“I need you.”
My hands go to her waist; hers, to my neck, which is already bending. Our mouths collide with such hunger that it wipes my mind clean of all worries.
Until my worries trounce on her door at the cusp of evening in the shape of my pallid, crimson-eyed brother.
31
ISLA
“I’ll be right back,” Konstantin calls over his shoulder before leaving with an agitated Ilya.
Although tempted to learn what has made Ilya so jumpy, I leave the brothers to chat in private, don my leathers, then melt into shadows and streak out of my skylight. As I fly toward Lachlano’s room, the patrolling soldiers peer up at me. They don’t reach for their weapons or flip crackling palms toward the heavens—they must’ve been reminded that Crows aren’t the enemy.
Once I reach his side of the castle, I peer through the convex glass to find his bed made and his lights off.
Lach?I call through the pack link, springing off the castle roof and taking to the sky.
Yes?
Where are you?
Um…just strolling around.
Wherearound?
Over, um, trees.
Which trees?
Why?
Why are you acting so freaking shifty?
Because he didn’t want to involve you in our manhunt,Aodhan says.
What manhunt?
Well, womanhunt, to be gender specific,Aodhan adds.We’re following a lead about Mestyla.
Where are you?I peer around me, my gaze clocking the Lodge which, from my vantage point, resembles my eight-sided diamond.
Konstantin’s, not mine.
Unless he turns out to be my mate, but wouldn’t I already know it? The contemplation tweaks my heart.
We’re flying over the forest that separates the capital from Voshna,Imogen says.
I press all thoughts of mating bonds aside and refocus.So, everyone’s involved except me?
You were busy,Lachlano adds, his tone no longer irresolute.
Doing what?Imogen asks.
It isn’t a what, but awho, Zia.The grin in Lachlano’s voice makes me roll my talons until they click.
Two laughs roll through the bond—both masculine.
Imogen doesn’t laugh. Even though she isn’t the most demonstrative Crow in the nest—not demonstrative in the least, actually—her worry echoes down the bond, layering itself over my own worry.
