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“Yes. The bones are there, as you can see.” He held up the severed lower half of the forearm, black blood oozing from it. As he’d expected, she showed no signs of unease at the grisly bit, but she was clearly as puzzled as Sorin. “But they’re...not right. Human bones might not be as strong as a dragon’s, a Therian’s or an Atargarian’s, but nor are they so soft, it’s like cutting through butter.” Jaw tight, he cradled the severed lower arm in both hands, everything about it feeling fouled and wrong. “How long was the Redcap riding this body?”
“I can’t be certain, but according to those who knew him, he started acting more aggressively roughly a year ago. A Fae child went missing about the same time. That’s how I tracked him here. I’ve been on his trail for...a very long time.” She looked away, blinking rain from her eyes. “It was just the girl and her father—he was human, ended up dying while he was hunting for her, but he made sure word got out to those who’d care. He never did find her.”
“You think the Redcap took her.” He gave the severed limb one final look, then put it down.
“She fit the profile.” She stared hard at the body, but he heard the angry sorrow. “None of the local cops would bother looking for her. That’s how I ended up involved.”
“Where did this happen?”
She huffed out a sigh, considering. “Closer to Joplin. The girl couldn’t be too close to the city—the dad hadn’t been able to find anybody to help him with the girl’s training and the more people she had to deal with, the more out of control her magic got.”
“I hate cities,” Sorin muttered. He tossed the offending body part down and jabbed a finger to the corpse’s head. “Who was the human? Do you know of him?”
“A piece of shit,” she said shortly. “He was a preacher—one of those faux pious monsters who bleats about kindness and compassion, but pushes his flock to empty their pockets into his offering plate which ends up in his pockets instead of going to help the needy, rants about the evils of lust but has a couple of mistresses on the side, admonishes the women of the flock to be modest but makes a habit of groping the church secretary every chance he gets. And he rallies up the men of the church to go hunting the devils who masquerade as humans—people like us.” She gave Sorin a sardonic smile. “One thing about Robin—he had a type. He loved to pick out somebody trusted in a community. It gave him access to all the pretty young girls he could get his hands on.”
Sorin fought the rage burning in him, kept it lashed down, but deep inside, he was aflame with fury. Much of it was directed at himself. This had happened in his territory. His.
Shame filled him, side by side with the fury and he looked away from Gia so she couldn’t see the hot red wash of it staining his cheeks. He’d somehow broken the one promise he’d made her as he laid her to rest, the promise he’d made himself, that he’d watch over those who lived in his territory, a penance to her, and the lives who’d been lost because of his arrogance and selfishness.
“Why do you suddenly look so sad, dragon?”
Her soft query slayed him, the unexpected compassion coming from this woman who didn’t know who they’d been to each other adding salt to wounds already raw.
“It’s anger,” he said in a gruff voice, not ready to share so much of himself. Rising, he paced to the edge of the clearing, stopping in almost the same spot where Gia had stood moments earlier. “It’s my fault, that the girl was taken. That this fool was able to gather like-minded fools to form his stupid...militia.”
He curled his lip, the idea of humans grouping together to terrorize those they didn’t want in their cities—or alive.
Myfault.
“What do you mean?”
He turned and met Gia’s guarded gaze. “I laid claim to this land well over three hundred years ago, before this country fought the British for their freedom. Since then, I’ve protected my territory, allowed humans and others to live here as long as they stayed out of my way and brought no harm to my land or the others who shared the land. But I’ve grown more solitary as the years have passed.” He looked again at the body. “This man, those he coaxed into following him...others...it seems they feel they no longer need to fear me. So these deaths, they’re at my feet.”
“You’re not to blame for the evils in the world, Sorin.” Gia shook her head, her mouth twisting in a bitter smile. “And, to be fair, Rand was a clever bastard. He lived south of Branson, but the ranch where he gathered with those who helped him go hunting those like us wasn’t in Missouri. He had a place a little south of the Arkansas state line. I don’t know how far your territory spreads, but it’s some distance from here. That’s where the most vile shit happened, with the hunts ranging through Arkansas and into Texas. He tended to avoid doing much in this part of the state.” She glanced back over her shoulder toward the cave. “I heard what Wyn said to you, that some people don’t think you’re real. But trust me...there are still many in this region who are scared to death of you.”
“Well, there’s that much, at least.” He dragged a hand through his wet hair, shooting a look up at the clouds still piled overhead. Damn the infernal rain.
“Is your dragonly pride soothed?” she asked.
He squinted at her, then slowly, started to laugh. “You’re a brave female, Gia, taunting one such as me.”
“Yes, one as sensitive as you is a dangerous creature to taunt.”
The amusement—and satisfaction—in her eyes called to him, tugging his heart from the edge of despair
Still, restless anger burned inside, a fire pulsing in his veins, seeking release.
Gia’s presence already felt so normal, so...right, he didn’t think twice before letting some of the turbulent energy escape, spreading out behind him in fiery wings that heated the air around them before fading into the night.
She gasped and his ears caught how her heart sped up.
Going still, he looked at her, the distance separating them far more than just a few feet.
“I’ve frightened you.”
“No.” She drew in a breath, her eyes tracing the air behind him once more before meeting his. “I’m not afraid. I’m just...”
Her words trailed off and she shook her head. “I’ve met a lot of people, Sorin. But I’ve never encountered anything like you.”
