Heir of the Dog Black Dog - Hailey Edwards Page 0,49

ran my fingers over the silky fur. “The pelt...it’s soft.” Usually my talent sucked the skins dry and left me holding flaky husks.

Whatever its faults were, Faerie agreed with my magic.

Barking shook me from my confusion, and I flung the corpse to the ground hoping the treat would earn me a few minutes more.

“Your father is dual natured. Man and hound, they wear many faces,” Rook hurried. “I thought the talent skipped a generation since you never shift, but that was before I learned you’d had no contact with your father. Perhaps you have the gift too and just don’t know how to use it.”

“You want me to shift too?” I lifted the pelt. “Into this?”

“Your father is a hound in the guise of a man, but that is not his only skin. Tricks keep the hunts lively, and that was one of his favorites.” Rook placed his hands on my shoulders. “I hoped we could find your father before now, that word would spread and he would come for you. We could have asked him how the shape shift was done, but we’re out of time. You must try. Or you will die here.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Clutching the skin in my shaky hands, I met Rook’s gaze. His eyes darkened and thunder rolled when he spoke, jarring me from the vise clamping around my chest.

“Eyes are windows to the soul.” His voice rang with profound meaning I couldn’t grasp.

Deep-chested baying alerted us to the approaching pack.

Sweat trickled between my shoulder blades.

“Curtains are half off at JCPenney,” I snapped. “What’s your point?”

Rook took the pelt out of my hands, draped the fur over my head and tugged the face down so I looked through the lopsided slits where the rabbit’s eyes had been.

My view of the world—distorted.

Down, down, down, the swirling wisps of ancient magic dragged me.

I reached up to adjust the skin, but it was stuck. The sensation of drowning worsened until the only thing I could do was cough, certain my lungs were filling with water and the next second would be my last. I would have slid off the boulder if Rook hadn’t clutched my shoulders and held on tight.

“What’s—” I gasped, “—happening?”

Concern warred with his features but relief won. “You’re shifting.”

Pain whispered over every inch of my skin until furious tears were wrung from my eyes. Sore as I was, I welcomed Rook’s embrace. I clung to him, burying my face against his chest while my flesh ignited in a searing rush.

“How did...?” My mouth stopped working. My lips were wrong and words wouldn’t come. Still he understood.

“I wasn’t born this way. I might have lived and died as a mortal if I had been allowed to remain with my father, but the Morrigan came for me the year I stood on the cusp of manhood. She claimed me as her son and told me I must kill a rook, my namesake, and claim its form as my own. If you shift enough times, a skin becomes yours.” His tone went soft. “Mother told me while I was young and powerless that if I couldn’t fly away, I would be eaten.”

Nice mother you’ve got there. Of course, my father was no prize either.

At least the Morrigan had come for Rook, taken him in hand and taught him to survive. The survival thing...wasn’t working out so well for me.

“Shh.” Rook stroked down my back. “Don’t struggle.”

I couldn’t help myself. I thrashed, kicking him harder the tighter he restrained me. I braced my hind legs on his chest... Hind legs? What—?

I flexed my hands. Make that front paws.

Well, I’ll be damned. It worked. It actually worked.

“I’m going to carry you, all right?” Rook pointed at the neighboring boulder. “We need to circle back to Autumn. There’s another entrance to the burrow on the other side.” I swiveled an ear at him, curious how he knew. “I’ve hunted púcas before.” He shrugged. “It amused Mother when I was a mastering my skin.”

He must have meant catching the púca before it shifted into something able to give a young rook a run for his money. Poor things. That explained how Rook knew where to seek shelter last night too, but not why they welcomed him.

Though I suppose fear he might get a sudden hankering for rabbit was a powerful motivator.

“We don’t have time for you to learn this form.” He stroked my ears, eliciting an excited thump from my rear leg and a brief grin from him. “I’ll carry you as far