“Hmmm. Scared?”
“Seasick.”
Word was hissing like snake.
Liz witch laughed. Laugh was low, like purr, and Eli body reacted again. Beast looked from Eli to witch. “You ever tell her that?” she asked.
“She never asked. But she wanted to live on a boat when she retired from the force. Kept pushing that too. Communication is a two-way street and she didn’t care enough to ask, so I never volunteered.”
“Passive-aggressive. Childish.”
“No argument. I was.”
Liz witch spun stick in snow, making it seem to dance. “So what do you want, if not to live on a boat after retirement?”
“A family. Kids. A home. White-picket-fence kinda thing. A woman who likes guns. A woman who’s independent. “
“Having babies was a little faster than I intended to go, but since we’re there already... Guns don’t bother me but I don’t like ’em much. They’re unreliable. They jam. They can be stolen and used against me or against others. Guns need ammo to work. I prefer magic. I’m a stone witch. We don’t do well around salt water so cruises are out. I like mountains, but I’m fine with flat land as long as I can bring rocks with me. I like kids well enough but I don’t intend to raise ’em alone. I want a man who does diapers and dishes. And the house has to be stone-clad, not brick or that vinyl stuff. Don’t need a picket fence because my wards are better than any ol’ fence. Oh. And while I don’t like making love in the dunes, I do like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain.”
Eli didn’t answer but fingers stopped scratching. Felt tension course through Eli body like chasing rabbits.
“Song lyrics from the eighties,” witch said, eyes on Eli.
“Nineteen seventy-nine. Not the eighties.”
“Whatever. Before I was born. Make you a deal. You don’t like something I do, you tell me. I don’t like something you do, I’ll tell you. In between you make me steak and a salad and we’ll talk.”
“Jane’s facing a war. I don’t have time to chase women.”
Witch laughed again. “Chicken.” Her feet made shushing noises on boards as she moved toward inn. Over shoulder, witch said, “Watch out for snowdrifts over your head, big boy.” Witch moved back to house.
Eli said mating word. Beast did not understand. Eli wanted to mate. Talked of mating. Yet did not chase mate. Humans were silly kits. Beast stepped away andpawpawpawedto stream bank. Dropped belly to ground and belly-crawled to look over pool of water, belly in snow. Water was no longer making steam. Was no longer bloody. Soul was sitting on tree over pool. Was wearing thin human clothes. Was not wet. Soul wore strange jewelry on leg. Dragon looked at Beast and covered jewelry with dress. Said nothing.
Eli moved up to Beast and nodded to Soul. “I see you survived the shots.”
Soul looked away. Nodded.
“You want to tell me why you bit Jane? If you had been in your dragon form, you’d have killed her.”
Soul looked frustrated, like a juvenile kit that tried to take large prey and failed. “I’m not always the same person when I shift shape. My brain works different, I think different, I feel different, I perceive enemies differently.” She shook her head, face in a snarl. Looked at Beast. “I beg forgiveness.”
Beast does not forgive. Beast kills enemies.Beast snarled at her, showing killing teeth.
“I’ll be up to the house when Jane shifts back,” she said.
“To talk to the holder ofle breloque?” he asked. “The one you just tried to kill to get the crown? I don’t think so. If I knew how to kill you, you’d be dead.”
Soul laughed, sound angry and dull and wrong. “I am well aware of your desire to kill me, Eli Younger, but I am now in control of my former murderous tendencies. That said, I’d kill every human and para for twenty miles if it meant averting a war.”
“War?”
Soul did not answer. Asked instead, “Are you going to talk to the pretty witch?”
Eli did not answer, but body smelled frustrated. Angry.
Beast did not understand “not answer.” Was confused.
Soul sighed. Smelled fishy and bloody and not human. “I won’t try to take the crown again. But you let that witch get away and you’re dumber than you look.”
