Page 51 of Raven

I put my head down and clenched my fists to my temples, closed my eyes and tried to calm him the way I calmed other people down, sending threads of my power inward rather than outwards, doing anything just to stroke down his back and soothe him from this need to go out into the world and chase her down. It held me paralysed so I sat.

"I never thought you'd be one to give up so easily," a voice said from somewhere above me, making my heart slip into my throat.

I scanned the darkness above us and then I spotted the familiar figure. "Tia?" I couldn't even explain the level of relief atseeing her. "Tia?" My panther was in my throat making it hard to speak and I had to clear it. She was at the top of the waterfall, which of course was where I hadn't checked because I'd been unable to see her or scent her. I should have.

She must've read what was probably going on through my mind because she held up a small vial. "I got this off a girl in my class," she said. She smirked. "I guess it worked." She grinned.

"Did you want to hide yourself?"

"I wanted to make sure I made it here without being followed."

"Who would be following you?" But she was coming to the edge of the waterfall. It wasn't so big. We could jump down it easily enough. Maybe humans would need a hand, because it was at a level which, if landed wrong could break a bone or two, but Tia and I had jumped down so many times. Yet as she moved towards the edge, something lurched inside me. "Don't," I said. "Not in your--."

She stared at me, wide-eyed, and I could see that from where I was. Of course, I was on my feet by then and at the edge, all but ready to go up there and get her myself.

She cut me off, hushing me. "Don't say it out loud." She looked out. From where she was, she had the better vantage point to see if anyone was coming. I looked behind me, around me. We were alone.

"Sorry. But you shouldn't get up there. It's not safe."

She put her hands on her hips. "I'm not some invalid. I'm fine."

I wanted to agree with her but my panther didn't care. What he saw was the woman carrying his child and she was in a place that could bring her danger. He wanted to go up there, scoop her up, and place her somewhere safe. I had never been around shifters when they'd been pregnant, hell, I was isolated from most shifters, apart from the contact with my mother andMalcolm, so I had never seen anyone around pregnant women before, but inside my head and my body, my panther was going nuts and I didn't know if this was normal, but he seemed to have it down pat.

"If I ask nicely, will you please come down?" I had to speak slowly, letting the growl out along with my words. She'd have known. Her own panther would respond to mine.

She came down. But she didn't come all the way over to me.

I wanted to close the gap, to wrap my arms around her and scoop her up, but I had to hold back on that too. I just didn't want to scare her away. There was a chance here. She'd met with me, so that had to mean something and I didn't want to tip the balance into the version of Tia that told me to get out of her life.

"What happened with the humans?" she said, before I had the chance to say anything.

And okay. I could do that. Start with something on my side, something easy. I shrugged. "They gave me a fine and slapped me on the wrist."

"A fine? How much?"

I stuffed my hands into my pockets again, took a step back. That was the part I didn't want to say. "It's not important. I'll get it sorted." Though I had no fucking clue how. And then I moved back, one step and then another, slowly.

Tia tensed. I sensed it as much as saw it. "Tell me how much. I know how these things work. They fine you stupid amounts and then when you can't pay it, they lock you up."

I took a breath. "Ten," I said.

"Ten?"

"Ten thousand."

I felt the jolt from her. It lanced against me and I winced, because my control wasn't that much and her emotions hitting mine that were already on high alert ...

"When do they want it by?"

"My birthday."

She put her hand to her mouth. "But that's just three weeks away."

"Two weeks and five days." I'd have added seconds, but I wasn't counting. "It's fine. I'll get it figured out. Can we just talk about us? About the... baby?"

But she ignored me. "How are you going to sort the fine out?"

"I don't know. I haven't fully figured it out yet."

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