“If I tried to kiss you, would you reject me again?” His tone is a painful rasp. A plea of a sound.
I feel that rasp all through my core.
He thinks I like Avian and he thinks he’s just the third wheel hanging around. I don’t think that. I don’t think that at all.
“Maybe,” I whisper against his lips instead.
The smile that creases the corners of his eyes causes so many warm and helpless emotions to flood through me.
“Mmm, I’m definitely a shame slut, then,” he says just before his head lowers a fraction of an inch, and his mouth skims ever so lightly over mine.
And then a scream and a clatter of curses break through the music.
Silence falls, but it’s not alone.
A gasp of a cry is all I can hear. It’s all I can focus on as I tear myself away from Roman’s embrace.
Because I know that cry.
I’ve heard it throughout our childhood.
And I will kill anyone who makes Nyra cry.
I’m shoving my way through the circle of hell fae and shifters surrounding who I already know is lying at their feet. I will fucking end them!
When I finally spot her, Vanitee is already there. She’s cradling my sister’s head in her hands and examining the deep claw marks that bloody the pink scar along the side of her heart-shaped face.
Was it Seelvie?
Vanitee stands and spins on her own kind so fast, her long black hair fans around her. “Do not touch her! She is not your enemy! She is one of us, and if I ever find the coward who hurt her, I’ll break your hand clean off and beat you with it!”
A shifting of feet and a palpable fear sounds through the crowd. Vanitee takes Nyra’s hand and pulls her up, draping mysister’s arm around her thin shoulder as she starts to lead her away from the hungry watchers.
“Nyra,” I whisper, my hand reaching for her as she walks away.
But she doesn’t hear me.
It’s then that I can’t help but wonder... does she even know I’m here?
Because my sister doesn’t need me.
And it’smewho’s hurtingher.
They never would have attacked her if she hadn’t brought me over to their group. They’d accept her if it wasn’t for me.
They’re right.
I don’t belong here.
TWENTY-ONE
PRIMAL NEEDS
Days pass,and each time I see Nyra, she’s shadowed by Vanitee. The two of them whisper and smile sweetly together in the dining room. As for me, I keep my distance as I stand among them all. I keep my space. And my exhaustion.
Because for the past five nights, I’ve been beneath Goddess Moon praying to lure out the beast inside of me. I need it if I’m going to stand my ground against a Night Witch. Tonight, in just about an hour, after everyone else is busy with their own rejoicing outside, I’ll be hidden in the shadows of the tallest tower this castle has.
It feels good to be closer. The higher, the better. I want to feel the shine of the light of the moon and taste the breeze. Or... whatever it is that gets shifters so damn excited about the night life.
