“Shall I be expecting a formal Inquisition?”
The tips of his ears turned red. “While you were sleeping, I jotted down a few things I wanted to ask you, things I’d like to find out before you—er—disappeared again.” He snatched the paper from her and organized his writing supplies on the table.
“And how honest do you expect me to be?”
“I hadn’t thought about that.”
She crossed her arms and leaned back in the chair. “You could always ask.”
“True.” He shuffled his papers. “So, um, you’re a—”
She raised one brow, curious if he would admit to knowing what she was.
“A shape-shifter?” He jumped up from the chair when she nodded. “I knew it!” His hazel eyes glowed in excitement. “Is it true you can take whatever form you want?”
She grinned and focused on morphing her features to mirror his.
He cringed and backed away from his clone.
His reaction amused her, and her body shook as strange sound escaped from her lips that she had not heard in years—laughter. “Anything,” she said as she returned to her normal form.
He circled the table. “There’s something different about you, though.” He shoved his glasses up his nose and stroked his chin. “Your eyes! That’s the difference.”
She frowned. She hadn’t expected him to be so observant. For a second, she toyed with the idea of slitting his throat.
He was in her face now, studying it closer, and she resisted the temptation to claw his eyes out. “Your eyes never quite look human. They are still very bird-like—golden with large black centers. Remarkable, actually.” He ran back to his papers and began writing, mumbling to himself and glancing at her from time to time.
“Am I to be the subject of a dissertation?”
“There’s just so much that’s unknown about your race.” He spoke without glancing up from his notes. “I want to document all I can—”
“Perhaps there’s a reason so little is known.” A faint growl seeped into her voice. “Maybe I prefer to keep it that way.”
“But why?”
“Because you don’t have a crazed king trying to wipe out your entire race.” She snatched the piece of paper he was writing on and crumpled it. “You don’t have demon-infested drae chasing after you every place you go. You—”
“Drae? What are drae?” Panic silenced him as she threatened to throw his notes into the fire. “No, please don’t destroy them.” He seized the wad from her hand and held it close to his chest, smoothing it out.
“You’re strange, even for human. Most men value gold and jewels. You treat these papers as if they were treasure.”
“I just value things differently.” A hint of anger laced his voice. “To me, knowledge is far more precious than those objects. I think we’ve talked enough. It’s late, and I should go to sleep. You can get back to bed on your own.” He locked his notes away in a drawer and slammed the door behind him.
So, he actually has a backbone . Although she didn’t look forward to the pain of crawling back to bed on her injured leg, she felt a spark of respect for Gregor Meritis.
***
He was already gathering the supplies to clean her leg when she awoke the next morning. A few minutes passed before he finally spoke. “I’m sorry I lost my temper last night.”
Ranealya said nothing and allowed him to continue working. He was a mystery to her—or rather, her feelings about him were mystery to her. For centuries, she had hated humans, yet here she was at the mercy of one. He had saved her life twice now and had managed to discover some of her secrets. Any other human would have been covered in blood by now, permanently silenced.
Worse, she couldn’t stop wondering would it feel like to have his hands elsewhere on her body. Would he blush? She couldn’t help but inwardly laugh as she thought about how his eyes filled with lust when he looked at her while his cheeks flamed. Then she frowned. Damn it, I’m beginning to think
The tips of his ears turned red. “While you were sleeping, I jotted down a few things I wanted to ask you, things I’d like to find out before you—er—disappeared again.” He snatched the paper from her and organized his writing supplies on the table.
“And how honest do you expect me to be?”
“I hadn’t thought about that.”
She crossed her arms and leaned back in the chair. “You could always ask.”
“True.” He shuffled his papers. “So, um, you’re a—”
She raised one brow, curious if he would admit to knowing what she was.
“A shape-shifter?” He jumped up from the chair when she nodded. “I knew it!” His hazel eyes glowed in excitement. “Is it true you can take whatever form you want?”
She grinned and focused on morphing her features to mirror his.
He cringed and backed away from his clone.
His reaction amused her, and her body shook as strange sound escaped from her lips that she had not heard in years—laughter. “Anything,” she said as she returned to her normal form.
He circled the table. “There’s something different about you, though.” He shoved his glasses up his nose and stroked his chin. “Your eyes! That’s the difference.”
She frowned. She hadn’t expected him to be so observant. For a second, she toyed with the idea of slitting his throat.
He was in her face now, studying it closer, and she resisted the temptation to claw his eyes out. “Your eyes never quite look human. They are still very bird-like—golden with large black centers. Remarkable, actually.” He ran back to his papers and began writing, mumbling to himself and glancing at her from time to time.
“Am I to be the subject of a dissertation?”
“There’s just so much that’s unknown about your race.” He spoke without glancing up from his notes. “I want to document all I can—”
“Perhaps there’s a reason so little is known.” A faint growl seeped into her voice. “Maybe I prefer to keep it that way.”
“But why?”
“Because you don’t have a crazed king trying to wipe out your entire race.” She snatched the piece of paper he was writing on and crumpled it. “You don’t have demon-infested drae chasing after you every place you go. You—”
“Drae? What are drae?” Panic silenced him as she threatened to throw his notes into the fire. “No, please don’t destroy them.” He seized the wad from her hand and held it close to his chest, smoothing it out.
“You’re strange, even for human. Most men value gold and jewels. You treat these papers as if they were treasure.”
“I just value things differently.” A hint of anger laced his voice. “To me, knowledge is far more precious than those objects. I think we’ve talked enough. It’s late, and I should go to sleep. You can get back to bed on your own.” He locked his notes away in a drawer and slammed the door behind him.
So, he actually has a backbone . Although she didn’t look forward to the pain of crawling back to bed on her injured leg, she felt a spark of respect for Gregor Meritis.
***
He was already gathering the supplies to clean her leg when she awoke the next morning. A few minutes passed before he finally spoke. “I’m sorry I lost my temper last night.”
Ranealya said nothing and allowed him to continue working. He was a mystery to her—or rather, her feelings about him were mystery to her. For centuries, she had hated humans, yet here she was at the mercy of one. He had saved her life twice now and had managed to discover some of her secrets. Any other human would have been covered in blood by now, permanently silenced.
Worse, she couldn’t stop wondering would it feel like to have his hands elsewhere on her body. Would he blush? She couldn’t help but inwardly laugh as she thought about how his eyes filled with lust when he looked at her while his cheeks flamed. Then she frowned. Damn it, I’m beginning to think
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