“They are,” Spencer admitted. “They might get into trouble, but you’ll have memories to last you a lifetime if you hang out with them.”
Pushing from his seat, Dasani excused him and wandered into the living room. He pulled his cell phone from his back pocket and dialed Kevin. The man answered on the first ring.
“Nice of you to call,” Kevin said, and Dasani could hear the pout in the man’s voice. “I thought I’d have to send out a search party.”
Dasani moved toward the windows before he explained to Kevin what had happened after he’d left his friend’s house.
“I knew I should have melted his brain!” Kevin sounded ticked off. His voice was a growl. “Tell me where he is, and I’ll turn Egbar into a drooling idiot.”
For the first time since Kevin had befriended him, Dasani heard true wrath in his friend’s tone. The guy wasn’t joking around. “You promised me, Kevin.”
“And he attacked you!” Kevin spat. “He cut off your fucking hair.”
“Language,” Dasani reminded his friend. “But it’s hair. It’ll grow back.” Besides, Dasani was getting used to the short cut and kinda liked it. Winter definitely liked it. His mate had taken Dasani three times last night. Dasani was surprised he could even sit.
“That’s not the point,” Kevin bit out. “Principalities are involved.”
“Stop using those ten-dollar words before you hurt yourself.” Dasani tried for levity. “You’ve been watching Friday again, haven’t you?”
“The movie is a classic,” Kevin said in a calmer tone. “You laughed the entire time you watched it with me.”
Dasani had. He was also glad Kevin had calmed down. “I’ll be by tonight, and we can talk.”
“Promise me,” Kevin said.
“I promise,” Dasani answered. “But I have company, so I have to let you go.”
“It’s good to see you happy, Dasani,” Kevin said. “I’m really glad things are working out between you and jerkwad.”
Dasani sighed. “You two will learn to get along, or I’ll duct tape both of you until you do.”
Kevin laughed. “You really have to work on your threats, buddy. You’re about as scary as a miffed kitten.”
The smile on Dasani’s face faded when Winter stepped into the living room. From the expression his mate wore, something had happened. Something bad.
“I gotta go.” Dasani hung up. He studied Winter and then asked, “What’s wrong?”
His pulse skyrocketed when Winter crossed the room and pulled Dasani into his arms. Panic began to set in, and he didn’t know why. “Tell me,” he whispered.
Winter soothed his hand over Dasani’s back as he said, “They found Sheba.”
“And?” Dasani felt his knees grow weak.
Winter pulled back, his hands gripping Dasani’s upper arms. “She’s dead.”
Dasani fainted.
Chapter Ten
Being told that Sheba was dead was like being dragged drunk through some evil carnival where the people on the rides were really screaming, the people lost in the mirror maze were really lost, and the denizens of Freak Alley looked at you with false smiles on their lips and terror in their soulless eyes.
That was what Dasani’s world felt like. A reality that was not a reality but smoke and mirrors and illusions.
Memories were all he had left now. Memories of a girl so precious to him that Dasani felt adrift in a sea with not choppy waters but bloody waves that threatened to pull him under and drown him in rage and vengeance, hopelessness and despair.
His mind tried to reject what Winter had told him. The man had to be lying. He had to. Sheba was a bright ray of sunshine in this dismal world. But he knew the tiger shifter was telling the truth. He knew Winter wouldn’t play such a sick joke on him.
Egbar.
As Dasani lay on the floor, Winter holding and rocking him, he knew what he had to do. He knew who he had to kill. The knowledge sprang to his mind, and Dasani become resolute in his decision. He might very well die taking his father down, but the world would be a better place if the man was no longer walking the earth, breathing the good air and fouling every living thing he came into contact with.
Dasani pushed from Winter’s arms, rolled to his side, and then got to his feet. Winter stood as well, his expression one of bewilderment. “Are you okay, little bluebird?”
“I will be.” In less than a heartbeat, Dasani shimmered to the village, Winter’s shouts still echoing in his ear. He walked into his home, maybe expecting to see Egbar, hoping he could end this quickly, but the house was as empty as his heart felt right now.