Zev ignored him. He had left the camp because he wanted to be alone.
“I know you hear me, Zev. Answer me, or I’ll step on your tail.”
He bared his teeth.
“I will not leave here until I get an answer,” Cassiel snapped. “Gods, you better shift back or—”
Zev launched to his feet in a blur of receding fur, towering before him in a blink of an eye. “Or you will what, Your Highness?”
“That’s better.” Cassiel crossed his arms. “What is wrong with you? After the ludicrous mess you caused, the fae wanted blood, and we lost the scale. Explain.”
Zev scoffed. “I don’t owe you an explanation.”
“You wanted to sacrifice yourself to that nightwalker,” Cassiel pressed. “Like at the fjord. Do not deny it.”
“I don’t.” He marched away, heading deeper into the woods.
Cassiel’s quiet voice reached him. “Ending your life would not cease the pain. It merely burdens someone else.”
Zev faltered in his steps. He didn’t need to say it. Zev knew Cassiel meant Dyna. If he left her behind, it would break her heart. The look she had given him last night…
She was his other half. The person he could always count on to be there. But Dyna saw more than he wanted her to. She knew what he had tried to do, so he’d hidden. Which was what he’d been doing until an irksome prince came to pester him.
“I’m not the only one with problems,” Zev said, narrowing his eyes. “What have you done to Dyna?”
A flush rose to his face. “If you are referring to last night—”
“What? No. What happened last night?”
“Nothing.” The hitch in Cassiel’s voice proved otherwise.
Zev stepped into his space. “You both are at odds, but neither one of you will explain why. Answer me this, why does sheglow?”
He moved back. “Glow?”
“When I’m a wolf, I see things that humans don’t see,” Zev rumbled through his teeth, tone growly and deep with his wolf surfacing. “Celestials glow as bright as stars in the night, and now, so does Dyna.”
Cassiel tried and failed to hold his gaze. The beating of his heart thrummed rapidly. “I do not know.”
“Liar,” Zev growled.
Cassiel took a step back, probably now wishing he’d left him alone. His throat bobbed. “Perhaps it is a remnant of my blood.”
Zev studied him, following every twitch and flicker of his face. “Oh, I know your blood changed her. It changed her scent too, and now she radiates light.”
“Is that why you refused to let me heal her?” Cassiel demanded, his eyes sharpening. “She nearly died, Zev.”
“I won’t allow you to use your blood on her again until I know what you’ve done.” His nostrils flared as his head heated, every muscle tensing. He knew Cassiel was hiding something. “How did you find her in Corron when I couldn’t?”
Cassiel didn’t answer. He stared back at him as if he feared Zev would rip out his throat.
Zev clenched his teeth. “Tell me.”
Cassiel lifted his chin, the haughty air of royalty returning to his demeanor. “Why does it matter? I found her, and she is safe. Who are you to question me?”
Zev scoffed. “Aye, and I can ask you the same. Don’t pester me with your questions when you refuse to answer mine.”
“Is this your poor attempt to change the subject at hand?”
