Page 76 of So I Won a Werelion

But I had smelled blood on him…

She nodded. “If you’re still up to exploring the canyon, we’re ready when you are.”

Still high off fucking Gabe, my senses were heightened. Or was it something else?

Whatever it was, I couldn’t let this opportunity go to waste.

Marissa accompanied us into the dwellings, with Bjorn trailing behind with his camera. Thank the moon he hadn’t captured our last escapade.

The dwellings were just as amazing as I remembered. All the furnishings had been removed, or had simply rotted away, but I could feel life in here. A shifter king and his queen. A tightening grip on my arms and something pulling me away.

I blinked hard and found Gabe frowning. His fingers were still interlaced in mine. “Are you okay?”

“You didn’t feel that?” I whispered.

He shook his head.

I composed myself and continued wandering through the maze that had been carved out of rock. The colors went from dull to suddenly vibrant, and the smell of fire, cooking, and animal skins drying in the sun filled my nostrils.

I turned a corner and closed my eyes, bracing myself for impact. My captors.

My instincts told me to run. But when I turned, Marissa and Bjorn were blocking the doorway. Not an ancient shifter to be found.

“These marks on the walls are pretty cool.” Gabe let go of my hand and I was on the verge of panic. He was acting like everything was normal, and itsowasn’t.

He approached the wall, running his fingers over the ancient marks. They got even brighter, like they were ready to dance under his touch.

Okay, breathe.

“Can you read them?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I feel like I should be able to. How about you?”

“Same.”

I needed to join him. To take paper and pencil to the wall and rub it against the lettering so we could compare it to the artifacts that we had found, but first, I had a question that only a human could answer.

I tapped Marissa on the shoulder and lowered my voice. “Have you felt different since you handled the Scepter?”

She hesitated.

“Yeah,” she finally said, and looked around to make sure the guys weren’t paying attention to us. “I’m so horny it’s insane. If I don’t do something about it soon, I might make some very bad decisions.”

“I feel that way too.”

“Yeah but you just…” She smiled at Gabe when he looked back at us. “Did that.”

My next question was a risk, but I had to know if all our symptoms were the same. If everything could be chalked up to close contact with the artifact. “Have you had any visions?”

She furrowed her brow. “I don’t think so. Like what kind of visions?”

“Ceremonies, things you think might have happened before?”

“No.” She bit her lip and glanced quickly at Bjorn. “Definitely a few fantasies, but nothing like that. What about you?”

“I’ve seen somethingsin the last twelve hours.” My body was tingling. “And now I have to figure out if I can read the message on that wall, and if it will give us the information we need.”

Chapter

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