Dark Warrior Untamed (7 page)

The Viking smiled back. “Liked that, did you?”

“Yes, sir, I did. Thank you.” This time the respect came easily, especially because he felt better than he had in a long, long time.

Ranulf tossed him a towel. “I’ve taught a lot of recruits over the years, Sean. Most do all right with enough practice, but only a few show a real gift for it. I suspect you’re one of the latter.”

“Really?” Sean asked hopefully.

“Really,” Ranulf echoed. “One thing, though. Your buddy Sandor really sucks at blades, so you’ll have to work with me.”

Sam didn’t hesitate. “That would be totally sick!”

Another voice chimed in. “That means he likes the idea, Ranulf.”

Neither of them had noticed Sandor come in. On second thought, considering Ranulf’s snarky comment about Sandor’s swordsmanship, the Viking had probably been well aware of Sandor coming down the stairs.

“Don’t forget that modern English can be a bit of struggle for our ancient friend here.” Sandor winked at Sean, and added, “Especially considering he was around when Middle English was all the latest rage.”

“Go to hell, Sandor,” Ranulf snarled as he cuffed Sean on the shoulder for snickering. “As for you, recruit, remember, I can make your training challenging or I can make it damn challenging. Got that?”

Sean rubbed his shoulder but couldn’t help laughing. “Yes, sir! I got that, sir!”

“Smart ass.”

“Yes, sir, I am.” Sean danced back out of reach before Ranulf could smack him again. “Now, I’ll get back to my weights.”

Ranulf disappeared into the shower room while Sandor trailed after Sean. “I wanted to apologize again for missing our appointment.”

“No sweat.” This time Sean meant it.

“Good. For now, I need to borrow Ranulf. When you’re done with your routine, get showered and then find Kerry and get a hit of energy. You’ll need it.”

“Will do.”

As Sean lifted weights, he noticed Sandor pacing while he waited for Ranulf. He also kept checking his
watch and frowning. What had him on edge? Something to do with Lena? Sean hoped not. He liked her, and she obviously made Sandor happy.

Finally, Ranulf came out, back in his usual jeans and T-shirt. Sandor pulled him to the side and started talking fast and low. Sean couldn’t make out what he was saying, but whatever it was had Ranulf frowning big time.

As they walked by, he thought he heard Sandor mention Grey Danby’s name. What was going on with that guy that had Sandor so upset? Whatever it was must be big because Ranulf muttered a string of cusswords as he climbed the stairs two at a time.

Sean stared after the departing Talions. So he’d been right about Danby being a problem. Well, he’d keep an eye on the man from now on. Sean might not be a Talion warrior—not yet anyway—but he had street smarts. Whatever the guy was up to, he wasn’t going to get away with it. These people had been good to Sean and his friends, giving them the first real home any of them known in years. He wasn’t about to let some uptight jerk screw that up.

Grey’s cell phone lit up and started vibrating. One glance at the number on the screen and he knew he wouldn’t answer it. The last thing he needed right now was to listen to Harcourt’s long list of demands. Grey had bigger problems right now than an aristocrat with aspirations to greatness.

The phone went silent for a grand total of ten seconds
before starting up again. Obviously Harcourt was in no mood to leave a message, and he couldn’t rant and rave nearly as well in an e-mail. Grey stuffed the phone in his top desk drawer and kept working.

He hadn’t sent that damn e-mail no matter what the record showed. Sandor tried to act as if he’d believed Grey, but then he’d gone off looking for Ranulf. Grey had no idea what Sandor thought.

The real question, of course, was who
did
send the e-mail? And why to Piper Ryan? Was the threat directed at her? He pulled her file out of the drawer and started through it again, this time looking for any hint of trouble in her past.

There wasn’t much to find. Maybe the gaps in her history
were
legitimate, but in light of the e-mail, Grey wasn’t willing to take the chance. The missing bits and pieces might add up to a security risk for the Dame and her entire household.

Grey shot off an e-mail to an investigator he knew and asked him to dig into Piper’s past with the biggest shovel he owned. Remembering the man’s talent for ferreting out a person’s deepest, darkest secrets, Grey knew he’d have his answers about Piper soon.

Damn, the phone was buzzing again. The drawer only muffled the sound, and Harcourt was self-centered enough to keep calling until Grey answered.

Might as well get it over with. Grey yanked the drawer open. Maybe he could get some real work down while the man ranted.

“Yes, Harcourt, what is it now?”

The man sputtered at Grey’s response. “It’s about
time you answered, Danby. I’m still waiting for that report you promised me.”

Grey closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Harcourt, I made no such promise. You
demanded
that I keep you informed. If, and only if, something comes up that affects you, I’ll let you know. And I won’t even do that much if it betrays my oath to Dame Kerry.”

“She has no business being Dame.”

Grey was tired of hearing the same old litany from the elitist bastard. “That doesn’t change the facts, does it? Judith chose her to rule the Kyth and provided her with the knowledge to do so. You may not like it, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Now leave me alone and let me get back to work.”

“Yes, well, we’ll see how long you manage to keep that job.”

When the phone went blessedly silent, Grey hit the power button to turn it off. If anyone else wanted to talk to him, they could leave a message. He’d had enough for one day.

“Grey?”

He looked up from his laptop to see Kerry standing in the doorway. Crap, had she heard any of that? He hoped not, but she was good at hiding her thoughts. Force of habit made him rising to his feet, but he managed to stop short of bowing. Casual was definitely not his strong suit.

His Dame shook her head and sighed. “I don’t mean to drive you crazy, Grey. I figure I’ll get used to being bowed to about the time you get used to not
doing it.”

Her rueful smile matched his own. “It’ll prove interesting to see which one of us wins that particular race.”

Grey laughed. “That it will. Was there something you needed?”

“Not really. I just wanted to let you know that dinner is ready.” She held up her hand before he could protest. “And yes, I know it’s Hughes’s job to announce it, but I wanted to see if anything came of that e-mail Piper got.”

“No, no viruses.”

“That’s good. I’m glad you were here to handle it for us.”

Grey followed her out the door, noting that she accepted his assessment at face value. He wondered if Sandor and Ranulf were as trusting. Well, there was nothing he could do about it now except wait to see what happened next.

The two of them were the last to arrive to dinner. Sandor and Lena were on the far side of the table with Sean beside them. Ranulf was at the foot of the table and Kerry took her place at the head, leaving Grey the one remaining seat next to Tara and Kenny.

Hughes must have been hovering in the other doorway because by the time they were all seated, he was already carrying the food to the table. As the various platters made their way around, Grey noticed that Sean was watching his every move. It was easy to sense the boy’s hostility, but he wondered about the reason for it.

Grey waited until everyone else was listening to Lena talk about her plans to find a job and then met Sean’s glare head on. Talions might wear a thin veneer of civilized behavior, but they were all predators at heart. And Grey wouldn’t look away until the kid either blinked or backed off. It didn’t take long.

Sean obviously didn’t like it, not one bit. Too bad. The last thing Grey wanted was some punk challenging his authority. The only downside was that Sandor had picked up on the exchange. Damn it, now Sandor would think Grey was picking on his protégé, but the dinner table wasn’t the place for explanations. It would have to wait.

Piper had hoped to beat Grey to work again, but his car was already parked in front of the house when the bus dropped her off. Despite her aggravation with him yesterday, she’d concentrated on studying enough to feel confident about her test. But once she no longer had that to keep her distracted, she kept returning to Grey’s parting shot as she’d left his car.

How long had he been plotting that particular move? Probably since that first morning when he’d walked into the office and realized he was going to have share his space with her. If he’d asked her over lunch, she would’ve figured he was only making polite conversation. But no, he’d pounced when she’d least expected it, trying to startle her into revealing some mysterious deep, dark secret.

And he was right. She definitely had one.

Darn the man anyway. She’d just started to like Grey and now she didn’t know how to act around him. Was he that suspicious of everyone, or was it just her? And if it
was
her, what had she done to set off alarms? She’d have to be more careful.

Inside, she went in search of Kerry, ostensibly to see if she had anything in particular for Piper to do. It was cowardly and Piper knew she was really just postponing the inevitable. She’d have to face Grey eventually.

Kerry was mumbling to herself and shuffling through a stack of files at her makeshift desk in the dining room. She looked up and smiled when Piper walked in. “Hey, there. Seriously, I cannot wait until our offices are done. Keeping track of stuff in this mess is almost impossible.”

Piper understood her frustration. “Would it be better if I worked out here and you shared the office with Grey?”

“No, that’s okay. I just misplaced something—again. So how did your test go?” It was just like Kerry to remember something Piper had only mentioned in passing the week before.

She held up her crossed fingers. “I’d say I aced it, but I don’t want to jinx anything. The teacher promised to have the grades posted by the end of the week, so I’ll be on pins and needles until then.”

“Any luck finding my husband mentioned anywhere?” Kerry asked in a low voice, her smile wicked.

“Not so far, but I’ll keep looking,” Piper whispered
back.

“Too bad they didn’t have cameras back when he was a young man. Thanks to Judith’s memories, I know exactly what he looked like as a Viking warrior. It’s enough to make a woman swoon.” Kerry fanned herself with her hand, laughing the whole time.

The new Dame’s ability to accept all the weirdness that had become part of her everyday life was one of things Piper liked most about her. After all, how many women had to deal with a husband who had a thousand years under his belt before they’d even met?

“I still think he should write a book. You know, something like
My Life in the Long Boats and Beyond.”

Kerry added her own suggestion. “Better yet,
How to Pillage for Profit
!”

“Okay, you two.” Ranulf appeared in the doorway, glaring at his unrepentant wife and then at Piper. Despite the frown, his eyes were twinkling.

“A word to the wise, Piper. I have enough trouble with Kerry wanting me to teach her Old Norse and sword fighting. I don’t need you encouraging her.”

“Yes, sir. Of course, sir.” She couldn’t resist tweaking him a little bit more. “So I guess that means interviewing you and posting it on Youtube is out of the question?”

He stared up at the ceiling as if seeking divine intervention. “I swear, sacking a village was less trouble than dealing with the two of you when you get together.”

“Hey!” Piper said, holding her hand up in protest.
“At least I wasn’t the one who wanted to drag you on
Antiques
Roadshow
to see what a thousand-year-old Viking was worth. That was your wife!”

Kerry feigned shock. “I just wanted to know how much to insure him for!”

“Very funny.” Ranulf held out a hand to his wife. “It’s time for our morning break. Hughes is bringing tea and scones to our quarters.”

“You go ahead. I’ll be there in a second.” Kerry turned back to Piper. “Is there anything else or are we done here?”

Piper ran her finger down the list of notes Kerry had made earlier. “Yep, looks like everything is caught up for now.”

“Great. Let me know if you run into any problems.”

After Kerry disappeared down the hall, Piper picked up her files. When she turned to head for the office, Grey stood in the hallway. He was staring in the direction of the Thorsens’ private quarters with an odd look on his face.

What was he thinking about so hard? Did he disapprove of the hired help teasing the Dame and her Consort? Or that Kerry and Ranulf took time out of their day to enjoy each other? Somehow, she didn’t think that was it, at least not exactly. He looked almost … envious, as if he’d wanted to join in the banter but wasn’t sure if he’d be welcome.

His expression changed so abruptly when he noticed her that she had to wonder if she’d read his mood correctly after all. Those blue eyes zeroed in on her, knocking all thoughts of Ranulf and Kerry out of
her mind. His gaze was like a caress, brushing against her skin and leaving a burning awareness in its wake.

“I want to talk to you about what happened yesterday.” Without waiting for her to respond, he turned the corner, presumably heading to their office.

She did
not
want to discuss why it was important for her to work for Kerry. She had her reasons, but it was nobody’s business. And she’d tell Grey just that if he tried to force the issue. She could always ask Kerry if she could work at the other half of the dining room table, but that would only bring on more awkward questions. She didn’t want to cause problems just because Grey was doing his job.

Taking a deep breath, she braced herself and walked into the office. She dropped her stuff on the desk and ignored him for a couple of minutes while she settled in. Finally, she ran out of excuses.

“So what’s up?”

Grey closed whatever file he’d been reading before answering. “Sandor and I spent hours tracing down that e-mail you got yesterday. I wanted you to know that we’d both been in your files. It took a while, but Sandor finally managed to find it.”