Page 16 of Heir of Blood and Moonlight

I jerked the steering wheel to the right, then straightened it out, leaning across the center console to open the passenger side door as I pulled forward to line up the open car door with my now empty parking spot. “Sombra!” I shouted to the panther grappling with the red wolf.

The cat-turned-panther was a shifter, obviously, which meant he was my enemy, but hehadsaved my life. I couldn’t just leave him here to fight to the death whenIwas the reason he’d entered this fight in the first place.

“Get in!”

The giant black cat rolled with the wolf shifter, kicking her away with his muscular back legs just long enough for him to leap into the empty parking spot. His next stride brought him hurtling into my car, slamming me against the driver’s side door. I gunned the gas, the sudden forward momentum shutting the passenger door, and peeled out of the parking lot.

The panther shifter scrambled into the backseat, where he collapsed, breathing hard. My jeans were soaked with warm, wet blood, and he had left a glossy crimson smear across the center console. He was injured—badly, from the looks of it.

“Just shift,” I said, watching him in the rearview mirror as I sped down the street. He would be naked and starving in his human form, but at least his wounds would be healed.

The panther chuffed, and I had the oddest impression that he was arguing with me. At this rate, he would pass out, and then Gavin and I would have to haul an unconscious panther out of my car, and that was assuming Gavin didn’t kill him outright. I didn’t know the vampire guardian well, or at all, but I had knownaguardian, and Javier wouldn’t have hesitated to tear the panther shifter’s head off. Unlike getting run over by a car, thatwouldkill him.

“Oh my goddess, justshift,” I ordered, my voice resonating with the command.

The instant the words left my mouth, the air shimmered around the panther. That giant, black, furry body transformed into a muscled male form with bloodstained copper skin covered in intricate arcane tattoos. His large hand gripped the top of my seat back, and he hauled himself upright, giving me my first good look at his face.

“Bastian!” I gasped, my stare locked on the rearview mirror in horror.

His focus flicked forward. “Red light,” he said.

I slammed on the brakes, gripping the steering wheel tight in both hands. The car skidded to a halt, but I didn’t take my eyes off the rearview mirror and the reflection of the man in the back seat. Of the shifter I had been stupid enough to fall for.

We stared at one another in the mirror until the car behind me honked, alerting me that the traffic light had switched to green. Jaw clenched, I dragged my attention back to the road and pushed on the gas pedal.

“Soph—”

“Don’t say a fucking word,” I hissed, fuming as I shook my head. I glanced at him, just a flick of my eyes. “How could you?”

He inhaled and exhaled a controlled deep breath, but he didn’t respond. Probably because I had told him not to speak.

“Answer me!” I snapped.

Bastian’s lips parted, and he sucked in a breath. “It was an accident,” he said, his voice rough.

I guffawed. “You fucked meby accident?”

“Ifell in love with youby accident,” he threw back at me.

I opened my mouth, then shut it again, pressing my lips together as I focused on the road ahead instead of the way his confession made me feel. We drove in silence for minutes, but I finally broke it when we were a few turns away from the vet’s office.

I guided the car around a corner, then glanced at him in the mirror. “Were you sent to spy on me?”

Bastian exhaled heavily through his nose. “Yeah.”

“How screwed are you now?”

He let out a bitter laugh and shook his head. “All the way,” he said. “If they find me, I’m dead.”

I chewed on the inside of my cheek, considering my options. “Do you want me to pull over to let you out?”

“Nah.” Hands gripping the tops of both seatbacks, he leaned forward until his head was in line with the headrests. “I’m going to take my chances with the vamp,” he said. “If he doesn’t kill me outright, at least then I’ll be able to help him protect you.”

Ever so slowly, I shook my head. “You’re insane.” I could feel his gaze on the side of my face.

“Maybe.” He reached forward, plucking my phone out of the cupholder. “You need to ditch this. They’ll use it to track you now that they know they can no longer rely on me.”

I frowned. “I thought the House of the Sun wasn’t good with tech.” At least, that was what Javier had told me. And Gavin hadn’t seemed concerned that my phone was tapped or bugged or whatever. He seemed more worried that any shifters nearby could listen in on our conversation with their heightened sense of hearing.

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