8. EZRA

“I didn’t know you were part panther.”

I turned my head to look at Vanya. “Didn’t you? You humans like to pry.”

Vanya glanced at me, but immediately focused her attention back on the road. “True, but we’ve only ever been told that your DNA is mixed with big cat DNA.”

“As it should be,” I told her. “We enjoy our freedom and privacy.”

I heard her swallow. “I won’t tell anybody, I promise.”

I hesitated. Devrim would kill me if he found out that I told Vanya a thing. He had made it clear that some things weren’t meant for humans to know. We had our secrets that they could use to destroy us. Look at what had happened to Obsidian.

I licked my lips. “Only some of us have panther DNA,” I told her.

“But you have panther DNA, right?” Vanya slowed the car at a stop and turned slightly towards me.

“Yes. Obsidian, Devrim, I and the rest of the pride have panther DNA.”

Her lips tilted upwards into a smile. “So that would explain the purring.”

I returned her smile. “Among other things.”

“What else can you do?”

“Vanya—”

She held up her hands and started driving again. These humans made everything they do seem easy, but I had to admit that driving wasn’t something I liked very much.

I tensed when she pulled up in front of her apartment building. Vanya reached out to open the door, but I restrained her with a hand on her arm.

“Stay in the car until I open the door for you.”

She frowned, but thankfully gave me a nod and released the door handle.

It took me a few seconds to figure out how to open the door. I glared at it as I slid out of the car and slammed it shut behind me. Stupid human contraptions!

My eyes scanned the parking lot as I walked around the front of the car toward her side so I could open the door for her.

There were a lot of unfamiliar smells, but no signs of danger.

Vanya was still frowning at me as she climbed out of the car. I wanted to rub the crease between her brows away, but I didn’t. Her safety was a priority now, and that meant there was no time for any distractions.

“Do you think it’s the guy who attacked me?” she asked as we headed towards the entrance.

“It’s a possibility,” I said, after a moment’s hesitation.

“It was too dark to see him clearly, but I’ll never forget his voice. If I ever heard it again, then I would definitely recognize it.”

It was my turn to frown when she led me towards two metal doors. Vanya leaned forward and pressed a button.

“What’s that?” I pointed to the doors.

She turned and tilted her head back to look up at me. Vanya really was a small thing—short, but with curvy hips and a slim waist.

“It’s an elevator,” she said. “Haven’t you ever been on one?”

“Not while I was conscious.” I instantly regretted telling her that when the smile slipped from her face. “Vanya—”

“It’s a machine that was built to take us from one floor to another so that we don’t have to take the stairs.”

I silently pondered over her words. “You don’t like taking the stairs?”

She laughed. It was a sound so lyrical and strange, filling my chest with confusing emotions.

“Sometimes we’re just too lazy to take the stairs.”

Vanya turned to face the doors just as it pinged and slowly started to slide open. She stepped inside and turned to face me. “Are you coming?”

I took a step forward, but then froze. My eyes darted around the inside of the metal box, taking in the mirrors on all three sides and the bars in the middle. The floor was metal too and so was the top. It looked like the only way out were the doors, but what if they didn’t open again?

“Ezra?”

The doors suddenly started to close, making me panic. I quickly slipped between them and into the box. My stomach dropped when it started moving. I reached out and grabbed the first thing I could, which just happened to be Vanya.

“Ezra? Relax, you’re really starting to freak me out.”

My eyes darted around, searching for an escape. “Out,” I growled. “Need out.”

I sucked in a sharp breath when Vanya pressed her hands against my chest and rubbed up and down.

“Look at me.” My eyes shot down to hers. “Just breathe. We’re getting out in a few seconds once we reach my floor.”

Memories flashed in and out of my mind.

“Ezra.”

Small hands cupped my cheeks and forced my eyes towards hers. I blinked as I stared into her brown eyes.

I’m no longer in that facility.

We are free.

No more torture.

I can leave whenever I want to.

I sucked in a breath and slowly blew it out. Obsidian had taught me how to control my breathing to stop a panic attack. With the next breath I took, Vanya’s scent assaulted my senses.

Her eyes darted over my face.

I was too scared to blink, in case it was all just a dream. My hands on her hips tightened.

There was a ping and a second later, I heard the doors sliding open again. Vanya gave me a small smile and took a step away. My hands dropped to my sides, but my eyes never left hers.

“Come on, kitty.”

I growled at her. “Don’t call me that.”

She tilted her head to the side. “Or what?”

“I’m not a kitten,” I told her as I followed her.

“You were a scared kitty-cat only a few minutes ago,” she taunted. “No big cat here.”

My hands twitched. The urge to pounce on her was getting stronger by the second. Vanya’s lips twitched.

“Kitty-cat.”

I lunged. My body slammed into hers a second before her back hit into the wall behind her. Wide eyes locked with mine. My eyes dropped to her lips when they parted, but no sound escaped.

Lowering my head, I nudged hers aside so I could run my nose along her neck. I licked the pulse that was beating erratically beneath her skin before I raised my head to stare down at her again.

“Don’t taunt me, Vanya,” I whispered. “I don’t like being taunted.”

She swallowed. “I-I was o-only playing.”

I frowned at her. “Playing?”

Vanya nodded. My eyes dropped to her lips when the movement of her tongue caught my attention. The pink tip swiped across the top and then the bottom lip, leaving them glistering.

“You know,” she breathed, “teasing you to make you forget whatever you were remembering.”

I seemed to have forgotten what we were talking about. My mind was focused on the way her soft body pressed against mine and the way her lips were only inches away.

“Ezra?” My eyes snapped up to hers. “We n-need to get moving.”

I swallowed and forced my body to move away from her. We came here for her to pack her stuff because Vanya was in danger and needed to stay with her father.

I needed to pay attention to our surroundings and not think about how good she felt pressed against me or how badly I wanted to taste her lips.

“Lead the way, sugarplum.”

***

“What does this do?”

I held the flat thing up and turned it around in my hands. My fingers brushed something on the side, making me pause. I stared at it for a few more seconds before I glanced up at Vanya.

“That is my e-reader. Please don’t drop it.”

My frown deepened. “E-reader?”

“Yes.” Vanya took it from me and threw it onto her messy bed. “Aren’t you supposed to stand guard or something?”

“I’ll hear if someone tries to sneak up on me,” I told her with confidence.

I watched Vanya as she moved around the room. Something I hadn’t seen before caught my eyes. I glanced at Vanya to make sure that she wasn’t close by before I made my way over to it.

Picking it up between the tips of my fingers, I held the red material up in the air and stared at it. Reaching up with my other hand, I spread it out. It looked oddly familiar, yet so different at the same time.

I pressed it against my nose and sniffed.

“Oh, my God!”

Vanya suddenly appeared at my side and ripped the material from my hands. I watched as colour spread from her neck up to her cheeks.

“S-stop touching my stuff!” she yelled, and with a glare she stormed over to the bed where she pushed the material into a bag.

“What is that?” I asked.

“My underwear.” Vanya straightened and pointed to the door. “Get out. Go wait in the living room and don’t touch anything!”

When I didn’t move, she stormed over to me and grabbed my arm. I allowed her to steer me into the living room right over to the couch where she pushed me down.

“Just sit here. I’m almost done.”