“I didn’t break you out of the Queen’s prison just to end your miserable flea-bitten life,” the Hunter ground out roughly.
“But hear me well, you mangy cat. You got the better of me just now because I allowed it. As far as I’m concerned, we are even. The next time you come at me, I won’t hold back. Iwillkill you if you so much asthinkabout mounting me again.”
Sin stared back for a few long seconds, then bared his teeth in a face-splitting grin.
“What if you want it? What if you beg for my cock to fill you?”
In answer, the Hunter’s fist connected with Sin’s temple, as the dagger in his side punched between his ribs.
Sin grunted at the two new wounds, but he could tell that the blade didn’t damage anything important inside. Flesh wounds were a bitch, but healed easily enough.
The other male heaved off of him, kicking Sin in his wounded side as he stood, making Sin groan and curse beneath his breath.
Vindictive fucker.
Without a word, the Hunter began to walk away.
Sin watched him go, still lying on the ground, braced on one arm on his side.
It made him grin lopsidedly when he saw the stiffness in the Hunter’s gait.
Aye, they were two of a kind.
He didn’t realize it could be so exhilarating to hate someone. So downright addictive.
So addictive, it was starting to feel less like hate and more like…
Something else.
Slowly, Sin pulled his battered and bloodied body up, shifted into liger, and rolled his muscles to push the pain of his many wounds into the back of his animal mind.
In the front of his human mind, he thought irrelevantly:
Why does he keep calling me names? I don’t have fleas.
Without consciously making the decision, he began to stalk after the Hunter, following the man at a healthy distance, deeper into the forest.
Chapter Nine
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend…”
—Unknown
The fox had more than one tail. Ben was sure of it.
It was hard to tell though, what with the thick, fluffy fur. Ben only saw the shadow of the other tails when the fox moved it. Like looking at the rapidly shifting screens of a hand-drawn cartoon.
But Ben was relatively certain there were actually nine tails.
He wondered whether this was yet another oddity that was indigenous to this time and place. If there were giant horses, dogs and cats, and tall, godlike immortals walking around, why not a nine-tailed fox?
“I think a feather dragon called Divina would want to collect you for her family of furry creatures,” Ben said out loud, looking at the fox as it padded ahead on its tiny paws.
It turned its head to look back at Ben as if it heard and understood him, its black eyes shining with intelligence.
“My uncle Ere told me all about her. She’s like Jessica Rabbit and Marilyn Monroe rolled into one. She has a giant Tibetan Mastiff she calls Chewy and now lives with her centaur lover in ancient Greece. I’ve never met her, but Ere described her so vividly, I feel like I do. I can almost hear her squealing and gushing in my head at the sight of you.”
The fox tilted its head and seemed to smile. It shook its fur as if to say,yes, I know I’m the most adorable, cuddly thing you’ve ever seen.