Trusted Bond

hit me so hard I almost swooned.
    My mate.
    He was there, had come after me, and I was certain had heard the
    confession from the assassin. He knew as well as I did who wanted him
    dead.
    He curled around me, his larger frame dwarfing mine. I was sleek
    and lithe in comparison to the muscular cat that he was. I ran my nose up
    under his throat, nuzzling, pressing against him, freezing suddenly,
    wanting to be closer. He licked my ear, the side of my face, licked the
    blood off me, cleaned me up, and then tenderly bit the nape of my neck.
    He inhaled my scent, checking me over, using all his senses to determine
    if I was well. Satisfied that I was, he bumped me with his nose, rubbing
    against me, stroking his chin over the top of my head, and just the
    lingering closeness let me stand, rise beside him, and follow him down off
    178

    Mary Calmes

    the roof.
    There were enormous basins of water in the room we reentered. It
    was empty now but for the priest, Jamal, and the many of the Shu. It felt
    like lockdown, like the area was secured.
    It made sense that meat and water had been fetched so quickly. We
    were with our own kind; they knew exactly what to get.
    ―Logan Church, your mate is a ferocious creature, and I pity any
    who try and take you from him.‖
    Logan shifted. In the moonlight, he rose from his panther form like
    some primordial god rendered in gold. I drank my fill of him.
    ―Is your mate well?‖
    ―He is,‖ Logan answered, his eyes sliding over me before returning
    to the priest.
    ―Had all my warriors been here with me, we might have been able to
    take the assassins alive. As it was, Jamal‘s first instinct was to protect me
    even though you were the target.‖
    ―Jamal did exactly what he should have.‖
    ―Did the assassins speak to you? Did you learn who sent them?‖
    He nodded slowly.
    ―Speak the name of the traitor?‖
    ―Surely your grace can guess.‖
    Their eyes locked.
    ―Are you certain?‖
    ―I am.‖
    ―Will you challenge him?‖
    ―He wants my mate,‖ Logan growled. ―Hopefully the pain he caused
    others this night will make him rethink his present course.‖
    ―Only the assassins died, but others were injured. Had Jin not
    interfered, only you would have died and no one else would have been
    hurt, but in their zeal to defend themselves from your mate, the assassins
    hurt a great many.‖
    ―Now that the semel-aten has seen Jin‘s true power, hopefully he
    will let us be. I can‘t prove it was him, but he knows what he tried, and he
    knows that he failed. I hope he‘s scared. I really want him to be scared.‖
    Trusted Bond

    179

    Hamid sighed deeply. ―He has always been a tyrant, but I never
    thought he was capable of murder. I never thought he would go so far to
    have your reah for his own.‖
    ―He‘s had a reah before,‖ Logan reminded him, ―and lost her. He
    knows what it is to have a reah. He just wants Jin because he‘s something
    different, something more.‖
    ―Yes,‖ he agreed, reaching for Logan‘s shoulder, squeezing it gently.
    ―I will offer what protection I can. For now, your rooms are secured; I
    have Jamal and his men there with your family and the other members of
    your tribe. No one can breach them. Go when you are ready.‖
    Logan put his hand over that of the priest‘s that gripped his shoulder.
    ―If you challenge the semel-aten in the pit and kill him, you will be
    semel-aten, Logan Church. Perhaps it is time for you to decide if Sobek is
    to be blessed with a new semel-aten.‖
    The priest was suggesting that my mate kill Ammon El Masry in the
    pit and replace his bloodline. It was a scary conversation for them to be
    having.
    ―Perhaps,‖ Logan said.
    They stared at each other, and no one moved. It was strange. The
    priest was dressed in robes of silk and gold and Logan was naked, but still
    it was my mate whose bearing seemed more regal, like he was a king. I
    could imagine others worshipping him; he would embody all that the
    semel-aten should be.
    ―I will expect you in my chambers at dawn, Logan Church.‖
    He nodded, saying nothing more to the priest.
    Moments later we were alone, and he turned to me.
    ―Jin,‖ he rasped, his voice gravelly and deep, ―you scared the shit out
    of me.‖
    I had to protect him. There had been no other choice.
    He cleared his throat, squatting down so he was eye level with me.
    ―You changed into… something I have never… it wasn‘t a snake, but it
    moved like one. You had the