“Don’t try to tell me it’s not how it sounds, young lady. I wasn’t born yesterday.”
Ivy blushes, but I wrap an arm around her. “Your granddaughter is my mate. Should we go inside?”
“Yes please,” she hisses, and the old man sighs.
“Fine. This way. You know, Levi has been worried sick. Said he didn’t care about his share of the marina, we should just give in to their demands and sign it over.”
“Really?”
Her grandpa nods as he leads the way. I take Ivy in my arms and ignore her complaints. There’s no way I’m letting her walk when I can just as easily carry her. I have to measure my strides to stay behind the old man, but he has already won my respect. He can lead and we will follow, I’ll give him that honor.
“We need to discuss what we’re going to do about them. I thank you for saving Ivy’s life, though I won’t pretend I understand exactly what’s been going on while she’s been gone. But that won’t stop them.”
“They won’t be coming back,” I say with finality. “You are under my protection now.”
“Oran killed one of them,” Ivy says. “The worst one I think.”
Her grandpa turns around, looking thoughtful as he pulls the door open. “Well, I guess that might change things. Come on in. You want some breakfast?”
I nod as I deposit Ivy to perch on the edge of the dining table. “You have meat?”
“Yes, sir. Bacon any good to you?”
“Grandpa, what’s going on? What’s all the—” Ivy’s brother’s eyes go wide as he comes around the corner from the bedrooms and sees me standing in the kitchen. Then he glances to the side and sees his sister, and his eyebrows raise another inch and a half. “Ivy…what are you…? I mean, how did you…?”
She smirks. “Apparently, you do care about me after all. Grandpa said you were willing to give up your share in this place to have me back.”
Levi doesn’t answer at first. His mouth moves as he looks from her to me, then back again. “Yes…” he mutters. “Obviously, you’re my sister. This… How did you escape? And who’s he?”
Something about the way he’s acting makes me frown. It doesn’t ring true. He’s surprised to see her, sure, but he doesn’t seem pleased. Instead, he seems like…
Like he’s disappointed. Or even angry.
A low growl rumbles from my chest as I step their way, putting a hand on Ivy’s shoulder. If he thinks I won’t kill him to protect her, he’s wrong. Somehow, he’s mixed up in all this and when I find out how I’ll—
“Time’s up, old man!” The shout from outside turns all our heads in that direction. Any problems we might have with each other are forgotten as Cardan’s voice echoes through the timber-constructed building. “Give us what we want or you never see the human female again.”
I turn to see Ivy’s grandpa bristling.
“Fucking orcs,” he mutters, then meets my eyes. “No offense.”
I shrug. He’s right. Cardan needs to know that the game is up. And he needs to know what happens to those that cross this family in future. “I will deal with this. You stay here.”
“Uh uh. No way. This is my home. I’m grateful for your protection but if you’re confronting them I’m going to be right by your side.”
“Us too,” Ivy snaps. “Come on, Levi.”
Levi shakes his head as Ivy jumps down off the table and climbs into my arms. “I think I should stay here,” he mutters.
I glare at him and he shrinks back. “I think you should come with us. Like your grandfather says.”
“No, I—”
“What is this going to be?” Cardan shouts from outside, struggling to master the human sentence construction. “We sign agreements? Or she dies?”
As we all move to go outside, I grab Levi by the collar. He tries to struggle, but he’s just a human. And not a very strong one, either. I think his grandfather would be more of a handful. I shove him out in front of us and then step into the light.
Cardan is surrounded by a half dozen orcs I recognize from his clan. All of them have weapons. This isn’t a negotiation. It’s extortion, pure and simple.