I do not want to save the saintess again. Was it that difficult to keep moving forward until we were out of the fog?

  No. It was not that difficult, but somehow the saintess could not follow those simple instructions, and now my mate is looking at me with expectancy. While her confidence in my abilities is an ego-stroke, can Zika not go after the saintess? He is certainly strong enough to handle any foes on his own and he appears to be infatuated with the female. Must it be me?

  “I will go after her,” Zika says, clenching a fist over his chest. He stands upright with shoulders back. His shirt looks as though it will shred with a single flex of his muscles. Curious it was not like that before.

  Oh, thank the seven skies. Zika is taking this as a slight against himself.

  “But what about the fog? Won’t you get mixed up?” Megan asks. She holds Yazir’s hand, who moves closer to her leg. I have come to accept it is only a matter of time before Megan asks if we can keep watch over the orphan.

  Should I even consider Yazir to be an orphan at this point?

  “I’ll burn the forest down. No fog is going to stop me.”

  “But couldn’t you end up burning Edith if she’s alive? Plus, the smoke isn’t good for humans. She could die from that too,” Megan points out. “We should be smart about this, so no one gets hurt.”

  Zika falters. He turns his head and huffs. A thin wisp of smoke emits from his nostrils.

  “Roharu.”

  No. I close my eyes. Perhaps if I do not look at my mate, my resolve will remain steady.

  She pokes me in the side.

  “Vixen, let the dragon go after the saintess.” I open one eye. “Zika is more than capable of fighting a few beasts.”

  “And if there are more than beasts?”

  “Well, he lived a long life.” I lift one shoulder and shrug. Zika is not some young dragon. He knows what he is getting in to and he knows the cost if he messes up.

  Megan is not amused. She gives me a ft stare. I do not need a decoder to know what that stare means. How far has my resolve crumbled? To think there was a time when my enemies trembled at their shadows and now look at me, giving in to my mate’s whims.

  “I could assist, however; I will not leave everyone in this clearing unprotected. A cave would be much better in case of an enemy attack.” Or the trees, but I leave that be since the vilgers struggled with having Zika transport us here. No, somewhere that is not so open will be better for rest.

  I sniff. It is going to rain. Preferably after the saintess has been rescued. I am eager to settle down and spend time with Megan.

  Zika frowns, but he does not argue. Odd, I expected him to demand we go after the saintess right away, but instead he keeps his thoughts to himself and waits patiently. Well, almost patiently. His cws dig into his forearms. If he presses any further, he will rip his arms to shreds, as well as that shirt.

  I step in front of Megan and brush my hand over her hair. My nostrils fre, scenting her and the shadows within. She smells like mine. “What are you prepared to do for me to act?”

  “You can’t do that in front of everyone,” she whispers.

  I start to remind her that everyone except for Chloe and she can hear exceptionally well, but I allow her this modesty for now.

  “Let’s go, Roharu,” Zika demands. “By the time we find this cave you seek, it will be too te.” He huffs. More smoke emits from his nostrils. The smoke is mostly bck with blue at the base. Did I think Zika was being patient? Clearly, that was wishful thinking.

  I bite back the growl.

  “We can leave clues,” Megan says. She squeezes my arm. “Katsuro or Bazur could leave scratches in the trees like you did in that one forest.”

  “Fine.” Reluctance licks at my fangs. I should have taken Megan over my shoulder and ran away from civilization the day we met. My life would be simpler if I had. “Katsuro, you are in charge while I am gone.”

  Surprise flits across his face, but he recovers quick enough. He dips his head and pces a hand over his whip. His jaw tightens with determination.

  We do not need words to communicate what will happen should anything befall Megan.

  “Should anything attack, kill it quickly and move on. The beasts in this region hunt in packs. If there is a lone beast, more are soon to follow. Keep on this path until you reach the tree with three heads. Turn left, and if you keep on that path, there should be a cave on top of the hill if everything has remained as is.” I step away from Megan before I lose the motivation to assist Zika with this foolish mission.

  I understand the saintess may not be from this world, but surely common sense exists where she comes from. Everyone should have some form of survival instincts in their bones.

  Zika rolls his shoulders back, unclenching and clenching his hands. It is a wonder he does not spit fire at us for the deys.

  I turn and motion to Zika. Back into the fog and towards unnecessary altercations, we go. I watch Zika from the corner of my eyes. He acts like a male who just lost his mate.

  Wait. If the saintess is his mate, then can I not just offload her onto him?

  “You’re dragging your feet,” Zika says. The annoyance is thicker than the fog. I shrug, though his back is to me. It is not my mate who was taken.

  “You rush and then you miss clues.” The fog is thinning, but it still persists. The frightpest must have left the area to hunt or they believe they have taken care of the danger. The chances of the saintess being alive dwindle with each passing moment. “Is she your mate?”

  “What?”

  “The saintess. You act as though she is your mate.”

  Zika gnces over his shoulder and then shakes his head. “No, she’s not my mate. I had one, centuries ago. Edith reminds me of her. That is all.”

  So, his mate is dead. Strange, Zika having a mate never came up when I dug around for information on him. He must have kept that close to his chest. Not that a dead mate is worth anything. Cannot use them for leverage. And they must not have any young together or Zika would not be here running around the eastern nds with me and the others.

  “We will rescue her, regardless if she is alive or not, but she is not your mate, and you should not think of her as a stand-in.” I am not sure why I offer him this advice, but I suppose I do not wish to see him hurt.

  “She is alive,” is all he says. The silence stretches between us while the fog continues to thin until it is gone completely. A droplet of rain falls from the sky, followed by more.

  Shit.

  We will lose her scent if this keeps up.

  Zika takes off into a sprint. I pinch the bridge of my nose and follow him, but his speed outmatches mine. He runs as though he has some sort of propeller beneath his feet. His steps are loud. The wind picks up while the rain falls with a vengeance. The grass is slippery, and the onsught makes it harder to see.

  From the left, the howls increase in volume.

  I swipe my tongue over the top of my fangs. Did the beasts take her to their den? I bance between keeping an eye on Zika and checking the ground for tracks. At least two frightpests. My suspicion is most likely correct. There is a den nearby, and they must have plucked the saintess out as an easy meal.

  Zika may not be concerned about how we will find our way back to the others, but I aim to always make it back to Megan. When he slows down, I take the time to scratch into the bark of the trees. As fast as Zika is, he does not appear to be able to hold that speed for long.

  “The den! Her scent!” he pants out. “It leads over there.” He points a finger in the direction of a small hole. Too small for us. I stride forward and inspect it as best I can. The rain continues to pour. My hair sticks to my back. I must squint my eyes because the rain is becoming more troublesome than it out to be.

  “I will dig her out,” he decres.

  “You risk colpsing the dirt on her.” I squat in front of the opening and pce my hands on the now muddy ground. “Watch my back.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Ad lib this,” I respond, closing my eyes so I can focus. There is no guarantee this will work, but we are out of options. I force my shadows deep into the dirt. The hole is too small for us to squeeze into. Zika could transform and dig his way to her, but depending on how the tunnels are set up, he risks colpsing the dirt on the saintess. She may have some ability, but she is still a human and humans are fragile.

  My ears twitch.

  The howls are picking up. My skin prickles with unease. I need to wrap this up. As much as I trust Katsuro, no one can protect Megan like I can.

  “Zika.”

  “Yeah,” he replies gruffly. “We’re being hunted. Fuckers.”

  I keep my eyes closed. My shadows stretch further into the ground and into the den. Tunnels. Too many of them. My brows pull taunt. I try to focus on the saintess’s energy. It is light, not quite as bright as Megan’s, but lighter than the rest.

  “I shall go in,” is all I say before sinking into the shadows. I do not wait for his response. Do not wait for him to demand to come with. My reserves are low as it is. I open my eyes and keep still. The frightpest are nasty creatures. They stand on six legs with webbed feet. Their lower halfs are square. A blue so clear they may as well be transparent. Their faces are as long as they are wide. Their eyes are bck with small specks of blue in the middle.

  And in the middle of the den is the saintess.

  She sits there, tears streaking her face, and shivering. Behind her is the young. Three fledglings. Humans are not the typical prey for these beasts, but perhaps it is because the number of beasts has expanded exponentially, that the frightpests struggle to maintain their pce in the food chain.

  Compared to some, a human is a far easier prey to take out.

  I slink back into the shadows and wait until their backs are turned to the saintess before making my move. I could take her into the shadows with me and be done with it, but we are already being hunted by another pack of beast.

  The chance is too high.

  With a flick of my wrist, I send bck fmes at them and grab the saintess. She struggles because, of course, she does.

  “Be still,” I hiss, circling my arm around her waist. She stops. The frightpests screech and stand on their hind legs. The fmes continue to grow. Soon, this den will be filled with smoke and the fire should kill them before they can attempt to follow us. “I am taking you out of here. Do not be frightened.”

  She nods.

  Traveling with someone within in the shadows is an experience I am not eager to repeat. The trek takes longer than it should. The saintess struggles despite giving her word. We stumble through tunnels that lead to no end before finally reaching the surface. The darkness does not bother me. I welcome it, but I never want to travel with another this way for the rest of my life.

  She gasps and turns around, attempting to cling to me.

  “You came for me!”

  My upper lip curls back. I pry her hands off me and stand. The opening to the den is right there to the left, but where in the seven hells is Zika?

  AutumnBanks

  Thanks for reading! The puppies are 3 weeks now. They started on puppy food this weekend and still seem to believe that 2 and 4 in the morning is the perfect time for a husky chorus. Wishing you a wonderful week ahead!