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She paused mid-step.
“I have eyes on the back of my feathers.”
A fan of black peacock feathers sprouted from her tiny shorts. It was the first hint of her animal I’d seen, and it was only a slight shift. Not even enough to be called a partial. The onyx feathers swayed.
I could have sworn one winked at me before she disappeared out of sight.
Chapter6
Adora
“Are we there yet?”I could hear the whine in my voice. Dehydration was going to be the death of me. I knew it. No one could sweat this much and survive. How did peacocks live here? I’d never liked the cold, but this heat was too much—and it wasn’t even daylight. Now I’d resorted to whining. A sound that grated my nerves to no end, and I was doing it. I was becoming someone I didn’t want to be, and it was all because of the damned humidity in the jungle.
“If you weren’t trudging like a petulant child, maybe we’d get there faster,” Pan grumbled.
“Excuse me, I am nottrudging, and I’m not a child,” I bit back. “I’m sticky, hungry, and in desperate need of a bath. I’m completely out of my element here with the worst company imaginable—and I spent Christmas with my sister’s rejected mate slash former bully at the same dinner table, so that’s saying a lot about you. Forgive me if my speed doesn’t live up to your unrealistic expectations.”
Pan turned to look at me, raising an eyebrow. “I could always throw you over my shoulder again,” he suggested.
I rolled my eyes. “Pass. The view isn’t worth it.”
Pan scoffed, and I grinned to myself. It was a lie, but I wouldn’t tell him that. He had a delicious ass, and if he were anyone else, I’d lick the muscled contours of his back with pleasure.
I sighed, tilting my head to the side to ease the cramping. As I did, the damp cloth around my neck wound slipped. It pulled at the freshly healed and still tender skin, and I hissed at the sting.
Pan stopped, leaning over so he could inspect it. He softened as he spoke. “It looks better now. The cave we’re headed to has underground springs. Pools. You’ll be able to take a proper bath. The sooner we get there ...” He gave me a look, suggesting I was holding us up.
“Fine, fine. I can’t argue with the idea of being clean.” I kept quiet, reserving my energy, dreaming of being submerged in water. I had no idea how much time had passed when he started asking questions.
“What did you mean about your sister’s rejected mate?” Pan asked, knocking large palm fronds out of the way.
“That you’re worse company than him? I figured that was pretty self-explanatory.” He side-eyed me while I smirked, but I knew what he was asking. “My sister Danni and I were outcasts growing up. Outcasts get bullied. Sometimes fate is a bitch and mates you to your bully. Fate also allowed her to reject him, thank the gods, but it didn’t stop him from ending up in my life. So—”
“You took him as your lover?” he interjected. There was anger in his tone, but also something like jealousy. I couldn’t quite place it.
I shook my head. “First—ew. Second—who even talks like that? ‘Take him as my lover.’ Third, why would you go straight there? I didn’t say Iwantedto spend the holidays with him. I said he still ended up in my life. And also, don’t interrupt me. It’s rude.”
“You weren’t getting to the point,” he said with a shrug.
“Iwas, actually, but you’re impatient.” I waited a moment in silence until I knew he wouldn’t speak again. “Anyway, Markus—the mate she rejected—he was dating a high-ranking member of our House. So he was with us for the holidays because of her. Thank the gods they ended it and he moved on. I’ll tell you what, it was so hard to be near him without strangling him when no one was looking.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t just kill him.”
I huffed in agreement. “I know, right? I thought about it a few times.” For a brief second, we were getting along, but when I turned to look at him, there was a hint of sadness on his face. Like somehow my admission showed him something he didn’t want to see. I felt exposed, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why I cared. It was a new feeling, and I didn’t like it. It was all made worse by the fact I couldn’t use my power on him. I’d pushed so hard, but all I found was darkness.
“Why didn’t you?” he pressed, breaking me from my thoughts.
“Kill him?” I asked, and he dipped his chin in response. I lifted my shoulder. I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to share with him. “He didn’t actually deserve it. I thought he did at one time, but ... I don’t know. Much as I hate to admit it, he’s changed.”
He considered me. “I find it curious you’re defending his innocence.”
I scrunched my face. “What? I never said he was innocent.”
“You said he didn’t deserve to die.”
“Dude, that’s not the same. Being guilty of something doesn’t mean you deserve death. Motive determines a lot, you know? I don’t know what kind of savage system you have here, but so far, I can see why Arcadia doesn’t have a thriving tourism industry. The weather is bad enough, but if there’s an execution for every wrongdoing ...” For years, the portal had been off-limits. It made me wonder if all the shifters that passed through had ended up dead. Or gone mad.
Pan tilted his head and hummed, but I had no idea how to read him. “Tell me about your family,” he said, that trepidation in his tone leaking through again.
