Page 330 of Primal Bonds

The rest of the day dragged on, the only excitement coming when they had to rescue a human fisherman who’d fallen into the icy river. Rosana steadied his boat while Chico shifted to human and heaved the half-frozen man back onto its shallow deck. They pushed him back to a Grace Harbor marina and then returned to Rock Run, where she left Chico at the operations room to make their report to the tenente.

As Rosana headed back to her quarters, Chico’s mate Jenny waved from the other end of the stone corridor. “Hey, girl! I’ve been looking all over for you.”

Rosana smiled and waved back. The two of them had become good friends in the year and a half since the human had moved into the base. “What’s up?”

“I want to know what you think about that piece I’m making for Lady Olivia.” Jenny’s jewelry was rapidly becoming famous in both the human and magical worlds, but she’d been shocked—and flattered—when Lady Olivia, Cleia’s intimidating older cousin, had commissioned a pendant.

“Sure.” Rosana fell in beside the human. Anything to take her mind off Adric and the mysterious wolf fada.

“And you can tell me all about your trip to Lewes.” Jenny’s grin was knowing. “You met him, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.” Rosana grimaced. “Someday, I’ll tell you all about it. But not today, okay?”

“That bad?”

“Worse.”

Jenny shook her head, sending her long black braid dancing. “Men are asses. Except when they aren’t.”

“Yeah. The thing was, it was…incredible. Except when it wasn’t.”

They exchanged a look and burst out laughing. Maybe Rosana’s laughter was edged with pain, but it still felt good.

“Just keep it quiet, okay? I’d rather not get into it with my brothers.”

Jenny traced an X on her chest. “Cross my heart.”

“Rosana, Jenny—wait for me!” It was Merry Jones. They halted as she loped down the hall toward them.

Rosana still recalled the night Rui do Mar had brought the orphaned earth fada back to Rock Run. She’d been all big eyes in a narrow, sharp-chinned face, her body too thin, her arms and legs brown sticks. At fourteen, she’d filled out some, but she was still skinny, with long legs and a lanky, boyish body.

Merry bumped her shoulder against Rosana’s. “What’cha doin’?”

“Going to Jenny’s.”

“Can I come? Please?”

“Sure.” Jenny slung an arm around the teen’s slim shoulders. “I could use your opinion, too. You have an artist’s eye.” Jenny had been teaching Merry basic jewelry-making techniques.

“You think?” Her thin, mobile face lit up.

“Yep. In fact, I think you’re ready to start that bracelet for your mama.”

“Seriously? I can give it to her for her birthday.”

Jenny’s big gray tabby was waiting on a ledge near her apartment. He leapt off the ledge and brushed between Merry’s legs, meowing in welcome. Merry’s animal was a jaguar, and Max had apparently decided that as the only other feline at Rock Run, she was a kindred spirit.

“There’s my sweetie.” Merry scooped up the cat and rubbed her face against his. He butted his head into the space between her jaw and throat, purring loudly.

Jenny chuckled. “I swear that cat is crushing on you.”

The teenager gave one of her rare, slow smiles. “Well, I love him, too. He’s a handsome cat, aren’t you, meu querido?” She cuddled the tabby closer, and his eyes slit in bliss.

Inside, Jenny prepared Max a small plate of sardines in her kitchenette and set it on the stone floor. While the cat made short work of his dinner, the three of them traipsed into the workroom that Chico and Tiago had built for Jenny off the sala.

A sturdy table had been installed along one wall, with shelves above for supplies. Every spare surface was cluttered: gemstones in all the colors of the rainbow, boxes of crystal beads, spools of wire, scraps of metal. Wire cutters in three different sizes lay next to pliers and calipers, and a ceramic brick held a jeweler’s soldering torch. An idea board was covered with photos and sketches, and a slit in the cavern ceiling provided light and ventilation.

“Lady Olivia gave me a pink diamond to work with.” Jenny took an object wrapped in cotton from a shelf.

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