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Chapter 10
“The dwarf said you’re important to their organization,” Phantom said, matching my strides. “Why?”
The explanation of the resistance, my father, and the witch tumbled from my lips. But I withheld the part about my rescue, my imprisonment, and my torture. Phantom didn’t need to be burdened with that. Nor did I wish to repeat it and relive it when every time I closed my eyes, those memories tormented me.
Phantom’s eyes glazed over with sorrow, and he ducked his head. “I’m sorry for the loss of your father.”
No one had ever said that to me. As soon as my father had issued his last breath, I’d been arrested and imprisoned for his murder. I hadn’t even been afforded time to bury him and say my final goodbyes.
“Thank you,” I said, holding back the tears on the verge of spilling.
Silence engulfed the space between us.
I wasn’t about to cry in front of a stranger. In a desperate attempt to distract myself from my pain, I asked the panther, “How were you kidnapped?”
Phantom took a shaky breath before speaking. “My father was taken to the slave camp nearby and forced to work in your stepmother’s tea plantation.”
My stomach twanged with what I interpreted to mean there was more to the story. But I did not pry. It was none of my business. Just like my torture was none of Phantom’s concern.
“I took an irrigation job,” Phantom continued. “Digging trenches in a cotton plantation in order to be closer to him. One night, I staged a rescue but was caught…and the rest is history.”
The pain in my chest intensified, and my heart threatened to split in two. Phantom had been separated from someone he loved, too. Knowing this and realizing many more shifters were in the same situation made me even more determined to rescue them and end the madness my stepmother had set in motion.
Phantom ran a hand through his curls, the pain behind his eyes shifting, as if he kept his emotions at bay like I did. “I never finished explaining the panther rituals.”
I smiled, glad for the change of topic.
“These,” he said, running his fingers over the scars on his bare chest.
Sea God!Actions like that made it really hard to look away, and I tripped on a log. Lightning fast, the panther caught me, steadying me, and lances of electricity pierced me.
“You okay?” he said, his eyes drilling deeply into mine.
“Yes,” I said, flames crawling across my cheeks. “The scars?” I prompted him to continue his tale, trying to divert his attention away from me.
“The chief of my tribe gave these to me after I completed my first initiation,” he said.
“He scratched you?” I asked.
What a strange ritual. Why would anyone rake their claws across another, make them bleed and scar them to prove they were manly enough to win a goddess’s approval? The sea god never asked that of me. Perhaps it was a man thing, and I needed a cock to understand it.
Phantom nodded and pointed to the larger paw tattoo. “This one I got on my twenty-third sun cycle. The goddess blessed me to find a mate and plant my seed to bring a new panther into the world.”
Oh.He had a partner.Damn. Shame.“How many cubs have you sired?”
“Why?” He nudged me with his elbow. “You interested in making gorgeous panther babies?”
My cheeks blazed even hotter.
“Only kidding.” The panther chuckled. “I haven’t found a mate yet.”
Part of me was elated at this news, and I became even more taken by him, yearning to discover more. Yet the other half of me was terrified of my attraction. What if I lost control? What if he broke my heart? I didn’t think I could deal with any more pain. I had to shake myself out of my lust-filled stupor and remember my promise to stay vigilant and safe. Best to keep him at arm’s length.
“What’s the third initiation?” I asked.
“In a month, when I hit twenty-five sun cycles,” he replied, his eyes glimmering, “I must sit before the panther goddess for my final test, and She will determine if I’m worthy.”
I’d always had a thing for history, especially customs of ancient civilizations, and these panther rituals intrigued me. I found myself lost in them. I wondered what his last initiation entailed. Fighting some sort of beast sent by the goddess in order to earn a position in Her army? Training under the chief, gaining his knowledge? Becoming an initiate into the goddess’s priesthood? If one even existed.
