Page 46

He pulls back to look me dead in the eye, and I almost spill my plan then and there. “I love you, Aya.”

I give him my sweetest smile. “I love you too.”

I count his footsteps down the stairs. As soon as the front door creaks open, I’m off the bed and at the window. I shove it up, climb onto the ledge, and jump. I hit the grass in a crouch with dew soaking my bare toes. Shoes would only slow me down. I break into a sprint when the door slams behind him.

Ezra bellows after me. “Goddammit, Aya!”

His wings boom open and drive the air down in heavy gusts that beat against my back. He could catch me if he pushes hard enough, but that’s not happening.

I tear through the clearing, past neighbors who can’t decide which show is better, us or whatever tripped the alarm. They’re about to see a House of Zorah wolf outrun a Stormscale dragon.

If I can reach the forest, I’ve got a real shot. He can’t fly through trees this thick. He’ll have to go over them.

He curses overhead. His shadow sweeps the ground as he drops lower to snatch me up. My wolf surges and gives me everything she’s got. My legs burn, and the forest edge comes up fast.

I make it by inches. His talons snag the back of my shirt and rip it as I dive into the tree line. His roar rattles the canopy behind me. I laugh and keep running.

“I’m going to get your ass tonight,” he calls down through the branches. “Just know it.”

I skid to a stop and squeeze my thighs together. My pussy throbs. Last night he tore me apart with nothing but his tongue. I couldn’t walk straight afterward. I lay in bed trying to remember my own name.

Oh shit. Maybe I didn’t think this through. Would it be weird to ask Claude about this? I mean, Goddamn, that was earth-shattering, but I don’t know if my wolf and I could even recover from round two. She’s ready to turn around and go get caught.

Ezra hovers above the trees with his wings blotting out patches of the sky. Every pump of them thrashes the treetops. He can’t follow in here, but he’s not about to lose sight of me. He can watch all he wants.

I take off again at a full-out run and pick up speed until the trees blur. I clear the fallen logs and duck the low branches. The roots underfoot don’t slow me down either. I push harder. It doesn’t take me long to reach the border.

I’m not even winded when I pull up on a rock at the edge of the lake. The surface is flat and calm. I lift my nose to check for blood or strangers and get nothing but Ezra’s smoke drifting down through the trees.

No one’s yelling or screaming over by the bridge. I don’t see any sign of a fight or an invasion. So what the hell set off the sirens? Maybe I ran out here for nothing.

“They triggered the alarm, but I welcome them,” someone says behind me.

I spin around and almost slip off my rock. King Amir stands there with his eyes on the water. He got that close without me hearing his footsteps or catching his scent. That’s royals for you.

“To be honest, I was wondering when they would come,” he says. “Those humans we now call radicals have been trying to eradicate them for thousands of years.”

I frown at him. “Uncle, what are you talking about?”

He lifts his chin toward the lake. I turn back around, and that’s when I see them.

They leap high into the air and splash back down in bright sprays. Their scales go from blue to green to silver as they move. They’re playing out there. Whatever I came sprinting here for can wait.

“I never paid attention in shifter lore class,” I admit. I can’t take my eyes off them. “I heard about them, but I thought they were just legends.” This is going to sound stupid. “Mermaids?”

“The Mer,” King Amir corrects. “They prefer that name.”

They’re nothing like the ones in human fairy tales. Their ears come to delicate points like Amir’s, and fins run along their arms and down their backs. The gill slits on their necks flutter open at the surface and seal shut when they go under.

Some of them hang back farther out. A female swims in closer than the rest. Her hair floats around a face with a faint blue undertone. She locks eyes with me. Hers are solid black from edge to edge, with no white in them at all. I couldn’t tell you why I’m walking toward the edge.

I crouch down and give her a smile. She smiles back with rows of tiny sharp teeth. She smells like fish. My wolf grumbles, but my nosy ass isn’t going anywhere.

“Hello,” I whisper.

“Don’t get too close,” King Amir warns behind me. “The way they communicate⁠—”

But it’s too late. My hand is out to her. The Mer female tilts her head and studies it. She grabs my arm and yanks me into the water.