"Right. So, Mistral..." Quinn puffed out his chest. "I've come to humbly ask for your blessing."
Mistral was still examining his talons, not looking at Quinn. "For what?"
Quinn swallowed hard. "A pair of wings."
That made Mistral pause and lower his hand. His sky-blue eyes raked over Quinn up and down.
"You're a shifter," Mistral stated. "What are you?"
"A fox," Quinn said. "But one of my dads is a—"
Mistral scoffed. "Afox? Sorry, pal, but you're earthbound. What business do you have demanding a pair of wings? You think you're special or something?"
My blood boiled. Quinnwasspecial, even if this asshat didn't know it.
The way Quinn's face shattered pained my heart. "Only one of my parents is a fox!" he cried. "The other is a raven, and I—"
Mistral shook his head. "No. Not gonna happen. Forget it."
A small, anguished sound escaped Quinn. "Please, Mistral, listen to me. I came all this way—"
"And that entitles you to a blessing from me?" Mistral countered. "That's quite an assumption to make."
This guy was pissing me off even more than Animus did, and Mistral was supposed to be agoodspirit. My hands curled into fists. I had no intention of being violent towards Mistral, but watching him tear down Quinn and his dream without a second thought infuriated me.
By now Quinn's eyes were watery. I didn't want this asshole to make him cry.
"Listen, Mistral," I said as gently as possible, given how annoyed I was. "Can you at least hear him out?"
The harpy crossed his arms. "Sure," he said with mock pleasantness. "Go ahead."
Quinn's face hardened with determination. When he spoke, there was a layer of emotion in his voice that shook me to the core. "Ever since I was young, all I've wanted was to fly. Watching my dad, a raven, soar in the sky while being stuck on the ground was agony." Quinn clutched his chest. "It's not fair. I know I'm meant to fly. I feel it in my soul."
Unfortunately, Mistral wasn't swayed by Quinn spilling his guts out. Rather, he seemed irritated by our presence, like he was just waiting for us to leave.
"Well, life's not fair, is it?" Mistral said.
Quinn's face fell. He was heartbroken.
At the same time, a surge of white-hot anger blazed through me.
Oh,fuckno. How dare he upset Quinn like that?
"Just so you're aware," I said, shooting Mistral a warning glance, "I know exactly where Animus went, and I know how long it would take for him to get back here."
The mention of Animus made Mistral go rigid. He narrowed his eyes and peeked over his shoulder again.
"You know Animus?" Mistral said under his breath.
"Yeah. Talked to him last night, right here in this very spot."
"Soyou'rethe other voice I heard mumbling outside..." Mistral sighed. "See, this is what happens when you get involved with mortals. Everything was just fine before Nautilus had to go and make a bunch of little mortals with spirit blood..."
I didn't give a shit about Mistral's rambling because Quinn looked ready to cry. I gently took him by the arm and led him away from Mistral so we could talk privately.
"Are you okay?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
Quinn nodded stiffly but there was no heart in it.
