Page 12 of Bosse
He opened the door to Bosse’s cage and shut it after she entered, clamping the lock in place.
She kept an eye on him as he turned to walk away, then whispered the words of a simple spell to interrupt his hearing and memory. His gait hitched momentarily, but he kept walking back to his wooden chair.
Her gaze skipped from him to the freaky rhino. Its orange eyes flickered open and then closed.
She should be thankful she didn’t have to step into the freaky rhino cage. They called him, it, whatever, the Beast. Even in human form, he was more animal than human.
Not that she was any safer in the cage of the castle’s undefeated wolf shifter.
She scrunched her nose against the nauseating smell of animal and human body odor, which was not coming from the wolf shifter’s cage but next door. She’d have to breathe through her mouth.
Convinced they were not paying attention to her now that the second guard had returned and Cyrano had started a card game, she spoke a spell softly on both sides of this cage to protect conversation in here.
Then she crossed her fingers and hoped it worked.
Not a professional action for someone from her clan, but she depended upon being lucky more than expecting to be good with her magic.
With that done, she lowered her gaze to take in Bosse’s human form, lying very still with his back to her, and stopped short of making a noise.
That tiger had slashed him open. Red, inflamed skin swelled all around his injuries. Blood still oozed from one.
His body barely moved with shallow breaths.
Should she disturb him if he slept?
Taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart, she blew out her frustration and wiped the tears from her eyes. Her clan had instilled in her a fear of all shifters. They didn’t believe such unnatural beings should exist. She didn’t accept all their ideas. Why should she tell someone born to be a shifter that they didn’t deserve to live?
She’d never planned to be close to a shifter, especially one so powerful, but her dreams drove her decisions and actions. Realizing where she was and what she had to do, her hands shook. Regardless of her clan, she did possess an ingrained fear of someone who could change into a dangerous animal because she couldn’t protect herself if a shifter attacked her.
She was making a leap of faith by entering this cage.
Stalling wouldn’t help. She had to get moving because she had no idea for sure how long the spells to shield her visit would last. A shortcoming for someone with her job description for sure, but she’d lived with the flaw her whole life. She’d get through tonight and not embarrass her family name.
It would be easier if she’d been sent to save someone she liked.
Her parents would expect her to accept her new role and carry on the family legacy. Why hadn’t they had a boy who would be better at this?
Enough mental whining.
Squatting down, she dropped to her knees and ran her gaze from his head to his feet, not missing one inch of that beautiful naked body. The scraggly hair and mountain man beard dented his model looks, but those cut muscles... wow! He had to be at least six-four. Every day, that beautiful body got ripped to pieces, and he still managed to survive.
And be in constant pain since Krol ordered no one to help him. Thankfully, these two guards stayed down here more than up in the main hall.
She didn’t want to think about what that sicko Krol would do to her if he found out she’d been down here on her own. He had a particularly cruel streak when it came to this shifter.
All the guards called him Bosse. They pronounced itBossay,which sounded ridiculous. It should be pronouncedboss, but most of the guards were Slovakian and spoke broken English. Another odd thing about Krol was everyone had to speak English. She wondered if it was so they would know what was being said in English around them.
She moved forward and had to catch her balance to keep from falling on Bosse.
That would have started them out on the wrong foot. He’d probably rip her apart before she had a chance to gain his trust.
If her dream was correct, he wouldn’t kill her.
At least, not yet.
A comforting thought.
As comforting as staring down a rattlesnake that shook its tail in displeasure. Every second one blissfully counted toward remaining alive was both fortunate and equaled one step closer to the inevitable end.
