I SAT CROSS-LEGGED IN MY private courtyard.
Eyes closed, hands upturned on my knees, I did my best to fall into the meditative practice that was my only trick apart from the cold plunge to temper my pain.
Detach. Let go. Fade away.
The mantra refused to work.
And it was her fault.
I’d grown too reliant on her calming, cooling presence. I’d becomedependent.Every part of me disgustingly desperate for her to appear.
I didn’t even recognise half the emotions clawing through me anymore, just that she made me burn and burn and—
A blur of power exploded into the courtyard, wrenching my eyes open just as Whisper shot in front of me, black and panting and furious.
I scowled. “What’s up with you?”
He snarled and lunged for me. His teeth clamped on my coat sleeve, scraping on the silver cuff beneath, making me jerk in fresh misery. The open port in my veins made those cuffs incredibly sensitive.
He jerked me forward with a growl, my body colliding with his bulk. “Hey!”
Getting a better bite on my coat, he tugged me in a half-circle until I faced the door.
I narrowed my eyes at the gloomy interior of my quarters. The sun hadn’t broken through the dreary clouds today, reflecting my depression.
I searched for Rook.
Why the hell hadn’t she arrived yet?
I’d grown to know her habits these past few weeks and regularly caught her snoozing when she thought she was alone. It seemed sleeping was one of her favourite pastimes. But there were limits—
Whisper snarled around a mouthful of coat, shaking me like a dead wildebeest.
“Do you mind?” Grabbing the giant cat’s whiskers, I tugged them very,verygently. Just enough to make him drop me. “Stop being so dramatic.”
Spitting and hissing, he wiped his muzzle on his leg before glowering at me like I’d betrayed him.
Which I kind of did.
We had an unwritten rule that I wouldn’t grab his whiskers unless absolutely necessary. I’d read in the zoology encyclopaedia that yanking his whiskers—also known as vibrissae—was intensely painful and disorienting, thanks to so many sensitive nerve endings.
“I’m sorry, okay? But you started it.”
Staggering to my feet, I rested my palm over the vitalsync core. “Why are you in such a foul mood? Did I not feed you enough last night?”
His glowing eyes met mine. He let out a roar so loud, so angry, it rattled the windowpanes.
“What the hell is your problem?”
He slammed into me, teeth clamping on my coat again and jerking me forward.
“Don’t make me grab your whiskers again.”
He let me go, trained to recognise that word.
A frustrated whimper escaped him followed by a savage growl.
The fire in my blood paused as goosebumps scattered down my spine. He’d never put on such passionate displays before. Not beforeshearrived.
