I grin at him, which is nowhere near as effective as the one he aims back at me. I don’t have the teeth for it.
“Lynx,” a voice behind us says, interrupting whatever it is we’re doing.
I turn to see an incredibly attractive blonde woman watching us with amusement. A tattoo wraps around the base of her throat and disappears beneath her T-shirt. I make out what looks like the tips of flames but look away before she catches me staring.
Her gaze lands on me instead, and she’s not subtle about the thorough once-over she gives me.
“So this is what your human looks like when he’s not half-dead.”
Pretty sure Lynx says “not my human,” but the words are so softly spoken I can’t be sure.
“Morgan, meet Beth.” Lynx gestures to her and smiles. There’s no missing the love in his eyes as he introduces her, and I stiffen.
Something that feels a lot like jealousy burns in my chest. And why the hell do I care if they’re together?
I don’t.
Maybe I would’vebefore, but definitely not now.
“Beth helps run the garage here.” He gestures behind her, where two other women are now watching us. “Along with Senna and Cerys. Flint’s sisters,” he adds.
“But don’t hold that against us,” one of them calls out, and they both laugh.
Neither of them has Flint’s ash-blond hair, but it’s easy to see the resemblance now I’m looking. “Nice to meet you,” I say, unable to abandon the manners my mum drilled into me from an early age. My gaze flicks back to Beth to find her smirking at me.
“And I’m like the sister Lynx never knew he wanted.” She raises an elegant eyebrow. “In case you were wondering about our relationship.”
“I wasn’t.” I get the feeling that she doesn’t believe me. It’s at this point I realise I have no idea what it means to be a shifter. There are books written about them, and not gonna lie, I’ve read a fair few. But I figured it was all speculation, because they weren’treal.
Can Beth read my mind?
Do shifters have magic?
The information available is contradictory depending on which book you read, so... I have no fucking idea how she knew what I was thinking, but she seems to be pretty much spot on.
“You look a hundred times better than the last time I saw you, that’s for sure,” she says, smiling at me. “Though to be fair, you looked almost dead, so I guess it’s not hard.”
I smile despite myself, because I think I like her. “Thanks.”
“Your bike’s all ready to go, whenever you are.” She glances at Lynx, but he’s behind me still so I can’t see his face. Whatever he conveys to her, though, it’s enough to have her stepping back and giving me a small wave. “Maybe I’ll see you around, Morgan.”
“Maybe.” She goes back inside, and I turn to face Lynx. “Did you bring me all the way out here just to look at my bike? That you won’t let me leave on.”
He stares back at me for so long that I fidget under his gaze. It’s unnerving being the sole focus of it. Before all this I would’ve given anything to have him look at me andseeme. Can’t say I’m a fan right now.
“No,” he says eventually, and sighs.
I wait for him to elaborate, but of course he says fuck all else.
Wonderful.
Like it’s not awkward enough, he has to throw in a prolonged silence to make it really fun. “What now?” I know what I want to do. I want to ask him about Nico, about the fights. Something tells me this isn’t the place to bring it up though.
“How are you feeling?” He steps closer, too close, and the effect it has on my traitorous body is instant.
“Fine.” Heat flares in the pit of my stomach, but there’s a healthy dose of simmering anger too, and maybe those two emotions shouldn’t go together, but they do.
They so fucking do.
