Page 43 of Tortured Royals

Dante stares at Shade, a bewildered expression taking over his face.“Is it me, or did that bird just speak?”he says via our mental connection.

Prince Callan steps up beside him.“She spoke.”

Shade stares at them with beady black eyes.“Uh Blake, I must be hearing things, because I swear I just heard your sexy mates chattering in my head.”

“Hmmm is it weird that the bird thinks I’m sexy? I feel like I should find it strange, but I can’t blame her,”Dante muses out loud this time.

“What the— Did he just— Blaaake!”Shade squawks.

I can’t help it, I burst out laughing.

“Unbelievable,”Shade says, sounding pissed though there’s an undercurrent of excitement in her voice as she perches on my shoulder.“They can hear me, can’t they?”

“Looks like it’s not only me who will have the pleasure of your company,” I say to her. “Let’s hope they catch on to your humor real quick.”

“Shall I punish Nate for scaring the bird, my mate?”Mason asks seriously.

“Uh, yes please,”Shade replies, suddenly chipper.“Seriously, this guy knows the way to a girl’s heart. He’s still number one.”Her gaze goes to Alaric.“And I have to say, aside from his previous grumpiness, Alaric has come a long way.”

“Number one?” Dante says incredulously. “Well, now that won’t do.” He moves closer to her, and starts rubbing his finger on the side of Shade’s neck, making her cock her head with pleasure.

“Mmmm, I’m completely okay with this. Sure, you can be number one, demon.”

I roll my eyes as Shade laps up the attention.

Prince Callan watches Dante and Shade. “Have you always been able to hear her speak?”

“Ever since I found her,”I reply with a small smile.

“And the matter with Nate?” Mason asks, still looking like he wants to punish the shifter.

I shake my head. “He’s fine. He wasn’t going to eat her. He just struggles with impulse control.”

Nate crouches playfully, his tail flicking.“Is that right, gorgeous?”His voice is a low purr in my head.

“Yes, it is,” I reply, even though the sound of his rough voice is driving me crazy. “Because you wouldn’t dare eat my best friend. Not if you wanted to keep on living, bonded or not.”

“You heard her,”Shade adds.“Keep your grubby giant paws off me.”

Nate’s tail continues to flick back and forth.“If you keep tempting me?—”

I give Nate an unimpressed look, and then I peer around at the others. “My demon gift allows me to speak with birds, but Shade has always been chattier than most. And it looks like now that we’re connected, you can hear her, too.”

Nate shifts back to his human form and grins. “So this entire time, this little ball of feathers has been chattin’ to you about us?”

Shade lifts her beak higher, puffing up her chest.“That’s right, asshole. Welcome to the party. Looks like this is a group chat now.”

“Group chat?”Alaric rumbles.

I shake my head at him. “She doesn’t always make sense.” Then I plant one hand on my hip, staring at Nate as I answer his previous question. “How else did you think she understood your directions to find the rebels when we were in The Haven?”

Nate shrugs. “Honestly, I hadn’t thought she’d be able to find them.”

Dante strokes his chin. “It does explain a lot.”

Alaric doesn’t say anything, but I get the feeling he’d pieced together my connection with Shade a while ago. The demons always thought I was simply able to control the birds, so I’m not surprised the others didn’t realize.

“She’s mouthy and a little pervy, but you’ll get used to her,” I assure them.

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