Page 5 of The Panther's Price

He wasn’t just hiding.

He wasfoldedinto the space.

And he wasn’t human. She knew that with the same certainty she knew her own name.

She reached for the knife strapped to her thigh beneath her coat. Just in case.

But when she turned again, the figure was gone.

Not gone like they’d walked away.

Gone like they’d melted into the fog.

Or worse,becomeit.

“Eamon,” she snapped as soon as she returned to the flat, slamming the door behind her. “We need to talk.”

He was already waiting by the window, rifle propped on the sill, cigarette burning slow in the corner of his mouth.

“You were followed.”

“You saw?”

“Ifelt,” he said, exhaling smoke. “Didn’t see a damn thing.”

“That’s not possible,” she muttered, pacing. “Unless…”

Eamon stood slowly, grabbing the charm around his neck. “Unless they ain’t human.”

Evryn froze. Her heartbeat tripped.

“You think it’s… shifter?”

Eamon nodded grimly. “Either that, or worse.”

“I need to know what’s happening to me.”

He sighed. “I’ve told you all I know, girl.”

“Youtrainedme.”

“To survive,” he barked. “Not to inherit a throne. Not to glow when you’re angry. Not to hear damnshadowstalkin’ in your dreams.”

She flinched. Then steadied.

“I’m not crazy, Eamon.”

“Didn’t say you were.”

“Then stop acting like I should run every time the wind breathes funny.”

“I’m actin’ like someone who’s buried good people ‘cause they waited too long to leave.”

They stared at each other, years of grit and grief between them.

He looked away.

“We’ll leave at dawn,” he said.

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