The Frozen Prince (The Beast Charmer #2) - Maxym M. Martineau Page 0,14

slowed my recognition, but it was clear as day now. “That’s Gaige’s beast. Dominus must have recognized him and came out to play.”

Noc gave me an incredulous stare. “Play?”

I shrugged. “They lived together for how long?” My gut twisted, and my fingers traced one of the scars on my outer thigh. “He came without me calling.”

The angry shadows swirling about Noc’s frame receded, and he gently stroked the back of my hand. My fingers stopped their wandering. “Without you calling? Is that normal?”

I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “No. I don’t know. It’s something that usually happens with non-Charmers who’ve only had their beasts for a short while. It’s never happened to me before.”

My throat tightened, and Noc leaned in closer, words barely a whisper. “Are you okay?”

There were too many answers to that question. “I don’t know.”

The beasts broke apart, tired from their romping, and flopped on the ground. Heavy pants fell from Dominus’s open maw, and he looked back at me with the first glimmer of happiness I’d seen since welcoming him into my world. Jade eyes alight, Dominus nudged Onyx with his nose until he complied and ran a scratchy tongue over his face.

The blue feline turned toward the forest line and let out a content yowl. Stepping out from the shadows of the trees, Gaige—one of the members of the Charmers Council—strolled over to his beast and placed a loving hand on his head.

“See?” I broke away from the army we’d amassed and crossed the clearing with Noc, Kost, Calem and Oz on my heels. “Always making an entrance.”

Gaige flipped up the collar of his glossy wine-red coat and grinned. He wore tailored black trousers with silver studs along the seams neatly tucked into polished leather boots. Steel-blue eyes glinted with obvious mischief beneath angular brows.

“Hello, hello.”

Noc’s words were pure ice. “Next time, try the front door. How did you manage to get here, anyway? The portal to our estate isn’t accessible without the help of an assassin.”

Gaige smirked. “Beasts are wonderful creatures.” He reached into the pocket of his coat and extracted a small, pale-blue beast that sat snugly in the palm of his hand. It had a jelly-like body and four stubby tentacles that moved slowly, curling toward the center where a circular aquamarine gem glistened like the ocean.

My eyes widened. “That’s a Kaiku. I’ve never actually seen one before in real life.” I itched to move closer, to skate my fingers over its radiant stone. “Where did you get it?”

“Not on Lendria.” His smile deepened, and then his emblem glowed as the beast-realm door groaned open. The Kaiku disappeared. “A Kaiku acts like a compass, pointing its Charmer in the direction they seek without fault. I didn’t need assistance getting here because my beast simply read my desires and showed me the way.”

“I see.” Noc bristled, clearly unhappy that there was a creature out there that could bypass Cruor’s defenses.

“Regardless, I apologize for any alarm I may have caused.” He offered a polite nod before returning his gaze to me. “By the way, Leena, I do appreciate you allowing Dominus to stretch his legs. Okean has missed him.”

Upon hearing his name, the liquid-blue beast rammed his massive skull into Gaige’s side and nipped at one of the silver studs. Gaige batted him away with a loving shush, and Okean sauntered toward Dominus and Onyx before dropping to his haunches. With the back of one of his paws, he rubbed the finned whiskers lining his jaw and throat.

I fisted my hands behind my back. “Of course.” My lack of control over Dominus was not something I wanted to share publicly, let alone with a Council member. We still didn’t know who to trust in Hireath. Yet.

Kost spoke my thoughts aloud. “Do you bring word of the bounty?”

“Unfortunately, no.” Gaige held Kost’s stare. “I went straight to Wilheim after escorting you home from Hireath. I’m on the return journey now. Kaori asked that I check in on Calem.”

Calem’s spine straightened. With a wicked smirk, he laced his fingers behind his head. “Oh, I’m fine. But if she’s not convinced, you can tell her I’m always open for a personal checkup.” Oz elbowed him in the side, and Calem shot him a slitted glare.

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Gaige said, a slight grin tugging at his lips.

Noc’s hand found my waist. “We won’t keep you, then.”

“Oh, I’d rather you did.” His playful gaze pinned Kost for a half second longer than needed before sliding