Page 25 of Swamp Kings 2

“And so fucking good?” Nitro asked from the shadows where he leaned against the wall.

He nodded, not about to deny it.

“Told you.”

Outside, the bats circled tighter, their screeches filling the night air. The first phase was done, but the transformation wasn’t over. Bishop could feel it—the symphony inside him had only just begun.

He angled his head, listening. “What is that?” he wondered, making his way to the door.

On the porch, he looked up into the sky,Lesion and Seer looking with him.

“That’s her ravens,” Nitro mused, curious. “And crows.”

Bishop made his way down the steps, and the second he hit the pier, the hurricane of ca-caws descended on him. He rapidly deciphered their language, each piercing cry forming pieces of a message, while hundreds of feathers beat against his face and body. The sensation was soothing. Insistent, reverent taps as they circled him with a purpose, their wings like a shield, their cries a vow. He realized they weren’t simply greeting him, they were declaring something much deeper. A bond of allegiance.

Right amidst the cacophony of this bonding power, a sharp stab hit his jaw. The birds sensed it and flew off as he grabbed his entire lower face, groaning.

“What’s wrong?” Lesion hurried next to him, ready for alchemy action. “Tell me what you’re experiencing.” Bishop groaned again, raising his head to his inky brother who whispered, “Holy fuck”

Bishop’s tongue ran into what astonished him, feeling the edge of his canines. Sharper. Longer. Panic hit him and he spun to Nitro. “What’s happening? Did this fucking happen to you?”

He spotted the phenomenon and hurried over, grabbing his head in bothhands and raising his upper lip with his thumbs. “Holy motherfuck, you’ve done grown yourself a pair of fangs,” he marveled, his own suddenly appearing with his grin. “I can’t think of a better first use of your creative powers, my Eveque. I’m sure she’ll appreciate them.”

The secondsheleft his mouth,a flood of lust hit his blood stream and turned his breaths into growls of hunger.

“Oh shit,” he muttered with a knowing.

Bishop’s eyes snapped to him. “What’s happening?”

“You’re preparing to bond,” he warned with low excitement.

“Bond?” he whispered, his cock clarifying what his mind immediately rejected. His head was already shaking, then Nitro’s shook.

“You can’t stop this,” he informed with an unapologetic assurance. “And you don’t want to.”

“She’s fucking pregnant!” he growled, heaving through the heady desire setting him on fire.

“My Eveque,” he whispered, holding his shoulders firmly. “Surely you knew this was coming,” he gently checked.

Fuck, he did. Just not this soon. He’d intended towait till after this fucking trip, but all his new gifts laughed out loud in his head at that. If the power in his blood was a gauge, he’d be bonding within thehour. “Where’s my phone,” he growled, fear mixing with the insanity, creating an acidic icing. “I need to call her.”

“I have your phone,” Seer said, handing it to him.

“You might need to let her know what’s coming,” Nitro carefully suggested, sounding hungry, maybe envious for another first time. “So she’s not scared.”

More panic hit him at remembering Nitro’s firsttimeand howfuckinginsane it was. His brain’s new abilities allowed him to find her number and dial it all while dozens of worst-case scenarios lined up in his head. How the fuck would he protect her from what he felt preparing to unleash? There was a way, he could feel it in his brain, a flashing neon sign just behind that wall of terror.

“You willnothurt her,” Nitro assured, reading his unravelling mind. “It won’t let you. I was terrified I was killing her, but I wasn’t.Itwasn’t. Itknowseven if you don’t.”

Bishop headed down the pier when he heard the first ring, his knowing and fearing clashing like arch enemies in hishead. Halfway along the floating dilapidation, she answered. “Sahvrin?”

The sharp gasp of his name hit his auditory like an ancient secret, his mind instantly unraveling exactly how her words had power. Her words weren’t just sounds—they were frequencies. A perfect resonance carrying intent and emotion that mapped directly onto his nervous system, hitting instinct and emotions directly, triggering responses before his mind could even process them. He stood there, stunned by the revelation while drowning in the tidal wave of lust flooding him.

“Please tell me you’re okay.”

She sobbed the words and the power in them nearly buckled his knees. “I’m okay,” he forced from his lungs, heaving for more air.

“Oh God, thank you,” she wept, full out crying now. “I’m sorry,” she choked out, her sobs sputtering. “My faith sucks!”

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