Page 35 of Crimson Shifter
Cassandra instinctively shifted toward me, her eyes fluttering open, relief flooding them at the sight of me.
“You're back,” she said.
“I'm sorry I woke you.”
She blinked the sleep from her eyes, tucking the pillow beneath her and shifting to face me.
I mimicked the movement, unable to stop myself from reaching over and pushing back some of her silken black hair.
“I didn't eat today,” she admitted. “I think Mother might be putting something in the blood. It tastes awful lately. I think that's what made me so tired when I came back here.”
I furrowed my brow, wondering if her experimental mother was testing new poisons in the blood, and that urge to put an end to this horrific female rushed over me again.
“Any news?” she asked when I hadn't responded.
“Some,” I said, snapping back to the present and offering her my wrist.
“I'm okay,” she said, but I gave her incredulous look.
“Drink,” I said. “There’s no reason at all to go to bed hungry. Not when I'm in it.”
She licked my wrist before sinking her fangs into it, and I groaned at the delightful sensation of her pulling my essence into her mouth. She swallowed a few mouthfuls before pulling back and licking the wounds closed. “Happy?”
“Very,” I said. “Warrick is doing well in training, and is being treated like every other potential assassin.”
“You asked about Warrick?”
“I did,” I answered, tilting my head. “Why the look of surprise?”
“It's just that...I didn't think that information was pertinent to the mission.”
I traced the line of her bare arm with the tip of my finger, struggling to find the right words. “I knew you'd want to know,” I said finally.
Something shifted in her gaze, those beautiful dark eyes studying mine with an openness and gratefulness that penetrated my heart.
“Thank you,” she said. “Anything else?”
“Zachariah and the rest were able to save some of those families you identified.”
She breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. “That's good. Every innocent family we save from the Sons of Honor, and quite possibly my brother or yours, brings us one step closer to beating them.”
I nodded and rolled to my back, stretching out my arm and welcoming her as she scooted up to my side and laid her head on my chest. The move was more natural than it should be, but it felt too damn right to question it.
“I wish we had more information to give Zachariah,” she said almost apologetically.
“We will,” I said. “We might be driven mad by the horrors of this place by the end of it, but we'll have the information we need.”
Cassandra chuckled, turning her head to look up at me. “That’s both horrible and optimistic.”
I shrugged.
She started tracing random shapes on my chest, furrowing her brow.
“What's that look for?” I asked.
“I was just wondering how hard it is to be away from your brothers, the other hunters? You’ve all been hunting together for centuries, and now I've...this mission has ripped you away from them.”
“We've been put in harder situations,” I said. “I miss them, but I was ordered by the king to be here. So here I am.”