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If only Hawk knew the truth.
“You need to see a medic.” Coltrane’s stare remained heavy like she expected me to crumble beneath it. “They’ll check you out and make sure there’s no permanent damage.”
“Okay.” The medic shouldn’t be able to notice that I was different from one quick examination.
But sooner or later, someone would realize I was much more than a raven.
ChapterThirteen
I bolted up in bed,clutching the covers and shaking from the nightmare that had assaulted me. Blood smeared my hands, and the choking stench of death that filled the abandoned warehouse over two years ago wouldn’t leave my mind.
This time, Jayla rose from the concrete as a demon with bat wings and attacked me. Tremors assaulted my body as I recalled how it felt to jam a sword into her chest and then cut her head off. Those raven curls twisted around her shoulders, and her eyes glared with enough hatred to drown me.
My ragged breaths reverberated against the cream walls framed in decorative crown molding. Moonlight drifting in from the window cast shadows across the room and glinted on a copper fixture hanging from the ceiling.
Where the hell was I?
The room seemed familiar but out of place. A figure stirred beside me, and I nearly jumped out of the small bed. Hawk mumbled in his sleep and turned on his side, his back toward me.
Memories of the last few hours rushed forward, and I dragged my hand down my face. I was at Corvin Manor in my room with Hawk. After the medic released me with a clean bill of health, Hawk refused to leave my side. I didn’t have the energy to confront him about Roxie and their relationship, so I let him stay with me. He told me he’d keep the nightmares away.
He couldn’t. No one could.
“You can’t stay here, Teague.”
My head snapped around as that rough voice breached my ears. Fane stood in the corner of the room near my wooden desk, his arms crossed and mismatched irises smoldering. “Where have you been? I expected you to lecture me about this hours ago.”
The relief at seeing him flowed through my veins and shattered some of the anxiety that had gripped my heart since Venna’s demons attacked Ruin’s lab.
Fane’s lips hitched into a crooked smile. “Miss me?”
I flipped him off. “What happened to you after you vanished from the lab?”
His gaze averted to the dagger and a random collection of books on the desk. “Nothing happened. There was too much commotion, and I couldn’t keep my consciousness there.” He gave a stiff shrug. “I’m not an expert in this psychic shit.”
My eyebrows knit as his attention remained on my desk like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
“You can’t stay here,” Fane repeated, finally lifting his head but focusing on Hawk.
“I can’t just leave the ravens now.” What would I tell Hawk? And Coltrane was already suspicious.
A sneer pulled at his lips. “Don’t you mean you can’t just leavehim?” He jerked his chin toward the slumbering guy in my bed. “How many boyfriends do you have? I’m sure Ruin misses you.”
Air hit my bare legs as I yanked the covers off and stood, my feet sinking into the burgundy rug. “Go to hell, Maverick.” I shuffled toward the bathroom and cut the water on in the sink. “I didn’t ask for your opinion, and I didn’t invite you into my room.”
“We both know your nightmares have a way of calling me.” He leaned against the corner, delivering that irritating, all-knowing look, his green shirt straining over his broad shoulders. “He can’t help you with those.”
“And you can?” I bent to splash cold water on my face. “You’re not even really here.”
Fane lowered over me, his phantom lips brushing my ear as he whispered, “I don’t need to be here to distract you from your pain.” His fingers buried in my hair at the base of my neck, pulling on the roots. “I don’t need to be here to make you forget.”
Shivers ran over every part of my body as electrical jolts ricocheted through my center. Hawk, the guy I’d crushed on for two years, was in my bed, but this damn demon shifter could instantly ignite a fire in me with a few words, a soft touch, and the threat of his pleasure-pain.
I jerked out of his grip and yanked a towel off the hook to wipe my face. “I don’t want or need anything from you, Maverick.”
His lips pulled into a snarl. “What do you think golden boy will do when he finds out you’re a shifter?”
My molars ground. “I haven’t even transformed yet.”
