Her claws itched to emerge from her fingertips. Her reaction hadn’t gone unnoticed. The Sabre had put the creamer down and planted both hands on the table. As she stared at him, one curled into a fist.
Sarah did her best to dispel the tension. “This is my twin, Emily, and my mate, Neil.”
Cara had stopped just inside the kitchen. “It’s okay, Dani. We know you didn’t have any choice during that battle. That is on Rindek, not you.”
They didn’t know, not really. They were guessing, or rather hoping, that she’d done it under duress. It wasn’t true, not really. Remy had called the shots. But she hadn’t really fought him.
To be truthful, she’d believed him. Her gaze fastened on the Sabre.
“Remy told me your kind were bastards. That you were stopping the Dires from doing what they needed to do, and that you didn’t have the right to do so.”
Neil’s eyes widened, but to her surprise, he answered honestly. “Part of that is true. We uphold the council’s rules, and what the Dires are doing isn’t sanctioned by them.” His mouth pulled straight. “As to whether I agree with those rules, as of late, I am not so sure.”
His assessment calmed Dani somewhat. He could have lied to put her at ease. Many would have.
“We are not here to discuss that,” Tyrez rumbled. “This is about Rindek.”
Neil’s gaze hardened at the Archmage’s name. “We have to nail that bastard,” he growled.
Sarah offered Dani another tentative smile. “If you promise not to throw things at us, we would like to pick your brain about Rindek.”
Dani’s hands had curled tightly, tiny claws pricking against her palms. Her heart was doing its dangerous trapped moth routine, which often heralded an anxiety attack. Her reprieve from them might be over.
She took a deep breath. Not the time, or the place, for that nonsense.
It was an effort to offer a nod to Sarah. “I don’t know how much help I’ll be,” she said. “I know nothing.”
Meanwhile, if Tyrez would only move away from the door... He’d followed her into the kitchen, but instead of taking a seat, he leaned against the doorway to the mudroom.
Damn.She hated having her escape route blocked. The Dragon was too smart. Cara gestured to a chair at the far end of the table, and well away from Neil, who currently stirred his coffee as though he hadn’t a care in the world.
Dani wasn’t deceived. She sensed his state of hyper awareness, centered on herself. Sabres were big, but they could move much faster than their bulk suggested. Her fingers trembled as she took her seat.
She remembered how powerful she’d felt during that battle. Ripping trees from the ground to hurl at the oncoming Sabres. The way she’d buried even poor Razir in a wall of earth.
These people might be nervous of her and what she could do, but those twins had thrown balls of red lightning during the battle. Combined with the Dragon and the Sabre, Dani was hardly the most dangerous thing in the room.
She felt like a lamb, surrounded by wolves. Something that only increased when the door behind Tyrez opened and a redheaded man walked through.
His scent wafted toward her, and Dani recognized it as Dire.
* * *
Dani would bolt in an instant if he wasn’t between her and the door.
Tyrez was as certain of that as he was that Neil used hazelnut flavored creamer in his coffee. Dani had sent repeated glances toward the exit. Quick and subtle, but the Dragon was a trained observer.
Neil knew it too. The Sabre appeared relaxed, but he had a cat’s reflexes and would use them if necessary.
When the door behind him opened, Tyrez stepped aside to let Alex by. The lean redheaded Dire shot him an easy grin as he slipped past, his movement as fluid and graceful as the wolf he was.
“Hola, Tyrez,” the young alpha greeted. “Have I missed anything?”
“Only a muffin or two,” Emily stated as she sat down. “Neil is packing them away.”
The Dire’s dark, intense gaze transferred to Dani. “You must be Dani. I’m Alex.”
Dani nodded to him, her eyes wary.
