Wolf Song (Wolf Singer Prophecies Book 1)
names. It was always "You can call me..." with them.I had no illusions that Remy was any sweeter simply because his accent was closer to mine. Where the others had the clean antiseptic sound of something out of a lab or governmental facility, Remy’s was that unhurried flavor of slow moving molasses.
"Remy, is it?" I said, testing his name.
"Yes ma'am. You all right with me calling you, Soleil?"
I nearly laughed, since it was my name, but I shrugged. "Sure. I'll answer to anything that's nice." And then I moved along. They might be all right with just shooting the breeze but I had chores to do.
I skipped down the stairs and my feet took me to the practiced path of my normal routine. The shed, the coop, the barn, and then back to the house. I didn't really care what they were doing even though every now and again I felt watchful eyes on me.
Had those eyes always been there? Was I only feeling them now because I was aware of them?
Once I finished my rounds, I gathered the best eggs from the chicken coop. I felt like making a big damn omelet this morning.
Creed
Vin turned toward me, arms crossed against his massive chest. "So, what the hell, Boss? You trying to block her from me?"
I didn’t let my second get away with that tone. I stared him straight in the eyes until he looked away. Vin may be bigger, but we both knew who was stronger in the end. "You know I wouldn’t. And what the fuck you playing at, trying to call her by her name."
Vin scowled, which was his version of pouting. "You call her by her name."
I rolled my eyes and shifted my weight away from them. I preferred watching Soleil anyway as she walked around her little farm. It made me happy seeing her happy, especially since we wouldn't be making her happy for too long.
Remy sidled up to me, leaning against a post. "So how you gonna think of telling her about her past and her perfect dad whom she loves."
"I was just gonna tell her the truth."
Remy snorted. "You damn near had an aneurysm trying to tell her the truth last night."
"I don't need to be reminded, thanks." It was really annoying to know that the proscription against talking about AEGIS extended to even mentioning them. The only way I was able to talk about it at all was through that story. And who knows how much of the nuance Soleil understood there.
"Well, at least we know that you can help her sleep at night," Remy teased.
"You better believe that's right."
What was supposed to be light-hearted turned into a near challenge as Remy's eyes blurred to a silver shine. "And what if I decided to help her that way, too, Creed? You gonna stop me?"
Vin grumbled. "I'll stop the both of ya." His eyes flashed red for one moment before calming down to his usual brown. "What do you think she's thinking of anyway, Boss? Seems to be taking it all in stride, yeah?"
I followed Vin's gaze. I didn't have to hear her to know that Soleil was humming as she threw the bird feed onto the ground for the chickens. I wondered how aware she was that she hummed. How she would react when she learned how important to the world her singing was.
"She's thinking that the routine would calm her nerves and would help her forget that there are now strangers in her home where there had only been her dad and ma."
Remy flinched at that, but said nothing, merely nodded before stalking off. Whatever thoughts he might have had were muted and subdued now. Good. There was no need to butt heads regarding Soleil. It wasn't like we had any plans aside from keeping her alive.
The fact that she let me lay in her bed was a delightful memory.
~Would you control your thoughts, Creed? Remy is pissed off enough as it is.~ Osiris’ quiet voice broke through. I looked for him, but as always, he remained hidden.
~Apologies, I don't mean for it to happen.~
~Well, ‘don't mean for it’ even harder. It's annoying enough to hear him complain that you got to be rewarded for breaking the rules and showing yourself to her before due time.~
Osiris spoke truth, but I still chafed under it. ~Broke the rules? We were able to break our cover when she got in trouble, or right before. If she had fired that gun, all manner of evil would have descended upon her head.~
Vin rolled his eyes. "I will not argue any more on that score." He massaged the back of his neck.
Whatever. They were being obtuse and stubborn. I did hide the pleasure I felt when she ran her fingers through my fur while she slept. It made me feel good to know that she sought me for comfort and found it.
We watched in silence for a moment, and then she was on her way back inside, headed toward the back of the house. She looked very determined all of the sudden.
We trailed after her.
Soleil went into what she called the mud room, took off the work boots she used, and slipped into a different pair of house shoes. I opened the door for her and she was indeed humming, her voice sultry, smooth, and silky. It was as if it wrapped around me.
Without even thinking, she handed her basket over to Vin and went straight to the sink to wash her hands. Then she took her basket back and started sorting out the eggs.
I watched, fascinated as she separated the eggs, leaving the ones that she didn't want to use in a bowl. She handed Vin the empty basket and he stared at it like it might bite. Remy finally grabbed it and set it on a little table that I hadn't noticed in the mudroom.
When I would have asked how he knew it was there, he gave me a look that said,