Shifter Planet (12 page)

Chapter Sixteen

A
manda bounced out of her sleepless bed, and walked over to stoke the coals in her fireplace. She’d kept the heat to a minimum over the last few weeks, in order to prepare her body for the possibility of freezing nights during her trial. It would all depend on where she ended up for the final, and most arduous, phase.

She stood and headed for her oversize closet to check her supplies one more time, even though she knew everything was there. She should be sleeping. Tomorrow would be one hell of a day, and she’d need her wits about her. Good advice, if she hadn’t been way too hyped for sleep.

She glanced up in surprise when someone knocked heavily on her front door. No one knocked on her door, not even Fionn. He usually came through the window, which was why she kept her shutters locked. She lifted her heavy robe from the hook and pulled it on over her panties, which was all she usually wore to bed.

It occurred to her to ask who it was before opening the door, but she had no enemies on Harp. None who were stupid enough to knock on her door before trying to kill her anyway.

She lifted the latch and opened the door, staring in surprise to see Rhodry standing there.

“Amanda,” he said, smiling a little as he took in the bulky robe.

“Rhodry. Come in.” She swallowed the
I guess
that tried to slip onto the end of that greeting. If she’d known he was going to pay her a visit, she’d have worn something else. And maybe at least brushed her hair.

“You didn’t go to the Founders Ball?” she asked, struggling to find something to say as she made room for him to step inside, and closed the door behind him.

“I did,” he replied, indicating the elegant clothes he was wearing. “It was boring.”

That startled a laugh out of her. “No music this time?” she joked, thinking about that long-ago night when they’d danced, and done…other things.

He shrugged. “There was music, but you weren’t there to dance with.”

“Oh,” she said softly, heat creeping up her neck. That was sweet. And very unlike him. What was he up to?

He glanced around her apartment, his survey lingering on her piles of supplies just visible through the bedroom door. “You’re packing all of that?”

He walked over to her bedroom closet, and she followed, stepping carefully over the cluttered floor.

She looked around, trying to see it the way he might. “I’m just taking inventory so far,” she told him, realizing it looked like
a lot
of supplies. “I want to be sure I don’t forget to pack anything.”

“Candidates don’t normally carry backpacks,” he said drily. “It’s rather the point of the trial.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. Was that why he was here? To talk her out of doing this? Or at least to try, because that ship had sailed long ago. She leaned over and grabbed the bedroll she’d prepared, then spoke without looking at him. “Do you think they’ll at least let me take a bedroll? I don’t have any fur to keep me warm, although I suppose—”

“The final phase will be no different for you than any other,” he said with unexpected sharpness.

She turned and frowned up at him in surprise. “Of course not. I wouldn’t expect it.” Which was the truth, although perhaps not all of it. She
had
hoped the trial judge would permit some practical concessions to her human form, like a damn bedroll for warmth. Not that it mattered. She would do without if she had to.

“I don’t like this, Amanda.”

“Don’t like what?” she demanded, letting a bit of anger sharpen her own words. “That I’m about to sully your wonderful Guild? Or is it because I’m an Earther?”

He tsked impatiently. “I don’t care about those things, but I don’t want you to get killed doing something you don’t have to, either. This final trial is dangerous, and I’m not sure you appreciate just how bad it could be.”

She regarded him unhappily. What would it take to make him understand?

“My father is an earth witch,” she said suddenly. “I never knew that until recently. My mom told me when I decided to stay here.”

He gave her a puzzled look. “What’s an earth witch?”

“He can make things grow, even in the worst conditions. It’s kind of like magic, except it’s not. It’s a gift, and it’s unique to his planet. A very few people in every generation can do what he does.”

“Uh-huh. Our farmers can do that, too. It’s called fertilizer.”

She gaped at him. “I can’t believe you! You turn into a giant cat, and that’s perfectly normal. But I tell you my dad has a green thumb, and that’s too much? What the hell? You think shifters have a monopoly on amazing skills?”

He tipped his head to one side with a little smile. “You think I have amazing skills?”

She rolled her eyes. “You know you do, and you don’t need me to flatter you. You get enough of that every day.”

“Not as much as you think,” he muttered. “So Dad’s an earth witch. What’s that got to do with your determination to get yourself killed?”

“I’m not—” she started angrily, then stopped. “What I’m saying is that I think that’s the reason I can hear the trees. I inherited my dad’s affinity for growing things.”

He listened thoughtfully. “You might be right,” he agreed. “But I don’t see how growing things will keep you alive in the Green.”

She gritted her teeth, wishing she could growl like a shifter. “Look. I’ve studied, I’ve prepared. And I’ve been doing this kind of thing for years, long before I came here. None of you seem to recognize that my life up to this point wasn’t spent sitting around a library. Damn it, Rhodry. I thought you of all people understood that.”

He studied her unhappily, then shook his head, as if engaging in an internal conversation with himself. Finally, he said, “I’ll leave you to it, then.”

“That’s it?” she asked, half disappointed and half pissed as hell. “You came over here in the middle of the night to give me this little
pep talk
, and disappear?”

He regarded her for a long moment, and she could almost see the conflict in his pretty golden eyes. She would even have sworn that he leaned toward her the tiniest bit. Would he bend his neck and his principles enough to give her a kiss for luck? A peck on the cheek at least?

The moment didn’t last. He unclenched his jaw enough to say, “Good night, Amanda.” And then he strode over to the door.

“Wish me luck?” she called to his back, trying to keep her disappointment from showing.

He reached for the doorknob, and stopped. His head bowed for a minute, and she thought she’d won. But then he straightened, and spoke without looking at her. “Good luck,
acushla
,” he said, then yanked the door open and was gone, the door closed tight behind him.

“Well, great, Rhodry,” she said to the empty room. “Thanks for whatever the hell
that
means.”

And then she shoved all thoughts of him down deep where it couldn’t hurt anymore, and went back to her preparations for the trials. Which were now less than two hours away.

Chapter Seventeen

A
manda took a last look at her various piles of supplies and began stowing them in her backpack. She had planned for this day so carefully, making and re-making lists, checking with Tonio Garza—who’d volunteered to help her—then starting all over again, uncertain which list was the latest version.

First up today would be the test for proficiency on the bow. It would be challenging, and even after months of practice, she didn’t think she’d excel. She’d do well enough to pass, though, which was all that mattered.

It was the next and final part of the trials that had her checking supplies compulsively, while her heart pounded and her nerves twitched. Guild candidates were dropped into the Green, far away from the city, with only fur and claws to get them back to the city. She didn’t have those natural defenses, and so had to make other arrangements. There’d been nothing in the rules against carrying a backpack, and although she knew that was because no shifter would ever
need
a backpack, she was going to make the oversight work to her advantage.

She’d be carrying everything she needed on her back. Knives, medicines, a tiny bottle of soap, even a small folding shovel. All of it went into her pack, along with an all-important first aid kit, and a supply of antibiotics. There were also plenty of natural remedies in the forest and she’d made a point of learning them all.

Of course, once in the Green, she’d have access to the same Guild caches the shifters did. In addition to clothing, there were durable supplies and foodstuffs that were placed at regular intervals for use by shifter patrols, and for the rare, occasional traveler. Amanda had also set up her own, somewhat limited, network of caches that were filled with supplies no shifter would ever need and no male would think to include.

With a glance at the time, she began to dress quickly, layering on shirts, socks and even two pairs of leggings. They were all clothes she’d brought with her from the ship, all made of lightweight fabrics that when layered together would keep her warm in anything short of a raging blizzard. They also made her look about ten pounds heavier, and who cared? This was survival, not a beauty contest. Staring at herself in the mirror, she picked up and contemplated her heavy cloak. It had been a gift from her mother, something Elise had found on one of her planetary shopping excursions and bought for Amanda because it was beautiful, rather than practical. Made of thick, sturdy wool, it was full-length and heavy as sin. The sensible choice would be to leave it behind, and she knew she might very well regret the extra weight after a few days out there on her own.

On the other hand, no matter how much her brain might be telling her the lightweight fabrics she’d layered on would keep her warm, there was something about the comforting bulk of the cloak that made her
feel
warmer.

She swore softly and shoved it into her pack on top of everything else. The hell with it. This was all about instinct and her instincts said to take it.

She tugged on her boots and stood up to tie a compact sleeping bag to the bottom of her pack. It didn’t look like much—which was why she thought they might let her keep it, even though it was actually designed for much colder temperatures than anything she was likely to encounter. And then, she added one final item. Shifters could see as well in the dark as in full daylight. Amanda had excellent vision…for a norm, which meant her night vision was severely limited, and Harp’s forests were full of dark places, even in daytime, when the sunlight sometimes had to fight to reach the ground through the thick canopy. As a result, she always carried a small flashlight, especially if she thought she might get caught out after sunset. Little more than a penlight, it had a halogen beam that was surprisingly bright for its size. She slung it around her neck on a leather string, pulled on her hooded jacket and shoved her gloves into a pocket. She was ready.

Settling the familiar weight of the backpack over her shoulders, she picked up the bow Rhodry had secured for her months ago. She’d put in hundreds of sweat-filled hours building the strength necessary in her arms and hands to use it effectively, and she had the scars on her fingers and forearm to prove it.

The weapon went over one shoulder. She did a final tug of straps and buckles, and walked out to face the Guild.

When she emerged from her apartment, the sun was barely over the horizon. Up on the hillside, above the main town, the white stone of the palace gleamed gold in the first light of morning, its face so bright that for a few seconds, it was as if twin suns battled for dominance in the Harp sky.

The morning air was fresh and cool as usual, the streets damp from an overnight ground fog that still lingered between the buildings and amid the trees that grew everywhere. Moisture clung to her cheeks and hair, easing wisps of curl out of the tight braid along her neck and washing away the last tendrils of worry. She wanted to run down the streets and shout out her excitement, to wake the neighbors and share the glory of this very special morning. Instead, she slipped unnoticed through the quiet streets.

The science compound was visible from here, a squat, utilitarian building whose concrete walls almost disappeared into the gloom, making the large solar arrays on its roof seem to float in the dense fog.

She took the now-familiar dirt path to the Guild Hall, then stopped short, hanging back among the trees on the edge of the open yard, all of a sudden keenly aware that she was alone. Two shifters crossed the yard while she stood there, and as she watched them disappear into the depths of the hall, she realized how stupid this was. Here she stood, ready to challenge nearly five hundred years of Harp history, and yet too timid to walk into the building in full view. Great. A promising start.

Gathering the courage that had gotten her this far, she turned back toward the path, nearly shrieking out loud when Rhodry was suddenly standing in front of her. She fought to control her reaction. How such a big man could move so quietly…

“Where’s Fionn?” he demanded.

She gave him a narrow look. “Well, good morning to you, too. And how the hell would I know where Fionn is?”

“He’s your lover. He should be here to walk you in.”

She stared at him impatiently. What was it with the men in her life? She didn’t have
time
for this crap. “Fionn is
not
my lover,” she said with forced slowness. “I don’t
have
a lover. You’re all way too much work! Besides,” she said, trying to get around him. “He hates the idea of me joining your precious Guild, just as much as you do.”

He stepped closer, blocking her from leaving. “Amanda, I’m afraid you’re going to get hurt,” he said quietly.

Her heart sighed at the sincerity in that deep voice. Which only proved that her heart was an idiot. He’d had
months
to have this little heart-to-heart, and suddenly he was knocking on her door in the middle of the night, and waylaying her on
this particular morning
? Oh hell, no. She shrugged, pretending to be unaffected. “A life without risk isn’t worth living,” she said, cringing inwardly at the trite words.

She waited for him to shut her out like he always did, for the mask to close over his face, and his eyes to go cold. And they didn’t.
He
didn’t. He just stood there looking so gorgeous, his golden eyes filled with concern. And suddenly it hit her. He was right. They were all right. This trial could kill her.

She dropped her pack to the ground, closed the short distance between them, then went up on her toes and kissed him. She half expected him to reject her. To push her away, or to stand there like a stone. What she didn’t expect was for him to band his arms around her, and kiss her back.

It was a ravenous kiss, hungry, like he was a starving man—a starving cat—and she was the last piece of steak in the world. She reveled in the strength of that powerful body, her lips open in welcome, her arms tightening around his neck as the kiss went on and on…

A door slammed from the direction of the Guild Hall, and he broke away sharply, as if she’d suddenly sprouted horns. He stared at her, breathing hard, his massive chest heaving in and out. He licked his lips, and his eyes closed briefly, as if savoring the taste of her.

“You walking her in, Tonio?” he asked, and she spun around in time to see Tonio Garza step out from among the trees.

“You’re not?” Tonio asked, seeming surprised.

“My presence won’t win her any friends in there,” he said, then stepped in close again, his body like a furnace in front of her. He stroked the back of his fingers over her cheek, and said, “Be careful out there,
acushla
. And make sure you come back.”

He exchanged an alpha-manly look with Tonio, and then he was gone as silently as he’d arrived.

Great
. She didn’t know whether to be thrilled at what had been the best kiss of her life, or furious at his lousy timing. Damn him!

“He likes you, you know,” Tonio said, with a half grin.

“Yeah? Well, he has a funny way of showing it. What was that about walking me in?”

Tonio strolled over, his long legs covering the ground with that uniquely shifter grace. He slung a friendly arm around her shoulders. “No candidate walks into the Guild Hall alone. They’re accompanied by at least one relative, a male relative obviously.”

Rhodry’s unexpected appearance took on a whole new meaning. He hadn’t wanted her to walk in there alone. “What’d he mean about not winning me any friends?”

Tonio didn’t bother asking who
he
was. “Rhodry’s a good guy, a
great
hunter. Regrettably, his grandfather made some enemies a while back, and certain people have long memories. Where’s Fionn?” he asked, changing the subject.

“You’re the second person to ask me that this morning, and I
still
don’t know, or why I’m even expected to,” she said, grinding her teeth.

He swore beneath his breath. “I assumed that asshole would step up for once. Guess you’re stuck with me, huh?”

She should have been pissed at Fionn. He’d known about the tradition, and hadn’t cared. And she didn’t care, either. His absence was more than made up for by Rhodry’s appearance. Even if he wasn’t the one walking through the door with her. She gave Tonio a quick hug. “Thanks.”

“You ready for this?”

She drew a deep breath and nodded. “I am.”

They crossed the clearing and quickly loped up the stairs to the porch. The wide front door stood open, and their soft-soled boots made barely a sound on the smooth planks as they entered the main building. And there her feet stuttered to a halt. She was surprised to find the big hall empty, silence echoing off the tall ceilings where giant tree trunks crisscrossed two stories overhead.

She realized with a start what that meant. Everyone was already outside, waiting for her. She closed her eyes and drew in a fortifying breath, catching the familiar combination of musk and spice that was shifter, and beneath it, the smell of varnish and old wood, slightly musty in the damp morning. Someone had prepared breakfast in the kitchen and her stomach growled. She’d been too nervous to eat anything this morning, making do with a tasteless protein bar, even though this was probably her last chance at a decent meal for days, if not weeks.

She opened her eyes and took in the faded tapestries, the mezzanine circling the second level, its wide bannisters scratched by generations of shifters, and beyond that, the long, dark corridors lined with door after door, marking the rooms where several of the younger shifters lived full-time. They probably had a full house today. The annual trials were a big deal. Visitors would have come in from the mountains and other outlying areas for the event.

She gulped…and started moving again, suddenly in a hurry to get through the silent hall. She stepped out onto the broad back porch, and was glad there was nothing more in her stomach than half a protein bar. The yard was filled with shifters—big, brawny shifters who were all staring at her.

She took the stairs slowly, feeling Tonio at her back, grateful for his support as she surveyed the silent crowd. She knew most of those gathered by sight at least, if not by name. Conversations gradually resumed as she made her way to the judge’s table. Some of the shifters she passed acknowledged her. Most simply stared, and even among the friendlier ones, she saw no support for what she was about to do.

Fionn appeared out of the crowd, intent on getting between her and Tonio, but he refused to give ground, regarding Fionn with the thinly veiled hostility so common to interactions among shifters. Fionn’s head lowered, his eyes narrowing, and she felt Tonio tense beside her. These testosterone games weren’t unusual among the alpha male shifters. She even found them charming sometimes. Today, she had no patience.

She sighed, disgusted, and stepped away from both of them to approach the sign-in table, surprised to find no other candidates in line ahead of her.

“Missed the rush, I guess,” she joked to no one in particular.

The judge sitting on the other side was Orrin Brady, the same older shifter who’d approved her initial application way back when. She’d seen him around the Guild Hall since then, but they’d never spoken. He finished whatever he was writing before looking up at her. “The others will come in a month or so. For now, we’ve just the one, and that would be you, I’m thinking.”

She jolted a little in surprise. No one had told her she was being tested separately. She wondered how many had known. As far as she knew, this had never happened in the Guild’s history, which fit, because
she’d
never happened before either. She kept a smile on her face with effort. “Well, then,” she said. “I’m ready.”

“You sure you want to do this, lass?” Orrin said in a low voice. “No one would think less of you if you didn’t.”

I would think less of me
, she wanted to tell him. She kept that defiant thought to herself and simply shook her head. “I’m ready,” she repeated.

“Very well,” he said on a long sigh. He stood, towering over her, big like they all were, and still strong despite the gray in his braid that made him old enough to be her grandfather. One more genetic bonus from that long-ago ancestor—or maybe this particular gift had come from the science of their human creators. Shifters lived a healthy twenty or thirty years beyond their normal human counterparts.