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Chapter 9
Through the dust cloud, a lion’s head emerged with a long, unkempt golden mane. He sniffed the air, yet his green eyes locked on to me. For several moments, he remained quiet and alert.
I recoiled, my hand settling on the hilt of my blade.
Stab it. Kill it.
“Keep quiet. I’m not killing anyone.” But I’d defend myself at any cost. Except the animal’s eyes were soft and promised safety, and something familiar about them struck me. “Reed, is that you?”
Please let it be him and not someone who’d ask me where his leader was. That would mean the gargoyle had killed Reed.
The lion tilted his head sideways, and at once, a surge of energy crackled over my flesh. The dust settled around us, and the animal’s body stretched and cracked, skin splitting. Through it all, he unleashed a deafening roar into the night.
I held still, amazed at how shifters’ bodies warped, transformed, regrew new skin that tightened and hugged his human-like figure. I searched for any features to define him as Reed when someone grabbed my arm from behind and hauled me backward. Panic clenched my heart, and I whirled around.
“Hey, stop!” I called out as I stumbled behind a female in a leather vest and skirt, her red hair wild like fire.
“This way,” she demanded, dragging me away. I glanced over my shoulder. The male lion had vanished.
“What’s going on?” I searched the open plain for Reed, but it was too dark to find his face. Only lions and human figures. Was he even here?
The woman didn’t speak and guided me across the field to an oversized tree. Its branches bowed outward, while other limbs reached for the night sky. Each supported perfect white blossoms amid the green leaves.
A sole figure stood beneath its shadows, buttoning up his shirt.
Several torches were lit, revealing his face, his golden hair falling to his waist. Reed stared at me with such hunger in his eyes that I lost my breath. The breeze swished past, doing zilch to cool the inferno burning across my skin. Hair fluttered around his face, giving him a rugged look, coupled with his stubble and parted lips.
My chest radiated as if a flame warmed my soul, and I rushed forward and embraced him. “Reed. I thought you were dead. I’m so sorry, I should have warned you about the gargoyle. But you’re safe.” I held on to his back, his muscles shifting under my touch.
Reed hugged me, arms tight around my waist. He gently rubbed my back, and a light beamed in my heart that had been missing yesterday. He’d never returned to the tower to tell me he was okay, but then again, he’d had more pressing issues, like his missing sister and pride members.
“I like your hair short. It brings out your sweet cheekbones.” His breath caressed my neck, sending tingles down my back. I wished I could accept his compliment and parade my neater hairstyle. But it wasn’t mine, just a temporary remedy that happened every night.
I remembered our closeness in the tower, the kiss that had me floating on clouds, and those same butterflies now swirled in my gut at his attentiveness, the way his hands had dug into my skin as if he never wanted to release me. In close vicinity to Reed, something turned on inside me. Or maybe it was me simply being relieved he wasn’t dead.
“Everyone, leave me with the visitors now!” he cried out. He cupped the side of my face, a thumb brushing across the bruise under my eye. His warmth seeped into me, comforting me.
“Who hurt you?” The bridge of his nose wrinkled, as if he might break into a snarl.
The shuffling of feet and grunts faded around us. “The gargoyle. That’s why I’m here.” I broke free from Reed’s embrace.
My gaze fell on Gage as he approached from within the shadows at my side. I breathed a sigh of relief that he hadn’t been harmed by the lion shifters who’d split us up. But his expression darkened, and when he reached me, his hand slid into mine, drawing me closer.
“Well, that was a fun welcome.” Gage’s voice was as sour as sucking lemons.
Reed ran a hand through his hair, pushing the loose strands off his face. “My pride’s jumpy and everyone’s a potential enemy before I approve them. These are dark times.”
“So, are all these warrior women at your beck and call?” Gage asked, his voice sarcastic. “You lions love your harems.”
Reed arched a brow, his gaze falling to our holding hands. “A lion’s affairs are not the concerns of a dragon.”
“You can tell what he is?” I freed myself from Gage, feeling the uneasy sensation of eyes on us from a distance, and my skin crawled.
“He smells of burned fire. It’s clogging my nostrils.” Reed’s nose crinkled as if he’d just inhaled the worst smell in the world.
I didn’t understand the animosity between them.
Gage laughed loudly, likely all for show. “Only thing clogging your breathing is all that hair.”
