Corrigan Fire Bloodfire - Helen Harper Page 0,28

him a bit more.’ I corrected myself. ‘I mean, them.’

***

Tom was, as advertised, in the grounds outside the keep, carefully churning up a corner of dark soil. I watched him for a moment or two, until he caught sight of me out of the corner of his eye and almost fell over.

‘My Lord!’ he stuttered. ‘I didn’t see you there. Is there anything I can help you with?’

‘No, no,’ I said with an easy air. ‘I don’t want to interrupt. You look very busy.’

He wiped his palms down the front of his jeans and grinned. It made him look even more boyish than usual. ‘Doing Julia’s bidding. She needs this all turned over ready for the end-of-season planting.’

I glanced over the neat rows of leafy herbs. I’d be hard pressed to identify more than a couple but it was clear that she definitely knew what she was doing. ‘I hear you’re keen to join us,’ I said, flicking my gaze back to him and watching his eyes carefully.

His face lit up. ‘Yes! I didn’t think it would be a possibility after losing in my fight but Mel seemed quite positive when I spoke to her.’

‘Hmm. Can I ask why?’

‘She said it was because I’d still looked like I had potential.’ He beamed with pride.

‘No,’ I shook my head. ‘I mean, why do you want to join us?’

He blinked. ‘Because the Brethren are the best. I want to make a difference.’ He gazed off into the distance. ‘I respect Julia, I really do, but with John gone…’ he sighed. ‘It just seems like the right time.’

I cocked my head. ‘Your girlfriend doesn’t seem to share your opinion.’

For a moment he looked confused. ‘But she… Oh!’ He licked his lips. ‘No, she doesn’t want to leave. She likes it here.’

‘What will that mean for your relationship?’ I said it casually, trying to draw him out.

Tom scratched his neck. ‘Long-distance relationships can be very healthy. Red and I go way back and we trust each other completely.’ He nodded to himself. ‘It won’t be a problem.’

Somehow, I very much doubted that. ‘Why do you call her Red?’

His eyes widened and he glanced from side to side as if searching for an answer. ‘Er, she, er, blushes a lot.’

‘You mean like you’re doing right now?’ I asked. It was an impolite question but I wasn’t going to let my questions about Mack go on without any real answers.

‘That’s because she does it when she, um, when we,’ he kicked at a clod of earth, ‘when we make love!’ he finally burst out, looking remarkably pleased with himself.

His expression shouldn’t have pissed me off, but it did. ‘I see.’ I turned to go.

‘My Lord!’

‘Yes?’ I glanced back at him.

‘Red, I mean Mack, seems a bit strange sometimes but she’s really a very good member of the team here.’ He was very earnest. ‘She’s a strong shifter.’

I gave him a thoughtful look. ‘So I’ve seen.’

‘She’s taken John’s death very hard. They were really close. But you’ll never meet a nicer shifter.’

I raised my eyebrows. For some reason, ‘nice’ wasn’t a word I’d associate with the confusing little werehamster. Not that I believed that’s what she really was, of course.

‘What’s her shift?’

‘Werehamster, my Lord.’ He said it quickly but his expression was telling a different story.

Damning myself, but completely unable to help it, I used the Voice. Is she really a werehamster?

Of course, my Lord.

My shoulders tightened. He answered the same under compulsion as not. There were ways around the pull of the Voice, of course. I’d proved as much with what I’d done to Brady. The werewolf wasn’t that strong, however. Either there were external forces at work here or he really was telling the truth.

Giving up on him, I walked round the edge of the keep, almost colliding with Betsy as I rounded the corner. She jumped back.

‘I’m so sorry!’ she babbled. ‘I wasn’t looking where I was going!’

‘Don’t worry about it.’ I gave her a curious look. ‘Where are you off to?’ She actually seemed rather embarrassed. Given that this was the shifter who’d tried to very obviously flirt with me in the canteen, I was suddenly curious.

‘I thought I’d just go and do some gardening,’ she told me.

Something inside me clicked. She was interested in Tom. Except Tom was apparently with Mack. I wondered whether Betsy’s enthusiasm to join the Brethren was solely to do with the opportunity to snag him while he was far away from any other influences. If that was