I see the transformation shimmer over me in the reflections on the glossy ice. A snowy pallor spreads over all of my skin, with the stark blue veins that normally only show on my forearms rippling across my limbs and chest and up my neck. My eyes widen and drift farther apart.
Stag horns sprout from my skull, jutting off into the air like miniature tree branches. My pale hair turns shaggier and spreads down my back.
A soft noise escapes Peri. As I turn to face her, I brace myself, but her awe washes over me before I’ve even met her shining eyes.
“This is your true fae form?” she says. “You look even more handsome than usual.”
I don’t normally have any trouble accepting compliments, but a blush tingles over my cheeks.
“You should get to know every side of me.” I pause. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen your true form.”
“It’s, ah, kind of hard to see.” Peri giggles and then shimmers. A glow courses over her skin?—
No. The glowisher skin. It’s all of her. In the space of a few seconds, her entire body has transformed into a shape made entirely of light, pure and bright as a spring afternoon’s sunlight.
My breath catches at the back of my mouth. Of course this is what she’d look like. Of course she’d shine even brighter when she lets go of the trappings of humanity.
“You’re amazing,” I tell her. The word doesn’t even come close to encapsulating what I feel.
It’s hard to make out Peri’s features in her glowing face, but I think she smiles. Her voice somehow comes out extra shiny too. “Maybe I should show the humans this side of me.”
Every particle in my body balks. “No. We shouldn’t give them any more reason to think we’re strange.”
They turn every bit of oddness into something to hate.
Peri’s light contracts until she’s in her regular humanesque form again—leather jacket, sundress, and all. She tips her head to the side as she considers me.
“You said you wanted to protect me. You know you can’t just shut me away in a place like this to stop anything from hurting me, right?” She waves at the castle around us.
“Why not?” I can’t help muttering.
Peri laughs and tucks her hand around my elbow. “I want to look after myself, but I need people too. To feed on their emotions, to learn more about their world, to find my own happiness… It’s nice to take a break, but I want to be out there with them some of the time.”
I already knew that. I don’t think any part of me actually believed I could keep her hidden away in this castle until the disaster is over.
That doesn’t erase the longing to, though.
I open my mouth, searching for the words to convince her to at least spend the day in here until we know what the hunters will do next. Before I can, heavier footsteps tread up to the doorway.
I spin around, jerking back into my own humanesque appearance, just as Raze steps inside. He ducks to fit his hulking frame through the entrance.
All my nerves prickle with alarm—the lug is going to shatter apart all the beauty I built for our mate. I can just picture him crashing and smashing through the ice as he lumbers around.
Tart words to send him out again leap to my tongue, but they might be unfair. Because Raze eases farther inside gingerly, taking every care not to so much as brush against the intricate carvings.
He gazes all around and then catches my gaze with an awkward smile. “I was worried about Peri, so I came looking for her. You made this?”
“I did,” I say, a little sharper than I intended.
Raze shows no sign of offense. His expression relaxes. “It’s incredible. It’sart. I’ve never seen anything like it—that’s some talent you’ve got.”
The compliment warms me more than I expected it to. I’ve given Raze a hard time more often than I can keep track of. I still don’t like thinking about the creatures he slaughters in his hunger for blood.
But he’s good for our mate. And apparently he appreciates creative expression. Who would have thought?
Peri has turned her smile on him. “I’m totally okay. Hail was just distracting me from my worries for a bit.”
I guess my intentions were pretty transparent. That doesn’t mean I can’t extend them. Tasting the waft of affection that’s expanded with Raze’s arrival, I can think of one simple yet veryenjoyable way to keep Peri safe and secure for at least a little longer.
