“Are all shifters as hot as you?”
Tanner gave her a startled look and she grinned.
“Body temperature, I mean.” Alexa fanned herself and then waved at the French doors that led out to the balcony. The doors flung open and a cool breeze swirled into the room.
They were at the beach house, in Olivia’s private chamber. Once Alexa had healed Olivia enough that she felt safe moving her body, Tanner scooped her up and followed Alexa back to the house. When the guards made an attempt to stop him, Alexa’s sharp tongue informed them that it was her decision to have Tanner carry the princess back to the beach house. At that point, Jake had turned and glared at his fellow guards, all but daring them to challenge the healer.
“Much better,” Alexa said on a sigh as she turned into the cool breeze.
“Yes,” Tanner said, deciding to take her question at face value. “Our body temperature is naturally several degrees warmer than a typical human or lightbearer.”
“Fascinating,” she murmured. She eyed him as if she wanted to perform surgical experiments on him. For all he knew, she probably did. Shifters didn’t have resident healers, so he had no idea what made them tick.
Olivia stirred and Tanner immediately turned away from the healer to focus on the woman lying in the bed.
“She’s fine,” Alexa said dismissively. “She just needs to rest, probably overnight.” Then she frowned. “Has she been healing people, despite the fact that she hasn’t been properly trained?”
“Why do you ask?”
Alexa waved at the sleeping lightbearer. “There is poison in her system. I would guess it is a week old, maybe longer, but it’s poison, nonetheless.”
Tanner stared at her, as he tried to comprehend what she said. “My mother,” he blurted. “She healed my mother.”
“Was she poisoned?”
“Sort of. She was actually poisoning herself, to keep from getting pregnant.”
Alexa’s eyes widened. “She used an herbal mix.” She nodded, already determining the answer.
Tanner nodded.
“That is okay for an occasional, short-term fix, but that was a hell of a lot of poison in Olivia’s body, and like I said, it’s at least a week old, so most of it has dissipated. What was your mother thinking?”
“That her mate was a bastard with tainted blood, and she did not want to pass along his genes to any other offspring.”
“Oh.” Alexa looked abashed. “Well you seem to have turned out okay. I mean, you saved Olivia, when, according to the legends, you should want to kill her instead.”
“I am nothing like my father,” Tanner growled. Suddenly, it registered what Alexa was saying about the poison in Olivia’s body.
“Are you saying that she somehow soaked up the poison from my mother’s body when she healed her?” He stared at her, disbelief etched into every sharp line and plain of his face.
Alexa looked pleased by his assessment. “That is exactly what I am saying,” she confirmed. “That is how a healer works. We are born with a natural ability to heal others. When we do so, our bodies absorb the pain, sickness, injury, whatever, so the other person is fixed. Then our bodies eventually eat away at the sickness and pain until it just disappears. She undoubtedly slept like the dead after healing your mother and probably hasn’t been in top form since.”
Since Tanner hadn’t known Olivia before she healed his mother, he couldn’t really say whether she was in top form or not. “She definitely slept like the dead afterward. Both times.”
Alexa shook her head. “She is not properly trained. I wish the king would simply relent. It is possible to be a princess and a healer, you know.”
Tanner hoped it was possible to be all that and a shifter’s mate too.
“Is she going to be okay?” he asked uncertainly.
“Of course,” Alexa replied, as if he’d insulted her. “I’ve absorbed most of what was left in her system. She may be sterile for a little while longer, but it will not be long and she will be good as new.”
“Sterile?”
Alexa waved her hand over Olivia’s sleeping form. “Those poisons. They are doing to Olivia what your mother intended for them to do to her own body, at least until they dissipate entirely.”
For the first time since their relationship had deepened, Tanner realized the two of them had been sleeping together exceedingly often—without any form of protection against pregnancy. The thought of Olivia becoming pregnant with his pup hadn’t even occurred to him. He had been too damn eager just to couple with her, consequences be damned.
Now that he was thinking about it, he absorbed Alexa’s words and felt oddly deflated. It was a strange feeling for a man who never intended to procreate in the first place. He should feel relieved they hadn’t accidentally created a pup together. Instead, he felt an odd sadness for the pup that never was.
There was a sharp knock on the outer door, and Alexa excused herself to answer it. When she returned to the bedchamber, the large blond lightbearer named Jake trailed behind her. Tanner had been surprised that Jake allowed Alexa to be alone in the chamber with him, based solely on the way he constantly hovered protectively around her. But shortly after they’d arrived at the beach house, another guard appeared and informed Jake that the king wished to speak to him, and after a whispered conversation with Alexa, he’d left Alexa and Tanner alone with the sleeping princess.
Jake paused in the entry and took his time sizing up Tanner before stating, “The king demands an audience, shifter.”
Tanner considered telling him to go fuck himself. He wasn’t a lightbearer, hell he wasn’t even part of a pack anymore. He answered to no one.
Then his eyes slid to the petite sleeping form, curled up under the blankets on the giant four-poster bed where just a few days ago, he’d almost taken her to mate. If he truly intended to mate with the princess of the lightbearers, he probably ought to try to develop a friendly relationship with her father. He turned back to the lightbearer and steadily watched him for a few moments. When Jake did not flinch, Tanner finally nodded once and Jake turned and led him from the chamber.
The beach house was a massive, sprawling structure designed with a great many windows and a lot of polished wood. The entire second level was comprised of bedrooms, leading Tanner to suspect that prior to the current king, the lightbearers were likely more prolific with their procreating. Since they’d cut themselves off from all other magical beings and they had nothing to do with humans, there was certainly no reason for guest rooms.
The first level was divided into a variety of overlarge rooms, including a suite of rooms that were all part of the kitchen. Olivia told him it was managed by an entire staff of cooks and servants. The dining room opened onto the wooden deck that overlooked the cliff and the lake beyond and even without the outdoor seating, could easily seat twenty or thirty for dinner. There was an entertainment parlor, also with access to the outdoor deck, and a massive entry hall that could double as a cocktail reception area. There were numerous other, smaller rooms, including the library that was his and Jake’s final destination.
The library was stuffed to capacity with books, with the exception of one wall that was comprised of two floor-to-ceiling windows that afforded the room the sunlight the lightbearers required to sustain themselves. A handsome cherrywood desk was positioned in one corner, facing both the door and the windows. A man, presumably the king, sat in a chair behind the desk.
When Tanner entered, the man’s head was bowed over a leather-bound ledger, a pen poised in his hand. He looked up sharply and Tanner saw the resemblance between father and daughter. He paused just inside the door while the king swiftly closed the ledger and slid it to the side.
He invited Tanner to sit in one of the two wingback chairs facing the desk. Tanner walked into the room and folded himself into the chair. The king fidgeted with the pen.
He’s nervous. Tanner wondered why. Was it simply his presence? He decided that could very well be it. Everyone to whom he’d spoken had assured him that shifters had never before stepped foot into the coterie. Nor, as far as he was aware, had the king of the lightbearers ever stepped foot outside of the coterie.
“I am Sander Bennett, king of the lightbearers.” The king finally spoke in an unnaturally loud voice that reverberated uncomfortably around the small room. He lifted his eyes and tried to maintain eye contact but swiftly dropped his gaze again.
Tanner was not, as of yet, terribly impressed by the king of the lightbearers. His daughter has more backbone than he does.
“Tanner Lyons,” he responded.
Sander nodded, his eyes looking everywhere but directly at Tanner, who sat patiently and waited for the man to finally get around to whatever he meant to say.
“I understand my daughter is going to be fine,” Sander said after much throat clearing.
“So the healer says,” Tanner responded.
“Alexa,” the king said with a nod. “She is the best healer we’ve seen in a century, probably more.” He paused and twirled the pen in his hand for so long that Tanner had the urge to reach across the desk and snatch it away, but he resisted.
“Even so, as I understand the story, Alexa would not have been able to save her, had you not interfered on my daughter’s behalf.”
Tanner sharpened his gaze. The king was finally getting around to the purpose of this meeting.
“I am told you healed her. That you have magic, like the lightbearers.”
Tanner wondered how much to tell the man. He had to tread carefully, if he intended to convince the man to let him take his daughter to mate.
“I was able to keep her alive until the healer arrived,” he said evenly.
Sander’s pallor turned white. Tanner wondered if the man would pass out.
“Yes, well…thank you.” Sander cleared his throat several more times. His eyes strayed to the ledger resting near his elbow.
“I, ah…It would seem I owe you a debt of gratitude,” Sander finally managed to get out. His gaze darted to the ledger and back to Tanner. He was sweating profusely.
Tanner’s eyes also moved to the ledger as he contemplated Sander’s words. He guessed that the king had been analyzing the kingdom’s finances.
Does he think I plan to ask for money?
No wonder he was sweating. Tanner could name his price right now. He’d saved the king’s one and only daughter. The man’s only means to keeping control of the lightbearer kingdom within his own family. Tanner could be set for life. All he had to do was ask.
Give me your daughter and the debt is forgiven.
It was on the tip of his tongue. He wanted to say it. He didn’t care about the money. He just wanted Olivia. He repeated the words in his head several times. He even opened his mouth, as if he meant to force the words out.
“Let the shifters stay. As guests, not as prisoners. Just until I can find a new pack to take them in.”
It was hard to say which man was more surprised by Tanner’s words. Sander stared at him, bemused. Tanner stared back, confused.
It would appear that Tanner was a pack master after all.