Page 29 of Ash

She blinked. Jet-black fur raced along the arm stretched between her and Ash. To her horror, she saw she’d sunk her claws into his hand.

He hadn’t uttered the smallest sound. Now, he smiled at her as his blood soaked into the bedcover.

“I’d appreciate it if you pulled them out now.”

She flexed her fingers, now paws, and the claws popped out of his hand. He raised it and rubbed away the blood—the punctures were already healing.

Dani opened her jaws. “Soorrryy.” She had problems contorting her lips and tongue to form the word.

He stood and moved away from her. “It is okay. I heal fast.” He tilted his head, examining her. “You make a beautiful Dire.”

She sat up on the bed. It creaked beneath her extra weight—she was much bigger as a Dire than she’d been as a human. But she stared at Ash.

“Thuunke yoou.”

He offered another smile, but she thought it was the saddest one she’d ever seen. And she wondered, again, what kind of shifter he was.

Footsteps from outside the door twisted her gut into a knot. Ash’s smile vanished, and he moved toward it. Just as it opened.

Remy stood there. His eyes lit when he saw Dani. She pulled away from him, and snarled.

But his voice rippled through her head. “Now,” he said, “you are truly mine.”

Dani’s eyes popped open. Her heart raced, and beneath the blanket, her hands had transformed to beast.

She quickly forced it back to human. Remy was dead. He couldn’t hurt her any more. And if she was careful, Rindek wouldn’t find her, either.

Dani repeated it, over and over, until her heart calmed. Her mind returned to Ash. She had escaped, but he was still trapped with that monster.

She thought of him often, him and his remarkable metallic-silver eyes. And as she remembered them, she also thought of the shiny scales on his arms.

Those eyes. And the scales.

Her mind snapped to the golden Dragon that had soared through her dream. Lying there on the shelter cot, she finally realized just what kind of shifter he was. It sent her heart racing all over again.

Ash was a Dragon.

* * *

Ash had just dodged an incoming wave to grab a fistful of seaweed when he sensed the gate activate.

He wasn’t surprised. He’d known it was going to happen. Sometimes the timing varied—it was the hardest thing to nail down—but as soon as Orena had the argument with her youngest son that morning, Ash had known which timeline was moving forward. At least for the next few hours.

“Firashe! Come here.”

Resisting the command in Finn’s harsh yell would be foolish, although deep inside, he still wanted to try. To give in to the youngest Torshin was very difficult. Yet physical rebellion was pointless.

The only way forward, was through.

He shoved the half-dry seaweed into his collection bag and shuffled through the sand toward the cliffs. Finn sent a pulse of energy through his collar to hurry his ascent along the rocky path, but Ash gritted his teeth and kept his pace steady all the way up.

He just couldn’t help pushing it with Finn. Rindek’s youngest was an ass. It wasn’t Finn that owned Ash, body and soul. It was his father. And Finn was merely an annoyance compared to his brother.

The Archmage awaited him in the house. He wasn’t alone. Not only did both sons stand with him, but so did Orena.

The female Torshin leaned against the doorframe with her thin arms crossed. Her eyes were also crimson hued. She had enough power to be a Mage in her own right, but female Torshins were prohibited from wielding their abilities. They could only act as reservoirs for their male counterparts.

Maybe that was why she was so twisted and bitter.

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