Renata let herself slide into a light meditation, eyes closed, all her senses trained inward, concentrating on her heartbeat and breathing, on the fluid concert of her muscles as she stretched from one long, taxing hold to another. It wasn't until she had pivoted into an upside-down pose, her ankles now caught securely in the straps to hold her aloft, that she felt a stirring in the air around her. It was sudden and subtle, but unmistakable.
As unmistakable as the heat of an exhaled breath that now warmed her cheek.
Her eyes snapped open. Struggled to focus on the inverted surroundings and the intruder who stood under her. It was the Breed warrior - Nikolai.
"Shit!" she hissed, her inattention making her sway a bit from the straps. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" "Easy now," Nikolai said. He lifted his hand as if he meant to steady her. "Wasn't trying to scare you."
"You don't." Flat words, spoken coldly. With a liquid flex of her body, she moved herself out of his reach. "Do you mind? You're interrupting my training."
"Ah." His dark blond brows quirked upward as his gaze followed the line of her body to where she still hung by her ankles. "What exactly is it you're training for up there, Cirque du Soleil?"
She didn't dignify the jab with a reply. Not that he waited for one. He pivoted away from her and walked over to the post at the far end of the kennel. He reached out, fingers tracing the deeper of the wood's many scars. Then he found her blades and lifted the cloth that contained them. Metal clinked together softly within the folded square of ribbon-tied silk and velvet. "Don't touch those," Renata said, freeing herself of the straps and swinging around to bring her feet onto the ground. She stalked forward. "I said, don't touch them. They're mine."
He didn't resist when she snatched the prized possession - the only things of value she could claim as her own - out of his hands. The spike in her emotions made her head spin a little, lingering aftereffects of the psychic reverberation that she'd hoped was past. She took a step backward. Had to work to steady her breath.
"You okay?"
She didn't like the look of concern in his blue eyes, as if he could sense her weakness. As if he knew she wasn't as strong as she wanted to - needed to - appear.
"I'm fine." Renata brought the blades over to one of the kennel pens and unwrapped them. One by one, she carefully set each of the four hand-tooled daggers down on the wooden ledge in front of her. She forced a smug lightness into her voice. "Seems like I should be the one asking you that question, don't you think? I dropped you pretty hard back there in the city." She heard his low grunt somewhere behind her, almost a scoff.
"We can never be too cautious when it comes to outsiders," she said. "Especially now. I'm sure you understand."
When she finally glanced over at him, she found him staring at her. "Sweetheart, the only reason you had the chance to drop me was because you played dirty. Making sure I'd notice you, pretending you had something to hide and knowing I'd follow you out of that club. Right into your little trap."
Renata lifted her shoulder, unapologetic. "All's fair in love and war."
He gave her a slow smile that hinted at twin dimples in his lean cheeks. "War, is it?"
"It sure as hell isn't love."
"No," he said, all serious now. "Never that."
Well, at least they agreed on something.
"How long have you been working for Yakut?"
Renata shook her head as if unable to recall specifically, even though that night was etched in her mind as if it had been burned there. Blood-drenched. Horrific. The beginning of an end. "I don't know," she said lightly. "A couple of years, I guess. Why?"
"Just wondering how a female - even a Breedmate with your powerful psychic ability - would end up in this line of work, particularly for a Gen One like him. It's unusual, that's all. Hell, it's unheard of. So, tell me. How was it you hooked up with Sergei Yakut?"
Renata stared at this warrior - this stranger, dangerous and cunning, suddenly intruding on her world. She wasn't sure how to answer. She certainly wasn't about to give him the truth. "If you have questions, maybe you should ask him."
"Yeah," he said, studying her too closely now. "Maybe I'll do that. What about the kid - Mira? Has she been here as long as you?"
"Not as long, no. Just six months." Renata tried to sound casual, but a fierce protective instinct rose in her at the mention of Mira's name on this Breed male's lips. "She's been through a lot in that short time. Things no child should have to witness."
"Like the attack on Yakut last week?"
And other, darker, things, Renata acknowledged inwardly. "Mira has nightmares just about every night now. She hardly sleeps more than a couple hours at a time."
He nodded in sober acknowledgment. "This is no damn place for a kid. Some might say it's no place for a female either." "Is that what you would say, warrior?"
His answering chuckle neither confirmed nor denied it.
Renata watched him, questions of her own bubbling into her mind. One in particular. "What did you see in Mira's eyes earlier tonight?"
He grunted something low under his breath. "Trust me, you wouldn't want to know."
"I'm asking, aren't I? What did she show you?"
"Forget it." Holding her gaze, he raked a hand through the golden strands of his hair, then exhaled a ripe curse and looked away from her. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. The girl definitely got it wrong."
"Mira is never wrong. She hasn't been wrong once, not in all the time I've known her."