wrong,” Marcie agreed, wiggling her eyebrows.

Brynna laughed at her friend. Marcie had never seen Brynna dressed in what she called her battle gear of tactical pants tucked into a well-worn pair of leather, lace-up boots, and a fitted T-shirt, all black.

Uri and Lawrence didn’t comment, but both nodded in agreement. Banyan, however, scowled. “Where the hell did you get those? Better yet, why do you have… Never mind. Let’s get this over with.”

Brynna kissed Travis again before following her brother outside. Banyan’s sword was quite a bit longer than Brynna’s, but she wasn’t worried about it. The two of them moved to the open area of the lawn while the others stood off to the side.

“I’ve got a hundred kroner on Brynna,” Marcie said, causing Banyan to frown even harder. Brynna was glad her friend had faith in her, but Brynna also knew her brother was out to prove a point. She