The Last Warrior (Shifters Unbound #13) - Jennifer Ashley Page 0,78
Shifter woman and Connor. Hands on hips Tiger-girl sent forth a growl that rippled the still air. The message was clear.
Stay away.
The young woman paused, studied Tiger-girl, and took a few steps back. “Anyway. See ya, Connor.” She pivoted and jogged to the green, continuing her run.
“See you.” Connor, his attention on the lock for the whole conversation, hadn’t noticed a thing.
The lock clicked and Connor swung open a door. “Here you go.”
He stood aside and let Ben and Rhianne enter, Ben going first, as a Shifter male would. Rhianne found herself in a surprisingly large space, with two couches on either end of an empty wooden floor. A television had been mounted on one wall, and beneath it sat a bookshelf strewn with books and magazines.
“Tiger-girl and I come here a lot,” Connor said as Ben and Rhianne halted awkwardly in the middle of the room. “We spar. Or catch up on vids between bouts.”
Rhianne glanced at Tiger-girl, who hovered behind Connor’s shoulder. She was almost as tall as Connor and shared his restless athleticism.
“Sparring?” Rhianne asked, brows rising.
“Yeah.” Connor returned her questioning gaze, his innocence unfeigned. “Tiger-girl’s good at natural fighting, but we’re both learning to fine-tune our skills. She’s going through her Transition, and it helps her to spar. She’s also learning how not to kill me.” He sent a fond grin behind him.
Tiger-girl’s joy at his attention went beyond fondness. If Rhianne hadn’t had to worry about her own problems, she would love to stay in this Shiftertown and watch their relationship progress.
The thought that she truly would love to stay here jolted Rhianne. She squeezed Ben’s hand uncertainly.
“You two could use some sparring time yourself,” Connor said. “Enjoy it. I’ll let you out when you have everything resolved.”
He and Tiger-girl quickly ducked outside, and Connor slammed the door. Ben dropped Rhianne’s hand and rushed to the exit, but before he reached it, they heard the click of the padlock snapping into place.
Laughter, both male and female, floated to them, and then receded. Ben turned and faced Rhianne, the two of them left alone with their demons.
Chapter Nineteen
Ben studied Rhianne across the space of the room. She was so beautiful, with her red hair falling out of a sloppy braid, her face both animated and creased with exhaustion, her body tense.
Her words about the mate bond had filled Ben with delirious hope, one he feared to hold on to, couldn’t allow himself to consider real.
Shifters found the mate bond right and left, or so it seemed, but never with Ben. He was alone, had been for a thousand years. His solitude had left an imprint on him, a deep furrow in his psyche that he couldn’t shake.
“I suppose we have to hash this out,” he said, throat tight.
Rhianne glanced at the door. “You know we can easily escape this room. You thought nothing of tearing metal bars out of solid stone.”
True, a flimsy door wouldn’t stop Ben if he wanted to flee. “I know that. You know that. Connor probably knows that too. But we should talk.”
Rhianne folded her arms, which pushed up her chest under the loose shirt. “There’s nothing to talk about. We were not talking, in any case. We were shouting.”
“Figure of speech.”
“I wish you spoke Tuil Erdannan better. I could explain. This English is flimsy for conveying what I mean.”
“Goblin would be better too. But it would take us a while. Our words get long. We add endings to words every time we want to tack on an explanation. They can become massively multisyllabic.”
Ben hoped to make her smile, but she only watched him, grim-faced.
“Shall we shout more?” she asked. “You cannot go to Faerie alone.”
Ben’s frustration mounted. “Not alone. With Dylan, Tiger, and Zander. They’ll make sure I come out alive.”
“While I wait here? Tiger himself told me to take care of you. He called you the last warrior.”
“I know he did. I wish I knew what the hell that meant.”
“As do I.” Rhianne threw out her hands. “He didn’t exactly explain.”
“Tiger never does.” Ben tried to calm himself and think. “He could mean that I’m the last goblin warrior alive, but then we met Millie, who I’m sure could hold her own in battle. In fact, I’d like to shake some answers out of her. Is she for us or against us?” He broke off. “Not important right now. Tiger could also mean I’ll be the last one standing in the next Shifter Fae war. Goddess, I hope not.”