Iyana placed a hand on his arm, the annoyance seeming to melt off him. Altair’s arms unfolded, his face relaxing. “I don’t see why she can’t come, Altair. It may be helpful to have a shifter on our side.”
“Ooh, please tell me we’re on a world saving mission.” Kaz bounced on her toes with anticipation. Emmeric most certainly did not peek at the way her body moved with the motion.
“She’s annoying,” Altair grumbled.
Iyana grinned at Kaz. “I think she’s fun.”
“She’s also standing right here,” Kaz said.
Iyana’s smile faded as she winced. “Sorry,” she told Kaz. Turning back to Altair, she said, “Please? It’d be nice for another woman to be around.”
“Getting tired of us?” Talon asked, smirking.
“Never,” Iyana said, returning his smile.
Talon looked to Kaz. “Question: how do you feel about Emperor Uther?” Emmeric rolled his eyes. Leave it to Tal to get straight to the point.
Kaz frowned. “That guy’s a piece of shit. Seriously, he can suck my—”
“I say she’s in,” Emmeric interrupted, his best friend laughing loudly at his expense.
“I like her,” Talon said.
“Me too,” said Iyana, glancing up at Altair, a silent plea behind her large, caramel-colored eyes. It didn’t take long for him to relent.
“Fine,” he sighed, exasperated. “Since I’m outnumbered. But she can walk, on two feet or four, since we only have the three horses.”
A loud whoop came out of Kaz as she jumped in excitement, startling the birds into flight from the surrounding trees. “I’m not walking though, I’ll ride with chuckles,” she said, nodding towards Altair.
“You absolutely are not,” the star retorted.
“Okay…” She scanned between Emmeric and Talon. “Then I pick grumpy.” Kaz pointed to Emmeric. He sighed. Did Talon really give off strongI’m not attracted to womenvibes?
“Can you do something about this, Altair?” Emmeric asked, waving his hand towards Kaz’s naked figure. Altair flicked his fingers toward the shifter, a tunic and breeches appearing on her instantly.
“What theshit?” Kaz exclaimed, her goofy persona dropping immediately in the face of unexpected magic. She drew herself up straight, face now serious. It took less than a second to transform from a sultry young woman trying to have some fun to someone capable of extraordinary violence. Emmeric wondered what her background was for there to be two completely different sides to her personality.
“Yeah,” said Iyana, “he can do that.”
“What are you?” Kaz asked, narrowing her eyes at Altair. Emmeric appreciated her suspicion. Everybody else seemed to have accepted Altair with open arms, without questioning his motives or history. And he was tight-lipped with both. Emmeric made sure never to let his guard down around the star.
“You were the one who wanted to come with us without any information,princess,” Altair sneered.
Kaz’s suspicion increased, heavy in the air. To Emmeric’s surprise, he found he could sense the magic gathering around her. She was moments away from shifting.
“You didn’t answer my question,” Kaz said, all serious business now.
“He’s a star,” Iyana said. Altair glared at her for revealing his secrets so easily, and she only shrugged. “What? She’d figure it out, anyway. Plus, you just threw a large amount of magic in her face, so it’s kind of your fault.” Altair looked like he was about to commit a murder, but swiveled on his feet and marched back to camp without a word.
“Don’t mind him.” Talon waved Altair off. The newly formed group of four began trekking back towards their camp and horses, Kaz falling into step with them easily. “Tell me, new friend,” he said, batting his eyelashes, “what is my nickname?”
Chapter 30
Iyana
On their trek back the night before, after Kaz so aptly dubbed Altair as ‘chuckles’ and Emmeric as ‘grumpy,’ she named Iyana ‘sweetcheeks’ (while blatantly checking out her ass), and Talon simply became ‘red.’ By the time they made it back to camp, it was close to dawn. It had been a few weird hours, and Iyana was exhausted. Altair had stoked the fire, and was sitting contemplatively, shut off from the rest of them. She didn’t dare approach him, instead lying near the fire and letting him stew in his own juices. Emmeric and Talon had both gotten into their bedrolls without another word. Kaz shifted into her impressive black leopard, nearly invisible in the night, curled into a circle and fell asleep purring.
After managing a couple hours of sleep—occupied mostly by a dream in which she was passionately kissing Emmeric, of all people—Iyana awoke to Altair sitting in the same position next to a now banked fire, wisps of smoke curling around him. Talon was awake, giggling as he scratched Kaz’s belly in her leopard form. The cat was rolling on her back and making little chuffing sounds. Emmeric was eating breakfast, watching his best friend’s antics. Iyana shook off the remnants of her dream.
