“Watch your tongue, mortal.” Her voice was more solid now, and she sounded as if she were by the water. Perfect.
“Why don’t you watch it for me?” I asked as I walked closer to the shore.
“You are such a child,” she hissed.
“And you’re a cunt,” I said, shrugging. “We all have our crosses to bear.”
Frigid air washed over me from the right, and I spun, raising the gun at an angle as her body formed. I fired a shot, and it knocked her out over the water, her form dispersing into wisps of green smoke. Morgana’s scream rent the air, and I fired again into the haze of fog she’d become. The tendrils turned to ash as they blew out into the lake, the water rippling and hissing as the frozen ghost dust hit its warm surface.
Deafening screeches followed as the rest of the specters, who had been held at bay by snarling cats, dissipated into the night, Morgana’s absence apparently rendering them unable to stay corporeal any longer.
Silence fell over us like a wet blanket, heavy and oppressive. Then Darla stepped forward and let out a roar. The other cats followed her lead, and as the eclipse started over us, the sounds of the panthers carried on the wind.
Chapter Nine
“I can’t believe you shot me,” Bryce growled.
“Well, I had to get a load of salt in you somehow. It was shoot you in the chest or stick my dick—”
“Do not fucking finish that sentence,” he said, shaking his head in apparent disgust.
“You boys watch your mouths,” Pops hissed. “There’s a lady present.”
We were all sitting at Agate Beach, watching the end of the eclipse. Most of our clan were out splashing in the lake, but Bryce and Sebastian were lying on either side of me, Bast with his black head in my lap. The rest of the cats had taken off in search of prey and sex, not wanting to waste the rest of their moon trip.
“They’re fine, Jack,” Cadence argued. “They’ve had a rough night. A little foul language never hurt anyone.” She turned to look at me, a sad smile on her face. “I’m so sorry about the ghosts, Cole.”
“It’s not your fault,” I said. “Morgana would have come after us regardless of whether you talked to her or not. She was an evil bi—” I glanced over at Pops, who’d raised an eyebrow. “She wasn’t a nice person, and she was an even meaner specter. None of this was because of you.”
Cadence looked relieved to hear it and leaned against Pop’s chest. Silence fell as the Aurora Borealis started to light up the sky over the lake. Sebastian sighed, and I pet his head softly. It was nice to have my family together again.
I looked over at Bryce. He watched me, his green eyes narrowed slightly as if angry.
“You’re going to have to get over the whole me-shooting-you thing,” I told him. “It was necessary.”
“It hurt,” he complained.
“Duh.” I reached over and scratched behind his ear, but he shook me off.
“Well, boys,” Cadence said through a yawn. “I think I’ll head off to bed.”
“Yeah, I’ll walk you back,” Pops told her as they both got to their feet. “You boys coming home tonight?”
“No,” Bryce answered. “We’ll sleep out here.”
Pops and Cadence walked off down the beach, holding hands and talking softly to each other.
“Is that how we’ll be when we’re old?” Sebastian asked.
“Sure,” I answered. “Except, you know, gay.”
“Cole,” Bryce said, sitting up on his haunches. “What Morgana said earlier, about you being one of them…”
“I’m not going to get into that right now,” I snapped. “As far as I’m concerned, the White can suck it. I’m Gray, through and through.”
“Are we going to talk about what happens now?” Sebastian asked, also rising to sit.
“No,” Bryce and I answered together.
“Well, are you coming home with us?” he pressed, staring at Bryce.
Bryce didn’t answer, he just stood and stalked off down the beach, leaving Sebastian and me alone. I didn’t blame him. It was a big decision. He’d probably gotten comfortable out here with Pops. And his beast had to be happier in the wild than cooped up in a big city.
“Sorry,” Bastian said, lying down next to me. “I didn’t mean to make him run away.”
“It’s not you,” I told him, leaning against Bast’s warm stomach. “He’s got a lot of shit to work out.”
“Hey, Cole.”
“Yeah?”
“Ask me now.”
“Ask you what?” I knew exactly what he meant. I was stalling. When I’d first asked him to marry me, he’d turned me down and said when the time was right, he’d tell me to ask him again. I’d thought that meant he’d be ready then, but that wasn’t his end game at all. He knew that Bryce and I had too much of a hold on each other for either of us to ever truly belong to someone else. And I think he wanted the three of us to be together in a way that he felt marriage just wouldn’t fit. The truth was, with everything that I’d learned about Bryce, with our tryst in the woods, I wasn’t sure what our future held anymore, and I couldn’t ask him again.
“This is why I couldn’t say yes,” Sebastian said, not at all fooled by my question. “Because part of you has always loved him, too. You told yourself it was because you were family, but deep down, you’ve always wanted more from him. I understand why you buried it. But now that you know the truth, everything makes more sense, doesn’t it?”
“You’re too smart for your own good,” I told him. “Just because I may or
