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His eyes opened as he shifted into human form.
A blond, blue-eyed angel was gazing down at him, tears streaking down her face. She gasped upon seeing his eyes blink open. “Peter? I mean, Alejandro?”
God, it really was her.
But he cupped her face just to be sure. Half of him expected his hands to feel only air, but instead he held between his hands warm, supple flesh. She was real. She was alive. Calys was alive.
Emotions, too many of them, too powerful and violent, swirled inside him, but he pushed them all away. Right now, only one thing mattered.
Calys was not dead.
He pulled at her hard, causing her to tumble down on him. Ignoring her gasp of surprise, he fisted her hair and angled her head. Calys’ lips parted just in time as his mouth crashed down on hers. He kissed her hard, his arm tightening around her soft, curvy body.
When he pulled his mouth away, he asked hoarsely, “Did you really just quote Spiderman to me when you thought I was dead?”
“Yes.” She laughed and cried as she answered him.
It wasn’t really a joking matter. That was fucking weird, but for now he would let that slide, relief still coursing through his body. Tucking her head under his chin, he let his gaze scan his surroundings. They were back in his room at one of Midway’s bed and breakfast, and outside the window he saw that it was still dark.
Even though he would rather spend the rest of the night enjoying Calys’ body, Alejandro forced himself to confront his memories. It gutted him, recalling the time he saw Calys being shot in front of his very eyes—-
“How did you survive that, Calys?” he whispered.
She stirred in his arms at his question. He waited for her to lift her head to look at him, but instead she burrowed closer into him, as if fearing his reaction when he answered.
“I found out...I’m not actually human.”
He frowned. “Not human?”
She nodded against his chest. “I’m like...Juriaan.”
Suddenly, Alejandro remembered the dark shadow that flew past him inside the cottage. And wings. He thought he saw wings, and maybe he really had. “Was he the one with black wings?”
“Yes. I’m like him.” Finally, she lifted her head and when their eyes met, he saw how she had prepared herself for rejection. “I’m not a shifter, and as it turns out, I’m not human, either,” she whispered haltingly. “Do you mind?”
He looked at her.
Did he mind?
Maybe he should. But he didn’t. All he cared about was that she was alive.
Finally, he said, “What are you?”
“Juriaan didn’t tell me. When I was shot, I did feel like I was dying. I knew I was dying.” Her eyes took on a faraway look, and Alejandro tightened his arms around her, knowing she had lost herself in her memories.
“Juriaan flew me out of the cottage. It was so painful the whole time we were flying, and when we finally stopped and he had me lying on the ground, I thought that was it. I saw him taking out a knife...” She let out a teary laugh. “I thought he had gone insane, and I tried to fight him off but of course I was too weak from the loss of blood. He flipped me over and then he sliced my back twice. It hurt...more than being shot, it hurt so bad—-”
Calys fell silent.
Alejandro, face white, demanded, “And then what?”
Something burst in the air.
Wings. Huge and sleek, its feathers the shade of silver, and they were connected to Calys’ back.
She whispered, “What do you think I am?”
Her gaze told him what she wanted to hear from him. But somehow he didn’t want to say it. If she was what they both thought it was, then that was bad. That might make her unreachable, untouchable – undeserving of someone like him, and Alejandro didn’t want that.
So he said, “A dove.”
She grimaced. “No, I told you, I’m not a shifter. I can’t shift. I tried, but I just can’t. And Juriaan tells me I’m not.” Calys gave him a hopeful smile. “Any other guess?”
He said slowly, “A witch with wings?”
Disappointment flickered on her face. “No, something else, maybe?”
“A leprechaun with feathers?” When Calys scowled, Alejandro knew she had caught on. He said musingly, “Maybe if not that, then...”
“A wolf-eating ogre?” she asked sweetly.
He choked back a laugh.
“Horrible wolf!” Calys beat his chest.
He choked again, this time out of pain, because her wings seemed to have made her stronger.
Calys immediately stopped. “Did I hurt you?”
He rubbed his chest. “What do you think?”
She said in a small voice, “I actually don’t know what to think. A messenger from the Panthera came here a while ago. They want to question me tomorrow.”
Alejandro smelled her fear, and he reacted to it instinctively. Rolling her under him, he told her fiercely, “I won’t let them do anything to you. You have nothing to fear, princess. You did nothing wrong. They were the first ones to attack—-”
