Page 7 of Blood Bearon
“None,” Knox admitted, sounding helpless. “Sorry, boss.”
“Don’t be.” Khove sat up from the bench press and grabbed a towel, wiping off the perspiration that had accumulated. “I guess I should put a shirt on too.”
“Why bother trying to become polite this late in life?”
Khove fired the sweaty towel at his subordinate and friend, who easily blocked it. “Fuck you.”
But he didn’t delay. It was his day off, and the Queen wouldn’t have summoned him if she didn’t have to. She wasverygood about not disturbing them on their days off, cognizant of how much better they performed when allowed to truly recharge.
Pulling his standard black t-shirt on, he followed Knox out of the practice gym and through the maze of hallways toward her private meeting chambers. Ursidae Manor was a giant warren of corridors, tunnels, secret passages and more rooms than could easily be counted. Built in at least five different styles as it was expanded over the centuries, it was a unique hodgepodge of architectural style that somehow blended together seamlessly.
As they stepped out of a hidden passage that also acted as a shortcut, he nearly bumped into Kvoss the Assassin.
“Sorry,” he muttered, stepping to the side, letting the Title Holder pass.
Kvoss nodded politely in acceptance and kept walking.
“I thought they hated each other,” Knox said quietly once the Assassin had rounded the corner.
“They do. Did. I don’t know,” he said softly. “They’ve been spending a lot of time together lately, haven’t they?”
The pair fell silent. Neither of them was mated. The Queen’s mate, the former King and ruler of House Ursa, had been killed in an uprising nearly six months earlier. Khove didn’t know much about the Assassin’s mate and what happened to her, but he did know the man was alone.
“Could they be…?”
He looked at Knox, then the two of them shook their heads at once. “Naahh.”
Putting the Assassin behind him, he entered the Queen’s chambers, taking a right into her meeting room. Immediately, he knew whatever it was, it was serious. The Queen and several others sat at a table, deep in thought.
“My Queen,” he said, doing his best to sound calm and ready for anything. “You called?”
“There’s a problem, Khove,” she said, gesturing for him to take a seat at the table.
That was unusual. He was her bodyguard, and, he hoped, her friend. Khove was most certainlynota Title Holder. He wasn’t even an advisor. Still, a command was a command, and with only the barest of hesitation, he slid into the indicated chair.
“What can I do to help?”
“We’re under attack.”
He sat up straight, ready to tell Knox to summon the rest of the Queen’s Own while he got her to safety, but a calming hand from his liege stopped him.
“Not the Manor, Khove. But our holdings.”
Confused, he frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Someone is attacking our holdings in Plymouth Falls,” the Reaver said, speaking at last.
Khove turned his attention to the man in charge of Ursidae’s business holdings. He often stayed out of the spotlight. He wasn’t a fighter. His prowess was numbers. Money. He made more of it.
“You think it’s Korred,” Khove said, feeling the need to wash his mouth after speaking the Traitor’s name.
“Yes,” the Queen said calmly. “We have reports of at least four locations under attack tonight already.”
Khove looked around in surprise. “Well, what are we waiting for then? Have response teams been deployed? Let’s go get the sonofabitch before he brings our entire empire down.”
The Reaver barked with caustic laughter. Khove glared, never a major fan of the man. He cared too much for his money, and not enough about what he was. A holdover from before the uprising, Khove knew he was on his way out, and soon, once the Queen found a suitable replacement.
“What?” he snarled.
