She smiled. “It wasn’t you; it was the damn goddess and that stupid pollen.”
“Still,” Felix said, jaw grinding. “The monster is a part of me.”
The goddess had invoked his monster form, but he had given over to it. Hadn’t resisted its pull. And now he had done god knew what to Avery. And how the hell had she forced him out of it? Was that what the goddess meant about their potential? It was a dangerous power if witches could force shifters to their knees.
Avery opened her mouth, but a sound cut through the clearing. The steady beat of dragon wings. Without a second thought, he grabbed her, put a hand over her mouth, and dragged them toward a shadowy part of the hedge. She squirmed against him, her scent mixed with his, flooding his nose—what had he done to her? Because it smelled like sex. And it was fucking irresistible. But now was not the time to act like a total creep and shove his nose in the crook of her neck like he so desperately wanted.
Muffled annoyance came through his hand, but he didn’t let up. He also ignored the way that Avery seemed to perfectly fit against his body, and how easy it would be to bend her over.
The wings grew louder until he heard a dragon landing. Finally, Avery stopped squirming, her breath coming a bit faster as she realized what was happening. Hooves followed, clattering from the forest’s edge.
An enforcer’s voice rang out. “This is where the shifter signature came from, Commander.”
Fuck.His monster form must have triggered the wards. He had just painted a target on both of their backs.
Slowly, he let go of Avery. She turned toward him, and just in case she was going to say something, he put a finger to his lips.
“That’s my sister,”she said into his mind.
“I’m aware. It’s also an entire squad of enforcers.”
“What are we going to do?”Her voice climbed higher, laced with panic.
He had no magic. No weapons. No fucking plan. What bad luck was following him right now? Probably karma from the hundreds of witches he had killed and had most definitely cursed him far into the afterlife. It was fine. This was fine.
“Search the maze!” Wren’s voice rang out through the clearing.
Fuck.He had left the gate open like an amateur.
Avery whispered through the bond.“I know something I can do.”
“Avery, no.”
“Run,”she said, echoing what he had said only minutes earlier.
Absolutely the fuck not. Before he could reach out and grab her, she was already gone, running out through the maze.
He bolted after her, gravel crunching under his bare feet. And just before she could get to the entrance, he caught her. Felix slammed them both into the hedge wall, branches scraping.
“What are you doing!”Avery screeched down the bond.
“You will not sacrifice yourself for me, little witch.”
The gate squeaked open. Almost instinctively, he reached for his magic and stopped cold. The well was full. Impossibly full, as if his monster form hadn’t just burned through every drop. He didn’t have time to dissect it now. Later, he would, as well as Avery’s complete disregard for her own safety.
He cloaked them in shadow, blending them in with the surrounding night. The high of the chase still hadn’t subsided,even if he hadn’t been a conscious participant; the feeling of it lingered. Avery’s sweet scent told him she hadn’t shaken it off either. Fuck, it drove him crazy.
An enforcer walked into the maze, Wren on her heels. The blazing rifle drenched the green walls in a glowing pulse, stopping just short of their hiding spot. But they would need to move soon.
The enforcers crept closer, and with their every step, Avery’s panic spiked through the bond.
“Now is not the best time to panic, kitten,”Felix murmured, forcing his breathing to come out slow and hoping it was enough to calm the bees swarming inside of her.
“You think, dickhead?”Her nails clawed into his skin.
He smothered a smile, but after a few seconds, her breath fell into line with his, her heartbeat following a beat behind. They were far more entwined than he ever knew.
His grip tightened, a warning.Don’t be stupid. She had thrown herself in harm’s way for him. Willingly. A tail-lashing lecture was in her near future. Unless she had been running to tell her sister about the shifter in the maze.No. He didn’t believe that for a second. It was what he would have believed last week. The realization wrapped around his throat. She had tried tosavehim. A terrible way to do it, but it was the thought that counted. This little witch had created cracks in his armor, and it was so close to shattering.
