She continued muttering as she paced back and forth, and Sam jumped from the cart to shift.
“Stassi,” he said, his deep voice filling the room.
She screamed bloody murder and jumped as she spun around. “You—” Her shaking hand pointed from the cart to Sam. “You shouldn’t be able to change colors. Weren’t you black last time? Y-you were because you shed on my uniform.”
He wanted to argue that he didn’t shed, but he couldn’t get a word in as she continued to ramble. “And now you’re an awful beigecolor, but you were black. Shifters can’t change anything about their animals. What are you?” Her breaths were rapid as she shook out her hands. She was hyperventilating, and Sam only had a few seconds to catch her before she hit the ground.
Hoisting her into his arms, he surveyed his surroundings. It was a banquet room with long tables filling the space.The tables would be too cold, he thought and laid her gently on one of the plush, ornate rugs instead.
His eyes traced her sweet face, and a foreign feeling filled his chest. He scanned the rest of her, confirming she wasn’t hurt, and the thought of her fainting because of him didn’t sit right. She didn’t faint the first time she saw him, but she was probably more focused on the guard trying to take advantage of her.
Her eyes fluttered, and he tensed, waiting for her to scream again.
“What happened?” Her voice was weak as she rolled her head sideways, her eyes landing on him. “Shit,” she cursed and rolled away.
Giving her space, he assured her, “I will not hurt you.”
Stassi rubbed her eyes and opened them again. “It’s not possible. You were a black cat before. Shifters can’t change their animal forms.” Shaking her head, she sat back on her haunches. “I’m losing my mind.”
“You already said that,” he reminded her. “Why did you faint? It did not bother you last time.”
Her face transformed from shock to annoyance. “You would faint too if cats kept shifting into giant, beautiful men.”
When she called him beautiful, something inside him warmed. Frowning, he rubbed a fist over his chest. “I am not a shifter,” he replied after a beat. “I am going to show you something, but do not faint again.”
Before she could reply, his wings flared to life behind him, and he watched her, worried she would run.
There was no logical reason for him to divulge his identity to her, but hehadto. He couldn’t explain it.
“Seraphim,” she breathed and stood on shaky legs. “I thoughtAngelslived in the aether?”
“Most people do not thinkAngelsexist,” he countered. “At least you are smarter than most.”
She fought a smile, and he wanted her to set it free.
Her hand reached up as if to touch his feathers but paused midair. “Why are you here?”
“What do you know of the new guards?” he asked instead of answering, which irritated her more.
She pushed a wisp of hair out of her face. “You mean the non-Aatxeguards?”
“Yes. When did this start?”
He noticed a slight blush creeping up her neck. “I almost took you home.” Sam choked on air, forgetting his reason for being here as an image of her in his bed flashed through his mind, but before he could reply, she narrowed her eyes at him. “As acat.”
“You can take me home any way you would like,” he drawled before he could stop himself, relishing how her skin reddened.
“Uh, the new guards started arriving about a year ago,” she mumbled, changing the subject. “They oversee the staff and guard certain areas of the palace.”
Sam scolded himself for getting distracted by this woman when there were more important issues at hand. “How do they treat the staff?” The man he took to Adila was vile, but the guard from today was respectful. His lip curled at the memory of how familiar Tag was with Stassi.
“It’s hit or miss. Most are nice, though everyone knows they’re snoops.” She wrinkled her nose. “Some are assholes, but you already know that. Thank you, by the way.”
“You are welcome.”
“Did you kill him?” Her voice was so soft he almost didn’t hear her.
Sam studied her expression. After everything the man did to her, did she still worry about him? “I took him to the Scales of Justice, and she sentenced him to hell.”
