Page 65 of Shadow Blind

Every part of Wolf—physical, mental, and spiritual—resisted the possibility. Why would the elder gods gift such a man—a complete ass of a man—with such a powerful animal spirit? The last representative of the heschrmal had followed the Shadow Warrior to the web of the ancestors a hundred cycles before the first woohanta had set foot on Kalikoia lands. Nobody even remembered who the last lion chosen had been. And the knowledge of what ability the heschrmal gifted to their chosen had long since disappeared into the currents of time.

Why would the lion spirit appear now? Why would it choose O’Neill?

Perhaps it hadn’t. Perhaps O’Neill had lied about the claiming, as everyone believed.

But…if the Old One spoke the truth, then the Hee’woo’nee’s conduct toward O’Neill would explain the bite to his tongue. He seemed to deliberately antagonize Wolf and the rest of the warriors. Even Mackenzie and his men had had enough of the jie’van.

Except this was O’Neill. His grating attitude had started long before he’d made the heschrmal claim and been shunned. He’d been a thief and a bully through middle, junior, and high school. Stealing lunches. Stealing answers to homework and tests. Starting fight after fight, most of them with Wolf. Then, a couple rotations before graduation, after the supposed claiming, he’d disappeared. Nobody had questioned his absence.

The timing of his alleged claiming had added to the suspicion O’Neill had faced. He’d been seventeen. All other spirit animal claimings happened during puberty. O’Neill had long left puberty behind when he announced his induction into the lion clan.

And then he was gone.

Wolf had forgotten the jie’van existed until Benioko had returned to base a cycle ago with O’Neill in tow.

Wolf was still watching, perhaps even glaring at O’Neill, when the jie’van’s eyes suddenly opened. O’Neill straightened, his boots hitting the floor. His off-putting green gaze latched onto Aiden. Something must have caught his attention.

“You believe these continuous feed cameras are linked to the test of this weapon?” O’Neill’s voice was thoughtful rather than arrogant, snide, or smug, his three most common tones. “Who did WARCOM contract with for the cameras?”

Aiden’s gaze narrowed. Surprise flickered across his face. He studied O’Neill closely. “Nantz Technology. Same contractor who developed the drone prototype we were sent into Karaveht to recover.”

O’Neill settled back in his chair. This time, his boots remained flat on the floor. His gaze went distant, his face thoughtful. “Nantz Technology is a peripheral weapons supplier. They’ve never developed core weapons.” He sounded reflective though, rather than dismissive, like he was connecting dots in his head. “Nor do they have a medical or nanobot focus,” O’Neill added absently. “The timing between the cameras and test could be a coincidence.”

“It’s possible.” There was surprise on Aiden’s face. But then there was surprise on all the warriors’ faces.

A whispered conversation broke out between Zane and Rawls. Both men’s gazes, along with the warriors surrounding them, were locked on O’Neill. So many questions in dozens of eyes. How did O’Neill know this information?

Wolf wondered as well. He turned to Benioko, who stared back with a bland expression. The Old One knew. He was not surprised by O’Neill’s knowledge.

Where had O’Neill gone after he’d left the Brenahiilo? Neither the shaman nor O’Neill had explained where he’d gained his impressive warrior skills. Wolf had hoped the jie’van’s induction into the warrior clan, which came through the Neealaho binding ceremony, would take care of his O’Neill problem. To join Shadow Mountain, a Kalikoia warrior had to merge with the Neealaho, the neural net that connected all as one. But the blending ceremony required great strength—both tribal and personal. Many could not receive the merging of so many minds and spirits. O’Neill had little tribal blood, less than a third. Nor had he been blessed with an animal clan. His tribal strength was so weak, merging with the Neealaho should have been impossible for him.

Yet merge he had. Which left Wolf no choice but to accept him into the warrior clan. One could not reject one of the Shadow Warrior’s chosen fighters.

O’Neill suddenly frowned and glanced around the table. His face went blank, his eyes flat. He sprawled back out in his chair, his boots thudding as they hit the surface of the table.

But he’d already revealed more than he’d intended. Shadow Mountain warriors were too perceptive to miss what had just happened—how the one they least respected had proved he was more than he pretended. More than they’d assumed.

“As of now, our best bet of finding this bot weapon is through Grigory Kuznetsov, the Russian arms dealer we were deployed to find,” Aiden continued; his gaze still locked on O’Neill’s face.

“You’re certain this man is involved,” Samuel asked, his question quiet.

Aiden shrugged. “According to my contact at HQ1, Navy intelligence is certain Kuznetsov was the point man behind what happened in Karaveht. Am I certain the bastard was behind the slaughter of my team? No. But the spook assigned to the op is certain Kuznetsov was in Karaveht prior to the weapon’s deployment. And his name is the only one I have. We should start with him.”

“So, your current intel on Kuznetsov is based on squid intelligence? The same squid intelligence that sent you into a hot spot after an arms dealer and drone prototype that wasn’t on site?” O’Neill’s voice, sharp with mockery, filled the room. “Sounds like you’re headed for a repeat of your earlier clusterfuck.”

Aiden cocked his head, his face assessing rather than angry. He saw O’Neill’s mockery for what it was. An attempt, a weak one at that, to shore up his asshole reputation.

“Squid?” Aiden repeated quietly, his gaze searching as it scanned O’Neill’s face. “Where did you come up with that? It’s a MARSOC diss.”

O’Neill’s mouth snapped shut. After a moment, he shrugged and resumed his indolent posture—kicked back in his chair, eyes closed, boots on the table. But the exchange gave Wolf his first insight into his childhood bully, and where’d he’d disappeared after high school.

O’Neill, the scourge of Shadow Mountain, was a former Marine Raider.

Chapter twenty-seven

Day 10

Denali, Alaska

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