spread her wings, find her feet, all the while knowing she was his, the key to his lock. Too fucking bad for him that Fate didn’t agree.
Hearing Eloise scuff her shoe on the stone of the den floor, he focused on the young soldier, all determination and ruler-straight spine and lines of strain around the eyes. “Garnet must respect your skills a hell of a lot.”
A wide-eyed look that turned shyly hopeful. “Really?”
Kenji gave a small nod. “Most juniors would’ve been relieved the instant the alarm went up.” He didn’t know this pup well enough to offer her a touch or a hug, but he could give her the same in words. “Remember that when you are relieved. It’s not because she has any concerns about your ability to do the task, but because it’s not your time right now.”
Eloise swallowed, blinked. “I just . . . I was freaked, you know?” she admitted in a whisper. “I didn’t maintain.” A jagged breath. “I screamed for a second before I stopped myself.”
“That just means you’re flesh and blood, with a heart. It’s what you did afterward that matters—you summoned help and held the scene. No senior could’ve done better.”
Eloise’s shoulders straightened, a smile lighting up her eyes.
Garnet’s boot-clad footsteps sounded at that instant. She appeared around the corner seconds later, her expression grim once more. With her were a male and a female Kenji knew, both dominants far more experienced than Eloise.
“Eloise,” Garnet said, and walked a short distance away with the younger woman, her hand on Eloise’s back.
Whatever she said had Eloise nodding before she returned Garnet’s hug and left.
Since Kenji and the new guards had exchanged hellos by the time Garnet returned to them, there was no further delay. He fell in beside her, ready to back her up whatever came next.
“You still speak French?” he asked, his mind yet filled with snapshots of how she’d looked when she’d returned from France—so bright and confident and bursting with life. Like Eloise, she’d been hopeful and wide-eyed, but unlike Eloise, she’d already had a core of steel that marked her as a dominant with the strength to become lieutenant.
Only she hadn’t been hard. Hot tempered, yes, but never hard, not even when she’d been a teenage girl bloodying the noses of boys who thought they could dominate her in the hierarchy simply because she was petite. She’d brought Kenji back a braided leather bracelet he still wore, but only when there was no chance she’d see it.
“And that’s a relevant question, how?”
“I figure I get a random free question after you mauled me.”
Eyes flicking to his arm, she scowled. “Let me see that.”
It was nothing but a scratch, but he lifted his wrist toward her anyway, let her put her hands on him. “Faker,” she muttered, dropping his arm . . . after a gentle pat over the scratches. “You should know better than to challenge another lieutenant, especially in her territory.”
His skin burned where she’d touched him, licks of fire that warmed the cold places within. “Danger’s my middle name, don’t you know.”
Garnet’s response was a stream of fluent French.
“Hell, that’s sexy.” He pressed a hand over his heart, his wolf so delighted she was playing with him that it ran around excited as a pup. “You probably said something about spinach, right? Or told me to eat a sock.”
Her lips quirked, that adorable, unlieutenant-like dimple peeking out. “You’ll just have to live in suspense, Kenji Danger Tanaka.”
Undone, he said, “Where are we going?” Not that he cared, so long as he was with her.
Her expression turned solemn. “Athena and Shane’s place is down this way.”
It took a brisk five-minute walk to reach the apartment.
Kenji frowned. “Did they request these rooms?”
“Yes.” Garnet’s shoulder brushed his arm as she paused. “You’re thinking they were trying to avoid conflict.”
“Yeah.” Heart pounding at the physical sign that maybe she wasn’t so generally pissed at him any longer, he dared tug on a curling tendril that had escaped the hair stick, giving her the skin privileges she needed to find her center. “Doesn’t fit with Shane going after Russ.”
“Nothing fits in this goddamn mess,” Garnet muttered before closing the final distance to the apartment door and raising her hand to knock—but not until she’d glanced over at him, said, “Thanks for putting your body in the line of fire.”
“Anytime, Garnet.” Whatever she needed, he’d do, he’d be.
• • •
It was Athena’s friend Julie, black haired and with skin the shade of dark