Liam Takes Manhattan (Elder Races #9.5)

He wished he had friends, because he could sure use a friend to talk to right now. But there was nobody. His last bunch of friends were years behind him in age and development. He had left them far behind with this latest growth spurt, and they wouldn’t be looking at going to college for years.

He’d had a good talk with Hugh, but Hugh was like an uncle. Hugh could offer good advice, but he couldn’t empathize with where Liam was at. Because nobody was where Liam was at. He was surrounded by people who loved him, yet he had never felt lonelier.

Everything felt at once too big and yet too restrictive. His chest constricted, and he couldn’t breathe as the wide, wild world crushed down on him.

A woman bent over the gate beside him and held a long-fingered, tawny hand out to one of the puppies. She asked, “Which one are you going to pick?”

Liam paused, puzzled. He hadn’t heard anyone come in through the glass door. He must have been more preoccupied with the puppies than he had realized.

“I’m just visiting with them,” he said in a choked voice. “I can’t actually have one.”

“Of course you can have one.” The woman scratched the puppy behind its ear, and it sat down, lifted its head to her and closed its eyes in bliss.

It was an odd thing to say to a total stranger. Liam gave her a sidelong, wary glance. The woman was dressed in a long black and gold tunic and black trousers, and thick gold bangles dangled at her wrists. As they both were leaning over the gate, he couldn’t see much of her face, just a strong, high cheekbone and the graceful curve of her jaw.

It was hard to tell from such a position, but her body was long and muscled, and she looked as though she might be as tall as he was. Tawny hair curled down her back, as wild and untamed as a lion’s mane.

“No, I really can’t,” he told her, leaning his elbows on the gate. “I might be going away to college soon.”

“And you can’t have a puppy while you’re in college?”

Taken aback, he muttered, “Well, I—I guess I don’t know. I hadn’t really thought about it. I was sort of expecting that I might be staying in a dorm. If I get to go at all. Right now, my whole life feels like a blank page.”

The woman picked up the puppy she had been petting. It wriggled happily in her hands, and she kissed its nose. “If your life is a blank page, that only means you have room to write your story. You have the power to tell that story the way you want to. I agree, staying in a dorm wouldn’t be possible with a puppy. But if you stayed in an apartment, you could have one—that is, if you really wanted one. After all, young Cuelebre, it isn’t as though your family can’t afford to put you up in an apartment.”

The walls seemed to reverberate with her words.

Young Cuelebre, she had said. Somehow this strange woman knew who he was. His hackles rose. Compulsively he scanned her for magic, or any other hint of Power.

There was nothing. Sucking in a breath, he tried to catch her scent.

All he could smell was the overwhelming, earthy smell of puppies that were too young to be housebroken.

Staring at the stranger’s profile, he whispered, “How do you know to say that name?”





Chapter Five





The woman didn’t turn to face him. He watched the corner of her full mouth lift into a smile as the puppy in her cradling hands curled into a ball and fell asleep. “Everyone knows that name, young Cuelebre. Isn’t that why you are willing to travel halfway across the world to get away from it?”

He hissed, “Who are you?”

“That doesn’t matter,” she said, dismissing his question with a shrug. “All that really matters is that everything does depend on what you want. If you want a puppy badly enough, you’ll do whatever it takes to have one, and you’ll fight to keep it.”

As she spoke, he looked around wildly for any clues as to her identity. His gaze fell to the border of her tunic. Lions were embroidered along the bottom.

His pulse pounded in his ears. Slowly, he said, “You’re wearing lions. Inanna, the goddess of Love, always has lions.”

“Fitting, don’t you think?” She stroked the puppy’s forehead with a long, tapered forefinger. “So many people think love is an emotion. I love you, they say, and that is supposed to excuse all their bad behaviors and elevate them to a higher level just because they happen to feel something. That isn’t love; it’s an excuse. Love is like a lion. It’s fierce and strong. It conquers fear and uncertainties, and it knows how to fight. Love fights to win and keep its mate, to do the right thing, to give to others in service, no matter what the cost. ‘Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.’”

The scene blurred as tears filled Liam’s eyes. He swiped at his nose. “That sounds like a quote.”

“It is a quote,” said the woman. “It’s attributed to the man whose birthday is celebrated all over the world every December. Your sentinel Constantine knew of it. That man might have been a mess, but he knew how to love.”