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Mirdza’s laughing.

Alexei doesn’t shift though. He steps closer, wrapping one arm around my waist and dragging me right up next to him. “Did you mean it?”

“Mean what?” I look up at his face.

“What you said—that you were softening toward the idea of us.”

Us.

The word vibrates through me, leaving me trembling. “I did.”

His head lowers slowly then, his lips brushing lightly against mine. “Mine.” That one word is rough—practically weighed down with emotion. “I want you for mine, forever.”

I go up on tiptoe and kiss him back, but forcefully this time.

His arms tighten, and his mouth opens, like he means to show me that we’ll be mixed up together until the end of time. What’s stranger is that it doesn’t scare me.

At all.

“Come on. Let’s go, man,” Grigoriy says.

“Gavriil already showed up,” Aleks says. “The police are next, and if you’re not a horse by then, we’ll have a lot to explain.”

The inventive way Alexei uses swear words endears me to him just a little more, but I hate that he’s changing into his horse form now—and that he’ll be stuck in it for the next few days. It’s terrible timing.

This time, Mirdza and Kristiana turn around without complaint, but I don’t. Alexei’s smiling as he strips, and I’m the one feeling pretty miserable when he shifts into a massive grey horse.

I mean, I love horses. I really do. But for once, I was really sad to see this beauty show up.

“I might like Adriana-in-love,” Mirdza says.

“Hey.” I shake my head. “Don’t use that word.”

Mirdza’s smirking at Kris, and I don’t like it.

Apparently Quicksilver doesn’t either, because he bumps past them a little forcefully, splitting the two of them up as he trots ahead.

“Wait,” I say. “You’re not haltered.”

And of course, that’s when the police appear around the corner.

“Stop,” I shout. “We’ve been chasing him around back here forever. Be quiet and be still, and I think I can catch him.”

A little quick thinking, and we’ve got our cover story.

Gavriil wouldn’t believe it, but he’s not there. When I ask around later, it turns out he was already heading back home. It makes me a little sad—I don’t exactly have loads of friends—but I don’t regret my decision. Even when I follow Quicksilver back, and I’m stuck sitting outside his stall while a dozen different people come to take my statement, I don’t regret anything.

In fact, I catch myself smiling like an idiot over and over all day long.

From the moment I woke up, you’ve been the only woman I’ve even seen.

Aaaaand, I’m doing it again. Grinning like a complete moron.

“What’s making you smile so much?” Mirdza asks.

I stand up, my face going blank. “Nothing.”

She leans against the stall. “Liar.” She’s smiling now, too. “You look like I felt the day Alexei healed my leg.”