“Rownee,” he whispers, I can hear him as clearly as if he whispered the words in my ear. “It’s been too long.”
There’s movement behind me, the roar of a dragon.
Leaf explodes towards me, snatching me up and away from the window. Ronit, Canto, Reed, and Brio charge towards us, their rage flooding the room.
The moment transforms into something dangerous.
The shiver are on the hunt.
But Deux is already here.
Chapter 33
Leaf
Ithrow myself out of the house, storming towards the cliff, turning in a circle, listening for any sign of this piece of berley bait. Mei and the Sirens come out, fanning around us.
“Rowanee,” Deux calls.
The wind snatches his voice and twists it all around us. I can’t catch his scent, the ocean salt is too strong.
“Mei, you should-”
“Finish that sentence, and I will show you what the Healer can do to a man’s gut.”
Lirin cackles and pulls out a long, thin sword that looks light and airy.
“Ready to dance, Princess?”
“Don’t call me that,” she snaps.
The ocean is getting rougher, responding to my fury, trying to come defend me. To protect our mate.
The bond sits heavy inside me, but I can feel something changing in me. Something twisting and making me more. Stronger.
Mei turns slowly, cocking her head at different angles to catch the wind.
“Where is he, Mei?”
“I don’t know,” she says in frustration.
I wait, ready to shift shape at any second. Deux is fast, but we can be faster. The wind howls louder, whistling over the cliffs and then roaring.
Mei’s hair is snatched up and whirls around her head.
Ronit turns and makes eye contact with me. I can hear what he’s saying loud and clear.
Don’t let anything happen to her.
And I won’t. If worse comes to worst, I will throw us both into the ocean to get away from him.
But I don’t think so, not this time.
We’re stronger together.
Deux appears by the side of the house, watching us with his eerie white face. Or maybe he’s been there the whole time. His black robes float around him, and the white mist that has poured in hides his feet and up to his knees.
“Wait,” Mei says. “He comes to us.”
