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know you want to go. You’re wound so tight you look like your string’s about to snap. You could use a little play.”
    Naya took a deep breath, turned the knob, and opened the door. “I live vicariously through you, Luz. You get enough play for the both of us.”
    â€œSeriously, Cuz, you suck. You act like you’re a thousand years old already. You gotta flaunt it while you’ve got it, chica . Would it kill you to go out one freakin’ night?”
    Naya stopped dead in her tracks as Paul stepped into the foyer. She looked him straight in the eye for a brief moment before averting her gaze to the floor. It killed her that tradition dictated she should lower her eyes in his presence, but the tribal elders—all male of course—had no intentions of jumping into the twenty-first century. The Bororo men weren’t without power. As shifters they could assume an animal form at will, but as far as magia was concerned, their males were impotent. For as long as their people had lived, certain Bororo females had possessed the ability to bend and manipulate magical energy. Naya and Luz were two of very few women left with that power. It made them special, revered among their people. But Paul and the other tribal elders still considered them beneath all males. And that was something that had stuck in Naya’s craw since childhood.
    â€œIf I’m not mistaken, you’re late for a training session, Luz.” Paul’s deep voice resonated with a rumbling growl. “José is waiting for you in the basement.”
    A cold lump settled in the pit of Naya’s stomach. Out of all of the tribal elders, José was particularly sadistic. She’d trained with him when she was an apprentice and the bastard had gotten off on inflicting as much pain as possible. One of these days, she’d turn the tables on him, just to see if he could take what he dished out. A shadow of apprehension passed over Luz’s expression, seeming to echo Naya’s thoughts. José was an asshole and Paul knew it. Gods, how she hated tribal structure.
    â€œPaul, you should let me train Luz.” Naya chanced a look straight into the chieftain’s eyes. “I can teach her just as well as José can. Probably better.”
    â€œCállate!” Paul ground out with a slash of his hand. “Naya, you’re not here to give orders. Luz, get your ass down to the basement. Now.”
    Luz took off at a trot, reminding Naya that no matter how cocky her cousin acted, she was still very young. And Paul could be downright scary when he wanted to be. “I’ll be down as soon as I’m done here!” Naya called after her cousin. No way was Naya going to let Luz take José’s abuse all afternoon without backup. Naya might not be a great wingman when it came to partying, but in a combat situation she was the best wingman you could get.
    â€œYou coddle her,” Paul said with a disdainful curl of his lip as he turned and led Naya out of the foyer. “In the end, you’re not doing her any favors.”
    â€œJosé is a bastard and you know it. The least you could do is assign her to another instructor.”
    Paul pretended to ignore Naya, which was nothing less than she expected, and she didn’t waste her breath by trying to bait him into answering. If Paul wanted to ignore you, nothing short of poking him with a hot torch would get his attention. As she followed the high-and-mighty chieftain to whatever room he’d planned on meeting in, Naya couldn’t help but wonder what the place looked like before the large house had been renovated to accommodate office space. It had probably been beautiful in its time, the floor plan open and inviting, furnished with gorgeous turn-of-the-century pieces. But now the rooms were too small, the hallways dark and foreboding, and the staircases sinister. Shadows dwelled in every corner, the light not quite penetrating, and