“You’ve beenalonein this wasteland for months?” I can feel her tears soak into my coat.
Fuck, I hate causing her pain. And I think it’s going to get worse when I tell her the truth.
“Honestly, it’s hard to keep track; time feels messed up down here, but as I said, Wes and Max disappeared real soon after we arrived. That's gotta be, what? Like, three years ago? Four?”
Yeah, it’s been a long few years.
I don’t describe the madness I fell into for the first few months. "It’s been shitty, but if the whole point was for me to wait here for you? Then every second was worth it.”
“Er, Dono?” Cosmo says. I look down and see he’s wearing his mega serious face. “You disappeared from Validus Vale eleven months ago,” he tells me. “Not four years.”
That can’t be right. “No way, it’s at least four years.”
“I’m sorry, Donovan, but he’s telling the truth,” Theo says, agreeing with Cos for once. “We are just coming up on the first anniversary of your disappearance.”
I don’t know what to think about that information. I’m pretty sure it’s been years, though not having day and night here makes calendars hard.
The maybe-Russian dude comes over. “Does your family have the centaur line?” he asks. I respond with a brief nod, not interested in his questions. “So your innate nature has engaged. This place is even rewriting your DNA.”
“Who the fuck is this guy?” I ask Cosmo.
Theo answers first. “This is Alexis Feniks. He’s Maximus’s cousin.”
Alexis Feniks? Have I ever heard Max mention the name? I don’t think so. This Feniks puts his arm around Theo, almost pulling her away from me.
Without thinking, I stamp my forehoof on the ground, slamming it hard into the dust and rocks.
She wriggles out of his arms–ha—then continues stroking my coat. “Poor, babe. What have you survived on?”
“Nothing,” I tell her. “I haven’t had a speck of food or water since I got here. Shit, Tee, I’m so sorry, so, so sorry.”
"Don't be," Cosmo says, his voice unusually soft. He steps closer, putting a hand on my human shoulder. "We're here now, Dono. We'll find them."
I look at him. My best friend. My asshole brother-from-another-mother, who suddenly groans and drops to his knees. "Fuck."
“You doing alright, Cos?”
“Does it look like it?” he moans, running a hand over his forearm, his skin visibly twitching. “This is fucking intense. Shit, it’s like I can feel some new power growing inside me.”
Max’s cousin gets all frowny. “Feel it how? Describe.”
Cosmo staggers onto his feet again. “Like something wild is fighting to get out. Gods. Anarchy is erupting in every cell."
He looks at me, desperation showing. “What do I do, Dono?”
"Don't fight it," I tell him. "Ride the wave, brother."
"Not helpful."
Theo’s looking at Cosmo, gnawing on her lip with worry. The smell of her—sweat and fear andTheo—hits me like a physical blow. It’s not just desire; it’s a command coded into my blood; like some ancient instincts have woken up and are screaming in my face.
Claim her. Take her. Run with her.
The thick swirling magic of this place is honing my thoughts until all I can see is the curve of her neck and the pulse jumping in her throat. I need to get her away from these other dudes. I need to be alone with her.
I need to bury myself in her until I remember who I am.
Fuck her. Now.
