Page 37 of Rifted Hearts
It was a lazy, unsophisticated lie, totally not up to Remi’s standards.
Kaveh kept stroking Remi’s face, his fingers gliding over the faint stubble on Remi’s cheeks. “You’ll miss the Friday rodeo, then.”
He’d miss more than that when he left, but Lyall was right. Remi needed to get out before it all went down. But that still left tonight, and there were hours until morning.
He opened his mouth to ask Kaveh to stay with him, but the vet’s body went rigid, and the softness of his gaze when he looked at Remi hardened into a scowl.
“Three of my clan are here.” Kaveh rolled off the bed and began to throw on his clothes.
Remi jerked back, surprised at the sudden change in his demeanor.
“They never come this far from the rift,” Kaveh said. “Something’s wrong, and I think it’s better you stay inside.”
Before Remi could think of something to say or ask Kaveh how he knew all of this, Kaveh had pulled on his boots and swung the door open, closing it behind him with a click of finality.
Remi did not, of course, stay in his room.
He threw on an all-black ensemble and sneakers in case hiding and running might be involved. Opening the door didn’t seem discreet, so after peeking out of the room’s windows, he lifted the one that didn’t open over a cactus and crawled out.
He could barely make out an indistinct conversation from around the corner of the building. Remi grimaced then focused on transforming partly into his alter form. His chinchilla ears picked up what his human ones couldn’t, and he edged along the wall toward the conversation. It was being held in the drakone language, which Remi could follow without much difficulty.
“I don’t care if you find my tone and manner abrasive.” A male voice, deep and all too familiar. It was Rhys, Kaveh’s ex-lover and all-around asshole. “The reputation and safety of the clan is what matters here, not the sensibilities of a human who should be grateful for the opportunity to join our clan.”
Patronizing prick. Remi leaned forward, straining to hear more. He had started eavesdropping in the middle of the argument, but he guessed the ungrateful human they were discussing was Kat.
If Kaveh’s family thought the cute wrangler wasn’t deferential enough for them, they would lose their shit over Remi’s attitude.
“Rhys is no diplomat.” This from an older female. “But he has a point. We can’t be seen as unable to protect thehuman the Matchmaker chose for you. This is for your sake, Kaveh. Rhys cares for you, as we all do.”
Remi took a few hesitant steps to the edge of the shadows. He could make out three individuals silhouetted in the glow of shroom lamps mounted on some of the taller cacti. The ranch was feeling the effects of the expanded rift, even without a rift storm.
Kaveh’s outline would have been recognizable even without his cowboy hat. A second, larger individual had a reptilian quality to his shape and had to be Rhys. The third stood a head taller than the others, red-and-gold scales gleaming like a torch in the dim light.
That had to be Xiang Jao, Matriarch of the Saguaro Rift clan.
Remi pressed back into the darkness, his heart pounding. Even in humanoid form, she would be unbelievably dangerous.
“We ran the Colony enforcers out of the human city.” Xiang Jao’s words sent a chill through Remi. Zale wasn’t his favorite relative for a lot of reasons, but he didn’t want to see him hurt or killed. Not to mention that, since Lyall had escaped his contract, Zale was the only one around who could protect him. “Your intended must be taken into our safekeeping, and you should rejoin the family in the keep until the situation has stabilized.”
“Kat doesn’t want this to happen.” Kaveh sounded ragged, more distraught than Remi had ever imagined he could sound. “I haven’t even confirmed the match with the amulet.”
“Let me collect him, then.” Rhys spoke again, talking over Kaveh’s immediate objections. “If he isn’t your match, an apology and a generous gift should assuage any of the human’s complaints. If the amulet transforms, then he’syour husband, and you can order him to remain in the keep.”
“I’m not going to let you touch him.” Kaveh didn’t sound distraught anymore. He sounded furious, and Remi felt another pang of envy. Kaveh would do anything to protect his friend and now almost-fiancé, of course. Adorable, clueless Kat, who had stormed away from a gorgeous man who only wanted to protect him and keep him safe from the bad guys.
Namely, Remi and his family.
Rhys shoved Kaveh in the chest, and things went south quickly.
Kaveh spat out a string of words, utterly unfamiliar to Remi, who prided himself on his Riftworld language skills. Green flames leaped up around Kaveh—shit, was he on fire?
Remi couldn’t stand here and do nothing. He started forward, prepared to rush out and put out the flames if necessary.
A rubbery, muscular shape wrapped around his chest. Remi would have screamed if a large hand hadn’t clamped over his mouth. He spent frantic and useless moments trying to thrash free before he recognized the tentacle holding him fast.
Zale.
Arizona was one hell of a dry place for a half kraken, but his brutish cousin often partially transformed to add a pair of tentacles to his human shape.
