“I have a counteroffer that I wanted to discuss.” Ryder planted his feet apart.
I got the sense that this was less of a counteroffer and more of a change of terms. Whatever Ryder wanted to add to the deal would be non-negotiable. I swallowed and braced myself. We couldn’t discuss it here. If Alvin had eyes on me, then he would have ears listening, too.
I wasn’t ready to leave Lakesedge, though. Hiding among humanity on the other side of Syracuse left me feeling alone. I couldn’t change the fact that my hound needed pack. The further away that I went from other shifters, the more my hound whined. My only solace was Bad Moon Café and my friends who worked there.
Here, in Lakesedge, I could watch the small fae with their gossamer wings tend to wildflowers and perennials. If I got up early enough, I could listen to the selkie song by the shore. Lakesedge had magic around every corner. I didn’t feel so alone surrounded by community, even if I didn’t interact with them.
But Ryder had made a deal with the Unseelie queen here. The same fae that I found comforting were small spies listening in on our conversations. We would have to head into the center of the city where there was more iron to escape them.
What a mess, I thought.
I wanted to escape Alvin’s oppression and had managed to get myself and Ryder caught in a sticky web of trouble instead. I rubbed my face with my hands. That damned prophecy hadn’t even said that I would be an instrument in Alvin’s demise, only that I would be an omen. I could have kept my hands clean and let fate take care of him. Instead, I’d tried to control fate.
“All right,” I said meekly.
Ryder’s brow furrowed. “Are you okay? Have you healed yet?”
I lifted my chin and pulled a false façade of cheer over my features. “Don’t worry about me. I’m back to normal again.”
Ryder didn’t look convinced, but he moved aside and motioned for me to get in my car. I wondered, briefly, where he’d parked his muscle car. I wouldn’t have minded a ride in that. My own car was embarrassing by comparison. The empty fast-food bags in the back seat didn’t make it any better.
I pulled my keys from my pocket. “Where are we going?”
“Anywhere but here.” He opened the passenger door when I unlocked the car.
Watching Ryder fold his broad frame and long legs into my small sedan would have been comical had my anxiety not taken ahold of me. A shiver ran down my spine. I looked over my shoulder, but the street was empty. That didn’t bode well. Lakesedge was never empty. There was always someone, shifter kids chasing squirrels or small fae playing games in the street.
Above, the clouds darkened as if I’d shifted. I couldn’t summon storms in my human form, which meant this had to be a summer storm rolling in. I swallowed and got into my seat.
Inside the car, Ryder reached for me, then hesitated. His hand hovered in the air. Warmth spilled off him in waves, but he never touched me. He pulled back and shook his head as he turned his attention outside the window beside him.
I stared at him for a moment too long. What the hell had that been? The air in here thickened. Desire pinched my stomach. The urge to reach across the gap and pull him to me nearly overwhelmed me. I gripped the steering wheel instead.
As hot as Ryder was, I figured we would be awful together. Wherever we went, lightning and destruction would follow. I didn’t know what he was running from, but his desperation to escape mirrored my own. Sleeping with him would only complicate things further.
Besides, I doubted he wanted to sleep with me. He’d witnessed my weakness firsthand the night of the hunt when he’d had to air lift me out. Shifters like him, big and powerful, wanted to mate with strong and beautiful women.
I was just a mangy mutt in comparison to him.
I shook myself. My frustration and fear were getting to me. Running a hand over my hair, I reminded myself that I had just as much value as anyone else. Alvin had worked hard to plant doubt in my mind. Fighting it back had exhausted me, but I wasn’t going to give up.
“Food,” Ryder said, out of nowhere.
I peered at him out of the corner of my eye. His jaw firm, he stared directly ahead. His stiffness made me wonder what was going on in his head.
Ryder
Fucking hell.
I hadn’t accounted for how good she would smell inside this ridiculously small car. I clenched my fists as my dragon rioted inside me. Just one whiff of her scent had woken it and sent it into a furious fit. I stiffened and fought to keep my hands to myself.
I’d nearly touched Ness earlier, when it’d seemed like the world had rested its weight on her shoulders. She had looked miserable when she stepped out of that house by the lake. The dark cloud surrounding her had made me want to hunt Alvin down and finish him off.
Seeing Ness in trouble unraveled my control. It’d happened the night of the hunt with her pack and the day after when Alvin had paid her a visit at the café. I wanted to rip apart anyone who dared lay a hand on her.
The lessons my father had taught me at a young age would never leave me. Even though I couldn’t follow in my father’s footsteps and assume leadership of my clan, I would always carry his teachings with me. That meant I had to protect the weak at all costs.
That was why I did what I did. I’d stained my own soul to uphold his teachings.