Tenacity (Rise of the Iliri Book 5) Read online

  "Can we stalk then?"

  "Nah," Zep told her. "It's too wet. You'd get filthy, and then where would you sleep?"

  She growled, and Sal ducked her head against Blaec's chest to hide her smile. "It's not funny, amma!" Rhyx insisted.

  "It kinda is," Sal pointed out. "We have a few days of rain, and you're ready to bite your davas. Why don't you read a book like Raast?"

  Rhyx looked at Sal like she was crazy. "Cuz I'm not Raast, and I don't wanna read Glish. I read Iliran." She turned back to the door and sulked.

  Jase glanced at Zep, and they both shrugged. Sal could feel Zep's guilt and Jase's own irritation at being trapped inside. "It's your call," she told them. "Just remember that you've got four in here tonight, and not all of us want to sleep in the mud."

  They chuckled and climbed to their feet, making their way to the door. Rhyx looked up with a hopeful expression while they pulled on their boots.

  "Yeah, imp," Zep said. "We'll take you out and play. You can't complain about being wet or muddy, though. Deal?"

  "I don't mind," Rhyx promised. "It'll be fun. I can be the prey, and you can chase me! I'm fast davas. And when you give up, I'll come back, ok? Promise!"

  The Black Blades all smiled at her. When Jase shooed her out, she scampered through the camp, the two men running behind her. Blaec pulled Sal closer and the group shifted over, taking advantage of the extra space.

  "Will they ever grow up?" Shift asked.

  "Do you want them to?" Razor countered, pausing in his reading. "We have little enough with them like this as it is."

  "Nah, man," Shift said. "I'd keep ‘em like this forever if I could. I just wish sometimes I could bottle it up."

  ***

  Outside in the rain, Zep and Jase stalked the pup. Rhyx scampered between tents, under bushes, and through the mud. They caught her twice, gently showing her how to be better each time, and released her to try again. Their path took them across the large encampment, toward the grauoran side of the army. Few soldiers dared to venture out in the rain, making the large army base a wealth of amusement for a muddy little girl.

  Zep found a puddle. Jase laughed, watching him splash Rhyx in it. The two of them jumped and kicked water at each other. Rhyx had turned to a muddy shade of white, and Zep was soaked to his hips.

  "I can na take ya anywhere can I?" Jase teased.

  "Nope!" Zep agreed. "Unlike you, I know how to have a good time. C'mon Rhyx, bet you can't catch me!" He laughed and ran off, leaving Jase shaking his head.

  "Humans," Jase laughed, jogging slowly after them.

  With his link to Zep as an unerring compass, Jase trailed behind Rhyx, watching the choices she made trying to catch the large man. At one point she doubled back, slipped between two tents, and came at him from the opposite direction. Zep was truly caught off guard, and Rhyx pounced on him, nearly knocking him off his feet. He caught her and hugged her close as she chewed gently on his shoulder.

  "Thank you for playing with me, dava Zep," she said, hugging him. "Can we do human play now?"

  Jase tilted his head. "What is human play, Rhyx?"

  "Come look. There's a stream, and we can make things to float in it!" Rhyx trotted off, her little tail held high, expecting the men to follow.

  "Damn, I'm getting too old for this," Zep chuckled, patting Jase's shoulder.

  "Looked ta me like ya were doing pretty good playing prey."

  Zep grinned. "Yeh. Never woulda thought I'd be doing this, bro. This how you played as a kid?"

  Jase nodded, grabbing Zep's shoulder as they walked. "Yeh. Were na any kites fer me. We stalked and hunted. We did na grow up quite as fast as they do, but a lot faster than humans."

  "Think that's the way we treated you all or nature?"

  "What do ya mean?" Jase asked him.

  "I mean, did you grow up fast because it's just how you are, or because we didn't give you the chance to enjoy being a kid like Rhyx is?"

  "Mm," Jase muttered as he thought about it. "A bit of both. They're physically mature around two. Iliri seem ta be‘round fourteen. Humans are closer to twenty, yeh?"

  "Yeah, give or take. I mean, most are done growing around sixteen to eighteen I think. After that, it's nothing but getting old, little brother."

  "Sal kickin' the shit out of you again?"

  Zep sighed but shook his head. "Nah. But we need to send her to Blaec more often so some of us can sleep."

  Jase just laughed. He laughed again when Rhyx yelled in their heads about them being so slow. Zep grabbed a stick from the ground and began breaking pieces off it.

  Hush, I'm making a boat, he told the pup. "Hey, go find me a branch or flat piece of bark?" he begged Jase.

  "Why?" Jase asked, confused.

  "You never floated a boat down a stream either?"

  Jase just shook his head.

  "Ok. It's like the kites. It's fun just because it's fun. Get me something big enough to be like a boat, but not so big it won't float in one of these runoffs."

  "Yeh. Ya'll have to explain this one," Jase teased as he jogged off toward the edge of camp, a line of trees his destination.

  Halfway there, movement caught his eye. Instinctually, Jase crouched, watching. Jarl slogged through the wet field beside the camp, coming from the tree line. He pulled at his shirt, inspecting his shoulder as he walked. Something about the motion made Jase pause, watching. When the boy got closer, he could see the wounds.

  Jase stood, his anger slowly rising. Jarl had deep punctures across his left shoulder, his shirt hung open to his waist, and his back was covered in mud. Together, in an army camp, that only meant one thing. The teenager had been with someone.

  Zep, something came up, Jase sent.

  Yeh, I felt that. What's up?

  Jarl's been out in this weather, and it does na look like he was alone.

  Yeah? Same with half the camp. There's more to this? Zep asked, confused.

  The heir, from a long line of bastards? I'm taking him ta talk ta Ilija and Dom.

  Jase could feel Zep just sigh. Fuck, Jase. You can't tell me you didn't do the same.

  Nah, but I want a closer look at his shoulder. Those are na human bites, man.

  Bites? Zep asked. We have another female iliri besides Sal?

  No.

  Jase walked right up to Jarl and fell in beside him, saying nothing. The boy looked at him, trying to act calm, but he smelled of fear and excitement.

  "Hey, Jase. How's it going?" he asked.

  "Those wounds need ta be cleaned," Jase said simply. "Ya can take care of that at Dom's tent."

  "Fuck, man. It's nothing," Jarl insisted.

  "I'm sure." Jase reached out for Ilija first. Colonel? Can ya meet me at Dom's? We need ta talk about yer boy.

  Uh, Ilija's confusion came across clearly. Yeah, sure. Everything ok?

  He's na wounded, if that's what yer wond'ring. I think ya'll wanna hear this in person.

  Yeah. Thanks, man.

  Next, Jase reached for Dominik. I'm bringing yer heir. We all need ta talk.

  Now? Dom asked.

  Tell Rayna ta get dressed and find somethan' ta do. I think this is a men's chat, Jase thought back.

  Yeah. I take it we need to talk about where his dick goes.

  Jase didn't bother to reply. His wet hair dripped into his eyes, and the boy beside him said little. From the look on his face, Jarl's mind was whirling, trying to find a good enough story to get him out of trouble. They reached the King's pavilion, and Jase gestured for Jarl to enter first. Rayna stood just inside the door, pulling on her overshirt.

  Boy talk? she asked Jase.

  Yeh. Stop by Sal's. We may have just found a whole new problem we did na anticipate.

  Gotcha.

  Ilija pushed in behind him, glancing at the crowd. "Zain? Tebio? Take a break. We'll be fine for a while."

  "Yes, sir," Tebio said, following Rayna from the tent. Within moments, only the four of them remained.

  "So," Ilija said,
"heard you're trying to follow in my footsteps?"

  "Fuck, seriously?" Jarl asked. "Dad, I'm fifteen."

  "Fifteen, thirty - I don't care," Ilija said. "You're too young to be trying to make your own bastards."

  "It's not like that. I'm not going to get anyone pregnant," Jarl said rolling his eyes.

  "You know how a royal bastard figures into the hierarchy?" Dominik asked.

  "It's not going to happen," Jarl said again as if they were too stupid to have understood him the first time. "I was just out in the woods. Damn, it's fucking boring as hell in here. Nothing but tactics and strategy. I just wanted to get away for a bit, that's it."

  "That's not it," Ilija said. "I know the iliri are all over each other, but that doesn't mean humans can be the same. We're not as lucky as them. Their women can control when they breed. Ours, not so much."

  "Dad!" Jarl said throwing up his hands. "You're freaking out for nothing, ok? I wasn't with some human girl."

  "Then why the hell were you laying out in the mud?"

  "I fell, thanks for noticing," Jarl snapped.

  "Yeh," Jase said. "How about ya get outa that shirt and dry off?" He moved to the stack of clean towels beside the door and threw one at the kid, then took one for himself.

  Jarl did nothing, just stared at him blankly. Jase shrugged and pulled off his own shirt, wiping at his bare chest. Tattoos ran across his left arm and shoulder. Across his right, small, sharp punctures and scars stippled the skin. He held Jarl's gaze, waiting.

  "I'm good, man," Jarl tried.

  "No," Dom said. "Dry off, leave the shirt, then sit." He sighed and grabbed a couple of bottles of whiskey from his crate. "Damn, I'm going to need more of this soon."

  Jase nodded. "Kids, right? Mine wanted ta play in the rain. Did na expect ta see anyone out but us. Na even Sal wants to brave this. Guess it makes good cover?"

  Jarl gave in and pulled off his wet and muddy shirt. He dropped it in the corner and rubbed at his chest with the towel. Across his left arm, punctures broke the skin, each in pairs. Older wounds, now nearly healed, mingled between them. Ilija sighed and sank into a deep chair. Dom shook his head, then sat beside him.

  Jase just looked at the boy and smiled. "Might as well have a seat, kid. Shit is na gonna go away magically, ya know."

  "What's the big deal?" Jarl asked.

  "Jarl," Dom said, "you're just fifteen! What are you going to do when you knock her up?"

  "No!" he said. "It's not like that."

  "Never is," Ilija agreed. "Only a couple of problems." He glanced at Jase. "Tell me if I'm keeping up here, man, but we have about two hundred iliri crossbreds in camp. All male. Nuvani are over a hundred kilometers away, probably farther by now. Human women don't leave marks like that, not even when they're trying to mimic iliri. How'm I doing so far?"

  Jase nodded. "So far so good."

  "Serious?" Dom asked. He turned to Jarl, "So, why didn't you tell us you weren't into women?"

  "Dom!" Jarl gasped. "I'm not like that! I like women just fine, thank you. You're all making a big deal out of nothing. I was fucking training, ok?"

  "Yeh," Jase said flatly.

  "Look, I'm not into guys. It's not like that. I was just sparring with the grauori. That's it. I got pinned a few times - "

  Jase cut him off. "The grauori part I believe."

  His soft words caused all heads to turn toward him. Jase could smell the change in the humans around him and took a deep breath, struggling to adjust to it.

  "Grauori?" Dom whispered.

  "Yeh. Look at my bites, then his. Both on the shield arm, I'm just left handed. On mine, the teeth are thin, closely spaced, and multiple marks. The marks of them are tighter, able to grab the muscle closer to the top of the shoulder. His? Large teeth. They're spaced quite far apart, and the depth of each puncture is nearly twice that of mine. What I wanna know, kid, is if ya intended it."

  Jarl sighed and rolled his eyes, throwing himself against the chair. "You're ready to assume the worst about anything, aren't you. I was fucking sparring."

  "He smells like her, too," Jase added.

  "Who?" Ilija asked.

  "Arrnya."

  "Rragri's going to kick my ass," Dominik whispered. "Fuck. This just got complicated."

  Ilija nodded.

  "I said," Jarl tried again, "that you all are just fucking perverts, ok?"

  Jase snarled and leaned into his face. "Now is a real good time ta shut the fuck up, kid. Yer mouth and yer body are saying two very diff'rent things."

  "Fuck you," Jarl sneered.

  Jase grabbed the boy and threw him out of the chair, onto the floor. Dominik and Ilija gasped but held their places. Jase growled and slowly stepped toward him, watching Jarl's eyes widen. When the boy tried to climb to his feet, Jase pinned him to the ground, his teeth grabbing the boy's throat, just breaking the skin.

  "Umso," Jarl whispered. "I'm sorry, Ahnor. Umso."

  Jase chuckled and leaned back. "Get up and go sit down." With a sigh, he pointed to the teen's bare chest. "Holds are typically on the throat. You can see my own marks there, now. Bicep, forearm, and such. The soft muscles along the top of the shoulder, the back of the neck, and the chest are typically marks we get during lovemaking. They're dense muscles which can withstand the punishment. There are few vital areas there, and none we can hit with just teeth." Jase gestured to his own wounds. "That means our bitch can get as passionate as she wants, and her instincts push her ta an area that is na likely to kill us. Now let's try this again? What sparring were ya doing that caused love bites, Jarl?"

  The young man just sighed and shoved his head into his hands.

  "You sure, Jase?" Ilija asked softly.

  Jase nodded. "Yeh. From the looks of him, it was only the second time. I'm pretty sure both he and Arrnya thought the rain would mask the scent. Hopefully, she does na head right back to the pack or Rragri will be in here demanding answers soon enough."

  "I don't know what I think about this," Dom said softly. "Iliri are one thing, but grauori?"

  Ilija looked up at Jase, concern across his face, "Can they breed? I know you're so close to them, can it even happen?"

  "I dunno, man," Jase said honestly. "We have so many holes in our history, I do na have any idea. There's a bigger problem, though."

  Chapter 6

  As if on cue, Sal stepped inside the tent. Jarl looked up, then shoved his head back into his hands.

  "I'm not sure that's a concern," Sal said as if she'd been in the conversation the whole time. "Rayna told me something was up. Jase felt like this was important."

  "What's the bigger problem?" Ilija asked, stuck on the last thing Jase said.

  "If grauori are like iliri, ya are na getting any heirs from that line," Jase said.

  Dominik and Ilija looked at each other, confused, then back to the iliri.

  Sal dropped onto the arm of Jase's chair. "Look, we've talked about this before. Iliri females produce pheromones. They're addictive."

  "Very." Jase looked up at her lovingly. "After experiencing them, we tend ta lose the taste fer anything less. If the same holds true, Jarl will na be able ta get it up fer a human now."

  Sal ran her fingers through his pewter hair almost absentmindedly. "I don't think Grauoran pheromones are the same. I'm not sure if they're appealing to humans?" She looked down at Jase waiting for the answer.

  He shrugged. "He's got it locked back pretty good. Na a single leak coming out."

  "Least there's that," Sal said softly. "Jarl?"

  "Do we really have to do this?" the boy asked, defeated.

  "Yeah," Ilija said.

  Sal heard the embarrassment in his voice and took pity on the kid. She moved before him, squatting to meet his eyes. "Hey," she said.

  "She's my best friend, Sal," Jarl mumbled. "That's it."

  She ran her fingers across Jarl's marks. "I understand that. Zep is mine."

  Jarl nodded, and Sal rested her hands on his knees.

 
; How does she do that? Ilija asked Jase.

  She's a Kaisae. It's those pheromones we were just talking about, na to mention she's already in his head.

  Does she do that to all of us?

  Jase looked across the room and nodded, meeting Ilija's eyes. Yeh. Ever wonder why Dom suddenly decided a pale-skinned woman was the best leader for Anglia's army in less than an hour? It sure was na her speech.

  "It's not the same," Jarl told Sal. "They all think I'm a pervert, now." His voice was meant for her only.

  Sal shrugged. "So? They think I'm one, too. It takes a bit, but they'll get used to it. What are you going to do about heirs, though?"

  "Why is everyone so worried about that? Dom doesn't have kids!"

  "No," Sal pointed out, "but he has a plan. It also makes things pretty complicated when the next King is involved with the next Orassae. How will the people feel about that?"

  Jarl sighed. "It's not like that."

  "Then what is it like?"

  "She just gets me, ok? I don't care that she's got fur, and she doesn't care that I don't. You understand!"

  Sal nodded as she grabbed his hand. "Yeah, I do, but the world doesn't always work the way you want it to. That doesn't mean you can forget it exists."

  "Sal," Jarl begged, "is it really that big of a deal?"

  "I dunno," she told him. "Not many humans or iliri tend to become romantically involved with the grauori. The younger generation isn't the same as the older, though. They speak clear Glish, they understand all of our habits..." Sal drifted off for a moment, thinking. "How old is she, Jarl?"

  "She'll be twelve next month, why?"

  "Because we don't know if you can get her pregnant. It works well enough with iliri."

  "But they can control it," he insisted.

  "To a point. Look," Sal pulled herself to her feet. "I'm sorry, but all of you need a biology lesson."

  Jase stood and grabbed a bottle of mead from Dom's stores, plus two glasses. Sal gestured for another, making Jase smile as he added it to his handful. She waited until he sat and poured the drinks, passing one to Jarl.

  "I'll ask Roo, but I'm pretty sure it's the same with Grauori. When iliri are young, we have limited control over when we breed. We can control ovulation about like you can control urination."