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Cyn snickered but winced when the movement jarred him. “It’s not like she doesn’t know.”

My brows furrowed. “Know what?”

Cyn closed his eyes, not answering me.

Zeke bit his lower lip, his fangs covering it entirely.

“If you don’t want me to, it’s fine. We should probably figure out what we’re gonna do before something else comes.” I looked past the lifeless creature on the ground to the treeline.

“No!” He grimaced, softening his voice. “I mean, no. You can.”

Stretching over Cyn, I reached for Zeke’s horns, surprised by how much more textured they were than Cyn’s. My fingertips brushed over the secondary tines as I traced the ridge of the larger horn, and Zeke shuddered, his horn warming my skin. I paused as the meaning of their words about what I knew finally dawned on me.

Zeke’s gaze met mine. “Rae,” he whispered.

With my hand firmly around his horn, I tugged him towards me, confident he wouldn’t make the first move.

The gentle touch of his lips on mine sent a tremor through me. His low groan when I applied the smallest pressure confirmed the truth I’d danced around since before Cholian.

I wanted to keep him as much as he wanted to keep me.

I released his horn and pulled away after placing one last kiss at the corner of his mouth, sitting back on my heels. I didn’t want to push him, and we needed to focus. Plus, Cyn was right there.

His breathing was deep, and he continued to hold Cyn, but the brilliant smile on his face drew my attention most. Even in his alternate form, I could see how happy he was.

I glanced down and caught Cyn staring at me in silence. Even with his black eyes, I could tell he wasn’t angry that I’d kissed Zeke. But I couldn’t read his expression—it was one I hadn’t seen before.

I cleared my throat. “So, what do we do now?”

Cyn shifted his gaze away first and looked up at Zeke. “Did you see anything when you were in the tree with her?”

Zeke glanced toward where we’d hidden from the creature. “I saw the glow—it’s not lights. We’re close to the edge of Feranzis.”

“That’s good, right?” I looked in the direction I saw the glow.

Cyn cursed.

“What?”

“We’re close to the other side of Feranzis at the edge of Moicae. What you saw was likely from a lava pool.”

I turned my attention back to them. “So, what do we do?”

“We’re going to have to get through Feranzis.” Cyn shifted to sit up with Zeke’s help, looking better than he had minutes earlier. “No one will think to come out here, not when there’s all of Elyrdin where we could be.”

“We should be safer once we move away from the outskirts of Feranzis,” Zeke said.

“Why?”

“Larger lesser infernals inhabit the edges of Feranzis bordering Moicae.”

“It doesn’t mean we won’t run into lesser infernals deeper into Feranzis.” Cyn pushed to his feet with Zeke’s help. “But as long as we don’t get ambushed or outnumbered, there likely isn’t anything we can’t handle.”

I rose to my feet and brushed my dress off. “Are you okay to go, though?”

“Yeah. I heal faster in my alternate form.” He looked at Zeke. “It’s probably better we stay like this until we get out of here.”

My inability to transform and help them was a bitter pill to swallow. If something attacked us again, all I could realistically do was climb another tree or hide in the bizarre flora.