Then the door opened and a stranger waltzed right in.
10
Cloud
My mind was reeling.Meeko just kissed me. Meeko, the omega who beat me up with a stick days ago because he was fuelled by so much rage towards harpies.
And now he was the one to initiate the kiss. But I barely had a second to enjoy it, because a stranger barged in on us.
Seriously, who did that? Why bother knocking if you were just going to come in anyway?
But as the figure stepped inside, I realized he was no stranger.
"Animus?" I asked. "What are you doing here?"
The tall, imposing spirit strode into the cabin like he owned the place. Even though I'd asked him a question, he didn't look in my direction. It was like I didn't even exist.
"Charming little place," Animus remarked, running a black claw over the dusty table. "Though Mistral didn't bother with any upkeep, clearly…"
His unnaturally pale gaze turned to Meeko, who was still sitting on the floor. I backed up to act as a barrier between them. I didn't know what Animus wanted. Every account I'd heard of him from my family was so muddled and confusing. Better to play it safe than end up sorry later.
"What do you want?" I asked again.
Animus looked through me. My fists clenched in irritation. He was clearly ignoring me and doing a bad job of hiding it. Though I supposed he didn't give a shit. He wasn't a spirit who played by the rules or cared what anybody thought about him.
"Hello, Meeko," Animus said in a surprisingly friendly tone.
Meeko stood up behind me. "Am I supposed to know who you are?"
I stifled a grin at Meeko's snarky tone, the complete opposite of Animus's. If Animus expected Meeko's instant cooperation, he had the wrong person.
Animus shot Meeko a wry smile. "Don't worry. At this point, I'm over the fact that my existence isn't common knowledge." He gestured to me. "This one's newest family addition made sure of that."
Newest family addition... Was he talking about Castor, my brother's fated mate?
Back when River was kidnapped, the one who alerted us to it was Animus. But he didn't speak to us alphas. It was Ashe he told first, who then told the rest of us. Ashe was my omega cousin, and he'd been helped by Animus before, so I suppose it didn't come completely out of the blue.
The rest of the conversation rushed back to me. We had our suspicions that Animus was only interested in speaking to omegas, even going so far as to hassle their alpha mates.
I guess I was finally on the receiving end of Animus's prejudice.
"Meeko, this is Animus," I explained. "He's a spirit, too."
But what was he the spirit of, exactly? My family had always just called him a dark or malicious spirit and he'd never bothered to correct us.
Something about Animus just wasn't adding up.
Meeko's glare didn't falter. "Okay. And?"
Animus wasn't offended by Meeko's attitude. He grinned, flashing his fangs. "I like omegas who bite."
I bristled, my muscles tensing. But Animus sighed and waved a dismissive hand at me. "Not likethat.Don't work yourself into a frenzy."
I huffed, swallowing my flicker of jealousy. Where did that come from? I doubted Animus was interested in romance at all, let alone with mortals, so I didn't know why protective envy flared up inside me like a wildfire.
Meeko crossed his arms, clearly giving off the vibe that Animus wasn't wanted here. "What do you want, spirit?" He said the last word venomously. His disdain for spirits was getting stronger by the second and Animus wasn't helping.
But once again, Animus wasn't put off. He flashed a toothy smile and said, "That sword is precious to you, isn't it?"
