Page 8 of Crimson Shifter
“Besides,” she continued before I could find the courage I needed to offer her a formal apology. “You have no clue what it was like to grow up a Zorin. And you certainly don't know the entire story behind the tattoo.”
I pawed past her, looking out the window and down where the Caribbean Sea stretched out in every direction beneath us, the moonlight reflecting against its turquoise waters. “Well, it looks like we have at least an hour until we land,” I said. “Why don't you tell me the story?”
“Telling you that story would involve a great deal of trust,” she said, doing her best to look everywhere but at my panther face. “As it is, I don't trust you. And I don't think there's enough time in the world for me to do so.”
“That makes two of us, little viper. I'm not entirely certain that you won't slit my throat in my sleep.”
Her eyes met mine and the smallest smile shaped her full red lips.
She looked at me like she was seeing the vampire and not the jungle cat. “The thought has crossed my mind,” she said. “Not from any agenda I'm following like you think I am, but simply because the sound of your voice is more grating on my nerves than knives on a chalkboard.”
If I could’ve laughed, I would’ve, but in this form, the only thing I mustered was a huffed chortle. “Now I know you're lying,” I said, purring as I brushed against her. “I scented you yesterday. I know for a factpartsof you enjoy my voice. And even more parts of you enjoy the way I look.”
The memory of having her underneath me in the training room flooded back, filling my veins with liquid fire. I hadn't intended to get so close to her, but godsdamn, was she under-trained. We were heading into a mission she wasn’t remotely qualified for beyond her family's connection. I never suspectedthat splaying her beneath me on the training mat would trigger our bodies’ reactions in a way neither one of us wanted.
Fuck, she’d smelled so damn good, desire turning her signature sent of irises into something sharper, some mixture of floral and moss I couldn't resist. My instincts roared to bite, fuck, and bite some more, and in that moment, I think she would’ve let me.
Thank fuck the queen had interrupted our session and had broken the predatory instincts that had me reacting to having a beautiful female beneath me. I was a thousand years old, for fuck's sake. I should’ve been able to control my reactions better than that, but I knew there was a fine line between hate and desire, and Cassandra liked to dance all over it.
“Wanting a release from a pretty package has nothing to do with trust,”she finally said. “And don’t worry, I have no intentions of touching you like that ever again.”
“That sounded more like a challenge than a threat,” I said, my heart racing at the tiny smirk on her beautiful mouth.
She didn't offer any retort, instead electing to look out the window as we continued to toward her family’s estate.
Even I wasn't privy to the exact coordinates of the island. The Zorin family had kept their private island situated just to the east of Barbados in the Caribbean Sea a complete secret from even the Royal Court. They had that much wealth and power and had used an entire coven of witches to ward the place from unwanted visitors.
“Do you think your brother Edward will be there?” I asked as we started our descent.
“I hope so,” she said. “It certainly would help make this mission a quick one, if he were.” She sighed. “But Warrick said he only sporadically used the island home for his endeavors, so I can't guarantee anything other than getting us in undetected.”
I studied the lines of her delicate face, the soft skin stretched over an angular jawline. “You know that if he is there, and he is the threat, I'll have to kill him.”
“I'm helping you so that you don't have to kill him,” she said. “The king has prison cells for a reason.”
“It's good to know where your loyalties lie,” I said, unable to hide the disdain from my tone, even in this mental form of communication. “If Warrick is right, your brother Edward picked up right where your father left off. No doubt half, if not all, the deaths from their little lists they've been gathering are on his hands. And yet you want to protect him?”
“I have no loyalty to Edward,” she said. “But killing him would start an even bigger internal battle that the king most certainly doesn't need. It would also give away the advantage we have, which is an amenity. Gathering information without them knowing and relaying it to your hunter brothers and the Onyx Assassins is a much more advantageous strategic move than just ripping out throats with your claws. Gods, you would think someone as ancient as you would understand that.”
The wheels of the plane hit the runway, jolting us slightly. My panther form brushed against her as the plane balanced out.
I quickly leveled out, giving myself a shake that started at my head and ended at the tip of my tail. I didn't quite know if I trusted what she was saying was true, but if it was, she was far more clever than I'd ever given her credit for.
And that was a little more terrifying than thinking she was just some spoiled traitor’s daughter waiting for the best time to betray us all.
After a quick limo ride from the private airport, we passed beneath an opened spot in the wards that had been lifted for her and her pet, walking toward the massive Zorin estate. I felt the intense magic of the wards snap into place after we’d clearedthe edge of the island. The weight of the power was almost suffocating.
For the first time, I could sense the severity of the mission. Could feel the danger with every step we took closer to the estate.
And I suddenly wondered if I would make it out alive.
CHAPTER 4
Cassandra
Ilingered outside the doorway of my family’s island estate, a cold, familiar fear streaking across my skin and threatening to paralyze my muscles. A thousand memories burst behind my eyes, filling my mind with every hurt, every grievance, every terror. My instincts begged me to run in the opposite direction. To save myself from what, no doubt, would be like pouring salt on an open wound.
Why did I agree to this?