Page 146 of A Tongue so Sweet and Deadly

She smiled at Lessia as she caught her breath. “Everyone screams the first time. And now everyone knows you’re here too. Loche likes to sneak up on us.”

Lessia tried to smile back, but as she drew a deep gulp of air to settle her pounding heart, a strangled noise escaped her.

Eyes wide, she stared at the woman, slamming into Loche’s chest as she shifted backward.

“You’re a shifter.”

Chapter

Sixty

Her blood chilled in her veins, and Lessia dropped the stone as she grasped for the daggers tucked into her waistband, wondering if it was worth risking her magic.

Before she had a chance to unsheath them, Loche’s fingers wrapped around her wrists. “She’s a friend, Lessia.”

Shooting him a wide stare over her shoulder, she wrangled her arms free and got out of the sled, putting it and Loche between her and the woman.

If she even was a woman.

Lessia didn’t know much about the shifters.

They were all supposed to be dead.

But that scent…

The scent of constant change, of mystery, of winter and summer and snow and grass at the same time…

There was no mistaking what stood before her.

She crouched down, the memory of Merrick’s lessons burned into her muscles, and Lessia sliced her gaze between Loche and the laughing woman.

“She’s feisty, Loche.” The shifter offered him a hand to get out of the sled. “Not that I’d expect anything less from you.”

“Geyia…” Loche shook his head before turning to Lessia. “Lessia, it’s all right.”

Muscles locked, she glared at him, unable to control the adrenaline pulsating through her and the low growl vibrating in her throat.

While she knew little about the shifters, she knew they were not to be trusted.

Lessia had heard enough about the destruction they’d caused during the war.

When Loche let out a low chuckle, she snarled at him, “Why did you bring me here?”

“I told you, I wanted you to meet my friends,” Loche said, taking a step toward her, the smile on his face never faltering. “She is a shifter, yes. But you, out of anyone, should know what it’s like having people judge you because of your heritage.”

Drawing a shaky breath, Lessia moved her eyes to the woman again.

Geyia remained in the same spot, her posture relaxed and her eyes kind as they watched her.

“There is more to our shared history, Lessia. The books have some facts right, but not all.” Loche closed the distance between them, reaching out for Lessia.

She flexed her hands.

She usually tried to keep an open mind.

Some of the children she brought over had definitely engaged in questionable behavior while on the streets.

But it was because they were forced to.

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