Page 96 of When Ashes Fall

Like most female shifters, she was tall, but she was leaner than most other shifters. Her lime-green eyes met mine before flicking into the room.

“Can we talk?” she asked.

“Are you here to kill me?”

Her mouth twitched toward a smile. “No.”

“Are you here to accuse me of killing the roses?”

“Are they dead?”

“I’m not sure.”

She inhaled a deep breath as sorrow flashed through her eyes. Her parents were roses in town.

Some of my defensiveness dissipated. “Have your parents been affected?”

“No.” She swallowed before closing her eyes. “Not yet anyway.”

I heard the dread in her voice. They might not be affected now, but until we learned what happened, they were in peril.

“Can I come in?” she asked again.

I stepped aside to let her enter. Once Lyra was inside, I closed the door. It probably wasn’t the best idea to be alone in here with her when I had no idea what she was thinking, but unless Knox ordered my death, she wouldn’t kill me.

And he wouldn’t order my death; he’d carry out the sentence himself.

“I didn’t poison the roses,” I said.

She prowled the room, every bit the black panther she shifted into. She stopped near one of the three walls full of windows. She clasped her hands behind her back while gazing at the browned grass and dead crops.

“I know you didn’t,” Lyra said.

“You… know?”

Shock made it come out as more of a question. How could she know that?

“Did you poison them?” I accused.

A small smile played across her lips. “Do you really believe I’d do that?”

“No. The idea never crossed my mind… until now. How else would you know I didn’t do it?”

“We don’t talk much, but that’s not because of you. When we first met, it was you, and if Knox had allowed it, I would have ripped out your intestines and choked you with them.”

“How lovely,” I muttered.

Her smile widened. “You have to understand that our hatred of the casters will never fade.”

“I know I didn’t experience what the four of you did, and all the other souls trapped there, but I can understand what they did. It would have completely changed me too.”

“That’s true, but what you don’t understand is Knox.”

I emitted a bitter laugh. “Not even a little bit. I’m not sure anyone does or ever will.”

“Hmm,” she murmured as she turned back to the window. “You’re right about that. I understand the twisting, the humiliation, and the hatred that comes from being in the harem. I also understand the loss of our loved ones, our kingdom, and ourselves, but I don’t understand the mate bond.

“I’ve never experienced that, so I don’t know how awful it was for him to endure the harem while loving and being bonded to another. I don’t have a mate, but the desire for one is very alive within me… as it is with all unmated shifters.”