“Someone from your pack?” I looked around, uncertain. “I appreciate that you’re letting me stay here, but I certainly don’t expect you to sacrifice to—”
“Not a sacrifice,” Miles said. No one else spoke. The abrasive, antagonistic tone sounded almost reassuring—he was so certain of himself that I couldn’t help but feel certain as well. “The cat likes you, so you’re part of the pack as long as you want to be. We don’t keep people hostage.”
He jerked his chin in the direction of the windowsill, where Cricket sunned himself, and went back to scrounging for food on his mate’s plate. Deirdre pushed him away and offered me a faint smile. “You can tell me more about this sorcerer and how his magic works. We have other friends in the city who might be able to help deal with him, if it comes to that. I have full confidence that Miles’s ego will inflate to the size of the entire city and will simply suffocate the bastard to death.”
I snorted, then clapped a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing more. At least Henry cracked a smile, and Mercy giggled loudly enough I didn’t feel bad for my own outburst. Miles yawned and stretched his shoulders, using it as an excuse to tug on Deirdre’s braid. “Confidence, girl, not ego.”
“Whatever you say,” she said under her breath. Deirdre got up and gestured for me to do the same. “If you’re done eating, I can show you my workroom and we can go over how to track down this sorcerer.”
“Track him down?” I got slowly to my feet. “If he’s not here in the city, why would…”
“Because we don’t believe in a fair fight,” she said, smiling. A certain coldness slid over her features and made her look both ancient and terrifying. “We will bring the fight to him, if that’s what it takes to convince him to leave this city alone.”
I picked up my plate and looked around for where to take it, but Deirdre shook her head. She patted her mate’s head. “Luckily Mr. Confidence here volunteered to do the dishes.”
“I did no such—” he started, but Deirdre squeezed his shoulder and whispered something in his ear, and he turned a little red and shut up.
The rest of the pack grinned and traded looks, then everyone disappeared with impressive speed. Well, everyone except Henry. He lingered, gripping the back of his chair, and didn’t quite look at me. “You will be safe here, do not worry.”
Then he disappeared up the stairs without another word and without looking back.
I frowned as I watched him go, then shook myself and turned my attention back to Deirdre. I found her studying me, an oddly intense expression on her face, and I flushed without having any real reason to. “Your workroom?”
She gestured toward the back of the house. “This way.”
I followed her but nearly stumbled into the wall as I looked over my shoulder toward the stairs. There was something about Henry…
I banished the thought and focused instead on the help that Deirdre offered. Maybe we could get rid of Rocko, and then I would be free to find my own way. I didn’t dare hope that she could really help me with the larger affliction of uncontrollable magic, but at least getting rid of Rocko’s threat was a place to start.
