His head lifted, but he wouldn’t quite meet my gaze. “Can you find me some pants?”
For a moment, I gaped at him, dumbstruck. Then I laughed. The tension of the day, of the hour, poured out of me as I realized how simple, how normal his request was.
“I can do that.” There was a drawer of clean clothing in the lab, I remembered. I grabbed a set that I guessed to be around his size and brought them back to him, pushing the wad into his arms. “Wouldn’t want me to see you naked—all that skin, what a scandal.”
“Thanks,” he mumbled, placing the clothes on his lap. I stared, waiting, but he fidgeted with the hem of the gray shirt. “Uh . . . could I have some . . . privacy?”
“Oh good grief,” I huffed, rolling my eyes. Still, I complied. From the lab, I could almost make out the soft instructions Sebastian was feeding the Fae. Almost ready to leave, I assumed. Behind me came a thump. Tarik cursed.
“You okay in there?” I peered over my shoulder.
“Don’t look!”
I turned back around, snickering.
Several grunts and mutterings later, a presence warmed my back. I tried to face him, to see for myself that his legs were healed and whole, but he whispered, “Not yet.” His fingers trailed down the nape of my neck before he bent, brushing a featherlight kiss on my cheek. He lingered, and my heart felt two sizes too large. His voice was a low caress in my ear, warm and soft, as he said, “Thank you for saving my stupid Fae butt. I wouldn’t blame you for saying ‘I told you so.’”
My heart skipped a beat. The voice in my mind—the one wanting to scream about his betrayal, to remind me of that stolen kiss—was oddly silent. Relieved, perhaps, that he was safe. Alive.
I almost spun to face him, to throw my arms around him. I could have. He had opened that door. Right? No. He was still Fae. And I was still a shifter, the thing Tarik himself despised most in the world. Heavy weight settled in my chest.
No. I better not.
Instead, I turned, gathering his hands in mine. “I’m glad you’re alive.”
When I met his eyes, free of pain and filled with gratitude, I almost caved. But I held still, even when he disentangled one of our hands and ran his fingers along my cheek, tucking a loose strand of blue hair behind my ear. His breath hitched, voice gruff as he whispered, “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
“Are you sure he’s not your boyfriend? Because from where I’m standing . . .”
I jerked my gaze to the lab’s entrance and there stood one of the twins, casually leaning against the doorway. Heat raced up my neck and cheeks. I took a step back.
“Micah?” Tarik pulled away and, with a slight limp, strode to the blond Fae. Before he could reach him, Micah moved, wrapping Tarik in a hug. I heard muffled chuckling, then, “Easy, man. I’m kind of fragile right now.”
Wait, Tarik can tell the twins apart?
Micah held him at arm’s length, scrutinizing him from head to toe. “Yeah, I heard you were busted up. Gnarly. Good to see you, bro.”
“Hold the touchy-feely family reunion moment,” Sebastian interrupted, poking his head around the corner. “We’re not out of this yet.”
Shouts sounded and our faces folded in confusion. I shoved past the men, moving down the hallway as quickly as my sore leg would allow. Weaving in and out of the rescued Fae, I caught sight of glasses and stopped next to Elias. “What’s happening?”
“Akeno spotted someone coming,” Elias whispered. “We need to get out of here, and fast.”
As the Fae spilled into the cavern that contained the stairs, a shadow slowly strode toward us, cutting off our exit. I squinted, then raised an eyebrow. Squirrel Butler? As he hit the center of the large room, he glared in my direction.
“Oh, mistress Reagan. I always knew you would be a disappointment.” I froze. My instincts screamed that we couldn’t kill him, but he had seen me. I couldn’t think of another way if we didn’t want Mordecai to find out. He removed our options, though, when he added, “Tis of no consequence. I will see you dispatched, even if it will displease the master. He will understand.”
I almost laughed, imagining tiny squirrel fisticuffs. But as he shifted, I realized that his animal form had been another of Mordecai’s secrets. He grew and grew, until a massive brown wolf, at least three times the size of my lion, dominated the cavern. His eyes glowed bright orange, a perfect match to the flames that licked out from between his teeth.
“Get anyone who’s injured out of here,” I said to Sebastian, eyes sliding to Tarik. “That means you.”
As he opened his mouth to protest, I shifted, hurtling forward to slam myself into the wolf’s jaw before he could snap them closed around one of the twins. I growled at him, taking his attention away from the Fae. This was between us. I would die if doing so gave the Fae a chance to escape, and live.
He barked in my direction, fire licking at my legs. The stench of burnt fur bit at my nostrils. Stinging pain spread up my legs but I gritted my teeth, sweeping my wings at his next burst of flame. Effective, but he launched forward and slammed me into a wall. I slumped to the floor, pinned under his snout, his hot breath choking my lungs.
I shifted. My smaller form slid free, then I rapid-shifted back into my lion as soon as I was underneath his belly. I latched onto his front leg, ripping flesh and muscle from the back of his knee. Hot blood spurted over my snout. Jaws snapped at me and I pulled myself free with a flap of my wings.
A dart
