“How’s your hearing with my blood?” he asked.
“Improved, but not by a lot. It’s like someone turned the volume up a notch or two.”
“Ah. So you can’t hear your stomach rumbling. Shall I fetch you a rabbit?”
“I’m not hungry. My throat was dry, so I was swallowing a lot. I must have swallowed little air bubbles.”
“Better you belch them out.”
“Afraid they’ll come out the other end?”
He glided ahead of me. “The mortal body is a repulsive thing.”
“Is that so? I guess that means you don’t want to feast on mine.”
He spun on his heel and clutched me in his arms so fast that I gasped lightly. “You’re the exception. You bewitch me, Raven Black. Through and through. My soul is dark, but I feel the light when you’re near.”
I threaded my fingertips through his soft brown hair. It was longish, just enough to cover the tops of his ears. “You’re a pretty man, Mr. Poe. Anyone ever tell you that?”
When he leaned in to kiss me, I leaned away.
“We have lions to kill.”
His eyes stirred with excitement. “I love hunting with you. I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman with similar desires.”
“One who murders with glee?”
His gaze darted back and forth between each of my eyes.
“What are you looking at?”
“Your soul.”
I slipped out of his arms. “What do you mean?”
He shook his head. “It must be the moon talking. Let’s keep moving.” Christian took my hand. “Are you certain we won’t get lost?”
I lifted my dagger from the ground as we passed by it. “I’ve got a built-in compass. I don’t know the exact location of the cave, but I can guestimate my way back, and you’ll be able to hear everyone once we’re close enough.”
We penetrated a thin layer of fog. My foot struck something solid, but it didn’t sound like the usual underbrush. I bent over and gripped a smooth wooden handle. “It’s Blue’s axe.”
Christian lifted a handful of garments. “I found the rest.”
I swung the axe against a tree and left it lodged in the trunk. “What do you think the compound is like where the kids are going?”
Christian dropped the clothes by the axe. “If they’re all the way out here, they’re not going to be making regular runs to the grocery store. I wager they have gardens and hunt. Perhaps they own livestock so they don’t have to leave the facility.”
“I don’t see why they can’t take an extra kid.”
Christian rested his hand against a tree and leaned on it. “If you’re thinking about Joshua, you can bet your sweet arse they won’t let him within twenty feet of the front gate. An underage Shifter, free to walk about Potentials? That’s a security risk if I ever saw one.”
“You act like he’s going to sleep with all the girls.”
Christian strode toward me. “All he has to do is bed one. Teenagers make foolish decisions and aren’t always responsible with free will. They’re emotional creatures who are easily influenced.”
I sighed. “That’s what I’m afraid of. Joshua won’t stop until he finds her.”
“Assuming he stays behind. If Viktor brings him along, we’ll have no choice but to scrub his memories.”
