Page 32 of No Honor Amongst Shifters
He dropped the body and shuddered.He glanced at Roslin, hoping his boyfriend didn’t think differently of him now that he’d seen him kill, but Roslin was talking to a spot of thin air in front of him.He absently patted Alcott’s side, and Alcott knew they were okay.
He hoped they would continue to be.
He’d taken the first cockatrice shifter by surprise, but he couldn’t do the same with the second one.When they rushed toward them, Alcott used brute force to push them back.He grabbed one of their wings and slammed them against a tree, trying to ignore the flash of pain in his side when the cockatrice’s claws raked his skin.He dropped the cockatrice, and they launched toward him again, but something invisible dragged them back, giving Alcott a chance to latch onto their wing again.He pulled while pushing the cockatrice away with his front legs.A horrible tearing sound made him want to puke, but he continued pulling until the cockatrice screamed and dropped to the ground.Alcott was left with a detached wing in his mouth that he quickly spat out.
He told himself that he wasn’t a monster, but he couldn’t stop to think about the people he was killing.They wouldn’t hesitate to hurt him and Roslin, and he couldn’t hesitate to hurt them.
“You’re okay?”Roslin asked.
Alcott nodded.He knew that Roslin and his ghosts had helped him, and he was grateful.
He nuzzled his nose against Roslin’s neck for a second and inhaled his scent, hoping it would eclipse the smell of blood.He suspected that nothing would until he showered, unfortunately.
“I wish I could hug you,” Roslin said.
Alcott could make that happen.He shifted back to his human form and ignored the way Roslin’s eyes widened as he pressed into his arms.Roslin hugged him back, even though he was grumbling.
“You need to stay in your dragon form.It’s too dangerous for you to shift back.”
“You’re in your human form.”
“Because I don’t have another form.Please, Alcott.”
“Oh, look who’s back,” a voice Alcott recognized drawled.
Alcott stiffened.The panic he’d managed to keep at bay until now rose in his chest.He’d told himself that Damien didn’t matter anymore, that he never had and that he didn’t have any power over him.
He’d been lying.
* * * *
ROSLIN DIDN’T ASK WHOthe man was.There was only one person who would talk to Alcott that way, and it was Damien.
Right now, Roslin wished he was anything but human.He wanted to shift into a dragon or hell, even a cockatrice, and tear Damien apart.Instead, the only thing he could do was push Alcott back and stand in front of him.
He expected Alcott to protest, but instead, he felt Alcott’s hands tangled in his shirt.Alcott held on tightly, and Roslin didn’t think that he was ready to confront Damien.He didn’t know if there was anything he could do, but he’d try.
Damien appeared from behind the trees.He was a handsome man, but that didn’t hide the maliciousness in his expression.Roslin hated him on sight, and he suspected he would have even if he hadn’t known what the mage had done to Alcott.There was just something about Damien that screamed predator, even though he wasn’t a shifter.
“I didn’t expect to see you again,” Damien continued.
He had to look at Roslin because Alcott was behind him, but it was like he didn’t see him.His focus was on Alcott, and Roslin might as well not exist.Roslin wasn’t offended—he didn’t want Damien to perceive him as anything to worry about because it gave him a chance to surprise the man.
“I thought for sure that your leader would kill you.That’s what I would’ve done in his place.Traitors don’t deserve to live, and you betrayed your clan,” Damien said.He sounded bored, like the life of everyone in cockatrice territory wasn’t in danger.“But maybe you gave him a special incentive to keep you around.You were good at that.It was the only thing you were good at, actually.”
Roslin took a step forward—to do what he didn’t know.He didn’t go far.Alcott whimpered and pulled him back by his shirt.
Damien’s smile widened.“Oh, you’ve already replaced me?I shouldn’t be surprised.How many of them have you welcomed into your bed?Do they know about me and how you begged me?How you said that I was the only person you trusted?You know, if you hadn’t been so bruised and ugly the last time I saw you, I would’ve fucked you one last time.I was planning to, but I didn’t think you were smart enough to sneak out.”
Roslin was going to kill this guy.He might not have the ability to shift into anything, but he’d make do with his hands.
The problem was that Damien had magic.When Roslin moved forward again, Damien raised a hand, and Roslin hit an invisible wall.Damien still appeared amused, and Roslin hated him.
But he wouldn’t win this.Damien was toying with them.If Alcott didn’t shift, they wouldn’t stand a chance against the mage.The problem was that when Roslin turned to Alcott, it was to find him still staring.He was frozen, and it didn’t look like he’d be ready to do anything anytime soon.
That meant that Roslin was the only one who could protect both of them from Damien.He might be human, but he still had something up his sleeve.It wouldn’t kill or even hurt Damien too badly, but it would give him and Alcott time to run.
“You’re going to let this man protect you?”Damien asked.“I’m not surprised.You’ve always been weak.I’ve known that from the start, and it was fun to use that against you.You were always so eager for any scrap of affection I would throw your way.You would’ve done anything for me, wouldn’t you?Maybe you’d still do anything for me.Now that’s an idea.I could take you back if you help me.”
