I might have to change my opinion of him and say he made a better traveling companion than I expected. Better than Steve, that was for damn sure.
“You said Steve didn’t need the horse, that he could catch up on his own feet. What is he exactly? And why do you need a horse then, because . . . aren’t you the same as him? Isn’t that the deal, no interspecies relations? Right?”
My eyes widened, surprise cutting through me that he didn’t know the basics about the supes he lived with, but the surprise gave way to irritation. My jaw ticked as I debated telling him all the truth and settled for just some of it. Which . . . was not really lying, right? Omitting some of the details he didn’t need to know would hurry the story along.
“First off,” I shook my head, “you’re telling me you never figured what we all are in the last six months living with all of us? Why didn’t you ask someone? Like Darcy?”
“Ish kept me separated, in case you hadn’t noticed. She was worried I might run into an . . . accident.” He rolled his shoulders and stretched his lower back. “I didn’t push it because I didn’t want to upset her. And Darcy’s and my conversations were circling other things, not what she was.”
I wasn’t surprised. Ish had a soft spot for the underdogs. Or under cats as the case was with me.
“Steve is a lion shifter,” I said. “And yes, my family is—check that, was—all lion shifters.”
“Bryce?”
I gave a quick shake of my head. “He can’t shift, not with the injuries he sustained at the Oasis.” Again, a memory bit at me and I shoved it back, the pain of it catching me off guard.
Blood all around us, the smell of my family’s blood filling my senses, blinding me.
“Shouldn’t that have healed, though? Like isn’t that the perk of being a supe, fast healing and all?” Maks kept at it, and while I understood the curiosity, I didn’t like the direction the conversation was taking. The past and the things from that time of my life I worked hard to make sure would never be recalled were not something I wanted to discuss with anyone, especially not a human.
I ran my tongue over the inside of my mouth and the tips of my canines before I answered. “Some injuries can’t be healed. Like with my kukri blades, they’re, well, I call them blessed, but they cut deepest on a supe, and the wound won’t heal like it should, disabling them. Which is why Steve will need time to heal, buying us time to get ahead of him and stay off his radar.”
“You mean it wouldn’t cut me?”
“That’s exactly what I mean. They’d be like butter knives on you. I’d have to use blunt force to make them work at all,” I said.
“And Bryce? Did he get a knife like that in the back?”
His words were a little too close to home and the memory I’d just banished. Hesitation made me stumble as I debated how much more to divulge. The minutes ticked by as I struggled and finally decided to give him some of the story. I could do this. I could give him info and not go back to that dark place.
I drew a breath and let it out slowly before I answered. “Some supernaturals, when they injure others, can cause a deep kind of damage. Ish thought he might heal over time, and then she thought she might be able to help him, but that . . . that’s not been the case. Maybe if she gets all the jewels she needs and gains all her strength back, something could be done.” I had not planned on saying that much to him, but really what did it matter at this point? The chances were good he wouldn’t make it back with me.
“You said she needs the jewels. Everyone else has only said she wants them. Which is it?”
I stared at him, the blue of his eyes unwavering as they stared right back at me. “Needs. She needs them. And so does Bryce.” There. Let him make of that what he would.
I gave Balder a slight tap to move him a little faster. “Enough girl talk. We’re coming up on the southern edge of the forest and we need to be on guard.”
Maks and Batman caught up and I pointed ahead. The start of Dragon’s Ground was marked by a massive petrified tree that stood nearly a hundred feet in the air. Ish had told me about it, but hearing about it and seeing it were two different things. Etched into the entire trunk were markings I couldn’t read, and didn’t need to. Ish had explained they were warnings about all the horrible things that would happen to you if you dared to cross into the dragons’ lands. All the ways you could, would, and should die.
“That’s . . . impressive,” Maks said.
“That’s not the word I’d use, but sure, go with impressive.” I shrugged. “We’re going to stay to the outside edge of the forest and make our way north as fast as we can. The sooner we’re into the Witch’s Reign, the sooner we get Darcy back.”
“This is why we held the horses back the last few days, isn’t it?” he asked.
“Yes. There’s a good chance we’ll end up running for our lives and we need them to be at full speed.” I pulled Balder down from the trot and settled him into a fast walk. “Check your gear and make sure it’s all strapped tightly. Do not pull any weapons on them. Let me do the talking if any of them show up. If they find out you’re human, they’ll eat you without hesitation.” I wasn’t entirely sure of that last bit but I needed to make sure he didn’t say something and get us both eaten.
“Shit.” He breathed out the word. “Wait, so why aren’t we going farther east to avoid this whole party with the lizards?” Maks spoke as he worked at his straps.
“Because Darcy doesn’t have much time. This is the fastest route, as the crow flies.” I swept the area around us with my eyes, looking for anything that would tip me off that we were being watched. So far so good.
“Why does she only have so much time? I mean, I know she’s a captive, but the note didn’t say anything about her being killed, only kept as a prize.”
Ish had shown him the note? Again, I wondered at his relationship with my mentor. I wrestled with giving information, but again, the reality was he likely wouldn’t be around very long, so whatever secrets I touched on, he’d not be alive to share. “The Ice Witch has a connection to the Jinn in the south. The Jinn hate the lion shifters because we stood between them and the other supes in the area, doing our best to protect the weaker. The Ice Witch will send Darcy to the Jinn and Marsum as a gift—she is like me, a daughter of an alpha. It would keep the Jinn happy to have a princess in their grasp.” I knew because I’d been hunted before by the Jinn and only Ish’s strength and Darcy’s quick thinking had saved me. The Jinn hated the women of the lion prides more than the men. Why? I didn’t know the answer. But they did, and it was why Kiara had been kept at the stronghold and not sent after the jewels. I was . . . disposable, seeing as I wasn’t really a lion. And Darcy had demanded to take her place in hunting the jewels Ish so desperately needed.
He adjusted his seat, his eyes thoughtful. “Wait, I thought the Ice Witch is some crazy bad-ass everyone is afraid of?”
I snorted. “She is. I don’t know if the Jinn are stronger but it wouldn’t surprise me. They’re horrible, Maks. The worst of the wall’s guardians by far. They kill without reservation for nothing more than power. At least the dragons eat their kills. At least the Ice Witch doesn’t bother anyone who doesn’t bother her. The Jinn hunt down those who they hate, they hunt them until they have their hides.” A shiver ran down my spine as if speaking their name had drawn their attention to me once more.
“You’re sure about all that?” he asked softly.
“Yes. I . . . I’ve lived through their dominion, Maks. I know the darkest side of their nature.”
He drew a breath and slowly nodded. “Okay, so back to the present. We’re on a time crunch because Darcy’s going to get shipped off to the Jinn. We move fast, don’t engage, and get Darcy out of there. Sound about right?”
I turned and looked at him. He was frowning slightly, his eyes serious, and I realized he meant every word. Strange, when I’d been raised to believe humans were nothing but self-serving assholes, afraid of everything around them, to see thi
s kind of behavior. “I don’t want to like you, Maks.”
He grinned and a laugh slid from him. “Well, I’m sure I’ll piss you off at some point, slothful human that I am.”
“True enough, and you do have balls, and that’s the surest way to end up in my bad book right now.” I nodded and an answering smile on my own lips caught me off guard.
There was silence for the space of about three heartbeats.
“Any idea where Darcy will be exactly?” Maks asked.
I frowned. “I assume in the castle the Witch holds court in. Pojhola. Northern part of what used to be Finland. She’s got guardians that help her, three of them. But they won’t bother us, I don’t think. We’ll slip through the borders and be in and out of her castle in no time. We aren’t going for the jewel. They will have their eyes on Steve and Kiara, not looking for two very quiet, very stealthy travelers.”
He grunted. “Are you deliberately trying to make this sound easy?”
“Yes.” I flashed him a smile. “Because the truth would make you pee yourself.”
“Well, we can’t have that. I’d end up frozen to my saddle,” he grumbled and I laughed.
Damn, I really didn’t want to like him. Humans died here, and I’d already lost enough people I cared about. Adding a weak man who had a thing for my best friend to the list was not something I would consider a smart idea. I sighed, the laughter dying out.
A few moments later, I held up a hand, cutting off anything else he might say.
We drew close to the petrified tree and the first official marker of the Dragon’s Ground. Like a doomsday sentinel, it rose far above us and the engravings in it shone in the winter sunlight, glinting like cut gemstones in the blackened and aged wood spire.
A sense of foreboding scampered up my spine. We weren’t being watched exactly, but it was like the forest itself knew we were there, and we didn’t belong. Or maybe like we’d set off some alarm system like Bryce had been trying to set up for the Stockyards.
I shook my head and urged Balder into a faster walk. We wouldn’t bolt unless we absolutely had to—as in if a dragon popped out and decided to have us for lunch. I eased Balder closer to Batman and Maks.
“The dragons are whelping right now. That makes them especially vigilant, and testy, which is the last thing we need while we are trying to sneak by quietly. Keep your voice low and your eyes open.”
“You mean they’re having babies?”
“Yes.” Goddess, he wasn’t really that dumb, was he? What else did he think I meant when I said whelping?
A crack in the trees to the left of us sent my heart rate up a few notches. I put a hand out and grabbed Maks’s arm, slowing him. Damn, those were some fine muscles under my hand.
Focus, Zam. Focus. The nice muscles are attached to a dumb human likely to get killed in the next short bit. Cannon fodder, remember?
I blew out a breath and let go of Maks. I put a hand to my hood and pulled it back so I could uncover my ears. I tipped my head sideways, working the way the wind blew across me so I could pick up on the noise I’d heard, and there in the distance was another crack and . . . a cry of someone being hurt. Or scared. And it was small enough that it likely wasn’t a dragon.
Likely, but not for sure.
Hesitation slowed me, and we probably sat there too long. Long enough that Maks started shooting me looks with his eyebrows so high, they almost hit his hairline. I closed my eyes and let myself listen to the cat inside me. She was curious, pushing me to go look. My instincts when I’d listened to them had rarely been good in the past, but something told me I had to check out the noise.
I flexed my jaw, decision made. “Stay here. I’m going to see what’s going on.”
“Shouldn’t we let them be distracted and keep moving? This could work to our advantage, Zam. Whatever is going on is keeping them away from us.” Maks’s voice was barely above a whisper. “You just said we didn’t need to draw attention to us. You snooping around could do just that!”
He was right, but there was something about the sound that drew me forward. The cry of pain struck a chord in me I couldn’t deny. I slid off Balder’s back and handed his reins to Maks. “Keep north along the borderline of the trees. If a dragon comes out before I get back to you, the black jewel for our passage is in my bedroll.”
“Wait. And what happens if you get killed?” He made a grab for me but I dodged his hand with ease.
I grinned widely, flashing my pointed canines I rarely showed off. “Trust me, I won’t be.”
His eyebrows shot up again and I turned my back on him, hurrying through the skiff of snow. I had my kukri twins on my thighs, and the flail was strapped to my back. Lucky for me when I shifted to my feline form my weapons and clothes shifted with me, becoming a chain around my neck woven with whatever color cloth my clothes were. A perk the bigger shifters didn’t have. They all went naked when they shifted and often lost their weapons. My weapons became a part of the chain as far as I knew.
I glanced back as I stepped under the cover of the trees. Maks had done as I asked and continued onward. Which was good. Because I didn’t like anyone seeing my shifted form and realizing just how small and weak I truly was.
Shame curled around me and I batted it away as best I could. Being from a lion pride should have meant I had power and strength to spare, that I should have been a literal force to be reckoned with. But I’d gotten the shit end of the barrel when it came to my other form. Much as I wanted to believe it was the Jinn’s fault, there was the chance I was just born broken.
How long had it been since I’d shifted into my animal form? Over a year, at least. I didn’t like to use it much, the embarrassment it brought was heavier than any weight on my shoulders.
I crouched to the ground and put my hands into the snow, flexed my fingers and let the change come. For me, it was like opening a door and stepping through. One side was my human form, and the other my feline.
My bones adjusted quickly, losing mass and density; my skin rippled and was quickly covered in a thick black fur that insulated me from the cold better than any coat. I blinked and was looking at the world from about two feet high. The first of my two curses in all its glory. That I would never shift into anything but a measly black house cat. I thought when I was younger I’d grow out of it. But that hadn’t been the case. This was who I was, through and through.
There would be no lion form for me, no fearsome predator that would be able to take on the most fearsome enemies with a roar and the swipe of a paw.
Whether my small form was the Jinn’s fault or not, it didn’t change my opinion of them.
The Jinn were assholes of the greatest kind to add a second curse to the one I’d been born with.
Chapter Six
I tried to tell myself that my shifted form was not all bad. I tried to think of the ways it could have perks over being a true lion. Keeping my clothes and weapons was good. The bigger shifters didn’t have that ability; buck naked in the snow was no way to swing things if you didn’t have to.
The one other half-decent thing about being a house cat was the sneak factor. Ten points for me there. To the outside world, I made out like I had the better end of the deal, that being a house cat shifter was brilliant, a fucking glorious reality that everyone should’ve been jealous of.
The truth was a lot different, of course. I’d have given up those perks in an instant if offered the chance to be a lion in truth, to be able to stand with those of my pride, without shame and weakness.
I crept through the snowy forest with no sound, my small paws making indents in the top crust of snow but no true noise. I hurried toward the cries that grew louder with each step.
Someone was being hurt, for sure . . . but there were other bigger voices now.
“Aww, look at the runt. Are you crying, Lila the Gnat?” That voice was thick, male, rumbling and sounded like it needed to choke up a foot-long snot log.
I slowed my pace, creeping up behind a big p
ine tree where the sap had exploded from the cold and ran down the bark. There were several marks where oversized teeth had dug into the trunk to get at the sap. The heavy scent of the tree should help me stay off the radar of whoever was in the clearing. I peered around the thick trunk to see what was going on.
Curiosity killed the cat was not a saying for nothing.
In front of me were three dragons about the size of Balder. Two of them were shades of green and brown with traces of gold scales scattered along their spines and on the front of their legs. Eyes of deepest brown, they were predatory in a way I’d only ever seen in hawks and eagles. Like they could see right through you if they chose. Their wings were not very big, which told me they were land-bound.
This close to the edge of their territory along with their coloring made me think the two were Grasslanders. Dragons that lived amongst the trees, using branches and leaves as camouflage to hunt for their food. No fire, and no acid in their mouths, as far as I knew, but they did have a serious venom if they got their teeth on you. Venom that paralyzed but didn’t kill. The third one was black and blue and had big wings that laid over his back. He was a flier. Probably a good chance he was one of the elemental dragons. I curled back my lips into a low hiss, not liking the odds for whatever it was they were bullying.
The three large dragons stood in a circle around something my size. I frowned and squinted.
What I was seeing couldn’t be right. Not possible.
There were no dragons that small, yet that was exactly what was in the middle of their circle. A dragon with blue, gray, and silver markings, no bigger than the average house cat, trembling in the snow at the feet of the bigger dragons as she fought to keep away from them. She bared her teeth, crouching and lunging, as she tried to keep her eyes on all three at once.
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