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He took the honey out of Bruiser’s hand, their fingers brushing. It sent a burst of tingles through Bruiser’s skin. Uriel tore open the honey packets and gave them back.

“Thanks,” Bruiser said, surprised.

Uriel rolled his eyes. “I’m not an asshole.”

He opened a box of fluffy omelet and began digging into it, switching it up with bites of fried chicken. Bruiser barely noticed where he was squeezing his honey. He was watching Uriel eat; the movement of muscles on his scarred face, the flutter of his eyelashes.

Cassie stuck her hand into her mouth. With her other hand, she grasped her shirt, pulling it up.

There was something red on her belly, bright and stark against her skin.

It looked familiar.

Bruiser’s attention snapped onto it like a magnet.

It was a birthmark, he realized. In his 209 years of being a dragon, he’d seen a few birthmarks on dragonets. They were usually passed down through families. Rare, though. Not many of his friends were marked from birth. It was something he noticed because he had a similar birthmark on his hip. Bright red, with flames licking along its edges.

Cassie’s was smaller, in a different location, but...

There was a sameness about it that Bruiser found hard to ignore.

“Cass—” Uriel stopped abruptly when he saw Cassie’s hand wrapped around her shirt. His pulse skipped; his face twitched, but he was visibly trying to hide his reaction, gently tugging the shirt back down Cassie’s belly.

Uriel’s heart remained thudding fast, though.

Was he panicking?

He couldn’t possibly be...?

12

PANIC TIME

Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck.

The curse ran in a loop in Uriel’s head.

Bruiser had seen Cassie’s birthmark. Uriel couldn’t stop his instinctive reaction to it; panic was still threatening to explode out of his throat.

“I’m going to check on the spells at the trafficking facility,” Uriel said, hating that he sounded breathless. “Be back soon.”

Actually, he might not even come back at all. His instincts were screaming at him to pack up and flee, far away, too far for Bruiser to catch up with him.

What if Bruiser found out? What if Bruiser wanted to take Cassie away from him?

“Hey,” Bruiser said.

Uriel’s heart pounded harder. “Yeah?”

The alpha was watching him too closely.

I have to stay calm so he won’t suspect that I’m leaving.

Where was he going to go? Back. He could go back to where he and Cassie were living before Cartfalls, a remote cabin tucked away behind several layers of spells.

He stood up, but his body felt weaker than usual, a little heavier.

It didn’t matter. Uriel had pushed himself through situations that were far worse. He was going to make it out of here.