The Last Warrior (Shifters Unbound #13) - Jennifer Ashley Page 0,50
kept her gaze on the crystal as she spoke in the little Tuil Erdannan that Ben understood. “Lady Aisling mac Aodha, heed me. Across the barrier, I call you.”
Ben waited for Lady Aisling’s impatient, What is it? That was how she responded to Ben’s rare calls. On the other hand, she could call and bug him anytime.
Silence answered. Sunlight glittered through the stone, throwing a rainbow of spangles onto Rhianne’s face.
“Lady Aisling mac Aodha, heed me.”
Ben noted her avoidance of the word Mother, or any other endearments. A sad thing.
More silence. The wind chimes on the porch below them tinkled, as though the house tried to boost the magic, but nothing happened. Lady Aisling didn’t answer.
“I guess she’s busy.” Rhianne lowered the crystal and quickly turned from Ben, but he saw the tears shining in her eyes.
Dimitri and Jaycee departed. Jaycee had taken back the crystal, nodding to Rhianne’s quiet thank you. Both Shifters knew the call had been a failure—their Shifter hearing let them easily eavesdrop.
Jaycee volunteered to call Lady Aisling for Rhianne, but she got the same response. Not unusual, Jaycee said quickly. Lady Aisling didn’t always answer. Rhianne thanked her for trying.
Rhianne and Ben waved them off. When the motorcycle roars had faded into the distance, Ben slid his arm around Rhianne’s waist.
“Have to make some phone calls. Will you be all right a few minutes?”
“I think so.” Rhianne lifted her chin, as though determined not to break down. She had a lot of guts, and Ben silently cursed Lady Aisling for ignoring her.
“Explore the house,” he suggested. “No tourists today.”
Rhianne’s lovely hair flowed around her, unbound, stirring in the breeze. She nodded absently and wandered back into the house, leaving Ben alone on the front porch.
Ben slid his cell phone from his pocket and scanned through his contacts. He’d been pondering who could help Rhianne, discreetly, come to terms with her shifting ability, and had finally settled on one person.
“Kenzie,” he said in hearty tones when Kenzie Dimitru O’Donnell, mate to the leader of the North Carolina Shiftertown, answered his call. “How are you, darling?”
“You want something.” Kenzie’s jovial voice was suffused with her deep contentment as Bowman’s mate and mom to two cubs. “You never call me darling unless you want something.”
“Guilty. What I have is an unusual situation, and I need to ask you to stay quiet about it. Don’t even tell Bowman, if you think he won’t keep his mouth shut.”
“Good thing he’s not here, or he’d have heard you. You have a loud voice, my friend.”
“That’s because I’m agitated. Or, as your son, Ryan, would say, freaking out a little.” Ben then told Kenzie about Rhianne, who she was, why she was staying at the haunted house, and what had happened to her the night before.
When he finished, Kenzie, a wolf Shifter with deep wisdom, said nothing.
“Kenz?” Ben checked to see whether the phone was still on. “You there?”
“Yes.” The word was thoughtful. “You know, Gil—or Ben, whatever you’re calling yourself these days—I can think of a much better person than me to teach Rhianne about shifting.”
“Yeah? Who? Zander, maybe? He’s a bit over the top, though. I want to ease her into it without too much bullshit, which is why I thought of you.”
“I’m flattered. Not Zander. Not at first.”
“Tiger then?”
“Would you stop interrupting me? The best person to teach her right now … is you.”
Chapter Twelve
Ben shook the phone at Kenzie’s pronouncement, not certain he’d heard her correctly.
“Me?” he demanded. “Why? I’m not Shifter.”
“Neither is she,” Kenzie said reasonably. “But you change shape. And vanish at will, and pretend to be a ghost, and other weird things no Shifter would ever do.”
“Huh. You haven’t known all the Shifters I have. I have no idea how to help her.”
“No? Think it through. Not that I’m saying it would be a bad thing to have her talk to a Shifter at some point.” Kenzie paused. “Maybe bring her here to our Shiftertown later. My uncle might be a good person to consult.”
Ben blinked. “Your uncle. Christian Dimitru, the Fae-hating, ice-cold killer wolf Shifter. That uncle?”
“Uncle Christian doesn’t hate all Fae. He’s getting along very well with the Fae woman who came here when Bowman and I were going through all that shit a few years ago. They talk all the time about her returning permanently to Faerie, but so far, she hasn’t gone.”
“This would give him the compassion to understand Rhianne?”
“It might.”
“Huh. What would your sweet mate Bowman do if he knew