Feral Magic by Robin D. Owens Page A

protecting the baby.
    His hand blurred and when he opened his fingers, there was another gold link on his palm.
    "I will pay you for the items you purchased for me and Favel."  Dak tilted his head toward the sturdy playpen.  "And our food."
    Brandy stepped back.  "I think the first link you gave me is sufficient."  And easier to explain.
    His intent gaze burned as she met his eyes.  "You have taken much trouble with us.  I have not seen you work."
    Her turn to shrug.  "I work on the machine in the office.  My hours are flexible."  But she did have deadlines coming up.  She'd have to pull long days if she wanted to meet them.  Her clients depended on her.
    He took her hand, kissed the cup of her palm, set the gold in it.  "Let me help, give you something more solid than my affections."
    She smiled.  "You've given me promises that I think are more valuable than gold and that I know you would never break."
    He blinked as if in astonishment, inclined his head.  "That is true.  But I will not be here to keep them."
    "They are good memories."  She opened her arms wide.  "All of this is.  You...helped me."
    "How?"
    She should have anticipated that.  She stiffened, swallowed, kept her stare locked with his.  "I had a man go to war.  He didn't return."
    His face went stony, shadows of grief passed in his own eyes.  "I am sorry."
    "So am I."  Another breath.  "I hadn't been physically intimate with a man since I lost him."  Now her smile wobbled.  "You helped me know that I have moved past the deepest mourning."
    He nodded.
    There came a little thud and they both turned.  Favel pushed up to his hands and knees – then wavered.
    "Don't let him change!  We can't be seen with a black panther cub in the car!"
    Dak whisked the baby into his arms, spoke words in a liquid language.  Favel cried, but stopped shimmering.  His golden glow smoldered with a touch of red
    Want to be CAT.  Want to PLAY.  Want my fur and my tail!
    Another soothing sentence from Dak, then he glanced toward the window.  "The moon has set.  The cub is cranky."  His gaze bored into her.  "Can we leave within one of your hour units?  Very soon is best."
    "Yes," she said.  "I'll shower and dress.  Make it fast."  She went into the kitchen to grab another cup of coffee.
    When she came out, she stared at the wickedly sharp knives laid out on the dining room table.  "You can't be seen with those!"
    "I won't be." He didn't even glance at her as he began stashing them around his person, a couple in his boots, one up each of his sleeves, one stuck in a hidden sheath in his thigh. 
    "Can't you, um, just pull them out of your, uh, personal aura storage?"
    "That takes a couple of seconds I might not have.  We must be prepared for Bretine."  He glanced at Brandy and gave her a scary smile.  "I noticed that your guards carried something that appeared to be projectile weapons?"
    "Guns, yes.  They fire bullets.  Ah, small projectiles of mostly lead, I think."  Obviously she should have been watching more of those crime shows.
    He clicked his tongue and frowned.  "There's no honor in that."
    She stared at him doubtfully, then shook her head.  The pantherman was accustomed to fighting in cat form – always up close and personal.
    There came an almost audible thud in her mind.  She had a weapon, too: one that she'd completely forgotten.  She didn't like firearms and only an extreme situation would force her to use one, but she figured two panthers and a tiger might do it.
    "I'll be down as quickly as I can," she said.
    While Dak and Favel got ready, Brandy went to the darkest corner of her walk-in closet and pulled down the box that Ross had left.  She took out his taser.  The weapon felt funny in her hand, though in the first flush of infatuation with Ross she'd practiced with it – and with a gun at a shooting range.  She hadn't kept his gun, gave it to a friend.
    The taser's charge was low, but still easily within the expiration