But the more the seconds ticked by, the antsier I grew. I began to tap my fingers impatiently on my knee. No one was returning. And Quilla was beginning to move out of the immediate radar of my mark from where I could still detect her feelings. I’d lose my true love again if I just stayed here. And we’d have to start our chase all over from the beginning again.
Dammit! They weren’t going to come back. They honestly had no problem with simply leaving me behind.
I scrambled off the rock, grumbling moodily.
I hope no one ever learned I was doing this. Chasing after your captors who were so blatantly leaving without you was beyond humiliating.
I jogged, cursing the constraints on my wrists the whole time because they seemed to impede my speed. The trusty cat who’d been following me since I’d woken up in the alley in Pinsky, appeared, winding its way between my legs as if excited about going on another adventure, and it tripped me up in the process.
“Jesus,” I muttered. “Careful, please.”
The cat meowed as if telling me to stop whining.
When I finally caught sight of Melaina up ahead, I ground my teeth with irritation. She’d just found my flask of ale in my pack and was gulping from it greedily.
“Really?”
I sped forward.
Glancing askance at me when I finally reached her side, panting from the effort it had taken me to catch up, she tossed me a superior, knowing little smirk and tucked the drink away again. “I knew you’d follow.”
I only scowled back. “Horse thieving is bad, you know. I’ve heard of people being hanged for stealing another person’s stead.”
Grandpa Atchison had told me all kinds of stories about a place called the Wild West.
Melaina sighed impatiently. “If you’re so opposed to the idea of walking, why don’t you just ask your friend there for a ride?”
“My friend?” When I realized she’d tipped her head toward the cat who was following a few steps behind me, I snorted. “Yeah. Very funny.”
Melaina rested both her hands on the pommel of her saddle and considered me. “Oh, my dear sweet boy. You have no idea, do you? Wow. The heights of your stupidity are truly adorable.”
I lifted my eyebrows at her pleasant insult as she went on.
“As the master of disguise, you do realize I can see everyone in their true form, don’t you?” She motioned toward the feline. “That pathetic disguise included.”
The cat laid its ears back flat and hissed at her before it caught up to me and crawled up my body to sit on my shoulder again.
Melaina sniffed back. “Bitch,” she muttered at the animal and waved her fingers in the feline’s direction.
The cat popped out of existence.
“Hey!” I started, reaching for my bare shoulder, only for a full-sized horse of pure sleek white to appear next to me, its hooves scrambling on the few rocks it found itself on.
“What the—?”
As I gave a startled lurch, it loped forward to grassier ground and then shook its mane aggressively in Melaina’s direction, whinnying its displeasure.
And that wasn’t even the most shocking part. On top of the horse’s head rested a distinguishing feature that set it apart from every other horse in existence.
“That...” I gaped, backing away slowly as I pointed at it. “That’s a fucking unicorn!”
“Yes, pet.” Melaina nudged my shoulder with her foot. “Now stop staring before you make her feel self-conscious. Unicorns are never pleasant when they’ve been upset.”
“But—but—” I turned to gape up at Melaina. “I thought unicorns were extinct.”
“You mean, just like dragons were extinct until about five years ago when one suddenly popped up and charred an entire army to ash? Seriously, darling. You delight me with how truly ignorant you are.”
Ignoring that, I turned back to the unicorn in awe as it nudged its head at me, dipping its head as if offering me its horn. Compelled, I reached out slowly and stroked the golden and ivory swirled cone. Almost immediately, a feline purr vibrated from the unicorn’s throat.
“Holy shit,” I murmured in awe before glancing up at Melaina. “I had no idea they could shapeshift.”
“Why?” Melaina arched an eyebrow. “Because you considered yourself such an expert on them?”
Frowning, I turned my back to her and refocused on the magical beast before me. The redhead really was a buzzkill.
“Unicorns are real,” I murmured, dazed by the news.
“Hey, what’s taking so long?”
I jumped and glanced over as Quilla returned to us.
When she saw the unicorn, she stopped short, blinked, then frowned at it a moment before she glanced toward her aunt. “So he attracts unicorns now?”
Melaina seemed amused as she answered, “Apparently.”
“Swell,” Quilla muttered in disgust, turning back to frown at the beast. “It was parading as the cat, I presume.”
“Yep.”
“And you didn’t think to warn me about that?”
“And ruin the surprise?” Melaina trilled out a laugh. “Never.”
“Figures.”
My mate sent the unicorn a repulsed sneer as she studied it a minute longer. All the while, the unicorn butted her head at me, urging me to stroke her hide in a new spot.
When I did, giving the animal whatever loving scratches she wanted, Quilla snorted and turned away with a dismissive, “Whatever. Just don’t lag behind.”
The unicorn hissed at her, flicking out a forked serpentine tongue.
“Whoa.” I leaped a step away. Is that really what their tongues looked like? I had not been expecting that.
As if reading my mind, the unicorn turned back to me and opened her mouth, displaying what looked like the inside of every other horse’s mouth with a normal horse tongue.
“Okay, then,” I decided. “So, not only can you change fully from one animal to another, but you can change one body part at a time, too. Right. Good to know.”
The unicorn immediately changed back into the cat, only to flicker back into the unicorn.
I laughed. “Cool trick.”
“Show-off,” Melaina muttered.
The unicorn hissed at her too.
Which made me realize. “Wait. You can totally understand everything we say, can’t you? I knew it!”
The unicorn bowed her head to me. And then suddenly, a saddle appeared on her back.
“Uh...”
As I ogled the reins, Melaina nudged my shoulder again. “Well, stop standing there with your mouth hanging open, drawing flies. The most powerful magical beast in the Outer Realms just invited you to ride her. You don’t turn that shit down unless you want to insult her and end up with a nasty curse that follows you and your family for generations to come, now do you?”
No, I really didn’t.
I hastened to mount the unicorn. It was clumsy going, getting onto her with my hands bound, but once I was seated, the unicorn was surprisingly the most comfortable equine I’d ever ridden.
With a grin, I turned toward Melaina to share my success, only to remember she wasn’t my friend, but my captor. And a freaking horse thief.
My smile died.
“Is that how the Graykey family curse began?” I asked a thoughtful moment later as I set my pace alongside her. “Someone pissed off a unicorn?”