Honored Vow

Mikhail sat down, he took a seat on Crane’s right and
    put a hand on his forearm as they spoke. The closeness soothed Crane; the
    sylvan touching him was good. They were friends, and I had no idea when
    they had become close. Koren stepped up behind him, hands on his
    shoulders, and Crane patted his hand as Delphine put a large glass of juice
    down in front of him and Markel followed with a steaming mug of coffee.
    Taj came in last, having been outside checking the grounds as was his
    routine.
    His eyes lit up when he saw Crane. He pulled the beanie off his
    head, walked over to Crane, and put it on him, rolling it up so it fit, so all

    Honored Vow

    101

    you saw was my best friend’s bruised face, not where the thick wavy mane
    used to be.
    “Thanks, man.” He smiled up at one of the members of the Shu cats,
    the deadliest panthers in the world, those that reported directly to the priest
    of Chae Rophon.
    Taj patted his back, and I realized that in a very short time we, the
    household of the semel-netjer, had mauled the distance out of him. He was
    no longer standoffish, no longer cold and quiet; he was a part of our tribe.
    I doubted that he would want to return to Egypt even if he were called.
    Logan cleared his throat softly, so only I would turn and look at him.
    “He can’t scent-mark you, I won’t allow it.”
    He had noticed Crane scraping his chin over my shoulder.
    “I’m his, too, Logan, we—”
    “No.” He cut me off, kissing my forehead. “When cats catch your
    scent, after yours, they should only smell me.”
    I watched as he slid his cheek over the same shoulder that Crane had
    marked. “Don’t pee on me, alright?”
    He chuckled as he turned to leave the room.
    My hand on his bicep stopped him.
    “You gave me a task,” he reminded me.
    “I wanna sit down with you and talk about the sepat. We have to
    make plans and strategies, and we have to start training and—”
    “Love,” he said, smiling at me, hands sliding up my arms to rest on
    my shoulders, “you need to focus all your energy on Crane, because as
    your beset, he must accompany you. In two months you’re going to have
    to decide if it’s going to be him or if you’ll appoint another.”
    I nodded quickly.
    “Along with Domin, he’s going to be in the pit with you during the
    trial of the heart.”
    “I know.”
    “Come here.”
    He slowly turned me around and walked me out of the kitchen and
    into the living room, where there was a fire blazing away, warming the
    large polished wood and leather furniture-filled space. When it had been
    his mother and father’s home, apparently the house had looked much
    different, but now there was a strong masculine feel to every part of Logan

    102

    Mary Calmes

    Church’s home. I loved that the man’s presence could be felt throughout
    the mansion.
    “Look at me.”
    Tipping my head back, I met the man’s amber-colored eyes.
    “We’re all learning this as we go, Jin. I can’t remember even hearing
    of a sepat being called, can you?”
    “No.”
    “See, so, Ammon’s father was never challenged, or his grandfather,
    but now he is, and the priest is giving me these rules that are supposed to
    be finite but make no sense at all.”
    He looked worried, and I put my hands on his chest, resting them
    there, to comfort him.
    “I mean, there’s a law that no reah may ever fight in the pit, and yet
    the law of Bast, which you yourself have called, allows a mate to take the
    place of their semel during a challenge. And now the priest tells me that
    having a nekhene cat in the pit would be an unfair advantage, so he may
    need to blindfold you or—it’s a mess. And the sheseru is supposed to do
    the trial of the blood, but the law also states that no sheseru who is
    protector of a true mate will be placed in the path of danger. So that means
    Yuri can’t stand as my champion for the trial of blood, but—”
    “You’re going in circles.”
    “Yes, I am,” he sighed heavily. “It’s—I mean, sometimes I
    understand Russ’s old argument with me, because some of the rules are
    completely antiquated and barbaric, and someone does need to update
    them, and—”
    “Did you ever think maybe that’s why all this?”
    “What are you talking about?”
    I shrugged. “Logan, maybe it’s you. Maybe you’re the man who’s
    supposed to bring the panthers that have been lost back into the fold by
    accepting that a semel could take, even as a yareah, a male for his