Page 45 of Siren's Kiss & Feral Beasts
“When and where?”
“On our second night.”
Torren clears his throat then, and I shift my gaze to his. “Brina is on her way here.”
“Okay.” Pushing my chair back, I walk toward my liquor cabinet near the window and pick up the bottle of dark rum. This one is locally made, rich with caramel and pineapple. The cork stopper pops right out, and I pour three fingers’ worth into a glass. The first sip burns slow and deep, a smoky sweetness sliding across my tongue. The warmth spreads through my chest, then my limbs, and I close my eyes for a second.
With my back to them, I stay that way until there’s a soft knock.
I hear the opening of a door, a lowhello, and then the scraping of another chair across the hardwood floor. Brina’s worry is palpable, but she keeps her composure. Another change in her, just like Jonathan, is their scents.
Now, it’s a mix of him and her. Citrus and cinnamon.
No rogue in them. No stench.
Do you notice the change?Torren’s voice comes through, his link filled with trepidation. Second-guessing, or maybe it’s a lack of trust in the two, but I sense it too.
I don’t think they were ever truly rogues.
How could they fake it?Another question, but like Torren, I don’t have the answers yet.Do you think she’s a hybrid? Part witch?
Immediately, my wolf rejects the notion. I do, too.
Hybrids are hard to detect, but they carry one shared marker: a small red birthmark on the inside of their wrists in the shape of a spiral. I looked when she accepted the bottle of water from Veris, noticing the first change in her scent.
No. Not a hybrid, but she’s been wearing a very strong blocker.Turning, I walk back to my seat and face the two. “Continue.”
Brina’s brows furrow, but she remains quiet. Instead, she grips her mate’s hand. The same hand that a few minutes ago had the coffee cup. “I’m confused?—”
“I’m explaining how we got here.” She saysOh, and that’s it. Just sits relaxed and smiles at him. His mate is more relaxed than he is, and there’s a touch more color in her cheeks, too. The look he gives her is besotted, and my chest squeezes tight. “He was running from a grouping of three houses when he slammed into me, both of us tumbling to the ground. Spiro was trying to steal something—running from someone, and we covered for him when an older woman came at us with a thick wooden broom.”
“A mage?”
“Not sure, but she was angry,” Brina jumps in, her eyes unfocused as if remembering that day. “It happened so fast, and we didn’t want to get caught up in his mess, so we lied.”
“The woman, she bought this?”
“I remember her looking at us, Alpha. Like almost seeing through us, and then she smiled. Just smiled, and bid us a goodnight.”
“Then what?”
“Spiro took us in.”
I arch a brow. “Took you in or used you?”
“Both.” Jonathan grimaces, while Brina nods in agreement. “He and Levi—they were partners. One stole, the other kept lookout. My mate and I…we just tagged along. It was survival; were staying in the background until we saved enough to head east and buy land in one of the less-populated villages.”
“And the mermaid?”
“How did you know she was a?—”
“Answer me.” This leaves me on a sharp bark, the command of my wolf. He’s pushing for me to hurry this up, so I can leave and find our mate. He wants her found, mounted, and claimed with our bite mark adorning her pretty little neck. And I need that, too, but leaving without settling them or having the facts will only delay our hunt. “Where is she? What did she do?”
“S-She wasn’t like the other homeowners on Port Avaria and caught Spiro stealing. Literally had his hands on some coral-carved jewelry box, and glamoured him. Then Levi.”
“Not you or Brina?”
“No. The woman, whose name is Nerissa, left us alone. No explanation why, she just did.”
