Page 79 of Death Warden
Itracked the blood around the bed, heart in my mouth, to find an empty bloody spot by the bedside table.
“Shit. Finley?” I headed back out of the room. “Finle—”
My cat-sith buddy stepped out of the bathroom, half naked, modesty preserved by a small towel.
“You called?” he drawled, sounding as lazy and bored as ever.
“There’s blood in the bedroom. Are you hurt?”
He looked confused. “Hurt? No. I’m fine.”
I scanned him for injury. “Your hands? Feet?”
He showed me his palms. “I think I’d know if I was bleeding, Adi.”
“Come with me.” I led him back to my room and showed him the blood smears.
He stared at them for a long beat and then shrugged. “If you leave the window open you might invite other creatures into your room.”
He fell back onto my bed, flashing his bollocks.
“Finley, geez, you can’t do that in guy form.”
He shifted to feline and curled up on my duvet. “Better?”
“Thank you.” I closed the window. “Are you saying another cat did this? A hurt cat came into my room and vanished.” I stood with my hands on my hips.
I had no idea what I was driving at, but the whole thing was just plain odd.
“I don’t know what you want me to say.” Finely stretched and settled back down, then closed his eyes. “It wasn’t me. Now hush, I need to get my forty winks.”
And just like that he was out like a light. “Seriously?” I strode over and poked him.
He snored.
Sod it. I’d clean up later. Right now, I needed a shower.
I grabbed my things and headed out.
* * *
SPECTRE
I step into the Frostgate residences and smell her. She’s all over this place, in every breath I take, and the primal instinct to claim what’s mine wraps a clawed fist around my heart. My feet take me to the stairs.
I need to see her.
“Spectre.” Dax doesn’t have to raise his voice for it to be a command.
I stop. Breathe. Turn to face him. “Prez?”
“Come with me.”
I follow him away from the stairs and toward the meeting room even though every atom in my body is telling me to find my mate. Being away helped to lessen the craving but it never went away fully. Now it’s back and I don’t know what to do with it.
Has it been the same for her?
Probably not. She’s not full hound. If she were, she’d have been down those stairs in a shot, leaping on me and wrapping her slender legs around my waist.
