Page 73 of Those That Are Lost

Red’s surprise comes through the bond. Her eyebrows shoot up too. Antares notices.

“Surprised, little female?” Antares looks at her and gestures at himself. “I thought I wore my gayness pretty obviously.”

“I wouldn’t assume anything about anyone,” she answers. “But they attacked you for being in a gay bar?”

“No, they tried to attack me because I was in the best gay bar in the city—seriously, it’s got the hottest dancers—and apparently it’s too far into their territory for a non-pack member.” He huffs, folding his arms across his chest.

“Tell me you didn’t hit Fillias,” Henry says, tapping his fingers against his thigh.

“No, it was his second. And he hit me first.” The petulance in his voice reminds me of a teenager.

Arrogant Fae prick.

‘Hey! Don’t be prejudiced. You can’t judge him because of what he was born as.’

‘Did I send that through the bond? Oops.’

‘Loud and clear. Remember, it was the Fae stereotypingyouthat caused the fucking war in the first place.’

‘Sorry. You’re right. He’s still arrogant though.’

Red smiles down at me, shaking her head slightly before gently kissing my nose.

“Cool, you two are telepathic mates.” Antares voice cuts through our moment. Both our gazes whip to him.

“What? How didyouguess that so quickly?” Henry’s voice comes out a few octaves higher than usual.

“That little thing they did.” Antares wiggles his fingers in our general direction.

“What thing?” I ask, irritated that he indeed worked it out so fast.

“You went quiet and your body language changed towards each other.”

“We’re mates, maybe we’re just in tune with each other’s feelings.” I fire back.

“Nah, it’s more than that. I am right, aren't I?” He’s already grinning again, knowing he’s correct.

“Yes,” I admit, begrudgingly.

Satisfied, Antares turns back to Henry. “Have you still got any of the blood I bought over? Could really use a drink to help heal the face.”

“Fridge is right over there.” Henry points with his thumb, not offering to get it for Antares. With another huff, he gets up off the sofa and heads to the kitchenette, making a big show of digging out a blood packet himself.

Red goes back to flicking through her notes. We’d been planning routes back to Froan, weighing up which of the two harbours would be safest to head to when we go back. In the last couple of days, we’d decided that we needed to makecontact with one of the pack members—either Atlas, or maybe Mitch—and see if we could gather some inside intel. Getting close enough to take Adicious out was still something we hadn’t figured out, but we needed a route back to Froan first.

All of a sudden, the notepad is flying from her hands and across the room. Antares catches it with his outstretched hand, the other squeezing a blood packet into a glass.

“Hey!” Red is out of my lap and trying to snatch the pad back in less than a couple of seconds. Antares whips it out of her reach.

As he turns his back and goes to read it, I let my shadows loose. They swirl around the notes and his hands, hiding the plans from his view.

Red stops her pursuit, seeing what I’ve done. Antares looks at me, and actually looks impressed.

“Well, this is a neat party trick.” He studies his hands as the shadows thicken further, effectively acting like cuffs so he can’t pull them apart.

I stalk over to him and place my hands through the dark bands, taking the notepad back.

“Don’t steal from my mate again,” I growl at him, showing him my fangs. I don’t release the shadows as Antares tries uselessly to pull his hands apart.