Page 40 of Flesh and Fury
Ari exchanged a glance with Eoghan beside him in the back seat. He grinned before clicking the seatbelt into place and looking at Joe who watched him in the rearview mirror.
“Do you know those two well?” Eoghan asked.
Joe exchanged a glance with his deputy before looking back at him in the mirror. “It’s more like I knowofhim, not him personally. We just met him in person this morning. Rana, I’ve known for a long time. If you’ve noticed, Red Crow’s young and not the most personable guy.”
“The understatement of the year,” Eoghan said.
“That personality isn’t just a put on for us?” Ari asked.
“Definitely not,” Alo said. “From what I can tell, the dude’s a standing prick.”
Ari chuckled to himself, and Eoghan joined in.
“I think it’s like Joe said,” Eoghan replied. “He’s young, he’s just taken over a very rich, very large tribe. And I can assume he’s surrounded by a lot of people who were his father’s cronies for a long time. They’re probably all giving him advice right and left. If I were him, my head would be spinning. I imagine what that young man’s feeling is probably overwhelming. Maybe he’s just finding his footing.”
“By not reaching out to experienced people who can help him lead?” Ari asked. “His father may have had cronies, but he also ran his rez for a long time. I’m sure he has a tribal council like you guys do. Someone to help the new boss lead things.”
“His tribe is different,” Joe said. “It’s actually worse for him. He’s a shifter, of course, and as such, he’s expected to be the new Alpha of his tribe, not just a typical chief. There are probably just as many challengers to his leadership lined up as people who want to help him succeed. His genus are considered on par with or even more vicious than werewolves, if you can imagine such a thing. If I were him, I’d be afraid to show any weakness at all and in his case that might mean cooperation with other shifter clans his father considered friends.”
“But he understands the terrific danger Tillis Bradshaw’s vampire clan poses, right?” Ari asked.
“He hasn’t talked to us about it,” Joe said, “but I know Rana understands. She’s a friend. I’ve known her for a long time and she’s well respected by theentireshifter community here in the west. If she has any influence on the young man at all, then I would hope that she’s using it.”
“I’m sure she’s giving him quite the tongue lashing after the way he behaved toward you,” Alo said. “At least with us, he was civil.”
“Is he a bear shifter too?” asked Ari.
“No. He’s from thePantheragenus within the big cat familyFelidae, Ari. Panther,” Joe said.
“The huge, black cats with long fangs who sit in trees and kill at night,” Ari said. “That’s what I picture.”
Joe chuckled. “There are five big cat predators within thePantheragenus. Lions, tigers, jaguars, leopards, and snow leopards are allPanthera. All of them have long fangs, and they’re all big and built…but they don’t all sit in trees and kill at night. Trust me when I tell you that plenty of them kill during the day too.”
“Wow, that’s…scary as hell,” Ari said, grimacing as he looked at Eoghan.
Eoghan simply nodded and looked back at Alo who’d twisted to watch them from the passenger seat. “So, all the shifters in the Denver rez arePanthera?”
“Yes, all of them,” Alo replied. “Big cats don’t play well with other shifters and part of that is that they know they’re top of the food chain.”
“Makes sense,” Eoghan said, nodding.
“And what about Rana Fields?” Ari asked. “Is she also a big cat shifter?”
Alo chuckled, shaking his head. “We told you that Rana Fields is one of the most respected shifters in the west, right?”
“Yeah,” Ari replied. He felt his heart begin racing. “Oh, hell, what is she? I mean, seriously, what can be scarier than a tiger?”
Two Trees laughed. “Have you ever heard ofVaranus komodoensis?”
Ari looked over at Eoghan noting how his jaw had dropped. He glanced back at the rearview mirror where Joe was watching with an amused expression on his face. “Okay, smart guy. If the look on my partner’s face is anything to go by, whatever that is—” he pointed between Eoghan and Joe, “it’s pretty scary. I’m not up on my Latin just yet.”
“Komodo dragon,” Eoghan quietly whispered.
“What?” Ari asked, leaning closer, not quite sure he heard or understood.
Eoghan looked him in the eyes and nodded, his own eyes wide with terror. “Just for the record…I fucking hate reptiles.”
“Repti—wait a minute!” Ari said, leaning forward and grabbing the front car seats. “Are you telling me she’s some kind of dinosaur or something equally as impossible? I read about a big ass python which lived in some damned rainforest eating cows and human babies! They only caught it when it choked to death eating a whole farmerandhis wheelbarrow. That was some scary shit!”