“Well, I don’t want to get pregnant. And you can’t make me.”
My womb is my own. My body is my own. The only thing I’m willing to give up is my heart. It’s back on the surface with Virius, who I know is coming for me. I’m surprised he let me get this far without giving chase.
“It’s not up to you, child,” says Itzel.
“I’m not a child,” I hiss.
Itzel reaches her hand up to my face and cups my cheek. A shiver goes through my spine at her touch. How had I not noticed before how leathery her fingers feel? How had I not noticed before the frown lines in her lips?
I don’t get a chance to think over any of that now. A sharp pain explodes at the back of my head. I have just enough time to see Pia over my shoulder. She shrugs apologetically as I begin to slump. The last thing I see is the rock in her hand. The last thing I think is to pray to the gods that Virius stays away. But in my heart, I know he won’t.
Chapter 26
Virius
“You’re not going after her.”
I look down at the hand clasping my arm. Gaius’s fingers are elegant, though I know the excruciating torture they are capable of. For years, I watched him bind and thrash humans to within an inch of their lives before drinking from them, or executing them during the Inquisition. I stood right alongside him, doing the same work. Though my fingers still appear stained with blood.
“It could be the end of you if you go through with this,” says Gaius.
I am touched that he cares. Only he and Hadrian have ever cared for me. For centuries, I have been a satellite in their orbits. Zahara is my sun.
“I have to,” I say. “She is my destiny.”
Hadrian steps up to the other side of me, boxing me in. “Please, brother. Let’s just take a moment to think this through.”
Instead of fighting either of them, I wrap an arm around Hadrian’s shoulder. With the other, I embrace Gaius. The two men hold me tight, as though they won’t let me go. But I know the words to loosen their hold on me.
“If Carignan or Marechal asked this of you, would you not find a way?”
I miscalculated. The bonds my brothers had around me increase as Cari and Marechal join in the group hug. The two women have never touched me before. I can’t blame them, as my abuse always made me leery of women.
But this affection from them, I understand. They are my family. Like Gaius and Hadrian, they aren’t going to let me go without a fight.
“I’m going to go after her,” I say inside the cocoon. “She and I will talk about this matter between ourselves. And then we’ll fill you in on our decision.”
There is some reluctance. But slowly, each man and woman begins to loosen their hold. Gaius is the holdout.
“Be home before dawn,” he says. “If not, I’m coming after you with my belt.” He says the words with a sardonic grin, so I know that on some level, he means it.
“Yes, Dad.” I grin.
He cups my chin and gives me a fierce look. I turn from him, and I’m gone. Out the door and on my panther’s trail.
I figured she would head back to the caves, back to her own family. But her scent is strong in the vineyard. I see her tracks in the soil, along with a deer’s. So my kitten decided to take her anger out in a hunt.
Following the signs of the hunt, it’s clear that Zahara overtook the deer. There is a clear sign of struggle in a clearing. However, the deer’s tracks go off in one direction. Zahara’s take a turn in the opposite direction.
So, she changed her mind? Perhaps that means that her anger has abated. A good sign for me.
I follow her tracks, which lead me to the cave entrance. For the second time in less than a week, I enter this place of my own free will. The first time had been to rescue Gaius from these shifters. Along the way, I had scented Zahara’s sweet heat. When I came face to face with her, I knew that she was mine.
I scent that same heat now. She is here, amongst these women, in the sea of long dark hair and honey-brown skin. But I don’t see her.
“Aren’t you the valiant little knight, come to save the Indian princess,” says a croaking voice.
My heart stops when my gaze lands on the white-haired woman. Her smile is proprietary, as if she owns me. Her gaze is calculating, as though she weighs my worth. I am a poor boy begging on the streets of Rome again, and Domitia has come for me.
But this isn’t Rome, it’s Arizona.
I’m not on the streets. This is a cave.
And this woman isn’t Domitia. It’s Zahara’s kin: Itzel.
“You know this won’t be one of those mouse movies where the white man subdues the natives and takes the princess?” says Itzel.
“Mouse movies?” I ask.
“She means Disney,” says another woman. She is the cougar I saw arguing with Itzel days ago.
The cougar eyes me in the proprietary way of the women Domitia would hire to use me. I have the urge to cover myself as the cougar’s gaze travels lower. Instead, I straighten to my full height in the cramped cave. She might look, but I will only ever touch Zahara.
“Excuse me.” I snap my fingers. “My eyes are up here.”
The cougar’s face breaks into a grin. “I like him.”
“Too bad,” says Itzel. “He’s only good for one purpose.”
“I’ve come for Zahara,” I say, not wishing to be a part of this conversation any longer. I’ve said all I need to say to these two, and used up all the good manners Gaius taught me.
“That you certainly will do,” says the cougar.
“Zahara will be with
