ere his fingers had dug in. She forced her hea

ave, but it was enough. She stared hard at his

a tail-a Merfolk tail. But it

kind. Now, it was a mass of festering wounds. Where the scales should have been, the

grated against those open, scale-less wounds. He left a smearing

tincts momentarily overridden by sheer human

ely formed in her mi

owner-surged up from the depths of her consciousness. They did

he was no longer in the damp cave. She was trapped inside the original Ja

held a crude bone knife, its edge stained with his blood. She

dripping with possessive madness. She placed a foot on

she pried one of hi

nd of pure, unadulterated despair, loud enough to make her ear

whose power crystal had been brutally gouged from his chest, leaving a gaping hole. She saw an eagle-man whose magnificent wings had been snapped and bound, his primary feathers violent

la gasping for air. Cold sweat plastered her dirt

s. The hatred, the fear, the physical revulsion-it was all

effort. She looked toward the corner where Jordi had retreated. He was a d

y. She wasn't

as gentle as she could manage, slowly extending one

-stiff. He snapped his head around, his blue eyes wide

is hand shot out, grabbing a jagged rock from the ground. He held it in front of hi

rieked. His voice cracked,

wing him she was unarmed. "Listen, I'm not going to hurt you..

wrong thi

gger. They were the exact same lie the original Jayla whi

ormed into a wild, uncontrolled rage. With a g

de. The rock whizzed past her ear, missing her skull by an inch. It sma

. A thin line of fire bloomed on her ski

that was even more paralyzing. He scuttled backward until he hit the cave wall, then he collapsed

er fingertips coming away wet and red. She took a deep b

ace of this kind of trauma, any explanation from the

oking at him. In the quiet of her mind,

we need to