As if an animal lived within Zai clawing at the walls of his heart and soul to be unleashed.
It was more than his Dark nature. So much more powerful and profound than anything he’d ever felt before.
It went beyond instinct; it was an imperative. And the more Zai denied it, the more it howled, tearing him apart from the inside out.
It bristled and tensed now in the face of imminent danger, this monster that lived inside of him. He could feel it rattling its cage to be let out. His muscles and bones vibrated with tension to keep the beast within from bursting free.
Suddenly, the Eagle King veered off toward a cluster of tents on the outskirts of the battlegrounds. Ben followed close on his heels, and with a quick meeting of Zai’s eyes, Sin did the same.
Sol homed in on one tent in particular, opened the flap and ducked inside.
Hesitating for only a split second, Ben followed. Wordlessly, Sin and Zai exchanged a look. Sin stayed outside to guard the tent while Zai went in with Ben and Sol.
“I need armor, weapons and proof of Dark nobility,” the Eagle King said without preamble in a rusty, raspy voice.
It was then that Zai noticed the single occupant of the tent aside from the three intruders—a gray-haired, hunchbacked, gnarled old woman.
His nostrils flared as he scented the air.
She was human. But also something more.
Like Ben, she was…different.
“Ah, King of Beasts, I was wondering when you’d come,” the old woman muttered to herself, back turned toward them as she stirred something in a boiling pot.
“You were expecting him?” Ben asked, his voice quiet with both apprehension and awe.
She paused in her stirring then and turned to glance behind her shoulder.
Zai could not make out the color of her eyes, except that they seemed mercurial. Swirling.
“Interesting,” the woman murmured before turning back to her pot.
“Very interesting.”
“Who are you?” Ben persisted, taking a step closer.
“How did you know we were coming?”
“Only him,” the woman said beneath her breath.
“Only saw him, and the other. Not you. Didn’t see this coming. Interesting…”
What other?
Zai?
Was it Zai she didn’t see coming? Or someone else?
Zai didn’t know what to make of these riddles. The old woman wasn’t making any sense.
And yet, that dormant, awakening part of himrecognizedher somehow. She was special, just like Ben.
But not exactly. They were all connected somehow. Zai just didn’t know how.
“I have coin,” Sol spoke up again, uncaring of the parallel conversation.
It almost seemed as he didn’t witness it. As if he wasn’t aware of anyone else.