Heart's Bandit (Shifting Crossroads Book 48) Read online

  She was about to make her move when she heard a door opening. A woman walked past her vantage point and continued on down the walkway. The roar of frustration was definitely feline, so Karo moved silently to the next grate and the one after that. The woman was standing and looking at the lion who was not only snarling but also chained. That was her target, it had to be. There were no other lions in the collection. The mage seemed to favour birds.

  “Come on, Yorin. You can be out of that collar and at my side, all you have to do is agree to wed me.”

  The lion snarled and snapped at the young woman. Karo cocked her head. His behaviour was off. He was way too far into his beast. That was going to make things tricky.

  The young woman had pointed ears and a rather formfitting taste in clothing. Her blonde hair rippled down her back in waves, and her face was slightly petulant but rather pretty.

  “My father has agreed to release you, Yorin. Just agree to wed me, and you can be free.” The woman was coaxing him.

  The lion gnashed again, and the young woman sighed. “I will be back in a few hours. Let’s see if you change your mind before the dinner party.”

  Karo winced at the thought of more mages running around the property. She had to move now.

  The moment that the woman left the menagerie, Karo got to work on the screws that held the vent cover in place. Valuable moments ticked by while she worked, but when she managed to tilt the cover and bring it inside, the air return, she sighed in relief. Time to release some beasts.

  Shifting to human was her best bet. Raccoons were prey animals to most of the raptors that the mage had kept.

  She murmured softly, “Hi, guys. I am going to get you free of the collars, but I need you to not shift. We are going to need to run through a populated stronghold, and I don’t have backup. I wasn’t expecting you.”

  As she talked, she worked on the first of the collars, dropping it to the ground before working on the next patient, a hawk with wary eyes.

  “Oh, don’t let the ears fool you. Those are just in case I get caught.” It had been something that Aunt Laura suggested in her teens. Her ears had been pointed slightly to make her look elfin from a distance. Karo didn’t even remember getting the surgery, but in every photo from her teens onward, there they were.

  There was a lot of relief when she had freed the thirteen birds, and they all remained as birds. She gathered the collars and tangled them beyond untangling.

  With a deep breath, she turned to the lion enclosure. She walked up to him, and he snapped when she reached the edge of his chain distance. “Shut it. Your sister has sent me, and I am going to get you back to her.”

  Her target blinked and sat on his haunches.

  The chain on his collar had an alarm on it. She sighed. “I am going to have to release the collar, but the moment that I do, an alarm is going to sound. Can you run in beast form?”

  He blinked and nodded.

  “Good. We are going to have company, so don’t eat the birdies.” She finished the lock on the collar and tucked her picks away before she looked into his eyes. “I am a raccoon in my other form, so don’t eat me. I won’t take it well.”

  He blinked, and a low chuff came from his throat.

  “Right. Well, here we go, three, two, I am going to make a run for the door, one.”

  She released the collar and pulled the blades free of his skin. Once that was done, she ran for the door closest to the exit.

  The lock had sealed, so that left her one course of action. She really hoped this worked.

  She extended her hands and set the webs into blades. With the thrust of her arms, she set one into the lock and the other into the far side of the door, and she used her control to burst the door.

  “Cool. It is an excellent dress. It is going to be a shame to give it back.” She winced when she heard her own voice. It was a lot easier to keep quiet when you didn’t have a proper vocalization system.

  A glance behind her showed that everyone was ready, and when she braced herself, she ran.

  She heard the thudding of the lion’s paws behind her and the flap of the wings in the air. They sprinted up two sets of stairs and emerged on the roof.

  The birds flew off, and Karo was left with the lion. She murmured, “If you can change, now would be a great time.”

  He shook his head.

  She groaned. “Balls.”

  “I see you are as careless with language as you are with other people’s possessions.” The voice behind her sent a chill down her spine.

  She turned, and the mage was standing there, handsome for someone so evil, and wielding his cane in a clenched fist.

  “You seem to have a strange idea of what qualifies as a possession.” She glanced down, and her body was sheathed in a modest dress. Nudity didn’t matter in front of shifters, but it did matter in front of asshole mages.

  “If I can keep it, it is my possession. You appear to be on my property, and that makes you mine as well.” He took a step toward her.

  Karo looked at the intent in his eyes, and it wasn’t a good one, he was looking her over from head to toe. “I don’t think so. Please excuse me; I have to leave. Love what you have done with the greenhouse, by the way.”

  She looked at the lion and nodded, lashing out with her hand and sending a bridge of webbing from the roof to the ground. The lion took his path, and she used the last of the webbing to defend herself again the incoming swing of the cane.

  Her webbing defense wrapped around it, and she flung the cane to one side.

  Terron was stunned. “You, the raccoon!”

  She grinned and checked to make sure that the lion was down. “I prefer trash panda.”

  She stretched the webbing into a wing and glided to the ground. He was going to be on their heels, but she had faster feet at her disposal.

  She wrapped the webbing around her again and whispered to the lion, “I will steer, you run.”

  He nodded, and she shifted in midair, landing on his back. She heard the bellow of fury from the stronghold, and she chattered for her ride to get a move on.

  After a few strides, she knew that lions were not meant to be ridden, but he was really fast as he gained confidence in her navigation.

  The sight of the tree after a few minutes of running through the woods came as a relief. “There. That is the tree. Get up on your hind legs, and I can hit it.”

  She realized that she was just chattering at him, but when she pulled him up short and yanked on the top of his mane, he took the hint and stood up. She slapped her small paw to the glowing print. Cursing, she shifted to human and did it again. The waves of power came out, wrapped around them, and pulled them in.

  The light above her was weird, but the grass smelled familiar. She groaned and sat up. “Ow, ow, ow, fucking ow.”

  The lion was at her side, and from a pale stone house across the manicured lawn, a stream of folk was coming toward them. At the head of their wave was Lady Mathoway.

  Grunting, Karo got to her feet and stood, swaying slightly. A quick check told her that her dress was back on.

  The lion moved next to her and leaned against her hip. She stroked his mane and smiled as his sister came running. “I really hope that this is the man you were looking for.”

  Lady Mathoway looked at the lion, and she smiled. “Yorin, you have been missed.”

  She reached out for her brother, and he stepped between her and Karo, crouching and letting out a low growl.

  Karo sighed and thumped Yorin on the head. “Knock it off. Your sister is going to get me a change of clothing and send me home. You can have your life, and I can have mine. I am sorry, Lady. He doesn’t seem to be able to shift back.”

  At her statement, the lion flexed and went from fur to feet in a smooth burst of magic.

  “I can shift back. Thank you for your greeting, sister. It is good to be home again.”

  Karo looked at him and tried not to stare. If she had known he looked like that, she might not
have warned him against eating her. Her thoughts caused a blush.

  Lady Mathoway nodded to Urat, and he beckoned to Karo.

  She waved and bowed slightly. “Nice meeting you both. I guess I will send the web back to you.”

  The elf shook her head. “Don’t bother. Consider it part of your payment.”

  Karo nodded and followed the transporter to an empty spot of lawn.

  He arched a brow. “Home?”

  “Yes, please.”

  The light of the transport formed around her, and when she flexed her toes, she was in the grass behind the stall, the scents of animals and honey were in the air.

  She looked at the sky and grinned. She hadn’t even been gone a day.

  “Delia, are you here?” Karo walked around the edge of the stall and grinned to find her cousin in a clinch with the elf who was supposed to be watching out for family interests.

  Delia tried to jump back, but Wesku didn’t let go. She let out a strangled comment, “Karo!”

  Karo leaned against the edge of the stall. “I am finished with my work, so Wesku can return to Lady Mathoway if he likes.”

  Wesku gave Karo a sober look. “Are you going to be away from the farm soon?”

  She kept her face sober. “I return to work in two days.”

  “I will return to help. I will let Lady Mathoway know that you need me here.”

  Karo chuckled. “Sounds good. As you were. I am going to take a shower.”

  She didn’t know if they continued their make-out session or not, but there was no sound coming from the stall. Good for them. As for Karo, she only wanted the embrace of hot water... perhaps while envisioning Yorin. He was definitely worth getting steamed up about.

  Chapter Five

  “Well, Karolyn, you have really done it.” Tol murmured it as they headed to dispatch.

  “What have I done?” She murmured it back.

  “I have no idea, but we are not being summoned for a regular assignment, so I am guessing you did something.”

  She grinned and elbowed him. “It could have been you.”

  He laughed.

  Karo admitted, “Right. It was probably me.”

  They giggled like school kids the rest of the way to the office.

  Their giggles came to an abrupt halt when they walked into the dispatch office and the king of the fey was standing there, speaking with their dispatcher.

  Karo stopped short, and the king turned toward them. He gave her a glance that managed to go down to skin and out again in a heartbeat, and then, he looked over at Tol.

  “This is the team I have in mind.”

  Karo looked to her dispatcher. “Boss?”

  He cleared his throat and said, “Karo, you and Tol have been requested to act as guards for a fey lower prince who is going to be meeting his intended bride.”

  She winced. “Yorin.”

  The king smiled. “Correct. My cousin has asked for your presence as his guardian, and it is my pleasure to put you at his side during this weekend. Of course, you will need appropriate clothing, but that can be managed at the Mathoway home.”

  He lifted his fingers and flicked them slightly. Light wrapped around them, and Karo and Tol emerged from the transport back to back.

  They were inside the building, and that made Karo rather queasy. She hated interior transports. It was far too easy to end up in a wall.

  Tol asked, “This is your fault, isn’t it?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I am going to give that a cautious yes. You never asked me what I did on my week off.”

  A feminine chuckle came from the doorway. “Oh, good. I was worried he wouldn’t be able to find you in time.”

  Lady Mathoway was standing in the doorway with a smile on her lips.

  Tol perked up markedly, and he bowed gracefully, “My lady. We are at your service.”

  Karo smiled. “Lovely to see you again so soon.” She bowed slightly.

  The elf inclined her head. “It is good to see you as well. My brother insisted that you be in his honour guard, and I was told that when on duty, you work with a partner. It will be rather fitting that my brother is flanked by two shifters, and it will definitely throw off his would-be fiancée.”

  The lady waved her hand. “We need to leave in an hour, and you need to get ready. Urat, please take Agent Tol and get him scrubbed and in livery. I will take charge of Agent Karolyn.”

  Urat stepped into the room and waited until Tol was with him before leaving the ladies alone.

  “Take charge of?”

  “Even a female guard would be dressed for the court. The king has agreed to host you there and not have you chucked out, but you must behave and dress as if you belong. That is up to me.”

  Karo nodded. “Do your worst.”

  “Are you still wearing the web?” The lady was looking her up and down.

  Karo had her clothing flatten into a bodysuit. “I am.”

  “You have quite a bit of mastery of it.”

  “It is not the first time I have worn one. They are usually smaller.” She smiled.

  “Yorin did say that you had used it as a bridge.”

  Karo grinned. “I did. I was rather proud of that. It got him out of the way, so I could jump.”

  A deep and musical voice spoke. “And you did. Naked.”

  Yorin came into the room via the open door, and he looked her over. “I can manage this, Yeeva.”

  “That would be highly improper.”

  Karo was watching Yorin approach, and she could see why he picked a lion as his animal. His hair was dark gold, neatly arranged with a centre part, and braids left his temples to link somewhere behind his head. His stride was slow and predatory, and it matched his expression.

  “Yeeva, go.” He dismissed her.

  Lady Mathoway left the room.

  Karo scowled. “You shouldn’t talk to her like that. She risked a lot to come and get me.”

  Yorin smiled. “You defend her urge to dress you up like a doll?”

  “No, but I defend her as someone who has recently gone out of her way for your survival.”

  “I will apologize before we leave. Now, I would like to introduce myself. I am Yorin of the Southern Rise.”

  He was pacing around her slowly, and she wrinkled her nose but said, “Agent Karolyn Millican. You may call me Agent or Hunter.”

  As he walked around her, he was wrapping her in magic. “Hunter? What do you hunt?”

  She grinned. “I hunted you, and I brought you back.”

  He paused and nodded. “True. What do you normally hunt?”

  “That which is lost, that which has been stolen. I bring things back where they belong. Tol helps.”

  The magic continued to wrap around her, and Karo didn’t look down.

  “Tol? Ah, the man with you. Are you lovers?” Yorin stated it boldly.

  “Why does that concern you?” She turned her head toward him.

  “It will be easier to disentangle myself from the elven ladies if you and your companion are not a pair.”

  Karo felt the rush of understanding. “You are going to use me as a decoy. I hate to tell you, but I am nowhere near elegant enough to pull that off.”

  “Look down. I think you can manage it.” His lips quirked.

  She looked down, and her cleavage was at an unlikely angle, her waist was nipped in, and her skirt was wide, except it wasn’t. “You wrapped me in glamour?”

  “I did. Your web wrap gave me the perfect scaffolding to create the illusion. You will be at my side as my guard and as my intended. The ladies will split their focus, and I will have my getaway.”

  “Is there a mirror around here?”

  He gestured behind her. “Turn around.”

  She nodded and looked at the glowing black, blue, and silver of her costume. “My boobs look ridiculous.”

  “Fey women hate the curves of humans and shifters even more.”

  Karo winced and braided her hair in a series before she twi
sted them into a bun, securing them with two of her picks.

  “Your hair is lovely, why did you do that?”

  “If you are enraging the ladies like you plan, they get a little hair pull-y. I am planning for an attack.”

  He flicked magic toward her, and her battle-ready style was camouflaged in ringlets that cascaded down her back.

  She turned toward him and put her hands on her hips. “Really?”

  He grinned. “I like it. Of course, I can see through it, so I am biased. I do prefer you naked and screaming at a mage, but then, who wouldn’t?”

  She stalked up to him. “For a fey, you are rather fixated on nudity.”

  “Only yours, Hunter. Only yours.” He offered her his arm.

  She placed her hand on the back of his wrist. He nodded in approval and led the way out of the room she had arrived in and out toward the huge gardens.

  Yorin leaned down and spoke softly. “You are to remain at my side at all times. Even the king is aware of your presence and the reason for it. He will not request our separation.”

  Karo nodded. “Right. I met him this morning.”

  Yorin chuckled. “He went to the shifter guild himself?”

  “He did. Basically, he looked me over, nodded, and sent us to your house.”

  “This is going to be a far more amusing day than I counted on.” Yorin turned and swung her so that she ended up in his arms.

  “What are you doing?”

  “There may be dancing, and we need to learn to move together. I do want to present a convincing image.”

  He stepped with her, and she didn’t step back far enough. Her toes paid the price.

  “Sorry. Perhaps something slower?”

  She snorted. “Give me a kiss.”

  “What?” He looked shocked.

  “Kiss me. I can guarantee that I will move a little easier after I get to know you.”

  He didn’t hesitate. The moment her lips stopped moving, he was feathering a contact across her mouth, waiting until they were both used to the crackle of magic between them before he slid his hand up to the back of her neck and held her close as he kissed her in earnest.

  Going up on her toes helped her, but the crackle of energy mixed with the heady scent of him was enough to make her knees weak. She had no chance at balance while the kiss was going on. She may as well wrap her arms around his neck and use him for stability.