“His saliva is numbing. Give it a minute.” I slumped to the ground but kept my hand on the mother’s maw. Grateful eyes examined me. She wouldn’t have to say goodbye to her young. Not now. Not ever.
Slowly, Oz’s skin returned to normal. He pushed himself up, rolled his shoulders. “That was fun.”
I laughed. “Sure. Fun.” Glancing past him, I looked at Noc. Hands hidden in the pockets of his trousers, he stood still. But there wasn’t any tension to his muscles. No clenched jaw or signs of worry. Instead, a small smile lifted one corner of his mouth. With his dark gaze perceptibly soft, his eyes drifted among his brothers. Safe. We were all safe. And relatively unharmed, thanks to Felicks.
We’d handled this beast together after all.
Felicks plopped on his haunches, done with his task of caring for Oz, and barked. Reaching out, I tickled the underside of his chin. “Nice work, bud.”
Kost stared at the space where my fingers met his beast’s skin. “He’s spectacular.”
“You, too.” Noc placed a hand on Kost’s shoulder, and Kost’s entire frame went rigid. Emotions flared in his green gaze, but he chased them away with a cough.
Sweat gathered above my lip, and my body started to tremble. Four beasts outside of the realm. I thrust my hand outward. “Selenis, Quilla. Return.” Rosewood light showered over us, and the realm door groaned. They disappeared, leaving the Laharock and her child alone. Some of the exhaustion ebbed, but I needed to take the child and make him a key for Oz. “I need to go to the realm. I’ll be back.”
Kost brandished Felicks’s key. “You go on, too. Get some rest, and I’ll call you out again later.”
Calem grinned. “In the meantime, we’ll set up camp. And get Oz some pants.”
With both Laharocks, I entered the realm and was followed by the warm laughter of my assassins. I’d never loved a sound more.
Nineteen
Noc
Life filled my brothers’ eyes. We camped right on the beach, tents erected against the jungle line a few yards away. As we lounged on the white sand around a fire, beasts milled between us. Effie and Felicks had become fast friends, much to Kost’s displeasure. They jumped over our ankles, ran circles around bags, and barked at each other, ears pointed up in attention. Effie made a game of trying to pin Felicks, but his ability to predict her moves made him hard to tag.
Leena leaned against the mother Laharock, who she’d named Lola, and stroked her scales. Lola’s watchful gaze flitted between Ozias and her son, though her stare was one of interest instead of concern. Apparently, she’d deemed Ozias worthy of caring for her child. The baby Laharock watched Effie and Felicks from his side.
“How big do you think he’ll get?” Ozias fished out a fistful of nuts from his pocket and fed them to the child.
Leena hummed. “Males get to be pretty large, but it will be a while before he’s fully grown. He’ll be self-sufficient in a month or two, though. Then you can summon him whenever you want. Until then, try to minimize the time he’s away from Lola, okay?”
Ozias nodded. With a gentle hand, he traced the back of the baby’s spine. Lola let out a contented groan, closing her eyes and sinking her head into the sand. “Lola’s not going to cook me, right?”
Leena’s smile was light. Peaceful. “Not if you’re good to her son. What are you going to name him, by the way?”
He ran a hand over his jaw, looked at his beast. “I think I’ll call him Jax. In honor of an old friend of mine who was always looking out for me. Just like this little guy did today.”
“Jax?” Calem tilted his head. “I don’t know anyone at the guild with that name.”
Ozias’s eyes darkened. “He was someone I knew before I died.”
Silence bubbled around us. I knew Calem and Kost wouldn’t pry. I wouldn’t, either. I had my own dark dealings from my previous life that were better left unsaid. And judging by the sudden hard set of Ozias’s normally pleasant expression, he had no desire to share his memories. Leena studied his face, worry clearly lancing through her eyes, but she kept her lips sealed.
She had her own past to outrun, just like the rest of us.
Shaking away the tension, Ozias grinned and patted his beast. “That work for you?”
Jax emitted a throaty warble and then rested his head in Ozias’s lap. A grin claimed my lips. “Seems like he’s good with it.”
Calem kicked out his feet in front of him and tilted his chin in Leena’s direction. “What about Lola? Will she stay with you?”
“She’s not fully bonded to me yet. Her primary concern is Jax’s safety. Noc could have her.” A heavy pause followed her words. The ocean waves lapped against the beach, punctuated by the occasional bark from Felicks or birdcall from Effie.
Kost looked up from his beast and firelight danced across his spectacles. “Noc?”
“She seems pretty attached to Leena already. I’ll take something else.”
