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One
I staredout at the lake, watching Vevol’s sun rise slowly over the water. It stretched as far as I could see in every direction, large enough that I had assumed it was an ocean the first time I saw it.
A man stepped into place beside me.
I didn’t have to turn my head to know who. The group of hellhounds that thought they were my protectors never came this close to me.
The only unmated man who did was a certain possessive, confusing-as-hell phoenix.
And on top of that, he smelled way too good for me to mistake him for anyone else.
“You should remain here while the others go,” he said to me, his voice even.
His voice was always so neutral, unless he was cutting someone’s head off.
I fought the horrified shiver that threatened to roll down my spine with the memories that accompanied that thought.
The way the head had fallen…
The cold, unfeeling look in Ervo’s eyes as he removed it from the hellhound’s body…
My stomach’s contents threatened to make a reappearance.
It wouldn’t be the first time I vomited at the memory. Nor would it likely be the last.
“Why would I stay here?” I tried to keep my voice as level as his.
Maybe if I refused to let him see what I was feeling, his possessiveness would fade, and my confusing emotions would too.
He had made it very clear that despite his constant reminders about me belonging to him, he thought I belonged to him as nothing more than a family member.
Afemale brother, he had said.
My lips twisted at the unpleasantness of the memory.
That conversation had left me so confused.
“You’ll be safer here,” he said.
I stared out at the water for a few minutes before replying, “I stopped caring about my safety a long time ago.”
How many years had I spent hoping for a second chance to be someone bigger, and stronger, and better?
My whole life.
I wanted tomatter, dammit.
And this was my chance. Hopefully, the first of many.
Ervo said, “Precisely why you should remain here. The group doesn’t need someone who won’t watch their own back.”
I scowled at him. “My back doesn’t need watching. North’s does; she’s the important one.”
His eyes pierced mine. “Every female is important.”
“Which is exactly why I’m going with the group, to retrieve the ones in hiding.” I turned back to the lake, trying to calm my furiously-beating heart.
There was a long, tense moment of silence between us before Ervo spoke again.
