Shapeling Trilogy Book One: Roth (Sample Sunday #6)

Set up: Roth Beowolf is transporting Rainey Childress to Egypt for her protection. She's not happy about it!

Roth moved his gaze from staring at emptiness outside the porthole of the jet, to Rainey seated across from him. She'd tilted her seat back and her head lolled to one side. Her deep breathing evidenced her exhaustion. He studied her face. In sleep, she looked young, innocent, and vulnerable; unlike the hellcat that had fought him earlier. He sighed and looked back out the porthole. The black night called to his animal instincts. To distract the desire of his body to shapeshift, he thought about their destination in Egypt.

Located two hundred miles southwest of Cairo, the town of Bawiti in the oasis of Bahariya, made him quirk a smile. He remembered a previous assignment as a camel with a Bedouin tribe. He had been sent to make sure a young man named Tahnoon Kahlifa arrived for his nuptials. The Thirteen co-Princes believed the marriage of Tahnoon to a girl he had been espoused to since childhood, would prove favorable to the human condition. However, the young man didn’t want to marry, and when he’d attempted to turn his camel around, Roth had steadfastly stayed on the path. The tenacity of the camel had unnerved the young bridegroom so much so that he’d decided his marriage was the will of Allah. Later, Roth had learned from the co-Princes that the marriage had turned out well.

He glanced at Rainey again, and then allowed himself to drift into sleep. A bank in the plane's direction roused him. He opened his eyes to a lovely pink glow rising in the eastern sky—and Rainey shooting arrows at him with her eyes.

"Good morning to you, too, Sunshine."

She looked away and stood. When she started to step into the aisle, he moved his leg to block her exit. She looked back at him and said acidly, "Do you think I’m going to commandeer the plane? I’m going to the bathroom."

He moved his leg back. "I just wanted to hear your sweet voice," he chuckled.

Rainey jerked past him and stalked down the aisle.

The pilot spoke over the speaker. "We’ll begin our descent in fifteen minutes."

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