Branded by Fire

And miserable.

Hoping a cold shower would snap her out of it, she dragged herself to the bathroom. A message was waiting for her on the comm panel when she exited. Noting the familiar number, she called through. "Ashaya, what’s up?"

Ashaya’s distinctive blue-gray eyes widened in surprise. "That was quick."

"Lucas ordered me to take the day off. The cheek."

Ashaya smiled – that smile was still new, but there was no doubting it came from the heart. "I was going to ask you for a favor, but you should do something fun on your day off."

"I’m going insane," Mercy muttered, rubbing a hand over her heart. "Please give me something to do."

Ashaya’s smile faded into concern. "Mercy? What’s wrong?"

"My hormones are taking over my brain." God, she was going to bite Riley hard for doing this to her. How had he addicted her to him so quickly?

"Oh." Ashaya nodded. "I’ve had a few of those moments since my defection." Turning, she laughed at something Dorian had probably said before looking back. "As for the favor – I promised Amara I’d bring up something I’ve been working on. Do you think you could do it for me?"

Ashaya’s twin was seriously nuts, but she was also smart as hell. "Won’t she want to see you?"

"No, we’ve set up a meeting at a later date."

"What am I transporting?"

"One of those chips we found on the humans who attempted to kidnap me," Ashaya said. "I’ve been taking it apart bit by bit, trying to figure out how it works, what it does. Amara has a copy of her own, but I want her to see something I’ve found, get a second opinion."

"You get the report with my notes on Bowen’s take on the things?" she asked.

"Yes. I’m attempting not to jump to conclusions, however. I also got your message about speaking to Nash."

"Any luck?"

"No," was the disappointing answer, "but I’ll try again in a day or so. He may just be overwhelmed right now." She turned again, the electric curls of her hair shifting with abandon. "Wait, Dorian wants to say something."

The screen switched to audio-only and she realized Dorian must’ve taken the portable handset outside. "Merce, I did that Enforcement check for you. The same knife was used in both kills in Tahoe."

"Damn."

"I’ve renewed the alert to our people in that area and they’ll get the word out to the nonpredatories. Drew’s handling the info-spread on the SnowDancer end. Problem is, Enforcement’s got nothing else yet, so we can’t get specific." His voice dropped and he blew out a breath. "Where the f**k do they keep coming from?"

"I wish I knew, Blondie." She used the childhood nickname on purpose, nudging him away from the edge of darkness. He’d become so much more balanced since mating with Ashaya, but she knew he’d always mourn his murdered sister. So would she – as a child, Kylie had been determined to be included in all of Dorian and Mercy’s nefarious schemes, no matter that she was far littler.

After Kylie’s death, Mercy had made a determined effort to remember the good times, the mischief, but her heart still hurt at odd moments – like when she saw something she knew Kylie would’ve loved. She couldn’t imagine how much worse it was for Dorian. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she said, "Or should I call you Boy Genius? That one seems to be catching on."

"Watch it, Carrot," he said, then chuckled. "I’m handing things back to Shaya – Keenan says I’m missing the best part of today’s episode."

The comm filled with Ashaya’s face again, her curls looking wilder than before. "What’ve you been doing?" Mercy asked with a grin.

Ashaya blushed. "Let’s say Blondie is a fast mover."

Any lingering concern Mercy might’ve had for Dorian disappeared. "I’ll be by in, say, two hours? That okay?"

"We’ll probably still be curled up in bed, watching cartoons." Her eyes filled with affection. "My mate and son have discovered a mutual love of superheroes and breakfast in bed. They’re determined to convert me."

The image Ashaya had sketched – of a lazy family morning – was so appealing that Mercy was almost surprised. Almost. Because she’d realized long ago that family was an integral part of her dream. "Don’t get crumbs on the sheets." As she hung up to the sound of Ashaya’s laughter, she realized that Sierra Tech, where Amara worked, was smack bang in the middle of SnowDancer territory.

Riley’s territory.

The leopard came to attention. So did the woman. And that fast, all sensible thought was buried under a crashing wave of anticipation.

Riley finished going over his worklist for the day, and handed out the assignments by phone. Unfortunately, the routine task didn’t succeed in keeping his mind off Mercy – for the first time in months, he’d dreamed not of Brenna’s abduction, but of a redheaded cat who refused to come to him. It had left him sweaty, the sheets tangled around his limbs like so much plastic.

Even in his dreams, she defied him.

However, despite his jaw-clenching frustration, he was almost finished when Hawke came in and grabbed a seat. "What’s my assignment?" he asked after Riley hung up.

It was a serious question. Riley’s job was to coordinate their resources. Hawke was the best they had. It would’ve been a waste not to use him – though Riley always had to have a backup in place in case Hawke got pulled away on alpha business. "I’ve got an assignment you’ll love."

Hawke blinked, the slow, lazy blink of a predator very much on alert. "If the name Sienna appears in that assignment, I’m going to shred you open, tie your intestines in a bow, and feed you to the feral wolves."