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.He helped, though he looked a little distracted by all her bare skin.“If I already didn’t have to kill him, I’d kill him.”“What?” she asked, distracted as she watched him fasten her pants.He groaned at the sight of her bare chest and quickly drew a shirt over her head.“Our navigator has gone rogue.The found a dead body in a storage locker.He’d been gutted.”Her eyes widened.“Dead? I thought you had a watch on the ship.You were thawing him to collect evidence, right?”“He came awake much faster than expected, and in a nasty mood.The assassin’s good,” he said grimly.“Now we hunt him.”She drew a breath and retrieved her fighting sticks.Her balance might be rather clumsy, but she could still do some damage with a pair of clubs.“How do we know he’s an assassin?”“Circumstance,” he admitted.“We got word some time ago of a threat against you.We’ve been keeping watch on Kikin since we got here, since he is the only one who Vio would have been able to bribe.”She blinked.“Vio! Vio Srie? Why would he want to harm me?”“Xera can fill you in,” he assured her as they hurried through the hall and into Xera’s suite.There were six guards outside her door.Brandy spared them a passing glance as they went inside.Her impression was of charcoal uniforms, red eyes and lots of guns.“Brandy!” Xera said as she came in the door.“The kids are in the next room with their nanny and a guard.Come with me.We should stay together.”“What are we dealing with?” Brandy looked at Azor, ignoring her sister for now.“No knows more about shifters than you do.”He shook his head.“He’s not my kind.I’m laying odds it’s Hatir; there aren’t many other likely candidates.Unfortunately, we couldn’t get a DNA analysis.They don’t work on an assumed form.”“And we’ll know he’s assumed the form of a Scorpio…how?” she asked.“If DNA doesn’t work, do you have some other form of identification?” She could easily imagine the havoc an assumed face could cause.There was a beat of silence.“Questions work.There are things the Hatir couldn’t know,” Ryven said grimly.“Meanwhile, none of these guards will leave their posts until we’ve caught the creature.I can vouch for all of their identities.”“Why now? If he really has been traveling with us this whole time….” She glanced at Azor.It was Ryven who answered.“There was no reason for the assassin to wait until you reached here to kill you.He had the opportunity before, and was far more likely to escape retribution.The most likely explanation is that someone—this Vio Srie—has a vendetta against your family.He hired assassins to kill both you and your sister.” He glanced at Xera.His eyes were cold.“He was told to kill Xera first, to make you watch and suffer.Perhaps the children, if he could get to them.”A chill made Brandy stiffen in her chair.Protective fury for her family made her voice wintry, too.“Kill him.” She raised her eyes to Ryven, then Azor.“You do what you have to.Make him stop.” The last word was low, vibrating with rage.No one threatened her family.Ryven actually smiled at her.“My pleasure.”Azor kissed her quickly.“Trust your instincts.You can apologize later for hitting someone.”She grinned at him.“I’ll remind you that you gave me permission.”He smiled, then stood back and glanced at Xera.“If you’re offended by nakedness, turn around.I need to change.”Xera frowned as he took off his shirt, and then blinked in sudden comprehension.She looked to the side, away from anything incriminating, but did not leave.“If you don’t mind, I’d like to see you change forms.I’ve never had the opportunity.”He shrugged.“All in the family.” He glanced at Ryven.“I’m going to track him by smell and mind trace.I’ll be able to talk—barely.Listen close.It takes energy to shift.” As he finished speaking, his form began to blur.The change took less than a minute and didn’t seem to pain him, but there were sounds.Bones popped, joints creaked.There was a soft shushing sound as muscles contracted and adapted to his new bone structure.He hands became huge clawed paws as he dropped down into the form of a predator.Covered in short gray hair, his hind legs were improbably short, the haunches powerful, built for leaping and springing.His forequarters were muscled, outsized on his lean, bony body.His ribs were defined, as if he were a half-starved, mad dog.The face was lupine, with massive jaws and small ears.His eyes glinted green.“Impressive,” Ryven said.He carefully admired the form.“Useful.”Brandy, who had an idea just how talented he was to be able to assume that form, smiled.Even knowing him, she couldn’t prevent a tiny thrill of fear.He was terrifyingly ugly.“As long as you change back by bedtime.I’d wake up at night and think I was about to be eaten.”Azor uttered a coughing growl that might have been a laugh.“Go,” he said to Ryven, and headed toward the door.There was a minor commotion as they exited.Ryven had to place his hand on Azor’s head to assure his men that the beast was working with them.It was a testament to their training that they were quickly calmed.The beast was not a reassuring sight.Xera sighed once they had gone.“You chose an interesting man, sis.” She glanced at Brandy’s face and grimaced.“Tell me that stuff washes off.You look like you’re covered in war paint.” She headed for the room with her children.“It wears off…eventually,” Brandy said, unperturbed.“It gives the community time to greet me as Azor’s bride.”“Believe me, the community already knows,” Xera muttered.“They’ve heard as far as Rsik and Polaris.I think Ryven’s relieved that his brother got hitched before he could ever meet you.A connection by his brother and his wife might have been too much for him.”“I doubt he needed to worry.Not all of us are attracted to ice pops,” she said under her breath, and she dropped the subject as the kids came into view.Embri was too young to understand, but Ami didn’t need to know that Brandy begrudged her father.She switched languages and said, “Fill me in on the details, would you? I still don’t understand why Vio would want to assassinate me.” She listened as Xera obliged, astonished to hear of Dr.Vhanee’s death.His illegal drug experiments floored her.“He arranged to dose me? What….” When words failed, she shook her head.“All these hallucinations I’ve been having are his fault?”Xera looked at her sharply.“What hallucinations?”Brandy abruptly shut her mouth.She colored, embarrassed.“It’s nothing.They’re just distracting, that’s all.”Xera sat on the edge of the bed and stared at her with determination.“Tell me.If that monster did something to you, we need to see what we can do to reverse it.I can’t believe you haven’t even told Azor! Didn’t he notice?”Brandy shifted in her chair.“It’s not as if he could see what goes on in my head.I didn’t want him to think I was nuts.” When Xera just looked at her, she reluctantly added, “They were mostly visions of your husband, anyway.” A strange look crossed Xera’s face, and Brandy added sheepishly, “He was trying to kill you.”Xera frowned.“Is this why you dislike him so much?”“Well, no.I think I would have hated him regardless.” She offered a weak smile at Xera’s disapproval.“You can’t make me like him, you know.”Xera huffed.“I’ll set him to it, then.Stubborn brat.”Brandy smiled and turned to Ami, who was watching them solemnly.She didn’t like the worry she saw there, so she moved from her chair to the bed and patted the place beside her.“Come, Ami.Story time! Pick out a favorite and sit with me.I’ll practice reading in your language [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]