He didn’t continue the thought, but the sentiment was there—not ever.
The Bellati who was part of us ripped his eyes from mine, and said to Cara. “I wish to return to Elandriel. Now.”
And a part of my heart shattered.
61
Sebastian
In the month that had passed since Galeran’s defeat, my request to be left alone had been respected.
Until now.
Now, there be a Watcher waiting for me.
I sensed her while still miles away from the humble shack I now called home. It be almost enough to cause me to turn away—to not return until she gave up. But it be Cara. And I knew her well.
So I gritted my teeth and accelerated as the Elandriel sun set behind me. If I had to face her, I’d like to get it over with.
I debated shifting to beast before arriving—Cara be perceptive. Would she decipher the fact I be running as a human as my reluctance to spend time as a beast? I shook the thought from my head. I had always trained in both forms. It would only mean something if I let it.
When I appeared on the trail, she be sitting on the large boulder along the creek. The evening sun lit her hair almost gold rather than white. She smiled at me as I stopped before her.
So deceptively innocent, that smile. It hid the highly intelligent, manipulative female behind it.
“Hello, Sebastian.”
I gave her a single, sharp nod. “Cara.”
Her vivid-blue eyes scanned me, and I struggled to remain impassive. There be no hiding that in the last month, despite returning to my home realm, I had failed to find the balance I sought. No matter what I tried, my life essence remained in pieces. I had come to accept that it might never recover.
“How are you?” she asked.
“You know the answer to that.”
Her lips pursed. “You are looking for answers in the wrong places.”
My rejection of what she proposed be immediate. “That be not an option.”
“Do you mind if I ask why?”
“Yes, I do mind. If that be the reason you came, you can now leave.”
Cara had known me for a very long time. She therefore did not waste any time trying to convince me otherwise, and switched topics.
“We have not found any trace of Isobel or her coven. Or Finn. Are you certain of what you saw?”
I considered. “Without the ability to sense energy, it be difficult. But those three coven members certainly appeared to be pregnant.” I grimaced. “It would fit with Galeran’s vision of the future. He was determined to get himself another Nikolai.”
Cara drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. Her flowing gown rippled in the breeze. “I think he tried with another,” she admitted.
I glanced sharply at her. “Be you speaking of Anna?”
Cara’s vivid eyes measured me. “Isobel was closely affiliated with Galeran, and his plans, for far longer than we had envisioned. That she could make a Satyr fertile with a Bellati—the woman is powerful.”
My lips pulled straight. “She be—something.” After all, I had first-hand, and humiliating, experience with her abilities. The Trantil mares that Isobel hadn’t managed to send through the gate had been brought to Elandriel to pass their pregnancies under close observation.
I shelved the humiliating memories and focused on the true issue. “But what did Galeran hope to accomplish by crossing Liberi blood with a Satyr?
