Fire Kin by M.J. Scott Page B

heart.”
    â€œTemplars aren’t celibate.”
    I couldn’t deny that. “No, but he’s very young.”
    â€œNot that young. Not after whatever did that to his arm.”
    â€œHe didn’t tell you?”
    She hitched a shoulder, ran a hand down the gelding’s neck as though testing if his hide was smooth enough for her satisfaction. “Didn’t ask. He’ll tell me if he wants to.”
    I’d seen Liam with his shirt off just once while we’d traveled to the City. There was a jagged scar made up of four parallel lines across his torso, angling down from his missing arm. If I were any judge, it was a Beast who’d torn him up, but I’d let Rhian discover that for herself.
    â€œIs there anything you need me to decide right now?” I cast my mind back over the stream of details she and Charles had spouted at me earlier. “We need to get the billeting worked out today.”
    Rhian ducked around the gray and started work on his other side. “You need to think about where you want them. There are some empty buildings nearer to the border we can take over for lodgings and supplies if we need them.” She twisted her head toward me. “Not sure how close you want to be to the front line, so to speak. There are other options. The Brother House has room to house a few patrols we could rotate through. And Liam was going to show me through their storerooms today, see what room there is for our supplies and figure out what extras need to be laid in.”
    If it came down to outright war, then being camped right near the edge of human territory wasn’t the smartest move. Then again, the Templars were paying us for a show of force. And inside the City was safer than camped on the outskirts. We hadn’t had any trouble yet, but if the Night World chose to go on the offensive, then sleeping in open space at night would just make my men sitting ducks.
    â€œPut half the men near the border,” I said. “Enough not to make them an easy target. We’ll rotate through the patrols there and at the Brother House and wherever else they can put us.”
    Bryony had mentioned tunnels to the hospital. If the humans were smart, they would’ve built extra rooms and storage when they laid the tunnels. “There may be room at St. Giles,” I added.
    â€œNear your pretty friend?” She smirked at me. “Convenient.”
    I rolled my eyes at her. “Don’t let Lady Bryony hear you say that. She might turn you into a frog.”
    Rhian’s eyebrows shot up. “Can she do that?”
    I grinned. “She’s a healer. They can make bodies do all sorts of interesting things.” Wait—that sounded wrong.
    Rhian obviously agreed, her smirk returning. “Well, now, I’m sure I wouldn’t know about that. But apparently you do.”
    â€œRemind me again why I keep you on?”
    â€œBecause I’m better at my job than any of the others,” she said. “Plus, I’m more decorative than Charles.” She held out a hand, squinted down at the pattern spiraling across the back of it with a considering eye. “This needs more work.”
    â€œThere are sigilers in the City.”
    â€œGood ones?”
    â€œAsk around. You’ll find out. When I was here last, there were definitely some sigilers from the Silk Provinces working here.”
    Her eyes lit up. “They do good work.”
    â€œThat’s your department. Just don’t do anything that’s going to put you out of action. The situation around here is chancy. It’s going to go up in flames at some point, despite what the humans want. We need to be ready.”
    â€œLiam said the Blood lord gaining power is bad news.”
    â€œBlood lords often are.” I’d never led a campaign against the Blood before. The odd rogue Beast Kind, and definitely some other strange beasts, including a truly unnerving battle