Free Beautiful Salvation by Jennifer Blackstream Page A

more rounded and covered in downy fuzz. The aquiline nose she’d noticed earlier was flatter, also covered with fur, and his lips were thinner, slate grey instead of the rose color they had been. His shock of hair remained, still cropped mournfully close, falling haphazardly over the fur of his forehead. Golden eyes glowed at her from his shadowed face. She touched her own face without meaning to, her subconscious feeling the ways she was similar to him.
     
    “What are you?” Aiyana shifted on her feet, her need for answers barely outweighing her desire to run. What am I?
     
    “A friend. My name is Saamal. I’m not here to hurt you, Aiyana.”
     
    Suspicion crawled up her arms like twin serpents, winding around her, making her shift with unease. “You keep saying my name. How do you know who I am?”
     
    The stranger’s eyebrows rose in surprise, but he quickly recovered. “You are the princess. How could I not know who you are?”
     
    Aiyana narrowed her eyes, then found herself distracted wondering if hers were the same amber feline eyes that were set in Saamal’s spotted face. For the first time since he’d appeared, she took the time to really study him.
     
    He was larger than he’d appeared in human form, at least from what she could recall from after she’d tackled him. His furred shoulders were broad, splitting the sleeves of his tunic as well as the uppermost side seams. The coal black pants he wore under the tunic were strained at the thighs by thick cords of muscle and whatever shoes he might have been wearing were long gone—no doubt having been a poor fit for the claw-tipped jaguar feet he had now. She glanced at her own feet at that last thought, scowling as she realized her own shoes were gone as well. That would make progressing through the forest once she retuned to human form more difficult—and added complications he did not need.
     
    “Aiyana?”
     
    She glared at him, all her frustration feeding the ire she could feel thrumming in her veins. “I don’t look anything like me. I’ve got fur, for the gods’ sakes.”
     
    “Appearances are often deceiving.”
     
    Something about the way he scrutinized her with those fathomless eyes made her squirm with a sensation not altogether unpleasant. His gaze ran appreciatively over her body, a mirror of how she’d considered him, and everywhere his concentration passed left a trail of warmth behind it. It was a new feeling, and Aiyana shoved it away as she reminded herself that she had no time for this. She opened her mouth to order the stranger to leave, but his eyes flicked back to hers and the words died on her tongue. His eyes were not gold anymore. They had grown dark, nearly black. It was as if he were seeing inside her. Whatever he saw there seemed to please him.
     
    “The power inside you is invigorating.” There was a slight hitch in his breathing as he took a deep breath. “With the strength and power I can sense in you, it doesn’t surprise me that you dare to wander the dark forest alone.”
     
    He took a step closer to her, reaching a hand out as if to cup her cheek. Aiyana jolted back, heart beating like a war drum in her chest. It had been so long since she’d been free of her guards, she couldn’t remember the last time anyone had dared to reach out and touch her. It was…disconcerting.
     
    Saamal lowered his hand. “I am not here to hurt you, Aiyana. Please do not be afraid.”
     
    “What are you?” Aiyana repeated, fighting to keep her voice even. “Why do you look like that?” Why do I look like this?
     
    “It is a gift, a manifestation of power.” Saamal met her eyes, watching her closely. “A gift from the Lord of Near and Nigh.”
     
    “The Black God?” A lump rose in Aiyana’s throat at the mention of the god of conflict, he who was called the Jaguar King, Smoking Mirror, Death, and a whole host of other names befitting his power. “The Black God made you like that? Were you possessed as