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“I’m not afraid of any animals, reptilian or otherwise.” His smile was cocky. “I’m wolf and human. That’s two Apex predators for the price of one.”
“Or twice as much trouble in one package, depending on yourperspective. And I’m pretty sure if you were being hunted by a great white shark you’d have some fear.”
“There’s a solution to that: Don’t swim in the ocean.”
I couldn’t argue with that logic, and skirted the edge of the trail, where the snake had disappeared.
The sound grew clearer as we edged toward a creek, water trickling like tiny bells over rocks as it raced ahead of us.
And suddenly, the ground disappeared.
We reached the literal end of the trail—and the world opened up. Forest gave way to stone—a rust-colored plateau half as big as a city block. Connor stepped down from the trail, offered me a hand as I jumped down beside him and moved forward, stared openmouthed as I turned around.
Not just a plateau, but waterfalls. The creek had rounded behind us, spilling over a stone cliff before tumbling over cataracts below it, then moving through a narrow groove in the rock across the plateau. Tiki torches had been lit along the edges, casting flickering light and shadows across water and the stone bluffs along the far side of the plateau, black and red and orange stone marked with trees and what looked like a high trail. Even with the dark dome of the sky above us, it was like being in a canyon of color.
For the second time tonight, I was speechless. “I don’t have the words,” I managed, walking toward the rockbound stream. There were pools of water here and there, collected in smooth divots in the rock that had been worn by time or rain or the stream itself. The water disappeared over the edge of the plateau on the other side.
I walked forward and watched it tumble down another set of cataracts, lights from more torches glittering like diamonds.
“What do you think?”
“It’s... amazing,” I said, looking back at him. “Absolutely amazing.”
“It should probably be a state park,” he said. “But it’s privately held, and the owner’s a friend of the clan.”
I turned around, found Alexei standing right behind me.
“Jesus,” I said, feeling bones jolt against skin as I startled. “What is wrong with you?”
He grinned. “Did I scare you?”
“You disturbed me.”
“I scared you.”
“No, that’s not really the emotion.”
“You should probably look down,” Connor advised Alexei.
He did, saw the small dagger I’d drawn in the blink of an eye, held near his groin.
Connor leaned forward. “Did she scare you?” he asked Alexei, whose expression was dour.
He lifted his hands. “Initiation’s a bad time to pull a knife on a shifter.”
“And you shouldn’t startle a vampire when she’s surrounded by shifters in a foreign territory.” But I slipped the dagger away again.
“Truce,” Alexei said, and took a step backward, putting a little more space between us. The boy could learn.
“I thought you weren’t armed,” Connor whispered.
“It’s a very small dagger. You never know when you’re going to need one.”
“For the sake of peace,” Connor said, “try to keep it hidden.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“You did the introductions?” Alexei asked Connor.
