Page 5 of Hunted
Yukio hesitated then, surprisingly, followed her without complaint.The door clicked shut behind them.Cicely drifted closer.Still silent.Still patiently waiting for me to come around.
“Yes, yes.You think I’m unraveling,” I said flatly as I finished off the last of my bottled water.
He tilted his head, his beautiful green eyes seeing more than they should.Damned empathic fae.
“You’re not wrong,” I admitted.“I may, possibly, bemildlystruggling at the moment.But it will pass.”
He sat cross-legged on the floor at my feet, tugged his sleeves over his hands, and waited.I looked away.
Vlad squeezed in through the ventilation shaft, fluttered over, let out a strangled screech, and dropped something into my lap.
A moth.Mostly dead, though it did twitch a few times before finally going still.What was it with Ruya’s pets all of the sudden?
“Thanks,” I said gravely as the bat flapped an awkward circle round the room then headed in an erratic path toward me again.
Vlad smacked into my chest, then clambered his way up to perch on my shoulder, chittering out a sound that I thought indicated he was quite pleased with himself.His little claws dug into my skin, the tiny prick of pain just enough to anchor me in the here and now.
It was...comforting, in a grotesque sort of way.“I think this bat might have rabies,” I muttered.
Cicely signed, “He doesn’t do that for anyone but Ruya.I think he’s trying to take care of you.”
Great.Even thepetswere starting to fuss and worry over me.What a terrible day for my ego.
I stroked a hand over Vlad’s furry back.The migraine was still lurking.The fire inside me still ached to burn through everything and everyone who got too close.But at the moment, it was manageable.
“You know what the worst part is?”I asked lightly, as if we were just chatting about the weather.
Cicely watched me, waiting.He wasn’tmybeta.Not one of the original members of my court.He was, first and foremost,Ruya’smate and devotee.But for some reason, instead of making me shut him out, that little bit of distance made it easier to tell him the truth.I suppose there was less pressure to perform for him, since I wasn’thisalpha, andtechnicallynot responsible for protecting him.
“I a break.Atinylittle moment to breathe.But I can’t let go,” I whispered.“I can’t relax.Not even for a second.Because if I do, the dragon takes over.And she doesn’t give a fuck about diplomacy, or restraint, or how fragile everyone is right now.She doesn’t care about Josh, or Acacia, or any of the rest of it.She just wants toburn the world downto get to her missing magic.”
Cicely moved closer.Placed his hand over mine.For some strange and mystical reason, I allowed the unnecessary gesture.
“I hate needing help,” I growled, a little tendril of smoke escaping my lips to curl toward the ceiling.
He squeezed my hand once, then signed, “Then don’t call it help.Call it what it is.Loyalty.Care.Respect...Love.”
Vlad, who had been rooting around doing weird bat things in my hair, sneezed on my neck.
I laughed, hoarse and cracked.Then, rubbed my temples again and leaned back against the wall as the laughter took over, bursting out of me until tears streamed down my cheeks.Cicely smiled along with me, chuckling silently.
As the tension in me eased a bit more, I recognized the calming influence of a strong, grounded beta.And my own alpha nature demanded that I enfold him under my protection.It urged me to nudge a bit of my alpha influence his way so he’d know he was valued and appreciated.As if he was mine.
“This entire court is ridiculous,” I informed him, even as I ignored the unspoken exchange between us andallowedhim to bask in my energy.
We sat there for a while.Me.Cicely.Vlad.And the slowly cooling ache of my own magic, which hadn’t quite killed me today, but probably would sometime soon.
Eventually, I stood.
“Come on,” I said to Cicely.“I need to speak with Yukio and Martina.We need to talk about this cursed alliance with Acacia.Even if it kills me to utter the words out loud.”
He gave me a look.
“Figure of speech,” I added.“I’m feeling much more like myself.Crisis averted.”For now.
He studied me for a long while, his bright green gaze not directly challenging me, but skirting very close to that edge.Then he stepped closer, took my hand in his and bowed over it formally before brushing a soft kiss across my knuckles.
A little jolt of heat and want curled through my belly and between my legs.If there was one thing that my dragon would consider as an alternative to murderous rage, it was fucking all her aggression out with a beautiful partner.And I could certainly see what Ruya saw in the handsome faun.But he wasn’t mine.And we had more important things to do.
