11
Rhuron
Ihad to stop him.
After how close I got to making her hate me, I couldn’t let another shifter do that to a woman. If Izzy hadn’t come around, I would never have forgiven myself. Now I had the chance to stop him from making the same mistake.
Our species couldn’t riskanything.
My wings were heavy in the air as I flew following the directions my driver gave me. Tierner was supposedly in a town called Kiernsville, so small that even from up above I was having trouble spotting it through the bright glare of a nearby human city. There was nobody else up in the sky with me, so he was going to be harder to find. I followed the driver’s instructions west, and sure enough, the town emerged nestled in the nook of a large valley.
I slid down quickly through the air, plummeting down into the sleepy town.
It must have been past three or four in the morning. The only lights were street lamps strewn with large spaces between them.
He’d betrayed me.
Tierner was never on the same standing as me.
Despite being cousins born only weeks apart, the space those weeks formed was large enough to sink the whole castle. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t be king unless I died or gave up the crown.
He wasn’t doing this out of desperation for a mate, he was doing this so his son might have some chance at the crown.
I understood the tension, the need to raise his social standing, but not at the price he was going to pay. If he hurt that woman, did anything to her, he might have an heir, but he’d also get a prison sentence. I’d make sure of that. I wandered the streets of the city until I was sure he wasn’t in town, and then I waited. There was clothing hanging up on a line, I took down a simple pair of slacks and a shirt.
Sitting on a bench outside of what seemed to be a bank, I watched as the sun rose.
The town slowly woke itself up, and I watched carefully for any strange behavior. Most of the people in town looked like they didn’t have a single thought on their mind. Too drained from sleep, they shuffled about, hardly looking up from their phones or the taillights ahead of their cars.
A man running across the street had to dodge traffic. He was heading towards a pawn shop with something tightly gripped in his hand. The bronze and copper woven into the fibers of the dark coat were instantly recognizable.
Damn it.
I chased after the man.
He had to know something.
The man seemed to notice me and ran even faster. My legs powered through my lack of sleep and carried me level with him. He was panting, but I pulled him into an alley.
“Please don’t steal this — it’s my rent!” he gasped and clutched the coat to his chest.
“I’m not stealing it,” I grumbled as I pushed him back against the wall. The whole alley was disgusting, littered with trash and dozens of empty boxes. “Tell me where you got it,” I demanded.
“A man gave it to me.” His forehead wrinkled into two very severe lines.
“What did he ask in return?” I knew better than to think Tierner would give away anything for free.
“Nothing.”
I wanted to punch this man into the goddamned wall, but I held back.
“A woman’s life is at stake. What did he ask for?”
He froze, suddenly a lot less angry and a lot more anxious.
“Look, man, I didn’t know that, he—”
“What did he ask for?”