‘Unless they’re busy hunting for birds,’ Ezer said beneath her breath.
‘Not a fan of cats?’ He lifted a brow nearly hidden beneath his dark curls. ‘That may pose a problem, considering Six is half of one.’
‘I don’t need reminding,’ she said darkly.
‘You die … we all die,’ Kinlear said. ‘Her chains remain. And for what it’s worth … I’ll be here the whole time.’
He was different today.
More relaxed, less showy.
‘Such a relief,’ Ezer said beneath her breath. And motioned for him to open the gate before she could think better of it. ‘My warning from yesterday remains, Prince.’
‘I’ve thought of nothing else since,’ Kinlear said with a wink, as he gently shut the gate behind her. ‘No locks. You have my word.’
Ezer’s feet rustled the shavings as she edged inside the cage, eyes on the beast.
Six didn’t move.
But her breathing was certainly not deep enough to be true sleep.
‘Faker,’ Ezer said, as her eyes adjusted to the darkness inside the cage.
She’d be a fool, as good as dead meat to think one shared touch last night meant the raphon had truly accepted her. But there was certainly less terror in her gut entering the cage a second time.
It felt a bit more like … anticipation.
A tremor in her heart, as she sat down against the bars and said, ‘Hello, Six.’
The beast didn’t move other than to twitch her long, catlike tail.
It clinked against the heavy chains that were anchored into the stones: four chains, one for each shackle still attached to Six’s ankles.
The sound sent a ripple running through Ezer; a mental flinch that reminded her of chains upon her own ankles, a heaviness she bore for two long, lonely years.
She glanced away, focusing on Six’s wings instead.
They were relaxed, spread out across the pup’s body. The tips of her long black feathers were coated in shavings. A messy sleeper, she supposed, but so was Ezer, always waking up tangled in her own sheets.
‘Are you going to greet me this morning, or shall I bleed for you again?’ Ezer asked.
Six lifted her head and blinked warily at the sound of Ezer’s voice.
The slits on her scarred beak flared, as if she were pulling in Ezer’s scent.
But when her large, dark eyes fell on Kinlear … they narrowed.
She twitched her tail twice and quickly tucked her head beneath her dark wing.
‘It’syou,’ Ezer said. ‘I think she’s afraid of you.’
Kinlear scoffed. ‘I hardly doubt that, considering Iam the only one in this Citadel that has overseen her survival since her birth. If it weren’t for me, my father would have had his way, and the pup would be a pile of ashes on the wind. Here.’
He stood, reaching for something in one of the other empty cells.
A heavy clink of chains sounded, and something landed at her feet.
‘What is?—’
