“I’ll not have favorites between the four of you. Thayla is my favorite.”
I smirk at Riven’s snarl and Kyzen laughs behind me. “She is his Vedae, Riven. Be grateful we get to experience a piece of this alongside her.”
“Fine, you’re right. Thank you for sharing this with me, little burd—I mean, my sweetest Binder.”
I scoff at his quick cover-up, then focus back on Amick and V. “You seem really surprised.”
“I am. Delightfully. This is an honor and blessing beyond any text.”
“You flatter me. I look forward to our conversations to come.”
Amick’s eyes shine bright as his power flares to life. I shiver, although the warmth of it seeps beneath my skin. It’s the softening of his face that causes my body’s reaction.
It’s pure enjoyment.
All he’s missing is a smile.
“May I ask a strange favor?” Kyzen asks, coming to stand beside Amick’s shoulder. V hops to him, causing his smile to glow brighter than the stars in the night sky.
“Ask away.”
“Will you hoot louder than you did a moment ago? Some time ago now, I asked the Goddess of Sound to imitate your hoot and had a melody made of it for my sunsetter. I’m curious if it’s the same.”
V’s laugh sounds throughout our minds. I know the guys all heard it too by the way their bodies twitched, but they each gain their composure once again as we wait for V to do his thing.
He spreads his wings wide, shaking his feathers out.
The hoots I’ve heard from him so far were nothing like what he’s producing now.
Power radiates through the living room as it echoes all around us. The hair on my arms stands up as vibrations pass through my body. This sound is whimsical and flows in measured notes instead of one singular drawn-out beat.
It’s a song. A calling.
I know if he wanted to, it could be heard and felt for miles around.
The five of us stare, mesmerized, as the power dies down and V resumes making a smaller, less impactful hoot.
“I don’t believe your sunsetter sounds like that.”
“It sure as shit doesn’t. The Goddess of Sound is full of it.”
“She was merely trying to impress you. She could never imitate us. Our hoots are laced in our power and could break the sound barrier. She more than likely copied the noise of the animal from the nonmagical realm that is in likeness to us.”
“You mean an owl?” I ask.
“Yes,”he groans as though the similarities annoy him.
“Touchy subject, I see.” I laugh, then do a double take at Creed. He’s moved in closer, but he’s also positioned himself as far away from V as possible. “Everything okay?”
He meets my gaze and nods. “Shocked, is all.”
My smirk turns into a frown. I move my attention to V as he climbs down Kyzen and lands on my forearm.
“Are you going to introduce yourself to Creed?”
“I’ve spoken to him. He’s not going to embrace me at this time.”
My forehead wrinkles and secondhand offense hits me. I go to talk shit to Creed, but V pecks my damn arm.
