Page 226 of Golden Eagle

Friend, Anna had said. And a relatively new one at that. Mia had the sense that, no matter what she said, she wouldn’t be disappointing her. That she could take a moment, and be honest – so that’s what she did.

She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath; tried to parse her gut instincts of panic and doubt out from her emotions. Those were human instincts; the instincts of the Mia who’d ridden horses for a living, and who’d thought she wouldn’t go on living much longer. The Mia who’d never allowed herself fantasies of a husband and children; a Mia who knew better than to hope or wish.

She let out a breath and opened her eyes. “I didn’t think I’d live past New Year’s,” she said, and Anna looked at her encouragingly. I thought that I could maybe ride a little longer, and that then I would die slowly, painfully, in a hospital bed with wires coming out of me, bald and–” She bit her lip, unable to finish.

Anna petted her knee like she would a distressed animal; it was inordinately comforting.

She looked over at Val, standing with arms crossed, one hip cocked to the side, smiling delightedly as he watched his wolf spar with Nikita. “I love my job,” she said. “I love my horse. I love working for Donna, and I’ve been learning so much. I know I won’t ever go to the Olympics like she did, but it’s good. It’sfun.

“But Val…I didn’t ever think I could have that. That I could have someone. That it could be like it is with him. I didn’t think I’d get the chance to go on an adventure.”

She looked at Anna again. “I’m not just here because I think Val needs me, or that I owe him for giving me the chance to live.” As she spoke the words, she felt the truth of them all the way down to her bones, and it settled some of the constant turmoil she’d been living with. “I’m here because being with him is the wildest, scariest, most impossible gift that I never could have imagined. It’s strange as hell, and I get frightened – but I want to be here. I do. It’s just…”

“A lot,” Anna finished, smiling softly. “Yeah. It is.” She gave Mia’s knee a last pat and sprang lithely to her feet. “Well, then, you’d better get a little more badass, huh?” She offered her hands again. “Come on: I’m not good with a sword, but I’ve got a few ninja moves that come in handy.”

This time, Mia let herself be pulled to her feet. “That thing you did to the guards back at Virginia…”

“Oh, you liked that?” She laughed, a wicked gleam in her eyes. “Alright then, young grasshopper, let’s get to work.”

~*~

“Lanny?”

He’d been nervous at first, heart pounding as Trina accepted the knife and squared off from Kolya. The first few movements had left him leaning forward on his toes, biting his tongue to keep from growling and throwing himself between his mate and the man coming at her with a knife. But as he’d watched, fighting his instincts, he’d seen that Kolya, for all that he was freshly alive again, had no intention of getting his blade anywhere near Trina. Once he got over the worry, and could just watch, he could admit that the guy was damn good.

Trina had an athletic build, and he knew she hit the treadmill, and lifted weights, and went to one of those kickboxing classes every so often to stay sharp. Had passed all her mandatory self-defense classes with flying colors. She moved well, quick and balanced, but she wasn’t used to wielding a knife, and Kolya was just – well, he was a freak.

Lanny had seen theNutcrackeronce, when he was a kid; one of his cousins had been a sugarplum and he’d, admittedly, been a little shit and bugged his mom for gum or candy through most of the performance. But he’d caught a glimpse or two, between fighting over the armrest with his brother, and he’d seen the way the dancers got up on their toes and spun, and spun, defying gravity.

That was Kolya. Like touching the ground was optional; even the slowest spin, the gentlest pantomime of a strike, seemed to float. His body moved in ways that Lanny’s own never could, no matter that he was a vampire, and Kolya a mortal – one that had died before, no less. It was a shame, Lanny thought, that the Cheka had scooped the guy up; he should have been on a stage somewhere, under hot lights, defying gravity to standing ovations.

He turned at the sound of Jamie’s voice, and found him standing with hands fidgeting together nervously, brow furrowed.

“What’s up, ladykiller?”

Jamie groaned, and covered his face with his hands, which Lanny couldn’t help but laugh at. “I didn’t kill them. I just…”

“Gave all of them that sweet, sweet lovin’?”

“God, don’t say it like that.”

Lanny clapped him on the shoulder. “Shit, kid, what’s there to be so embarrassed about?”

Jamie sighed, and pulled his hands away, his gaze miserable. “I don’t – I’m not–” He gestured down the length of his body. “Look at me.”

“I am, and you look way too uptight for someone who got laid by four chicks last night.”

The miserable look turned into a glare. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“You had somefun. Don’t worry so much.”

He didn’t look convinced.

“Look, they were willing, right?”

He blushed. “Very.”

“Then don’t beat yourself up.” He gave him a little shake, and some of the tension bled out of him. “Whatcha need?”

---