Page 36 of Shadow

His smile vanished, replaced by a steely hardness in his eyes.

The light mood shifted abruptly.

The air grew heavier.

“Before we entered the war,” he said flatly.

“You want me to believe there isn’t a single woman here?” I countered; my tone deliberately casual though I knew it wasn’t fooling King. “Plenty of you were married before you decided to reveal yourselves to us.”

His jaw tightened.

“We exposed ourselves to save humans from annihilation. Our women, or lack thereof, is not a topic I am willing to discuss.”

I waved my fork in the air before stabbing another green bean. “By all means, let’s avoid anything that might set you off again. I prefer my head firmly attached to my shoulders.”

After another bite, I set the fork down and picked up the remainder of the pork chop with my fingers so I could consume it faster. I had no idea why I craved meat so badly. Scarcity had a way of changing things, but that impulse was so strange that all I could do was chalk it up to a vitamin deficiency.

As I chowed down, I stole glances at King, careful not to meet his gaze for more than a fleeting second.

See? Food soothed the savage beast. Even mine.

“Many of our farming families died when we entered the war,” King said, his voice deceptively pleasant, though the tightness around his eyes betrayed the feeling behind the words. “They were trained to till the land and feed our people. They weren’t trained to fight.”

I paused, unexpectedly moved by the admission.

It was a rare glimpse into the cost of the war. Both human and Shadow Warrior lives were lost in numbers too vast to fathom.

I lifted my water glass, holding it forward. “To fewer dead in both our camps.”

King regarded me for a moment, then raised his own glass. The faintest tension lingered as the rims clinked together.

“To the death of our enemies,” he said.

“Am I drinking to my own demise?” I asked dryly before taking a sip, completing the toast.

“I’m hoping you’re not,” King replied, “but time will tell.”

We both took a sip, the silence stretching just long enough for my curiosity to bubble over.

“How long will I be here?”

His brows furrowed slightly, as if he were debating how much to reveal.

“As long as it takes.”

I leaned forward, unable to help myself. “As long aswhattakes?”

His gaze locked onto mine, and any lingering tingles were snuffed out by a sudden, icy chill.

“Trust,” he said, the single word landing like a heavy weight between us.

Chapter Fourteen

King

There was a part of me that wanted to trust her. A small, insistent part. And there was another part, one I was even less comfortable with, that was drawn to her in ways I couldn’t explain.

It was Beast who was causing most of the turmoil, and if I had learned anything over the years, it was that ignoring his instincts was a mistake.

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