Page 37 of Romancing the Orc

“I don’t know either.” Grey’s tail flicks. “I took a look around a few months ago but didn’t notice any writing.”

“Do you live on this island all alone, or are there more cat sith?” I ask.

“No to both.” He grins over at me. “I came to the island a couple of months ago to hunt. There’s a particularly tasty type of wild boar that we don’t get on the mainland. But the humans and all their noise drove my prey to the far side of the island. Which makes me ask: how are there humans on this island? The doors of Faerie are closed.”

“Not anymore,” I say. “A human witch opened them a few months ago. This island somehow got transported to the human realm of Earth.”

“Ah, that explains why none of the shadow roads will take me back to Fruvalia’s mainland.”

“Shadow roads?” Lara asks.

Instead of answering, Grey steps forward, disappearing into thin air. His smile appears several feet away, the rest of his body slowly materializing around it.

She gasps and points. “That is amazing.”

His grin widens. “The cat sith have special paths we travel that allow us to move quickly and unseen.”

“It makes them excellent sneaks,” I add.

“You’re simply envious.” His eyes glitter with amusement.

“What else can you do?” Lara asks.

“This is a new one.” Grey’s body shifts into a fae. Tall and muscled, he has pale skin and long black hair that changes color along its length until the tips end in silver. His green eyes and huge smile remain the same.

He’s also completely naked.

And my mate’s gaping at him.

Irritation flashes through me, and I send a palm frond flying through the air to plaster over his crotch.

He tsks at me. “Since when are orcs prudish?”

“Since living among the humans for several months,” I snap.

“Then how about this?” His body flickers again, shifting into his dual form, a seven-foot werepanther covered in thick fur. Grey stands upright and has human-shaped hands tipped with vicious claws, his furry face something halfway between fae and cat.

I let the palm frond drop.

“I suppose the doors of Faerie opening explain why I can shift, too.” He stares at his own hands in fascination, making the claws extend and retract several times.

“The cat sith areshifters?” Lara’s voice is full of awe. “That is too cool! Does that make the cu sith werewolves?”

“It does,” I say.

“Oh, man. I havegotto put this in my next book.” Her expression grows thoughtful, her thumb tapping across her fingertips like she’s counting. No, she’s making one of her lists.

I start walking again, parting a hanging mat of vines.

The others follow, Grey shifting into his cat form.

“Back to what we were talking about,” Lara says after a few minutes. “Why is Elton doing all of this? He kidnaps me. He has people shooting at us. What in the world does he think is this important?”

“I don’t know,” I say. “My people don’t have many stories of the Faerie realm this island comes from. It was considered more of a… vacation spot than a place of power.”

“That’s why my ancestors came to Fruvalia,” Grey says. “It was supposed to be a hunting trip, but the doors of Faerie closed, and they were trapped. My people are still back in Fruvalia, probably with no idea they can now go home.”

“There’s got to be something that makes Elton think there’s more to that building than just ruins. I need to take a look at those photos I grabbed and see if there’s any clue what it could be.”

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