Chapter 24

Ihad been shocked when I scented Sorcha. She smelled Theran, but she also smelled Farkhi, Tark, and Tempris. That wasn't what clued me in on who she was. She also smelled like the amber resin we all burned when we prayed to Essos for the Spirus to return. I thought the whole thing was bullshit, and it was a myth, but I always did like that scent.

She seemed uncomfortable when I was scent marking her but I didn't like that she smelled like Sono. She may have been the Spirus, but she also came to us a flesh and blood girl. A very pretty girl with enormous eyes and a full mouth. I was drawn to her and I couldn't tell you why. I just wanted to be next to her and rub my lion all over her.

I tried not to hiss at Sono when he sat next to her, too. When he pressed his leg against hers, the hair raised on the back of my neck and the first thought in my mind was mine. Which I didn't get at all. I'd just met her and Sono was one of my best friends. He seemed to be feeling the same thing. I wondered if Neptis was going to react to her the same way.

I let that thought go out of my head and concentrated on getting back home. From what I'd gathered in the short time I'd had been there, Sorcha had done things she wasn't supposed to and exposed herself to people she shouldn't. I was surprised there were humans there that knew about her and didn't want to hurt her. We should alert the other tribes so that we could all be around her to prevent her from leaving and getting herself killed.

I didn't realize I'd strayed so far from the Theran camp. It seemed like endless running before I made it back. My father was waiting for me, and he was pissed. I changed back before he could start yelling and just screamed over him until he heard me that the Spirus was back.

"Why did Volaris not call a meeting as soon as he knew she was here?" my father asked.

"She's my age. She didn't know anything. They are going back to Idric Island so they can get answers from Belisarus about how he found her and why he kept her hidden for so long. She wanted to stay there, but he convinced her to come back and learn from us."

My father stalked around the room ranting about having to find out about her like this. He waved his hands in the air wondering what we were supposed to do with a confused girl who didn't know anything instead of a fully formed Spirus. Yeah, he just needed to rant for a bit. Sorcha was going to be just fine. I didn't care how she came to us.

"She's powerful, she just needs to be trained. From what I've overheard, she created the strange man that travels with her and before I got there, she changed a human and now he's Theran. I don't think he views this as a gift and wants to hurt her. She needs protecting. She was talking about going back and letting them kill her. I think we need to be there, as well as the Tarks, to keep her from doing anything foolish. She agreed to come back and be trained, but I still think she doesn't believe she is the Spirus. She has the Vudos flute but hasn't played it."

"How did that old coot find both the girl and the flute?"

"I don't know. But I wanted to talk to you. Pulvi is going to make a terrible queen. It's not just that I don't love her. I don't even like her. Sorcha is also Theran. She smells amazing and there's something about her that draws me to her. If I get to know her and she agrees, I don't see why we can't be married."

"There's going to have to be discussions over which tribe she marries into. You shouldn't get your hopes up."

I just rolled my eyes. My dad was going to have his hands full with Sorcha.

"I just met her, but she's not going to let any of you pick her husband. I know that much about her."

"We can't discuss this now. I need to alert everyone that she is finally here, and we need to be there to meet them when they get back from Idric. The Tarks are safe underwater, but the Farkhi and the Theran should leave our camps to safety, especially if Joron is with the Farkhi. We shouldn't be there when the humans search for her until she is with us, fully trained, and able to protect us," Terros told me, stalking out of the room.

Yeah, we did. It was actually hurting to be away from her, which I wasn't understanding, but I had a job to do. I needed to keep my people safe.