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Then she adds, “Loric is unmated and as far as I know there’s no one he’s interested in, so go for it if you are. He might be a hardass, but he’ll cave. I’ve seen the way he looks at you and I’m pretty sure it’s why we’re escorting you to the outer realm. It wasn’t supposed to be that way.”
"So he’s mentioned,” I mutter, flexing my brow as the memory of Loric admitting they planned to tell Asmo to shoveit resurfaces. “I'm not looking for a mate. I’m not looking foranythingat the moment."
"Not yet." Vik's eyes are all knowing as she smirks my way. "If what you’re saying is true about discovering your beast-side today, then you’re about to step into a whole new world, baby girl. Your first heat is right around the corner and when it hits, you'll be glad to have options like Loric around. Maybe even Jesper."
My brows knit together again. "What's a heat?" I’ve heard of mating before, but not that term.
Vik blinks at me before chuckling to herself. "You really don't know anything about being a shifter, do you?" She shakes her head, eyes gleaming, but there’s a shred of sympathy in them. "A heat is for shifter females. It's a time when our hormones surge and our pheromones go into overdrive to attract a potential mate, and if we don’t get marked or claim someone, it can make the males around you go into a frenzy. They’ll be humping anything with friction.” She shivers as if to dislodge a flashback. “I once saw Jesper grind up on a rock during one of mine. It’s a mental image I wish I could erase. I asked Loric to pluck it from my head, but he refused, so I’m stuck with that memory for the rest of my life. "
"Lovely," I mutter.Just what I need. Something else to worry about.
"They're not so bad." Vik's eyes glaze for a moment. "The sex during a heat iswild. Primal. And mating with another shifter, feeling their bite as they claim you..." Her lips curve in bliss. "There's nothing quite like it."
I try to ignore the flutter in my belly at the thought and frown at her. "But you said you have a mage as a mate. She’s able to mark you or sustain yours? It doesn’t hurt her?"
"I do." Vik nods, gaze clearing. "Ellie is my heart and soul, but she's not a shifter. She can't mark or be marked, so we’re onlymates by title. My beast won’t accept her as such. So during my heats, Faelor joins, to ease the ache. He marks me to stave off my heats for a time, but I won’t mark him back. It wouldn’t be fair since our mate bond would become permanent, and he deserves someone who loves him. Until he finds someone, though… Ellie doesn’t mind."
My nose wrinkles. I can't imagine being bitten in that way. From my understanding, a mate bite breaks the skin, like it draws blood. I can’t imagine it feeling good, like she’s suggesting. The only thing I can think about is the pain that would come with it. The thought leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
"Hey, don't judge." Vik's tone hardens.
"I didn't mean to." I lift my hands in surrender, uneasy with the sudden tension. "I just don't think the biting thing is for me."
"You say that now." Vik relaxes, giving me a knowing look. "But when you have your first heat, when your beast is wild for a mate, you may see things differently. Or maybe I’m wrong. Who knows?" She shrugs.
A blush settles over my skin at the implication. I duck my head, focusing on scrubbing the blood off my arms. I can see straight down the bottom of the spring, but it’s only a few feet deep. It’s the reflection that ripples over the glassy surface that surprises me the most.
Mine. My image, staring back at me, multicolored in purples and blues, thanks to the crystals lighting the cave. My reflection frowns as I take in the dark hair that clings to my head, soaked through from the water, the dark circles that hang beneath my golden eyes.
There was only one thing I asked for that Asmo refused to bring me while I was in the dungeon. He’d always make excuses, claiming the witch glass they’re made out of could break and the shards were too dangerous. Yet, there were plenty of otherthings in my cell that I felt were more so, like the small dagger he let me keep under my pillow, just in case.
If I’d wanted to hurt myself, there were other ways and more plausible options than the witch glass of mirrors. Still, I’ve never pushed the issue. I let it go, choosing to just be grateful that he brought me anything. He didn’t have to.
Stirring my finger in the water, I watch my image blur and refocus. My face has changed so much since the last time I saw it. Granted, every look I had was rare, and mostly only came when the ocean level around the castle would rise enough for the salty spray to mist through the barred windows. Sometimes it was enough for it to gather into a puddle in the middle of the room. It’s been years since that happened. That last glance I had is seared into my mind. I’ve drawn it from memory countless times, each version changing slightly as the memory weakened.
Vik is silent. I can feel her eyes on me, studying me with more curiosity than anything. My fingers hover above the water, trying not to disturb it as I trace golden irises. They’re the only thing about me that’s the same as I remember, but there's a worldliness in them now, a depth that was absent before.
Then they glow.
I suck in a breath, jerking slightly. My heart lurches in my chest, ricocheting off ribs, and as much as I want to convince myself that I imagined it, a piece of me knows I didn’t. Waiting for the water to still once more, I look again. The gold rings still shine, reflecting off the water’s surface and blending with the sea of blues and purples of the crystals.
My cheeks are more hollow, slender than I remember. My nose is petite, and slightly turned-up. Dark eyebrows arch gently around feminine eyes, framing my heart shaped face. I commit it to memory, this older version of myself, no longer a teenager—a woman—and the corners of my full lips pull into a smirk before returning to their natural state.
“I can promise that having a beast isn’t going to change anything physically about your appearance.” Vik tilts her head in my peripheral. “Well, except when you shift. You’ll obviously change then, but your face, your body, all of it goes back when you regain control. Your hair did too. It was white when your beast was in control earlier, but it’s back to being black now. That’s proof.” Vik slides closer, disturbing the water a moment. Her hand settles gently on my shoulder, supportively, like we’ve been friends for centuries instead of just meeting each other days ago. “It’s going to be alright. You’re not alone in this, even if it feels like it.”
“Thanks…” I swallow hard, tracing every line of my face with my eyes as if it’ll help me remember. Who knows when I’ll get to see it again. “It’s not so much me worrying about that, as much as it’s fascination. I look so different now. It’s been years since I’ve seen my face,” I murmur, my voice a soft echo against the cave walls.
“What? How could that be? If I had a face like yours, I’d be looking at it all the time. Hell, I’d own it and be a force to be reckoned with.” She runs a gentle finger over my check, then rests her head on my shoulder, staring back at me through the reflection.
She’s gorgeous with her bright red hair, braided down either side of her head, the smattering of freckles on her cheeks and striking violet eyes. Vik doesn’t need my face. She’s just saying that to make me feel better, but it warms my heart nonetheless.
“I lived in a dungeon, remember?”
Her face falls, a sort of understanding washing over it as she sits up. “I see… It’s easier to forget about that than I thought it would be. Maybe that’s because you don’t act as timid as I’d expect someone who grew up hidden away from the world to be.”
“I think I can thank Asmo and…” Meg’s face comes into my mind and I could swear my reflection warps into her. “The other woman, the other prisoner, who raised me. They taught me a lot about the outside world, hoping one day all three of us could escape into it. Be a family.”
Vik presses her lips together, her shoulder’s slumping as she brushes my hair behind my ear. “You miss him.”
