Page 45 of Storm Echo

Shaking it off, he said, “Unless you’re hiding something, you don’t have the skills to bypass trained DarkRiver soldiers.”

“Hmph.” She held on to the end of her braid.

Lifting his hand toward her, he said, “Here. On my wrist.” He’d slipped a black elastic band over it this morning … for no reason. He’d just done it.

A cat prowled in his mind, an edge of smugness to it.

And Soleil’s fingers touched him again as she rolled the band gently off over his hand. He knew at that moment that he’d never again be without a band for her hair. Even in his cage, he’d wear one, and he’d dream of the day he could offer it to her again.

Foolish, stupid dreams.

Didn’t matter. They were his.

Another unexpected image in his mind, of a small cat creeping through the grass toward him, a cat with markings similar to Soleil’s but its body much smaller. Then it was bunching that tiny body and launching itself at him.

He jolted within, but only so he could catch the cub. But they were gone, mist through his hands. And he knew right then. She was looking for a child. “I’ll get you in. But we’ll have a very short window of time to get in and out—if you intend to do violence, however, we won’t make it out alive.”

DarkRiver soldiers were some of the most highly skilled he’d ever seen; not only did they have the advantage of natural feline skills, it was obvious they’d trained those skills to a knife-sharp edge. They had to have been ruthlessly strong in the first place to hold their territory against the SnowDancer wolves—and now that the two packs were allied, it was highly probable that leopard and wolf trained together.

Underestimating them would be a serious—and probably fatal—mistake.

Even his cousin’s brash alpha bear mate, Valentin, had been known to slam down a tankard of beer and say, “Lucas’s cats are lethal. No one sees them coming when they don’t want to be seen.” A grin that creased his cheeks as he shot his mate a private look. “Good thing I know how to get along with sneaky cats.”

The only reason Ivan knew he could get Soleil through to the Ryder home tonight was that—if the schedule held to what he’d previously observed—the soldier on patrol duty near their entry point would be a junior in training. As to why he’d observed the security protocols—because all information was power.

The choice of guard was likely because Nathan Ryder was at home during those days and well able to protect his mate and cubs. A good opportunity to give a younger member of the pack live training. Any mistakes wouldn’t be terminal.

“If you’re thinking about entering their home, forget it.” He had to set the right expectations or she’d hurt herself through lack of knowledge. “Nathan is deadly, and while I can hold my own against him, it’ll leave me with no ability to protect you. And Tamsyn can take you out.”

He felt more than saw her head snap toward him, her scowl black. “I’m not a weakling.”

He thought of her broken body in the snow, and of the courage it must’ve taken to go out there in the midst of such brutal carnage. “I know. But DarkRiver trainsallits people—even submissives and healers. She’s also a mother with cubs to protect. She’ll rip off your head before you see her coming.”

Ivan had needed no one to tell him that the maternal drive to protect would eclipse even the healer tendency toward gentleness. Not every mother was protective—he knew that all too well—and, from what he’d observed, Tamsyn Ryder allowed her boys a lot of freedom. But she also always put herself on the street side when they walked on the sidewalk, and even at her most relaxed, it was clear that she knew where her children—and any other cubs in her care—were at all times.

She reminded Ivan strongly of Ena. No harsh orders, no screaming or yelling, no rules so tough they stifled growth. But all the cubs listened when Tamsyn told them to do something. And they looked at her with the absolute and pure trust of children who knew she was the adult; they didn’t have to worry—because she’d handle anything that came at them.

Ivan had never known that kind of childish freedom until he came face-to-face with Grandmother. And then, he’d understood it down to the bone. As he understood that Soleil would one day grow to have that same calm presence, that same warm steel to her. He’d caught glimpses of it already in her determination to find the person she sought … and in her tenderness with him, a man who was nothing to her.

Now she folded her arms. “You’re right,” she admitted in a grudging tone. “But I don’t know if I’ll be able to find the scent outside.” She went to thread her hand through her hair, pulled back when she remembered the braid. “Whatever happens, I’ll get an answer tonight.” Fierce, implacable will. “Even if that means I go up to their door and knock.”

“What’s your plan B?” Ivan always had a plan B, and he’d come up with one for her if needed. “If you don’t find what you’re looking for?”

“My original aim was to kill Lucas Hunter.”

Soleil didn’t know why she’d blurted that out. She kept on crossing lines with Ivan, but it didn’t feel like crossing lines. It felt natural, as if they’d known each other in another lifetime.

A deep pang, skirts whipping around her legs as she ran through a forest while laughing and looking back at someone who was chasing her. She wasn’t scared. She was exhilarated, playful.

Ivan’s voice snapped the gauzy thread, the images fading into gray. “Your original aim? Has it changed?”

She squeezed her eyes shut, rubbed a fist over her heart. “It was a ridiculous aim from the start. Grief-crazy thinking. I could never take him out.”

“If you could, would you?”

Soleil shook her head, accepting the truth that Farah had been urging her toward from day one. “I saw who he is to so many people on that street yesterday. I felt the connections that bind him to countless others.” A burn in her eyes. “How could I, as a healer, end his life knowing that the flow-on effect would be catastrophic?”

Opening her eyes, she dashed away tears. “This city is stable. DarkRiver is stable. If I hurt him, I betray all it means to be a healer—but if I do nothing, I can’t live with myself. So I’ve decided.”

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