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Flare whistled as he ran a dirty hand through the silver streak in his dark hair. “Thirty-eight isn’t that old.”
Bowl cradled in the crook of his elbow, he took it to the back of the cell, where he ate facing the wall like a little sulking child.
A smile crept up on me.
Even Shadow smirked and took a sip of the tea. “You’re still pretty handsome for an old bastard.”
“Fuck you.”
Flare swung one meaty fist at Shadow’s face, but he easily side-stepped the blow.
Wow.Flare actually smiled for once. Raise the alarm. I was surprised the depths of the earth didn’t rumble and open up from the shockwaves.
“Goddess.” Shadow wiped his face with the back of his wrist. “Where’d they get this tea? Tastes stale, likes it’s been stored for ten sun cycles.”
What did he expect, with dwarves running the show? They lived far belowground, visiting the surface to deliver their mined metals and other treasures. I bet they hoarded, too.
“Let me taste,” I said. “It can’t be that bad.”
Shadow stretched his hand through the bars. I crossed the distance to the panther’s cell, grabbed the mug, and hurried away before my presence set off the panthers’ collars. Cold, bitter liquid coated my tongue as I took a sip, and I gagged, almost bringing it back up again.
I tipped it out and placed the mug on the clay floor. “Sea God, that’s awful.”
We both shared a smile as I retreated once more, settling on a seat outside the third cell.
“Thanks for this,” Shadow said, picking at his food but not eating it.
“You’re not hungry?” I asked.
“It’s hard to eat,” he said, putting the bowl aside.
I understood how he felt, how worry for his family had to be gnawing at him, how he must be wondering if they were alive or dead. When my dad had fallen ill, I’d been filled with the same anxieties every moment of every day. After his murder, I refused the prison slop for two weeks, and beyond that I’d only eaten small sips to quiet my stomach.
“That your boyfriend?” Shadow asked. “The one who holds on to you like he owns you? That why you were all tense when we dance? Why you slipped out of the barn?”
Why did he think Phantom was my boyfriend? The panther was just protecting me. Was I missing something?
“Phantom?” I shook my head. “No. He’s a shifter we rescued. Why do you ask?”
“Isn’t it obvious, sweetheart?” Flare said, licking away some liquid. “Shadow here doesn’t like competing for a girl he wants to fuck.”
Markings on Shadow’s collar flashed an angry red. His bowl smashed on the ground, his meal ruined. He moved fast, like his panther self, and punched Flare in the cheek.
Startled, Flare blinked and rubbed his jaw.
I squeezed the edge of my wooden seat, waiting for Flare to erupt.
While panthers weren’t like wolves with an Alpha to command, discipline, and protect them, they still respected their elders. Striking an older panther was considered unacceptable. But Flare must have known he’d crossed a line because the asshole ducked his head, his back hunched. Red flushed his jawline, and I bet it hurt like hell, but he maintained his tough-guy act, not showing any discomfort. He issued a growl and then emptied the rest of the bowl’s contents into his mouth.
“Do that again,” he said when he’d finished, “and I’ll kill you.”
I didn’t doubt the threat.
Shadow’s collar glowed again, as if his emotions fueled its dark power.
“Tell me abut the tea you grow on your farm,” I said to Shadow in a pitiful attempt to calm him. “How do you make it?”
To my surprise, my efforts weren’t in vain, and he sat in the corner of the cell, where we could see each other.
