She blinked. “You and I and Matt work well together.”
That would be true—except for the part where my touch sucks my team mates to near death.
The ogress finished chewing, and announced, “I want to take a nap.”
“Good idea,” I agreed, and stretched out on my bed. To my astonishment, roughly thirty seconds later, she started snoring.
Trix curled up beside me. I looked into her expressive eyes.
Clutching her fur, my hand froze—as did my heart. I’d noticed blue flecks in her brown eye before—but they were definitely bigger now. Vying with the brown for supremacy.
I pulled my hands away from her. Was I sucking energy from her, too? Was that why her eyes were changing color? Or was it all my imagination?
There seemed to be flecks of white in her coat that I didn’t remember, either. Surely her muzzle hadn’t been that white? She shoved her head beneath my hand, but for a moment, I lifted it away.
I needed to talk to Cara. Was I hurting my dog? I’d been petting her all along, and she didn’t seem any the worse physically for it. But her eyes, and her coat—what was up with that?
Things were changing deep within me. How long would it be before I killed with a simple touch? Before it no longer took me getting angry or horny to become an energy vampire?
She pushed at me again, and I stroked her, careful not to scritch through her fur to her skin. Pretty sure I needed skin contact to do damage. Although the method really was anyone’s guess.
I’d acknowledged it from the moment I’d killed that feral Dire. That no one should be able to do what I’d done. Matt might think I blended in with this company, but I didn’t agree. He’d been born a shifter. Being a beast was as natural to him as breathing.
It could be argued that the feral who’d attacked me had it coming to him. The knot in my gut told me I didn’t entirely believe that. But Matt was another matter. I’d taken what should have been a beautiful thing, and twisted it into something deadly.
In my books, that was the definition of monster.
* * *
Mari seemed to have an internal alarm clock. Just as I was going to wake her, the snores cut off, and she sat up.
We donned our special black bodysuits for the mission. I was in awe at the stretch factor of the fabric. Even Mari managed to wedge into her own ogre-sized version—a body-hugging tunic and trousers that weren’t as loose as they could be.
“Feel like I’m being strangled by a Borton,” she complained.
“And a Borton would be?” I asked.
She sighed. “A creature that kills you by wrapping its tentacles around you and... squeezing.”
“Except you can breathe,” I pointed out. “Maybe it will loosen up?”
“One could hope,” she muttered, running her square fingers over the cuff on her ear. I had one too—it held crystal against our skin for going through the gates.
“You have to stay here,” I told Trix. I expected an argument, but she merely curled up and tucked her nose in her tail. Romping with twin Sabres had checked off her “daily exercise required” box.
At least, I hoped that was what it was. My heart twisted.
Matt emerged from his room at the same time as we did. I watched him closely as we walked down the hall. He seemed to be moving with his usual swagger. He looked incredibly sexy in black—the suit hugged his every contour.
I was ashamed of the longing that coursed through me. I had no right to it. I’d almost killed him the last time I’d given in to it.
His gaze swept over me and lit right up. “You look—bloody amazing.”
“Apparently, Medusa was gorgeous too,” I replied.
His brow twitched. “You aren’t bleedin’ turning me to stone, Angel. Rather the opposite.”
The intensity in his eyes robbed me of breath.
