I wish I knew.
“No idea,” I murmur.
“Were you followed?” Gabriel asks.
The woman steps closer. “No.” She reaches into her cloak, withdrawing a crumpled piece of paper. “I got your message.”
A multitude of questions swirls in my mind. Who is this woman? How and when did Gabriel get her a message? And perhaps most importantly, why is she looking at the Hunter with kindness? Are they friends? Or—and this makes my stomach churn angrily, as if I ate something spoiled—are they somethingmore?
I tighten my empty fist, my nails pressing half-moons into my palm. Burning suns, I despise that last idea.
I’m not sure why the thought of Gabriel having something with this woman bothers me—he’s his own person, and he can do as he pleases—but it does.
Before I can ask one of the many questions hovering on the tip of my tongue, branches shift behind the woman. A black headpops out from behind a bush, and silver eyes that are pools of moonlight meet mine before sliding to the Hunter.
The panther trots out of the forest as if it owns it, going straight towards Gabriel. A beaming grin stretches across the Hunter’s face, and he looks happier than I’ve ever seen him.
Gabriel drops to his knees with an ease that shouldn’t be possible for a man his size. Spreading his arms, he makes a “come here” motion with his hands. The panther bounds towards Gabriel, who wraps his arms around the enormous cat, hugging the feline tightly.
The predators embrace, a sight to behold.
In Saltwater, Gabriel told me the panther was his, but it’s one thing to know that and another to see them together. The cat nuzzles Gabriel’s neck, the movement reminding me of Truffle, the rescue I was forced to leave at home when I ran from my fate. My chest tightens.
There’s a tug on my sleeve, and I look to my left.
“What’s going on, Birdie?” Violet asks, looking between Gabriel, his panther, and the mysterious lady who is watching everything play out with a bemused smile.
“I honestly have no idea,” I say, bewildered.
“The panther is purring,” Marie whispers from behind me, peeking around my other shoulder. “Honestly, I think it’s cute. Don’t you?”
Cute.
Can deadly predators be cute? Maybe the panther is, in a sleek “I could kill you in two heartbeats” kind of way, but Gabriel? I can’t fathom describing a single thing about him ascute. He is many things, attractive in a rough “I spend a lot of time in the woods and like it” sense of the word, but he isn’t fucking cute.
Maybe it’s just me, though.
Eventually, Gabriel pulls back. The panther rubs against his leg, still purring, before it turns those moonlit pools towards me and my sisters. There’s a spark of recognition and intelligence in the creature’s eyes that doesn’t quite make sense. It dips its head in my direction. A greeting.
“You are such a good girl, Mist,” Gabriel praises, scratching behind her ears. “You did such a good job.”
Her purr grows even louder as Gabriel rises to his feet. She shuffles beside him, moving in step with him.
“Your damn familiar scared the living daylights out of me when she appeared this morning, Gabe,” the noblewoman chides, chuckling softly. “She climbed in my bedroom window and pounced on the bed, dropping the note on my lap. I nearly leaped out of my skin. You’re lucky I left the window open last night.”
Okay, wait.
Hold on a fucking moment.
How does Gabriel’s panther know where this woman lives? Where herbedroomis?
That churning feeling is back, and worse than ever. I feel angry and like I could throw up at the same time, and that’s before I look over to Gabriel. He’s smiling at the woman, all warm and kind and filled with an emotion I can’t describe.
Why is he looking at her like that, and why do I hate it?
“I’m sorry to interrupt this meeting,” I say. “But who are you?”
“Oh, Esyn forgive me. How rude of me.” The lady smiles warmly, and gods, I don’t like how relaxed and at ease she is. She extends a hand in my direction, stepping towards me. “I’m Maia.”
