Page 146 of Last Gift: Supernatural Battle

“He’s back in jeans.”

My jaw dropped. “No way! Why didn’t you lead with that?”

“Sorry, that was huge news, you’re right.”

Only the hugest news ever. “Tell Rooke she’s the best. And try to keep Wild out of here long enough for him to get some sleep and maybe a bath.”

“I wonder if he’ll growl in his sleep,” Huxley mused.

He would.

Huxley left the dungeon, and I grabbed my cookie, devouring it in three bites and in a way that said my emotions may be part of the eating process. I was glad Huxley hadn’t seen it.

“It’s just you and me,” I said aloud.

Though there was really just us now. I could feel the progressive loss of separation between my reactions and knowledge and hers. Surprisingly, her thoughts and emotions only tinged my own. I would’ve expected us to meet in the middle. For instance, I’d expected to stop saying sorry to people for hurting them. Stuff like that.

Which wasn’t the case.

I’d still say sorry for a range of things, in contrast to demon culture, but I could feel that I’d lean more heavily toward apologizing for my weakness than anything else.

A purr built in my chest. For the first time, the purr was audible out loud instead of in my head. It was a softer, more feminine version of the purr Wild sometimes made.

We were proud of ourselves for confessing all to the coven.

I hadn’t bothered to hide the black scale on my head, though after swirling furiously around me for a time, the black smoke had receded to wherever it came from. My fingers trailed over the black scales on my forehead. They joined with the rune tiara of flowers, making up the centers of the flowers, and then trailed down half of my forehead like a string of crystals. The black scales edged my hands and neck, but they were sparse—something I knew signified weakness to demons. Cutting off the head was made easier by the lack of protection.

I tilted my hand in and out of the light. The black was glossy and rich. I liked the sight of the scales, and leaving them out felt… kind of great. I could tell accepting their presence had led to other things like the purr or the near-full merging of me and my demon.

The feeling of possessing another wing in my brain had remained.

I didn’t just know all that she knew in the same way I knew everything about coven life. Then again, my grandmother taught that to me. I could feel the full access to everything my demon had been born knowing or had learned during her time in the demon realm. That knowledge would come to me as prompted by my thoughts or my situation, which was an odd feeling.

For better or worse, my demon was out for all to see.

I could live with whatever came next. I hoped.

Are you all right? Wild growled in my mind.

Still all right. He’d managed to go thirty minutes without asking this time. Have you eaten?

Trying not to hurt everyone.

I grimaced. I’m sorry. I should have warned you of what I was doing.

Yes, you should have. But I understand why you didn’t. You needed their full attention.

I smiled. You’re just so distracting.

You want to be distracted, gorgeous?

Hmm, maybe there were other ways to pass the time. What are you wearing?

His laughter rippled down our bond. He sent me a picture of him in our bathroom. The room was all but destroyed. He’d gone on a rampage.

Better wash all that dust off, handsome, I suggested.

Wild stripped off his clothes slowly, pulling his tunic overhead before giving me an excellent view of his ass and then a sudden close-up of his erection.

---