Page 16 of Finn
We both knew these crowds were notorious for stirring up trouble, and it was easier to control the situation if we split up and swept each side of the floor.
I gave him a curt nod, and he moved off, cutting a straight, efficient line through the masses, his presence as cold as a knife’s edge.
I, on the other hand, worked my way through more slowly, scanning faces, noting anyone who seemed particularly volatile.
My path drew occasional glances, too many of which lingered with something suggestive.
Offers came my way. Whispered propositions that hung in the air, fingers trailing across my arm or grazing against my shoulder.
But I turned them all down with polite nods or carefully worded rejections.
I’d learned long ago that the best way to navigate situations like this was to keep a soft touch, keep them entertained without giving in to anything.
After all, here I was still Beric’s creature. If I wanted to survive, that would have to be enough.
Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw him. Or at least, I thought I did.
Time stilled as my gaze zeroed in on a figure standing across the room.
He was half-hidden in shadow, but I’d know that posture, that face.
Finn. It couldn’t be, and yet…
My mind flashed back to another time, years ago now, when I’d last seen him.
The Finn I knew had been raw and open, that unguarded smile that he wore so easily. A smile that had once been just for me.
The memory stirred a painful longing in me, a hunger that wouldn’t ever really go away.
I’d buried it as best I could, buried it beneath the layers of who Beric had forced me to become.
But here, in this moment, the memories surged back, and I found myself moving through the crowd as if in a trance, ignoring everything else around me.
I pushed past shifters and vampires alike, barely noticing their looks or complaints.
The crowd shifted around me, lights flashing, shadows deepening, and that’s when I lost sight of him.
I stopped dead, scanning the sea of faces, but Finn was gone.
Or maybe he’d never been there at all.
It could have been a trick of the mind, a stray memory twisted into something solid by an undead heart that wanted to believe.
But I couldn’t shake it. Even as I stood there, scanning the room, a hollow ache spread through me. Finn would never be here.
I took a deep, unnecessary breath, steadying myself.
Whatever piece of me still longed for Finn, for that life, was just that, a piece.
It didn’t rule me, not anymore. Beric had made sure of that.
CHAPTER SIX
FINN
The momentI stepped into The Claw and Fang, a pulse of wariness surged through me, settling low in my gut.
I kept my face neutral, tried to look like I belonged, but tension coiled within me.
