I stopped hunting and just causing terror.
He lunges at me, and I laugh as I whirl just out of range. But I’m not in the ocean, and my foot slips, and he slices my arm.
A cry escapes me, and I stare down at the blue blood welling out of the cut. Canto pulls his blade back to attack me again, his face straining with pain as the Diablos’ cuff punishes him.
I can’t defend myself. I’m too shocked.
Something hits him, and he goes flying, hitting another tree.
I look up, and she’s standing there, her chest heaving, arms loose at her side, hair lifted in the wind. The air sparks around her, and I know that even if I never get to put my scales back in the ocean ever again, I will be happy just to be hers.
“Don’t touch him.”
Internally, I roll in pure pleasure. She is a possessive mate. Yes!
Canto rolls to his feet and starts towards her. “You made a mistake, Strega.”
“No, I didn’t.”
He runs and jumps, bringing his sword down and making the earth split beneath her feet. She jumps away into the trees, disappearing from view, and I realise something else. She might not understand human food or their technology, but she understands the wild places.
She evades Canto easily.
“Stop it now!” Diablos thunders. “You are like children. Do I need to put you in time out? And she’s right, you don’t stab your teammates. Also, for reference, Reed threw the cone first. If you can’t take it, don’t dish it!”
He sits down and glares at us.
“This isn’t going to work,” Ronit says wrathfully.
“Oh, are you quitting already, Siren? Is this how it’s going to go? Breaking your bond and your oaths? Tossing aside your responsibilities and shirking your duties and, for what? What do you have to do that is a better use of your time? Does it occur to you that you might learn something from each other?”
“There is nothing I want to learn from her,” Ronit roars. “She destroyed everything, every chance, every hope.”
Diablos goes still. “What did she destroy, Ronit?”
He breathes hard, his chest heaving, his hair a mess, and his golden eyes glowing with his rage. He looks utterly feral.
“Everything,” he says flatly, in control of himself again. “Just everything.”
“Right. Well, make your decision, then. We can proceed, or I can let you all level a forest until it’s all out of your system.”
Diablos sits back down and takes the cup Hartley offers him.
I like the way they look at each other. Like they don’t see anyone else. Their eyes get soft, and they smile with their whole selves.
A fist crashes into my jaw, and I stagger a step back.
“Ow.”
“What did I tell you?” Mei snarls and drops from a branch.
She circles slowly until she’s standing between me and Ronit, glaring at him. If she were like Kit, her fur would be standing on end. She certainly moves like him.
“Stay out of this, Strega, I will deal with you in a minute.”
Ronit moves, but she lashes out, and before any of us can blink, Ronit is on his knees blinking up at her.
“Uh, what just happened?” Hartley says and moves to where he’s got a better vantage spot.
