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glad that she was drunk when the guards struck her again.
    A low rumble came to her, and she grimaced. “This isn’t going to be good for you, scooter.”
    Xeric appeared in mid-run. He was fearsome, deadly and hotter than she had ever seen him. The leather shirt was a thing of the past, and his torso was exposed to her drunken and fascinated gaze.
    Guards went flying, and the prince was pinned to the wall by Xeric’s antlers. “Do not touch my woman.”
    “She is mine, Hirn. I bought her.” It was said on a gasp, blood seeped from the contact points.
    “She is mine, Tival, she was promised to me.” Xeric’s hands slowly throttled the prince until he drooped against the wall.
    Shaking his head, he freed his antlers from the prince.
    “Orpheus had better be on his way. I will not stand by while they hurt you.” He lifted her to her feet and slung her into his arms.
    She turned her head and spit out blood from the last kick of the guards. “I think they loosened a tooth.”
    A flash of light and they were back Home. Xeric sent warmth through her body and she felt the bruises recede.
    “That is a neat trick.”
    He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I cannot bear to see you injured. Why did you strike him?”
    She blinked and looked at him in surprise. “How drunk am I?”
    His smile became sheepish. “Ah, right. So, you like to pick fights when drunk?”
    She grinned. “Apparently.”
    “I believe you need a nap.”
    She belched, “It might be a good idea. A glass or three of water would be good too. What was I drinking?”
    “I have no idea. I only know that it smells horrid and seems to have killed your pheromones.”
    Orphia chuckled weakly. “So, that is the trick. I wondered why my body went nuts when I first saw you. Or smelled you, I am not sure what came first.”
    His smile was triumphant. “I see.”
    “And when the Orb came inside, my body reacted even more violently.”
    “So, something within you woke.”
    Her grin was beatific, “Apparently.”
    She was going to continue her observations, but she was sleepy. It would keep. Xeric would watch over her while she slept.
    Waking surrounded by green and the scent of the forest felt right. The pounding in her head was very, very wrong.
    A glass of water was sitting on a table next to the bed, and she slugged it down without thinking. The moisture was welcome, but now that she was awake, she could have sworn that there should have been a Hirn nearby.
    “Xeric?” The disaster of chain and scraps of fabric was gone, but the marks were still in sensitive areas.
    “In the dining area. How are you feeling?” He poked his head around the corner and grinned. “That good, huh?”
    She was still naked, but he seemed far more amused than aroused. Sighing, she realized that she might have missed her chance with him. Mind you, seducing a man while you were wasted on who-knows-what was never a good idea.
    The apartment that they were in was one large floor. A mirror was a centrepiece along one wall, and the view out the surrounding balcony took in all of the buildings that the Nameless called Home.
    “I don’t remember this view from the buildings that we were walking through.” Her voice was hoarse.
    He brought her a cup of hot tea. “That is because we are in the tower. The council objected to you interfering in your own bloodline.”
    She blinked and sat on a low chair, sipping at the tea with honey. “What do you mean?”
    “Inga and Orpheus are in your bloodline. It is probably why I respond so strongly to you, you have the marks of a Hirn within you.”
    She remained quiet as she sipped her tea. “Inga looks like my grandmother, or rather, my grandmother looked like Inga.” She frowned. “Tenses are hard.”
    “You have just found out that a race alien to your own runs through your veins, and you are worried about grammar? Ah, Orphia, you are one of a kind.”
    Orphia looked up at the man whose very nearness set her heart pounding in more