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Words of defiance jammed in my throat, so I stood in the doorway, letting my position on the matter be known.
Shadow was only threat to me with the collar on him. That disc on his neck had glowed with a dark and unfamiliar magic. I’d promised Shadow I’d get those collars off and save his family and workers. The dwarves were fools if they thought I’d run and hide from my responsibilities. It was time I stopped running. Otherwise, I’d never stop.
My father had always told me to face my fears head on. One day, we were in town to deliver a load of apples when three thieves pulled our coach over to rob us. My papa disarmed one and got into a skirmish with the second, who jammed a knife to my father’s throat. A great fear rose in me at the idea I might lose my father, my everything, and that thought had frightened me more than putting myself in danger by trying to save him. Although I shook like a wind-ravaged leaf, I took out the dagger I carried to slice apples and rammed it into the thief’s leg. He curled over, affording my papa a chance to escape. More brave patrons jumped in to help, and the thieves were arrested.
Now was my chance to find that same courage again.
“I’m going, too,” Phantom declared.
Mama Jo pressed her hands to her chest.
“Very well,” Grimm said, his typical waddling march carrying him from the room. “But I don’t approve of this.”
“You don’t approve of anything.” Teeny threw his arms up as he hobbled after their leader. “The ale we snuck in. Afternoon naps. Raids on the sea king’s road.”
“For good reason,” Grimm said.
Those two continued to argue all the way down the corridor and down the staircase to the basement level, where the prisoners were stored in a joint cell.
The panthers had returned to their human forms and were dressed in new clothes when we arrived. Well…Flare wore pants but no shoes or shirt. I admired his rock-hard stomach and every curve along his shoulders and arms. Every part of me hated to admit how attractive he was physically…shame about his abrasive personality.
Shadow welcomed the group with a nod. Runes on his collar lit up like they had the last time I’d approached. Shudders rocked him, and he shook his head as if fighting the call of his animal side.
Flare greeted me with his customary scowl. He didn’t fight his thirst; instead, he appeared to welcome it, the seams in his pants tearing as his body elongated. But he settled once I moved away, the distance I put between us seeming to calm them both, and Flare returned to full human form.
Phantom stood by my side like a protective guard. Having him close made it hard for me to concentrate. Especially when the smell of him, that earthy odor mixed with a little spice, made my mind spin.
My opportunity to voice my apology for sparking the attack back in the infirmary was dampened by Grimm’s question.
“Why did you try to kill Snow?” Grimm stood two feet from the bars, far enough so the panthers couldn’t swipe him if they shifted unexpectedly.
A growl rumbled in Flare’s throat.
I tensed.Sea God. Those eyes.Like emeralds sparkling under the sunlight. If only they didn’t glare at me like he wanted to finish what he’d started in the woods.
“Who sent you?” Grimm asked, maintaining a calm voice.
“Who the fuck are you, little man?” Flare spat.
“I ask the questions,” Grimm said. “You answer.”
“I don’t have to tell you squat,” Flare said.
“Flare,” Shadow barked.
If Flare thought he could intimidate the dwarf, he was wrong. Grimm widened his stance, puffing out his chest in an equal show of machismo. With all the male hormones smearing the air, I was surprised I didn’t sprout a pair of balls and a cock.
“May I remind you,” Grimm said, “youare the prisoners here. But I can just as quickly end that.”
Judging by the way Flare’s nose crinkled, how his brow formed a hard line, and his lips peeled back, he didn’t like to be threatened. “How about you get us the fuck out of these collars? Then we’ll talk.”
There was something savage about him, his wild and rough demeanor, more panther than man. Cruelty blended with his bitterness, making me wonder what had made him that way. Had his family been taken along with the other shifters, too? Then why had he been so intent on my blood? Was the evil witch the one to send him after me? The collar around his neck reeked of her foul play. I hoped the shifters weren’t foolish enough to believe the queen would let them live once they returned with my blood smeared all over them. Treachery wasn’t beholden to integrity.
“That would be unwise,” Grimm said. “Considering your earlier effort. But…perhaps we could come to some arrangement.”
“What do you want to know, dwarf?” Shadow asked, shifting as if the chains brought him discomfort.
Grimm repeated his first question. “Who sent you?”
