These were our allies. With my Walker vision I could see every detail of their leader perfectly. He was tall, as were all Walkers, but not quite as tall as Brace or Josian. His hair was a strange shade of dark yellow. His features were not as hard as most Walkers. In fact, he almost looked jovial, with his plump red cheeks. All of the Relli clan had their marks proudly on display. They started in a small swirl of dark gray, almost a gunmetal color, and the swirls extended out in large arching waves. Still predominantly on one side of their body, some of the swirls ended abruptly, as if they were missing parts. I wondered if those were to be filled by their mates.
They exited the doorway smoothly, before continuing on to cross the distance separating us, their demeanor exuding confidence. So far I still hadn’t seen a Walker woman.
“Josian. My old friend,” Grantham said with enthusiasm before he’d even reached our side.
His deep voice, which was heavily accented in what sounded a lot like thick Russian, boomed around the field. His happy features creased in pure joy. I could see his eyes now. They were a pure green, much lighter than my own, and more grass-green rather than emerald. In fact, they were like big cat’s eyes. Grantham was a strange-looking Walker.
“You don’t have to break him down piece by piece, Red.” Brace nudged me. “I’d hate to think of what my analysis was on first meeting.”
I nodded in all seriousness. “Oh, yeah. It’s lucky you weren’t in my head then. It wasn’t pleasant.” I worked to keep my face straight.
“Liar. You wanted me,” he said, before turning back to our new guests.
“We really need to work on your lack of confidence,” I said. “It’s starting to become an issue.”
He hugged me closer, muttering what sounded a lot like ‘smart-ass’.
Josian met the Rellis halfway across the distance. I expected them to hug it out in typical Walker fashion, but they didn’t. Instead, they performed a complicated handshake, half-hug thing. The two of them leaned in for a few moments. I could see mouths moving rapidly, and lots of head nods but couldn’t make out any more than that.
“Are they discussing the battle?” I asked Brace. His hearing was superior to mine.
He laughed. “Uh, no. More like a quick catch-up on the last time they did a little galaxy-hopping together. I get the distinct impression that before Josian met Lallielle ... he was adventurous.”
“Probably a good thing I can’t hear them,” I muttered.
“I know many of your father’s stories and, trust me, once you hear some of them, you cannot un-hear them,” Brace said.
Lallielle’s head spun around. She was sitting near Samuel, Lucy and Talina. The four had sprawled on the ground as soon as they made it to the center of the field.
“Isn’t that the truth, Brace? No matter how hard you try,” she finished with a smile.
The men were making their way back. Grantham came straight at me. I took a step back, but that was no deterrent. I found myself scooped up in an embrace by the big yellow-haired Walker. The low growls from beside me did nothing to halt him as he squeezed me tight.
“That’s enough, Grantham. Give me my mate back.”
I could see Brace’s hand resting on Grantham’s arm.
“Calm yourself, Walker. Even a blind man can see you are mated.” He was referring to the way our visible marks blended into each other. “I’m simply greeting my best friend’s daughter. I have already missed too much of her life. She’s going to love her Uncle Grantham.”
I patted his arm a few times, and finally he released me, stepping away. For some reason I did already like him. He was so warm and open, without that untouchable god-like arrogance most Walkers held. Brace swept me up, his heartrate calming as soon as I was back in his arms.
“Hi,” I smiled at my father’s old friend, “this is Brace, my mate; Lucy, my best friend; and Talina from Spurn.” I pointed out only the three people he may not know.
He scooped Lucy up in her own Walker hug. Samuel didn’t move or flinch. Usually he’d be growling his own tune like Brace. Later, I promised, later we would deal with that. The future held high hopes that Samuel was about to get ripped a new one.
“You’re one big friendly dude.” In his arms Lucy looked like a doll, blond curls lightly lifting in the breeze. “It’s nice to meet a Walker who doesn’t have a stick permanently up their butts. Always so serious.”
Throats were cleared and quite a few smiles hidden as the Walkers in the vicinity tried to figure out if they should be insulted by this tiny gorgeous human. I laughed out loud. Lucy really had no filter between her brain and mouth, and it was mostly entertaining. I gave her a metaphorical high-five across the space.
“Would you like to come and live in my household, little one?” Grantham’s large green eyes twinkled. “You are perfect.”
This time Samuel did take a step forward and, wrapping a hand around Lucy’s wrist, he tugged her back toward him. She almost lost her footing; he was unnecessarily rough.
“Watch yourself.” Grantham’s voice held a hint of steel for the first time, giving us a glimpse of the reason he was Josian’s choice to call into battle. “We don’t treat precious gems in such a manner.”
Lucy must have agreed. She stomped down hard on Samuel’s foot before wrenching herself free and marching away. She stopped next to me.