Ivy crossed her arms, her shoulders hunching. She’d drawn away during her confession, though she was still perched on the table. She avoided his eyes, instead watching Mr. Mittens stalk away with his tail held haughtily high.
“I’m not going to tell him anything,” she said. “Not now. But I…I considered it.” She took a deep breath. “Please, please, don’t take it out on Hope. She’s innocent of all of this, and her condition is terminal. If you don’t heal her-”
“Of course I’m still going to heal Hope,” Hugh said, cutting her off. He raked a hand through his hair, pulling on it. “Stupid, stupid, stupid!”
Ivy flinched. “I—“
“Not you, me,” he snapped. He paced a few steps, agitation burning in his muscles. “I was stupid. Arrogant. Even my father warned me—God, I should have been more careful!”
He’d thought he’d been so clever. That he’d found a way to use his talents without betraying his secret. He’d grown cocky, careless, healing people more and more openly. He’d told himself that it was fine, that even if other shifters grew curious about his powers, they’d never have a chance of guessing the truth.
Now, it seemed, someone had.
We are hunted, his unicorn said uneasily. And in the hunt, there are only two choices. Do we run…or do we fight?
“Fight,” Hugh answered his inner beast out loud. “I’ll be damned if I run. This is my home. I'm not letting some jumped-up snake drive me away.”
Ivy slid off the table, intercepting his path. “Don’t underestimate Gaze, Hugh. He’s dangerous. But if you’re planning to confront him…I’ll help.”
“You most certainly will not,” he snapped.
Gaze had clearly worked out that Ivy was his mate. If the basilisk shifter had decided to use her as a hostage rather than a spy…Hugh’s blood turned to ice at the thought of what could have happened. There was no way he wanted Ivy anywhere near Gaze again.
“We made a deal,” he said harshly. “I heal your sister, you vanish. I’m changing the terms. You vanish. I’ll still heal Hope, but I want you gone.”
NO! His unicorn reared in his mind, horn blazing. This is wrong, WRONG!
Ivy squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. When she opened them, moisture was caught in her long, dark lashes.
“Okay,” she said, her voice quiet and defeated. “I’ll go now.”
“Not literally right now, you imbecile!” Hugh grabbed her shoulder, spinning her back to face him. “You can’t just walk out into the streets with no resources and no plan.”
“What do you care?” Ivy’s voice raised, her tears turning to anger. “I don’t get you at all, Hugh! If you’re going to hate me, can’t you at least be consistent about it?”
“You’re my bloody mate, woman!” Hugh had never wanted to shake someone so much in his life. “Of course I don’t hate you!”
“Well, you’ve got a weird way of showing it!” Ivy yelled straight back. “Most of the time you act like you can’t stand the sight of me!”
“I can’t stand the sight of you because when you’re around all I can think about is kissing you!”
The words hung in the air.
“Really?” Ivy said blankly.
“Well, no.” Hugh let go of her, scrubbing both hands over his face. “I was being polite. My thoughts don’t just involve kissing.”
Ivy swallowed hard. “So…why don’
t you?”
“Because I don’t think I’d be able to stop.”
“I wouldn’t want you to,” she said softly.
She was close, so close. He could feel the heat radiating from her, trembling in the air between them. He couldn’t look away from her full, soft lips, half-parted in invitation. A single step forward, and he could claim them…
He turned on his heel, before he could fall headlong into disaster. He braced his arms on the kitchen counter, chest tight, struggling to master himself.