“What?”
“I need to check you for weapons before I take you to the Rho.”
She considered that with a small frown, then hooked the cane in her jacket pocket, freeing both hands so she could unfasten the tool belt. That, she handed to Shannon without complaint, but she held on to the cane. “I assure you, there’s no sword concealed in this hunk of wood.”
“A cane makes an excellent weapon on its own. It doesn’t need a concealed blade.”
She looked at the cane in her hand, amazed. “I had no idea. How cool. I don’t suppose … well, no, you probably wouldn’t,” she answered herself. “But maybe I can find out more later. Not that I have many adventures, but you never know, do you?”
“Your jacket,” he repeated. “And your cane.”
“I really can’t walk far without it.”
“You won’t have to.”
She bit her lip, then handed the cane to Shannon and shrugged out of her jacket. She gave that to Shannon, too.
Her T-shirt was snug. Her breasts were small, but beautifully shaped. He wanted to … but he wouldn’t. Not now. Maybe not ever. He didn’t know what he was going to do, what he could do—or do without. He didn’t know, and the lack of plan or purpose, of any sense of what was needed, was as disturbing as her lack of scent. “Hold your arms out.”
Her cheeks colored. “You are not going to search me.”
“I am. Only a cursory search, however.” He didn’t wait for her cooperation. If she’d spoken the truth about passing out, he needed to get her to the Rho quickly. One long step forward, and he knelt in front of her. He placed his hands on her hips—nothing in her pockets—and ran them down the outside of her legs.
Fragile she looked, and skinny she might be, but there was muscle beneath the denim. Approval hummed in him. Whatever her limits, she worked her body, respected it … and pushed those limits at times, as the elastic bandage wrapped around her left ankle indicated.
If this were a proper search, he’d unwrap the bandage and make sure there was nothing concealed within. He settled for probing it thoroughly. “A sprain?”
“Yes.”
Her voice was breathy. He looked up and found those gray-green-blue eyes looking down on him. And the look in those eyes …
Thick and sweet, desire rose in him. He couldn’t smell her, but he heard the hurry of her breath, saw the slight peaks of her nipples beneath the T-shirt. She enjoyed having his hands on her. She wanted more.
Neither of them could afford that. “Lift your arms,” he said again, and if the huskiness in his voice gave him away, it couldn’t be helped. “I’ll inspect the rest of you visually.”
The color in her cheek rose higher. “No more touching?”
“Not unless I see something I need to check out.” And that came out full of meanings he hadn’t intended.
She lifted her arms. Her breasts lifted, too.
“Benedict,” Shannon said. He held a pair of vials, one larger than the other. Both empty. “They were in her pocket.”
“Potions,” Benedict said flatly.
“Well, yes.” She smiled hopefully. “One of them cancelled my scent, like I said.”
“The other?”
“Cancelled something else.”
Did she think she could get away with such an insufficient answer? It was for the Rho to question her, however. Benedict rose and circled her. The T-shirt was snug enough for him to be sure she carried no large weapons. There could be a garrote or a needle concealed in her bra, but he’d chance it. “All right,” he said. “I’ll take you to the Rho now. Whatever you do to make yourself invisible, it doesn’t work on me.”
“It’s not invisibility, it’s—eep!”
He’d scooped her up in his arms. The pleasure of holding her was a distraction he couldn’t wholly ignore. He’d have to allow for that distraction. “Pete,” he said to his second, “maintain yellow alert. Todd, Shannon, with me.” He started forward at quick jog.
His Chosen was glaring at him. “You’re not supposed to just pick people up.”
“This way, if you pass out, you won’t injure yourself further. Also, the Rho’s house is 4.2 miles from the barracks. That would be slow and difficult for you even with your cane. Did a doctor look at your ankle?”
She shook her head. Her lips were thin with temper. Her body was stiff, too, and she gripped his arm too tightly.
“Relax. I’m not going to drop you. You have some other physical problem. Your hip?”
“I don’t see what business that is of … oh, oh, I’m sorry!” Her clutching hand had squeezed last night’s wound, and in spite of himself he’d winced. Her hand hovered over his arm like a nervous hummingbird. “You did get hurt!”
“Nothing significant, like I said. It’s not quite healed yet.”
“Then you really shouldn’t be carrying me.”
For some reason that made his mouth crook up. “I caught you. I get to carry you if I want to. You might as well tell me your name. It’s probably on your car registration.”
“You found my car? I guess that’s how—but it’s not—” She stopped abruptly and clamped her lips shut.
“Not your car? We’ll still be able to learn who it belongs to. Or the police will.”
Distress flashed over her face. “You don’t need to call the police.”
“I’ve caught a trespasser. Why wouldn’t I call the police?”
“Please,” she whispered. “Please don’t. I—I can’t tell you why, but someone’s life would be in danger.”
He very much doubted Isen would involve the human authorities, but there was no point in telling her that. No point other than easing the fear in those big eyes. “The Rho will make that decision, not me. My name is Benedict, by the way.”
“Yes, I gathered that. You sent people to my car.”
He nodded.
“They’ll find my purse, then, so there’s no point, I guess. I’m Arjenie. Arjenie Fox. Who’s the ‘she’ you mentioned? The one you think sent me—no, you said delivered me—to you.”
“No one you know.” She felt good in his arms. Too good. He picked up his pace. Carrying her himself made sense. Her mind tricks didn’t work on him. But it complicated things. “Why were you at Friar’s last night?”
“I can’t tell you. You can’t possibly know who I know and who I don’t.”
It took him a second to backtrack mentally to her earlier question. “The Lady.”
“The … oh! You mean the demi-deity your people serve?”
His eyebrows lifted. “Demi-deity?”
“Is that the wrong term? I don’t mean to be insulting. How did you find out I was here? Not me, specifically, but you were alerted somehow.”
Not only had she heard of the Lady, she even phrased it correctly. Lupi didn’t worship the Lady. They served her. “Who are you?” he asked abruptly.
“I told you.”
“Your name tells me very little. Last night you said Friar’s men wouldn’t see you. I understand that assertion now. How do you go unseen?”
She regarded him with a little vee between her brows. “Maybe I should trade answers with you. I’ll tell you how I go unseen. You tell me … let me think. If I ask what you’re going to do with me, you’ll just say it’s up to your Rho.”
“It is.”
“Uh-huh.” She was skeptical. “You didn’t tell me your last name.”
“I seldom use it.”
“Why not?”
“Is that the question you want answered in exchange for telling me how you go unseen when you’re prowling around where you don’t belong?”
“Prowling.” She sighed. “That sounds much more interesting than hobbling. No, that’s not the question I want answered. I want to know what alerted you and why you could see me.”
“I can’t answer your second question now.” He wasn’t ready to tell her about the mate bond. He would have to, but this was a poor time for such a revelation. “In answer to your first question—footprints.”