“This way, Starlichka.” Valentin shot her an assessing look after pointing out a hidden path through the undergrowth. “Nova’ll skin me alive if I overtire you. Then she’ll make high heels out of my skinned flesh.”
“I’m feeling closer to my normal self after my rest today.” It was no lie. “The fact I received immediate medical attention has no doubt contributed a great deal to my recovery. I owe you.”
Valentin lifted his hand, the scars on the back catching her attention. Dropping it before his fingers brushed her hair, his gaze strangely gentle, he said, “You would’ve done the same. We’re even—no debts between us.”
It wasn’t the kind of calculation with which Silver was familiar. In her world, a possible future act didn’t hold equal weight to an actual act. But had Valentin collapsed on her doorstep, she would’ve immediately summoned help. Not because it would’ve been a good political move to have a powerful changeling alpha in her debt—though that advantage would’ve no doubt occurred to her later—but because the Mercants had more than one guiding law.
The first was: Family. Always.
There was, however, another one that was highly unusual.
“We are the product of an eon of honor,” her grandmother had said to her when Silver was a child. “Mercants began as the loyal knights to a great king. Our ancestors were strong and proud and known for their steadfast integrity. That we function in the shadows does not mean we must no longer be true to that lineage.”
Silver wasn’t sure she believed in the founding legend of the Mercant family, but she had to admit their familial principles were very different from all other powerful Psy families of which she was aware. Because the applicable law in this situation was: Harm no innocents.
Valentin might not consider himself in any way an innocent, but he’d never been an enemy of the Mercants. A business competitor, yes, but that was a different playing field. There was no honor in taking a fight off the field of battle. Another law from their ancestors.
So, yes, Silver would have called for help.
A hidden part of her psyche stirred, struggled against the chains that contained it. Are you sure family honor is the only reason you would’ve helped him?
Chapter 13
SILVER HAD LONG ago learned to deal with that caged aspect of her nature, giving it no freedom but that which allowed it to act as her conscience. The primal, passionate emotions of the girl she’d been had no place in her adult life. She shut it down in instinctive self-preservation.
“Careful.” Valentin caught her upper arm when she stumbled over a root, the heat of him burning through the sweatshirt to sear her skin.
She stiffened.
Breaking contact at once, he thrust a hand through his hair. “Sorry,” he said, his tone gruff. “I know you don’t like contact.”
Silver’s greatest strength was her mind, so she picked up the subtlety in his statement: He’d said she didn’t like contact, not that the Psy race didn’t like contact. The use of the word “like” was probably inconsequential, simply the way changelings saw the world. “That file you have on me again?”
A smile that didn’t warm his eyes, the onyx absent of even a hint of amber. “Maybe.”
Silver found herself holding that gaze for motives that had nothing to do with proving her dominance. “I appreciate the assistance. Falling on my face wouldn’t have been a comfortable experience.”
Amber ringed his irises, his smile a wild thing.
Silver’s pulse jerked.
“We’re here anyway,” Valentin said, “so no more risks.”
Following his gaze, Silver saw the spreading branches of a large tree that was a burst of yellow leaves speared to translucency by the late afternoon sunlight. She couldn’t spot a single green or brown leaf amongst the shower of pale yellow, but the sloping earth below was carpeted with leaves that had turned brown, orange, and a deeper yellow.
Even more arresting than the natural view was the family of bears busy at play in the large stream at the bottom of the gentle slope on which the tree stood: One large bear with light brown fur and two darker cubs. The adult stood calmly in the water while the cubs splashed and jumped and chased what might’ve been real or imaginary fish. “Changelings?”
Valentin nodded. “Size and behavior are the clues—though the latter is occasionally negotiable.”
Most changeling animals were larger than their wild counterparts. This appeared to hold doubly true for bears. The adult standing watch over the cubs could mow down any predator that came at it. Psy wouldn’t stand a chance unless they had the psychic strength to smash a changeling mind or the telekinesis to fight them on a physical level.
“I can’t tell if the adult is male or female,” she murmured, having never had reason to learn that distinction, as StoneWater bears rarely ever shifted in the city. Even drunk, they seemed to be conscious that if they didn’t watch their physical strength, they could very easily kill humans, Psy, and nonpredatory changelings.
“Female.” Putting his fingers to his mouth, Valentin let out a sharp whistle.
All three turned toward them, with the romping cubs making excited sounds and jumps, while the adult settled down into the water, the gentle flow parting around her large form as her fur turned water dark. As if now that Valentin had arrived, she could break from her careful watch.
Attention diverted by her move, the cubs tried to climb onto her back. Silver was almost certain she saw the adult bear give a long-suffering sigh. Laughing at the cubs’ antics, Valentin jogged down the slight incline and waded into what had to be ice-cold water after kicking off his boots and socks. He splashed the cubs, laughed when they splashed him back. Running so they could chase him, he turned abruptly and chased them back, to their unhidden joy.
Silver took a seat on the grass. When the female bear looked her way, she inclined her head in a silent greeting. The bear did the same, then they both watched an alpha bear play with two energetic cubs, his hands holding rough care for their small bodies.
By the time Valentin made his way back to her, he was drenched and his eyes weren’t human in any way. When he spoke, his already deep voice was so low it felt like thunder against her skin. “Couldn’t resist,” he said, pushing back his wet hair with one big hand. “If you weren’t in recovery and if I wasn’t in terror of Nova’s wrath, I’d have invited you. The small monsters wanted to play with you.”
Silver didn’t get to her feet. “Can we stay here a little longer?” It was patent that Valentin had an extremely high tolerance for the cold, but he might want to dry off.
“Sure,” he said and, moving away several feet, shook off the wet.
Fine droplets settled on the skin of her cheek, but she didn’t flinch at the unintentional tactile contact. She also controlled her urge to reach up and touch the water where it lay against her skin. There was no reason to do that, and Silver was alive because she only did things that were rational.
Settling beside her, Valentin waved at the cubs as their guardian led their tired forms toward a path in the trees that was at the same level as the stream. “Gentler climb,” Valentin told her.
“They seem too exhausted to make it to Denhome.”
“It’s all an act—they’re hoping for a ride on their aunt’s back.” His tone held the same fond affection she’d heard when he spoke of Dima. “It’d take more than a few minutes’ play in the water to wipe out those two.”
The cubs had played with Valentin for almost a half hour. “They’re hyperactive?”