Honored Vow

Chalthoum will join Andrian, Crane, and
    I in the pit to defend my semel.”
    He nodded. “As he is a member of your tribe, and soon to be, I
    understand, an aker, he will be allowed into the pit.”
    I nodded.
    “We request permission to retire,” Yuri growled, and without
    warning, he turned and grabbed me and threw me over his back. He didn’t
    move until the priest gave him leave, but the second it came, he turned and
    strode away from the cells where all the other semels were held, up toward
    the pit.
    “This is very caveman of you,” I sighed, “but the blood is rushing to
    my head.”
    “The priest shouldn’t be sorry he did this to you and Logan, he
    should be ashamed of himself. It’s a fuckin’ ordeal,” he snarled at me.
    “And all those people looking, watching like it’s a freak show, not
    understanding that it’s killing him, that this is eating his heart out—fuck!”
    He was angry, furious for Logan and for me, and I felt it rolling off
    him. “Put me down and let’s walk together, okay?”
    Once he set me on my feet, we were joined by Domin and Crane.
    “Are you alright?” Crane asked me.
    I swallowed hard, trying so hard to keep my power from rising, to
    stay in control, contained, and not let my pain show.
    “Jin.”
    I turned my head to Domin.
    “My reah,” he said, and his voice was low and husky. “Everything’s
    gonna be okay.”
    He blurred, and I understood I was falling apart.
    “God,” he sighed, smiling suddenly before he grabbed me tight and
    wrapped me up in strong arms. “We didn’t think we were gonna get you

    194

    Mary Calmes

    back, and then Crane had that brilliant idea to get you to Logan. I envy
    him the power he has in you, Jin, but that bond, the one between a semel
    and his reah, must really be something, because shit—the power is
    something.”
    I let him hold me and tried to breathe.
    “Jin.”
    My eyes lifted to Taj as he and Andrian moved where I could see
    them.
    “I’ve never experienced a run like the one you took us on tonight,
    thank you for that and for allowing us to be there to show all of us what
    the love between a semel and his mate should look like.”
    I pulled away from Domin and bowed to Taj.
    He returned the bow, and when I straightened I felt better, more me.
    “Jin,” Taj said my name.
    I could barely speak.
    Taj was the same but managed to get out a very rusty sounding
    thank-you.
    “You can’t ever go back to the Shu,” I told him. “You understand?”
    There was a quick nod from him. “I do,” he said, his voice gravelly
    and low. “And I thank you and Logan for making me part of your tribe
    and showing me what a true home is. I will not fail you, you know I
    won’t. I’ll stand with you and Crane and Andrian and kill anyone that tries
    to hurt any of you.”
    “It’s just Logan.”
    “It’s never been just Logan,” he assured me, giving me a trace of a
    smile. “And he would agree with me if he were able.”
    I really didn’t want to fall apart right there with people starting to
    close in on us, milling around, looking at the freaky reah. Domin had said
    I was in my nekhene form for a while, so that meant I had been gawked at
    and pointed at and basically been on exhibit with my mate. It was horrible
    and it wasn’t over yet, and now on top of it, Taj’s heartfelt confession was
    going to make me cry.
    I wanted to run away.
    “Listen,” Crane said, draping an arm around my shoulders. “We’re
    gonna get you cleaned up, okay? You’re covered in the blood of dead
    men.”

    Honored Vow

    195

    I nodded.
    “But Yuri’s gonna hafta carry you again, because you don’t have any
    shoes, and you’ll get frostbite if you walk in the snow, even with your
    body temperature. You and Taj talking out in the snow in human form
    tonight was not bright.”
    My eyes flicked to him.
    “Domin told me. Not smart, Jin.”
    Apparently I was making all kinds of poor decisions lately.
    “Don’t do the poor-me bullshit, just let Yuri carry you, and I’m
    gonna wrap your feet in another blanket, alright?”
    I didn’t argue.
    Once we were outside, I felt so much better even though, really, the
    cold sucked all the air from my lungs.
    Behind the back of the ger was a shower that was enclosed with
    clear plastic walls on all four sides, a protected, sealed heater on the top
    and warm, flat, smooth river stones on the bottom. It was like stepping
    into a sauna. You had to pour hot water into the base and it