Page 138 of Primal Bonds

Charming Marjani

A Fada Novel

Prologue

Marjani jolted awake, hand on the dagger beneath her pillow.

Someone was hammering on the door at the surface. She waited for Adric to answer it, but her brother must not have come home yet.

The hammering came again.

Damn. It might be important. Adric was clan alpha.

Snatching up the dagger, she threw off the sheet and jogged through the underground den the two of them shared. The amber quartz in the wall sconces glowed on, lighting her way. She took the stairs to the surface two at a time, halting at the thick steel door at the top.

“Who is it?” When no one answered, she tried again, louder. “Hey! Anyone there?”

Shifters had excellent hearing. If a fada waited on the other side, they’d hear her, steel door or not.

She pressed her ear to the cool metal.

Silence.

Her neck tightened. She had a feeling that whoever had knocked on the door was bad news. Dagger ready, she disengaged the lock and eased the door open.

Other than weeds and a scraggly hawthorn tree, the only living thing in the backyard was an oversized rat rooting through a garbage can. She couldn’t even pick up a scent. But a folded slip of paper that had been stuck in the doorjamb fluttered to the ground. Snatching it up, she slammed the door shut and threw the bolt.

The note was addressed to Adric in their cousin Corban’s distinctive black scrawl. She frowned. Corban wasn’t in Baltimore—was he?

She waited until she was back downstairs before unfolding the paper. The message was short, cryptic.

See you in Reykjavik.—CS

Her heart thumped—hard, uneasy beats. She crumpled the paper in her hand.

Corban Savonett. Her oldest cousin…and the man who wanted her brother dead.

For a long time she just stood there, staring into the glowing amber quartz in the living room fireplace. Then she smoothed and refolded the paper, decision made.

Her internal clock told her it was five a.m. Adric would be home soon, and he’d be hungry. Might as well make breakfast.

The food was almost ready when she heard him run lightly down the steps. He poked his head into the kitchen. “You’re making breakfast?” He said it as if she’d grown an extra tail.

“Scrambled eggs and fried ham.” She flipped a thick slice of sizzling meat. “And good morning to you, too.”

“My favorite.” He wrapped his arms around her from behind. “Thanks, Jani.”

She leaned her cheek against his. She hadn’t been much of a sister lately. Adric wasn’t this happy because she’d cooked breakfast; it was because she’d done anything at all. This past year, she’d spent whole days as her cougar, curled up on the living room rug and staring into the fireplace.

She swallowed a pang of guilt. “Make the coffee, okay?”

“Sure.” While he fixed two large cups with lots of cream, she filled their plates and set them on the battered kitchen table. The den they shared was furnished in early thrift shop. She frowned at her chipped plate. When had that happened?

Adric dug into the food like he was starving…which he probably was. The man was always forgetting to eat. Like her, he was a cougar fada. Hard, edgy, with black hair bleached blond at the tips, and too handsome for his own good.

But lately, he’d lost weight. Their clan, the Baltimore Earth Fada, had had a rough summer, and as alpha, too much rested on his shoulders. His normally lean body looked downright thin.

Not that she should talk. The other day, she’d actually flinched at the sight of herself in the mirror. Was that skinny, big-eyed stranger with the shaved head her?

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