Page 6 of Crimson Shifter

I held his gaze and stopped trying to push the massive hunter off of me.

His fangs punched out, and my eyes flared at the movement, at the way my heart raced and anticipation curled in my core.

Was he about to bite me?

“This looks educational,” Lyric’s voice sounded just a few feet away, and Talon lifted us both off of the floor in a matter of seconds, steadying me as I lost my balance when he returned me to my feet.

I dipped my head as I faced the vampire queen, even though she’d told me many times not to. But how could I not show even the smallest sign of respect? Especially when she’d been incredibly kind to me after I’d been so horrible to her.

“How's training going?” she asked, her eyes flickering between the two of us.

“Cumbersome, my queen,” Talon said.

“I think I'm a lost cause,” I admitted.

Lyric shook her head. “If I can learn how to be a vampire, you can certainly learn how to defend yourself.”

I tilted my head back and forth, unable to argue with that. She’d made the transition from human to vampire look effortless and had adapted to our ways, even though she still clung to some of her human nature with an elegance that I'm sure my mother would’ve been so proud of.

“Give us a minute, Talon?” Lyric asked.

He bowed and moved to the other side of the training room.

“I wanted to thank you for accepting this mission,” Lyric said, and my eyes flared with surprise.

“You don't have to thank me,” I said. “It's the least I can do...”

My words were stolen by the awkwardness and shame that threatened to swallow me whole right here in front of the queen. The tattooed mating mark I’d burned off practically vibrated beneath my simple training clothes.

“I do have to thank you,” she said, stepping a little closer. “I'm grateful for what you're doing. For what you did byidentifying the half-bloods. We likely wouldn't have Grace if you hadn't revealed your special gift.”

I nodded at her reference to one of the hunter’s mates, a newly transitioned vampire who, in her human life, had been given a death sentence by a brain tumor. One that had been eradicated thanks to a combination of Lyric’s blood and Aurora’s, the freshly turned vampire with Samuel’s blood still running in her veins, including his power to heal.

“And I wanted you to know that I will do everything in my power to keep Warrick alive while you're gone.”

Her words hit me as hard as one of Talon’s blows. “Why would you do that for me?”

“Because I believe you,” she said with a shrug. “I believe your intentions are good and I believe Warrick’s are, too. And as long as he doesn't do something drastic like try to kill my mate, I think we're going to be okay.”

“I don't know what to say,” I said. “I don't feel like I deserve your kindness.”

“Everyone deserves kindness,” she said. “Especially those who never let anybody in, who never let anyone else know what's really going on.” She eyed me knowingly, and I sucked in a deep breath.

“Does this mean we can start over?” I finally asked the question I'd been dying to ask her for months. “Can we just pretend like the first time we met never happened?”

“I would really like that,” she said with a laugh.

Relief washed through me, a sense of hope swelling inside me that I hadn't felt in a very long time.

“And Cassandra?” Lyric asked.

“Yes?”

“Males will always be genetically faster and stronger in their species, but the females are smarter. I know that you’re sharper than any of the claws Talon likes to flash around when he’sbored or on a mission. I know you can’t stand him, but take the training he offers. You can learn. You can make yourself formidable in a way your family never allowed. That’s how you’ll beat them in the end.” She flashed me a confident smile, one that I returned before she winked at me and headed out of the room.

Talon was at my side in a second, flipping a gemstone-gilded dagger between his fingers.

“If you’re going to stab that in my back,” I said, eying the dagger. “Go ahead and save me the trip to my family’s estate.”

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