Kendrick sent him a wry look. “Lachlan will have no trouble exposing them for you. Don’t worry, I and my Shifters can keep our mouths shut.”
Sean gave Kendrick a smile that was tight but genuine. “I thought you would. We all have secrets.”
“Tell me about it,” Kendrick said under his breath.
Sean’s eyes warmed and Kendrick knew he and this Guardian could be friends.
“How do you want to do this?” Dylan asked Kendrick. “You know the man best.”
“I once thought I did,” Kendrick answered. “I’m not so certain now.” He looked around, having thought about this a lot while he’d ridden out here, though he’d waited to make his final assessment until he saw the lay of the land.
“I go in,” he went on. “Lachlan will have taken hostages, and he won’t hesitate to kill if we do an all-out attack. I walk in and talk to him. If he wants me, he can let the others go to have me.”
“And doesn’t that sound like suicide?” Sean asked. “Are ye mad?”
Kendrick gave him a wintry smile. “I didn’t say I would walk in alone.” He turned to the Shifter at his side. “How about it, Tiger? Are you up for some cunning? Tigers together?”
Tiger’s eyes flickered, moving the slightest bit from side to side as though he were running through scenarios and choosing the best one.
His eyes stilled, and he gave Kendrick a nod. “Tigers together.”
“Besides, you’ll know your way around,” Kendrick said. “Dylan—here’s what I want to do.”
* * *
“You know where white tigers come from, don’t you?” Ben asked from where he lazed on the porch swing.
The laziness was feigned, Addie knew. Everyone on the porch—Ben, Zander, Jaycee, Robbie—was tense. The exceptions were Zane and Brett, who played as tiger cubs, content and unafraid.
“It’s a genetics thing, isn’t it?” Addie asked.
She’d had Charlie make up a big batch of iced tea, and she served it, pretending this was simply a fine summer morning to lounge outside. Never mind that her mouth was dry, no matter how much tea she poured into it, and her heartbeat wouldn’t calm. Kendrick might die today, and Addie couldn’t do a damned thing about it. She’d had to ask Charlie to make the tea or she’d have thrown the glass pitcher, ice, and tea across the room.
The tiger cubs did stop scampering and sat down to listen to Ben. Ben skimmed his hand, hanging down from the swing, across the porch’s board floor.
“White tigers were bred especially for the Fae princes,” he said. “Most Fae princes are arrogant s.o.b.s, and they competed with each other to own the most unique Shifters. Any unusual strain, like snow leopards and black panthers, were prized, but the white tigers were prized most of all. It was so rare that a white tiger bred true that any prince who had one could boast he owned something unmatched.”
“That’s awful,” Addie said. “And I don’t even know what a Fae prince is.”
Zander answered. “Total bastards. Fae made the Shifters centuries ago, with breeding and magic. I don’t want to know how—it was probably pretty disgusting. I have to say, they did a good job, because all these years later, we’re still here, we can cross-breed, we can have cubs with humans. We’re stronger than ever.”
“The princes were the worst—are the worst,” Ben said. “The warriors and generals at least understand the cost of what they achieve and can think with their brains. If they don’t, they’re dead. The princes are products of inbreeding and cushy living. They never leave their pristine palaces except to go on overly elaborate hunts. They invented glamping.”