Page 19

CHAPTER 18

“ H unters like you?” I ask curiously.

“Sort of,” she mutters, glancing at the ghost and the fae. Their magic is familiar and strange at the same time, but I know what they are to her through our bond. “We need to get out before they find us.”

“I can kill them for you, mistress,” I offer happily, but she glares at me, and I shrink back. I just wanted to make her happy, but from that soul-withering look, I don’t think she would like it.

“No, they are my people. We need to get out without them seeing us,” she snaps, annoyance in her tone, and I perk up. I want to prove I am useful to her and that she made the right choice in her sacrifice.

I am here to serve her. Her wants and needs matter more than my own happiness and comfort.

I want to make her proud.

I send my magic out, and it floods the entire cavern with my shadow. I hear the hunters above call out and stop as they are blinded. Turning to the columns I was trapped between, I hold out my hand and close my fist.

A hole opens in the air, tunnelling up to the earth above. She glances at me, and I smile. “Come.” I step inside. She follows, and after walking up the slanted tunnel, we break out a few miles away from the entrance to my cavern. I turn to her as I close the hole so they cannot follow, leaving them lost in the shadows until they give up.

“Did I do well, mistress?” I ask excitedly as she glances around.

She looks back at me, her lips tilted down. “Sure.”

I pout as I stare at her. The ghost at her side slings his arm around her shoulders, tugging her close despite her pulling some iron chains out and threatening him with them.

“Give the puppy something,” Ronan, I believe his name is, jokes. “Look how cute he is right now, trying so hard to impress you.”

She glances at me, her eyebrows drawing together as my pout grows and wetness builds in my lashes. I drop to my knees, my head bowed. “I am sorry, mistress. I just wanted to help.”

“Fucking hell,” she mutters, and a minute later, a hand lands on my head. My body reacts instantly, knowing it’s her touch. Every nerve comes alive as I arch up, rubbing into her as she pats my hair. “You did good.”

“Thank you, mistress.” I wrap my arms around her legs and hug her. She sighs and tries to kick me away, but I wrap my whole body around her, grinning as I press my chin to her hip.

Her arms are held out at her sides as she stares at me in exasperation before looking at the fae and ghost. “Don’t look to me for help.” Ronan laughs. “He’s your puppy.”

“Let’s get back before they come looking,” she mutters. Reaching down awkwardly, she pats my head again. “Come on, I need to hide you for now. Can you, erm, release me?”

“Yes, mistress, whatever you wish.” I release her and jump to my feet. “Shall I tear us another exit?—”

“No, no, it’s okay.” She pats my shoulder to soften her quick words. “We will walk.”

“Aww, really?” the ghost whines as she turns and heads into the forest.

The fae steps before me, eyeing me up and down before nodding. “She is mine too. Do not make me kill you.”

“If you kill me, you’ll kill her,” I respond in confusion. “Mistress can have whomever she wishes. I will even serve you if she so asks.”

He blinks, and his grin is slow. “We will get along well. Come, your mistress has a way of trying to escape those who wish to be at her side.”

“She cannot escape me.” I shrug. “I can simply follow my soul.”

Shaking his head, he walks by my side until we reach a giant building. This is where I was whispering to.

She crouches, and I drop to my knees at her side, glancing from her to it and back. She must feel me looking because she glances at me.

“Do you have a name?” she asks me curiously.

“I am whatever you wish to call me, mistress,” I supply happily, but she frowns and sighs, and I slump in defeat, hating her disappointment. “I am a tempest. We were not named. Our masters name us. Names have power, and it is theirs for the choosing.”

“I want you to choose your own name,” she snaps, and I recoil. Is she angry at me? “You are a person—well, sort of. You have your own will.”

“Is this . . . my mistress’s will?” I frown, confused.

“Yes,” she retorts, and I frown harder. My old master named me to control me, to use it against me. He would take it away at will when I annoyed him. I have waited centuries for a worthy master after his death. Many have tried to claim me but were not strong enough, nor did I want them to.

Their souls felt . . . wrong.

They craved my power and body, but my new mistress does not. Yes, she wishes to use my strength, but she always wanted to free me. Now, she offers me another freedom. I am grateful and know I made the right choice.

If I did not want the bond, it would have been broken, though what I told her is true—she could claim me, but I have to accept it as well, and I did.

I wanted her.

I worry that she doesn’t want me the same way though. She tasted and touched me, so that means she desires me the way I desire her, yes? I guess time will tell.

“Tem,” I offer. “I like tempest. Tem is cute, I think.”

She tilts her head, eyeing me, and a small smile curls her lips. “Tem, I like it. Okay then, Tem. Follow us, and please behave. No weird magic.”

“Weird magic?” I sit up taller, happy that she likes my name, and she stares at me. The more she does, the more I feel my features shifting and adapting.

I adapt as I am near her, and she frowns. “What’s happening?”

“I adapt to what you most desire,” I reply. “Do you like it?” I slide my hand down my chest, and her lips thin, her expression cold and angry, but I feel her desire in my soul.

My smile grows.

She cannot hide from me, even if she wishes to.

“That is weird magic,” she finally clarifies.

“Oh.” I sigh. “Okay, mistress.”

“It’s going to be a long day,” she mutters as she turns back and stands. “Let’s go.”