Free Claiming the Jackal by Seressia Glass Page A

dead, just as the Daughters didn’t. Obviously there were some things that the visiting Daughters of Isis were not meant to be privy to, weren’t meant to be part of.
    “No, thank you, Anput. I would prefer to stand.”
    “Rana?” Hector’s voice, confused but protective. “What is this about?”
    “It’s about me,” she managed to say. “About why I’m here in the jackal community.”
    She turned back to Markus and Tia. “I asked to stay here because you needed a healer, and I knew I could provide that service. It was my hope that seeing to their general care would show the clan that not all Daughters of Isis are like Amansuanan and her daughter Cassandra.”
    “We know this,” Markus said. “That’s why you’ve been allowed to be here. You saved three of my people on our wedding night, and you’ve saved more since. You stepped in immediately without thought to yourself and what it might cost you. You are a healer first, an Isis witch second, and tending to those in need is a sacred calling to you.”
    “It is, and I thank you for seeing that, Anapa.” She inclined her head, then continued. “But I am who I am, and I can’t change that, no matter how I wish things were different. Which brings me to my second reason for being here.”
    She sensed Hector tensing beside her, but didn’t look at him. From here on out, she couldn’t look at him. “Actually, it’s my first reason. I came here to find a way to stop Amansuanan permanently. And I think I’ve found an answer.”
    Tension surged into the air, thick and cloying. Markus leaned forward, spoke one word. “How?”
    “I think I’ll be able to track her, but I’ll need to go on the missions when the guards patrol for Lost Ones.”
    “No!” Hector shot to his feet. “It’s too dangerous!”
    “You need someone with emergency medical training to go into the field anyway,” she replied. “Until you have jackals with emergency medical training that will have to be me.”
    Markus stepped in before Hector could respond. “Do you have combat training?”
    “I’ve practiced medicine in war zones in different places around the world, mostly in South America and Africa,” she told him. “I’ve had self-defense training, and all Daughters of Isis know defensive spells in case we’re attacked by—” She broke off, but the word jackals hung in the air between them.
    The clan leader raised an intimidating eyebrow, but otherwise didn’t acknowledge her wayward comment. “You say you can track Amansuanan and the Lost Ones. That your mission is to stop her. Why does this risk fall to you?”
    It was the perfect opening, and all of them, except for Hector, knew it. She paused, gathering her thoughts. “I’ve cast some experimental spells on patients in the infirmary. I can track the Lost Ones—well, I think I can track them—because Amansuanan uses her magic to control them.”
    “And that is important because...”
    She took a deep breath. Here it was, the moment of truth. “It’s important because I can track Amansuanan through our blood connection.”
    Hector stared at her, all color draining from his features. “Blood connection?” he whispered.
    She nodded, then braced herself. “Amansuanan is my grandmother.”
    “You’re related to that witch?” His voice had flattened, and fury contorted his features. His hands lengthened into claws. “You’re related to the witch who has tried to destroy my clan for the past four thousand years?”
    Fear scraped along her nerves, tensing her shoulders. She had a general protection charm attached to the ankh she always wore, but she wouldn’t activate it. It would only solidify any guilt in his mind. “I didn’t know Amansuanan was my grandmother until she attacked Tia in our circle. I’ve never met the woman.”
    “Liar. For all we know, you’re working for her right now!”
    “Hector.” Markus’s voice was soft, but it cracked like a whip. “Stand down.”
    He did, crouching in