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information might go from there."
Fireborn Law [Lycan Blood Vol. II]
by Janrae Frank
47
"Now, connect it up to Cooley and I'll give you my thoughts."
"They must know that Cullen and Silkie had been lovers.
They may even know that Cooley is Cullen's, although Silkie implied that no
one but Cullen knew it. So there's two possibilities. They could be after
Cooley because he's Cullen's.
In which case they intend to kill him. Or they could be after
Cooley because of Silkie, in which case they want him alive as a hostage."
"You're awfully certain they're after the boy."
"Silkie must have reason to think so, Todd. Otherwise why send him to us?"
"Good point. However, I doubt they want him as a hostage."
Kynyr blinked, a sense of unease creeping along his arms.
"Why not?"
"We're not dealing with humans or lycans. We're dealing with sa'necari.
Sa'necari would not need a hostage. They would simply cram Silkie's mind full
of coercions until there was nothing she could do but obey."
"No. I don't think they would. Psi craft like that always has side-effects.
Personality changes. Someone would notice."
"Only if they paid attention, Kynyr. No one pays attention to whores. Which is
probably the reason males betray themselves so freely to them."
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"Cullen did." Kynyr's mouth tightened.
"Cullen was an odd wolf. We'll see what we can do to fix the damage Cooley's
caused himself."
"I'd like you to train him."
Fireborn Law [Lycan Blood Vol. II]
by Janrae Frank
48
"He's not emotionally stable. The fight with Lany O'Connor was not the first
one that Cooley's had."
"Training could help that." Kynyr met Todd's eyes with a calm steadiness. "The
cub's life is on the line. If you don't train him, he'll die."
"Gut instinct?"
"Yeah."
"I'll teach him avoidance. But until he stops fighting with the villagers, I'm
not going to teach him the arts of war. I
don't want to see him kill another child just because they taunted him."
"Understood."
"Then I'll start with him this evening after dinner."
Relief blossomed on Kynyr's face. "Thank you."
Todd lifted his hand to forestall more talk from Kynyr. "But
I expect something in return."
"What?"
"You'll answer all of my questions."
"About what?"
"I want to know everything you learn in Hell's Widow tomorrow. Everything his
mother tells you. There will be other questions. Something bad is going on in
this town and I want to know what."
Beneath Todd's calm exterior, Kynyr could sense an edge he had never seen
before, and it prompted his agreement.
"So be it."
* * * *
Fireborn Law [Lycan Blood Vol. II]
by Janrae Frank
49
The Difficult Horse Tavern, called that because of its sign that featured a
horse sitting on its rump while a mon tugged the reins before it, stood on
Main Street across from the village common. Hereward Wiggins, the owner,
brewed his own mead from locally produced honey and it was considered the best
in Wolffgard.
Barrels with spigots jutting from them lined the rear wall behind a polished
bar of walnut heartwood. Sturdy chairs circled the round tables placed
throughout the common room.
Kynyr occupied a table with his three closest friends, who had become his
subordinates in the new unit that Claw had formed. His spiritbrother, Finn
MacIver, sat at his right hand.
Finn's pale hair hung in a long silken tail to the middle of his back with a
neat orderliness that Kynyr envied every time he had to fight with his own
discipline resistant mane. Ramsey
Fitzgerald had the chair to Kynyr's left. Three tankards of mead had lent a
rosette flush to his fair skin and heightened the color in his round cheeks
until they nearly matched his fiery red hair. Eideard Doyle, the oldest of
them at twenty-
four sat directly across from Kynyr. His dramatic cheekbones broke the
symmetry of his otherwise bland square face, framed by crinkly ash blond hair
that was caught at his neck with a twist of leather.
Hereward's four buxom daughters waited tables at the
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Difficult Horse, flirting with the customers in a manner that skirted the
edges of propriety, strictly 'look but don't touch.'
The tavern master kept a spiked club behind the bar and everyone in the
village knew better than to test his temper
especially where his daughters were concerned. When it got
Fireborn Law [Lycan Blood Vol. II]
by Janrae Frank
50
too busy in the evenings, the two nibari Hereward owned would be sent out to
help with the orders.
Kynyr's eyes roved the room, searching for his favorite, LoraKady or Kady as
most called her. She was Hereward's eldest, a sweet-tempered bitch with flaxen
hair that hung past her hips and a ready smile that suggested mischief. He
frowned when he did not see her. "Where's Kady tonight?"
Finn glanced around the room before answering. "I don't know."
"She hasn't been around much since that Cullen business."
Ramsey tilted his head to the side and contemplated his tankard as if he knew
something he felt reluctant to share.
"There's rumors going around about her."
"Like what?"
Eideard gestured at Rachel Wiggins with his tankard, indicating he wanted
another. "Spit it out, Ramsey ... or I
will."
Kynyr's frown deepened. "One of you tell me."
Ramsey looked uncomfortable, so Eideard growled something under his breath and
then repeated it louder.
"They're saying Kady is a slut. A bunch of those wet-tailed wheat-grinders
that work at the mill." Eideard snorted derisively. "They're saying they got
their rods into her ... and she liked it."
"They said that here?" Kynyr sounded incredulous. "What did Hereward do?"
Ramsey licked his lips and took a drink from his tankard.
"That's the odd thing. Nothing. Acted as if he hadn't heard it, and I know
damned well he had." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]