Page 63 of Third Offense

His gaze narrowed. “Returned? Returned from where?”

“I’ve been staying a few miles north of here,” I explained, deciding to give him the answer as a way to calm him down.

“Why?”

“Because Layla’s nightly purrs are distracting,” I answered bluntly. “Now tell me what’s going on.”

He bristled, and I wasn’t sure if it was my admission to overhearing Layla’s purrs or my demand. “I don’t report to you,Prince.”

“No, you don’t. But you also know I’d do anything to protect Layla, so if she’s in trouble, I can help.”

“I don’t know anything about you,” he corrected, sounding frustrated. “She might be a compatible mate, but that doesn’t mean you’ll protect her. For all I know, this could all be because of you.”

“And if that’s true, then I already know what you’re talking about, so you might as well say it,” I countered, my wings straining at my back to keep me level with him in the sky.

He huffed a laugh and shook his head. “This is just insane.” That distressed air returned to his aura, his chuckle humorless. “I shouldn’t have followed you up here.” Those words alone told me how out of sorts he was feeling.

Which fortunately worked in my favor.

Because it seemed to lower his guard, just a little bit, to allow me to see through parts of his warrior exterior to the male beneath.

A concerned male.

One worried about his mates.

“Yet you did,” I said slowly, referring to him following me up here. “So why don’t you humor me and tell me what’s going on,” I suggested. “There are no sentries here, and we’re well beyond the boundaries of the estate. It’s just you and me, and maybe some humans on a yacht way down below us.”

His gaze returned to mine, the suspicion in his depths telling me he was about to issue a test of sorts. “Why are there so many sentries?”

“To protect the King and Queen of the Noir,” I replied easily.

“And that’s why they chased us like they just did?” he pressed.

I frowned. “Well, no. That was to tell us not to leave the boundaries. But I never listen to them. I don’t enjoy being followed, nor do I particularly care for the idea of an armed escort.”

“You’re a prince. The supposed offspring of the gods. Surely, you understand the importance of an armed escort?” he countered.

“I’m not thesupposed offspring, I am the product of the gods. When you meet the other changeling children, you’ll understand. And—”

“We’re going to meet the others?” he asked, his eyebrows flying upward. “Others like you?”

My lips curled. “Yes. There are three others like me.” Something I suspected he already knew from Gaia.

However, the blast of anxiety rippling off of him told me he didn’t know much. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so concerned.

“That said, there is a difference between me and them,” I hedged, baiting him into more conversation.

“Difference being?” he asked, for once sounding somewhat interested instead of condescending.

I smiled, knowing this answer would floor him. “They’re all females.”

CHAPTERSEVENTEEN

KETOS

Female Noir were rare.

Female goddesses were even rarer.