Page 16 of Hunted

I raised a brow.“Probably.But does it matter?I doubt you fuck in that form, do you?”

That had the intended effect.My joke and my direct flirting made him rear back before he caught himself, his pale skin flushing faintly.

The moment of surprise had his aura swelling outward, sending shivers of fear dancing over my skin.“Careful naga,” he said, his face suddenly void of expression.“The last person who thought it would be a good idea to tempt a boogeyman got more than they could handle.”

His words seemed dismissive, but I could see the real sadness in his eyes.I was willing to bet he was referring to Ruya.I knew my beautiful omega wanted the boogeyman, and she teased him lightly whenever she got the chance, always gently nudging at his impenetrable black walls.

“Maybe,”I signed to him,“You underestimate what others are happy to endure for your sake.”

And wasn’t that just a perfect bit of advice for my own current situation with Josh.Both of us would endure anything if it meant we could be together, or if it was for the other person.Maybe I just needed to remember that and justfucking endureuntil we could get rid of Acacia once and for all.

And maybe I should heed my own words to Dusek about not being alone, as well.

“Thank you,”I signed, as we headed out of the gym and down the hall to dinner.

Dusek raised one black brow at me.“For what?”

I clapped him on the back, startling him with the contact, though he played it off as if it was nothing.“For being in the right place at the right time.”

He just shook his head at me.“Ruya certainly has strange taste in mates.”He muttered it, probably assuming I couldn’t figure out what he’d said.But I did.And I wholeheartedly agreed.

At least it kept things interesting.

Chapter 6

Josh

It started as a whisper.Just the faintest brush of thought, the edge of a sensation that might’ve been mine.Or not.It was hard to tell anymore.That was the trick of it—in the days since her blatant stunt with Sadavir, Acacia never shoved her way in like she used to.Instead, she seemed to revel in the game of seeing how long she could linger there, watching, influencing my thoughts and actions, before I noticed.

She slipped and snuck, coiled around my mind, and settled in the soft spots.She made it less obvious.Gloried in my inability to sense her there until it was too late.She probably knew how that inability to know my own mind was slowly driving me mad—and she enjoyed that, too.

Touch the ward.

I blinked.

My fingers hovered inches from the carved stone embedded in the hallway arch.The charmed circle was subtle—three linked runes woven into the plaster.A standard wayfinding glyph, enchanted to alert Sanaka if certain magical signatures crossed through without warning.Specifically, my new magical signature.And Acacia’s.