when you curtsied…oomph! Rubbing his stomach where the Valkyrie had punched him, he tried for some sympathy by making a show of whining, "Ow…damn, Jianna. That was awful close to my…"
"Suck it up," she countered with a wink and a growl that expertly summed the utterly opposite and complex sides of the Valkyrie's personality. Punching the air like there was a speed bag hanging at eye level, she bobbed and weaved while continuing to tease, "You need to get back in fighting form. No laying around feeling sorry for yourself, Bucko. I want you to rest and relax, but…" Tapping her temple, she took an aggressive step forward while pointing the index of her free hand at the center of his chest, "…I hear the first negative, stupid, self-deprecating thought come out of that beautiful mind of yours, and I promise by Odin's Eye that I will kick your ass all over this resort."
Snapping his heels together and saluting just like he had for so very many years to his superiors, Ranger gave a clipped, “Sir. Yes, sir.”
"That's right, Soldier," Jianna replied in the same manner, before relaxing and chuckling, "And that's as far as I can go with the whole military vibe."
Relaxing his shoulders with an audible exhale, Ranger groaned, “Oh, thank the Heavens. I’m so outta shape I might fall over dead if you tell me to drop and give you fifty.”
Closing the distance between them, he added, "Or make me run farther than that tree over there." He gave a single nod in the direction of another clump of gorgeous redwoods.
Looking around as the Valkyrie fell into step beside him, the Guardsman went on, "This is a gorgeous place you've got here, Ji. Whatever possessed you to start a resort for Paranormals?"
“Let me ask you,” she responded, gazing at the landscape, her voice taking on an almost whimsical feel. Something he’d never heard from his longtime friend. “How many places are there in the world, other than the MacAllens and your own little apartment in San Antonio, where you can truly be yourself? Where you can sprout wings and take to the sky? Climb a fucking mountain with your talons out? Or just lay around with your scales on?”
Slowly nodding, letting the true meaning in her words, the part that she didn't say, the depth of his old friend's feelings and beliefs sink in, Ranger was in awe of the woman, a true Warrior who he already had the utmost respect for.
Letting his amazement and respect bleed into his every action, his every word, Ranger could only breathe his response, “Damn, Jianna., you’re right. So right.” Watching a Hawk take flight from atop a small outcropping, he smiled, “Thank you for inviting me. You were right.”
“Aren’t I always,” she teased, giving him a playful punch in the arm.
"Yeah," he chuckled. "You sure are. But more specifically to the present, to me." Opening his arms wide as the sounds of the hustle and bustle of the resort became more evident, letting him know they were almost to the main buildings, the hub of his dear friend's Crimson Moon Hideaway, the Guardsman ended with, "This is exactly what I needed. Right where I should be."
With a mischievous gleam in her eye and a wicked grin on her lips, Jianna winked before snickering, "Oh, just you wait, my boy. Things are about to get so much better."
Chapter Five
“Are you sure?” Ellie knew she was whining and wasn’t the least bit embarrassed about it. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to go, that she didn’t need a break, to get away from everything, and think about something other than her birthday, her impending Awakening, the chance that she might lose her ever-loving mind, and… Ranger. It was just that she didn’t want to go by herself.
In the days before, she'd tried to think of any time in her life she'd been alone for longer than a couple of hours. Sure, she was by herself in her cabin. Nobody was around when she was taking care of the horses, feeding the chickens, or out in the pasture with the lambs, but that was different. She wasn't in another state. She wasn't seventeen-hundred miles from home. She could walk or run-more than likely walk, less than a mile, and be at the back door of the MacLeish homestead in less than fifteen minutes.
At first, going away by herself sounded exciting. Heck, she'd been bouncing on her toes when Angelica first called. All the