Page 54 of Greer's Change

“I’m not messing around. Don’t hurt them, Hazel. I’ll never forgive you!”

Her huge, void-like eyes blink repeatedly as her head tilts. “You’ve changed.”

“Yeah,” I whisper, and my eyes ache like I might burst into tears. “Thank you for coming to check on me, but please stop torturing my mates.”

I exhale in pure relief when her more humanoid appearance takes over her face. The size of her eyes shrinks by half, her horns disappear, and she gains a bit of color to her otherwise deathly pale cheeks.

“Ember called me seven times.” She huffs, shoving her straight black hair behind her shoulder. “You’re lucky I refused to siphon her and all three of her mates. She was dead set on coming with me. They were not keen on allowing her to come solo. We settled on them staying behind.” She shrugs. “Actually, I purposely left without mentioning where I was headed.”

“Mates?” I gasp, my hand flying to my mouth. Ember is a dear friend. She’s the shifter I told Seiran about when I mentioned we went on a daytime hike on my last birthday. “Last I knew, the only mate she had was Veryn.”

“A lot seems to have changed for you in very little time too.” Hazel’s eyebrow quirks.

Yeah, I guess she’s right about that.

“As lovely as it is to meet a friend of Greer’s,” Novak says in a clipped tone. “Sunrise is coming, and I need to get my progeny somewhere safe to slumber.”

“Yes, you do.” Hazel appraises the sky and nods. “I’ll accompany you.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Reign

In my long life, I’ve never run across whatever species Hazel is. She’s almost terrifyingly powerful. The woman brought me and Seiran to our knees, using only her mind. Novak fared a little better, but I believe that was because he was holding Greer. Even if not, that’s what I’m going with.

My pride has already taken a hit today, and I’ll cushion it, even with delusions.

Novak, Seiran, and I stand around in a semicircle as Greer, Lisette, and the violent female demon sit in Novak’s living room.

“How did she even come to be with the witch?” I ask in utter confusion.

Lisette is mostly harmless. She runs Spellbound, and she’s also older than dirt, but then again, so am I.

“Not a fucking clue. At least Greer has powerful friends who care enough to check in?” Seiran says, shrugging.

Sometimes his eternal optimism is annoying.

Now is one of those times.

It feels like we need more information.

“Anything with that much power makes me nervous,” Novak whispers.

“Well, I, for one, intend to go introduce myself to my mate’s friend.” Seiran rolls his shoulders back and nods, like he’s still attempting to pump himself up to be that close to Hazel.

I don’t blame him. There’s something entirely unnatural about that woman, and I’m half nightmare. Not much fazes me.

“He’s braver than I,” Novak mutters, casually running his fingers over his neck.

Ahh, so the bonding did occur both ways.

“I’ve been meaning to ask.” I nod to his throat. “Was that intentional, or is she fated to be yours?”

“It would be the latter,” Novak says without taking his eyes off Greer. “I only realized when I spotted her mark as I was in the process of trying to give her a lesson on how to feed. She bit me to seal her transformation, but I believe her weakened state prevented her from completing her side of the bond. My claiming bite appeared when she fed from me in my office shortly before we left.”

“Does she know?” I ask.

His head shakes, and his shoulders rise and fall with a heavy shrug. “Possibly? I was going to address that conversation when we settled in to slumber, but she kissed the mark. So, there’s truly no telling, but I would imagine she knows something deeper connects us.”

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