Page 148

Her reflection disappears, and a smoky, dark world appears. It seems to be a bird’s-eye view of this world, but only if it had been completely decimated. Fires ravage a scorched earth, and dark beings move through them.

This isn’t something she should be looking at.

I nudge her.

She waves me off, intently staring. Her palm is glowing blue.

Her magic is… different. Off.

Blood magic.

The metallic scent floods the room, but I don’t know if she can smell it. When she glances at me, her eyes aren’t black. I taste the copper on my tongue, and the whine that slips through my teeth is involuntary.

Her sadness grows the longer she stares into the mirror, leaning so far forward that her nose almost touches it. I nudge her again, but she doesn’t respond. She swings the mirror side to side and seems to be looking for something.

I don’t understand.

I think I do, Kian whispers.

We watch until the blood smell recedes, leaving only her honey-and-lemon scent behind. And she sags forward, dropping the mirror to the floor. She buries her face in her hands and goes completely still.

I shift.

It happens naturally, both Kian and I aligned in the truth that he can offer her more comfort in two-legged form than I can. Our bones crack and reconfigure, my fur recedes. My teeth, my snout. There’s more pain along with this shift, our spine snapping straight.

My control loosens. I stay up front and present when Kian takes over. He moves us behind Astra, sliding our hand up her back. Her skin is hot to the touch, and she trembles.

He runs his palm over her shoulder, down her arm. To her wrist, which he flips to see her palm. And the dark-blue gemstone that sinks back into her skin.

Chapter 39

Kian

Astra leans into me, but I’m still staring at the mirror on the floor. And the gem I thought I saw. But now her palm is smooth, and I’m left wondering if it was a trick of light. A figment of my imagination.

What I saw… what my wolf saw… it was real, wasn’t it? She didn’t say a spell. But my nose wouldn’t lie, and I smelled the blood magic in the air. It’s gone, like it was never there, and I’m left doubting myself—and her.

“I think our Vegas trip is over,” Astra says softly. “We shouldn’t have come here.”

I grunt.

She’s partially right—we shouldn’t have come when we have other pressing concerns. But my need for her to have a spark of joy, to experience something she hasn’t before, was too good to ignore.

I consider asking her if she practices blood magic.

That’s what it seemed like. But there’s no trace of that smell now, and I force myself to set it aside. I’ve put her through enough tonight.

“We need sleep, and then we’ll leave.” I motion to the bed. “It’s been a long day.”

Her smile is faint. “That’s underplaying it. It’s been a long seven-ish weeks.”

There’s a new awkwardness between us that wasn’t there a few hours ago. Because of the sex, and the drink, and the vampire. Once she’s asleep, I’ll go find him and punish him for what he did to us.

It isn’t his place to interfere.

I agree, my wolf says. But we can’t leave her.

I feel that, too.