Page 49 of Wolf of Ashes
The sky above me is shadowed but carries a tinge of light that tells me dawn is on its way. Reaching for my blindfold, which has remained tucked into my bra strap, I prepare to wrap it around my face if I need it.
Opening my eyes fully, I find myself able to cope with the light without the blindfold for now, but I have no doubt that will change.
The air is colder and crisper than it was last night, while the last stars dot the dissipating darkness above.
Diavolo stands at the bottom edge of the blanket with his back to me, but I don’t miss the claws that have extended from his fingers and the sharpness of his teeth as he half-turns toward me.
He’s still wearing his dark-haired, blue-eyed persona.
Remaining where I’m sitting on the blanket, I speak softly, knowing he can hear me over the swell of the nearby water.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, studying him closely.
He shakes his head and is silent for so long that I’m surprised when I get a response.
“Your heart was hurting,” he says.
I press my hand to my chest, even though I know it’shischest that will have hurt in the night.
“I should have warned you,” I say. “I have nightmares.”
He snorts. “Nightmares. Is that what you call them?”
“Okay, then. Let’s say they’re vivid dreams.” I glide to my feet and pull my hair back from my face. I quickly take stock of my current state of health. Alive. Breathing. Dusted with sand. It’s enough.
“You dream of a glittering home and the mother you lost,” Diavolo says, turning his back fully on me once more.
“Yes.” I check for the other panthers, finding them standing guard a short distance away on either side of Diavolo. “Constantly.”
“You need to learn to guard your dreams,” he says as he continues to survey the beach. “Or they could be used against you by a supernatural who knows how to read them.”
I let out a soft sigh.Easier said than done.I don’t hold much control over my dreams.
As I step off the blanket and toward Diavolo, the crunch of my feet on the sand is overly loud in my hearing.
He finally turns fully toward me. His claws retract, his teeth even out, and his features change. He morphs back into his more muscular persona with the pale-brown skin and brown eyes.
“If you need to pee, there’s a private spot behind the tree there.” He points. “Once you’re done, we should leave. I sense humans are not far off.”
I have no objections since I sense the humans too—a group of them approaching the opposite end of the beach. At least they’re far away for now.
I disappear behind the trees and then quickly return to wash my hands in the salty water. By the time I’m done, the first rays of light are threatening to break the horizon.
Tying the blindfold across my eyes, I breathe easily again. Although I’m not so happy about the freezing-cold water that trickles down my back since I splashed it everywhere when I tied the material around my head.
It makes me even more surprised to see that the group of humans who have appeared at the other end of the beach are all stripping off their clothing. Then they pull on tight, black suits instead.
Narrowing my eyes and using my strong eyesight to focus in on them, I recognize the human male from last night. The strange, rectangular object from the back of his truck is lying on the sand beside him.
I’m startled when he and the other humans run toward the water, each with a rectangle tucked under their arm. They splash through the shallows and launch themselves onto their rectangles in the surf.
What the fuck are they doing?
My eyes widen when they ride the rectangles smoothly over the first wave and into the next.
“Huh,” I mutter. “Water-riding.” I glance down at the panther with the russet paw who has remained at my side. “Looks like fun. If you want to freeze your pants off.”
I shiver a little since I’m not exactly warmly dressed myself. Collecting the other panthers on the way back to Diavolo, I plant myself before him. “I’m ready.”
