A low moan came from somewhere inside me. Wetness soaked the side of my hip as Marnie’s healing spell activated.
My friend’s face swam into view. I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring smile before I thumped forward, face first into the grass, darkness finally claiming me.
Chapter
Thirty-Nine
CAELAN
“You fortunate sonofabitch,” Rowan growled. “How’d you get so lucky?”
Ethan snorted. “I’m not sure that’s luck.”
“Yeah,” Donovan agreed. “That woman is a godsdamned curse.”
I shot him a dark glare, but Donovan shrugged, completely unrepentant.
Thorvin hadn’t said a word since Evie’s display of staggering power. Soren, usually unable to keep his mouth shut, sat back and watched me, a strange look on his face.
Moira hadn’t let me touch Evie when she fell, barking at me to stay away from them if I knew what was good for me. And after seeing everything, I was starting to think the vampire might be right.
Evie might be a Floromancer, but she was something else. Something far more dangerous than anything else in this town. Probably more dangerous than anyone sitting in this room, and that was a problem.
Against my better judgment, I sent Ben to follow them back home. Moira could decide whether to use his services. I wasitching to see Evie again, to ensure she was okay, and I knew that to be the height of stupidity.
I should have killed her the second I suspected she wasn’t what she seemed.
But how could I kill something so stunning, so powerful...so rare?
Fuck.
“You should kill her while she’s still vulnerable,” Soren said.
The room fell silent as I mulled Soren’s words, the urge to kill him itching at my fingertips. “You keep a museum’s worth of unusual, precious treasures, and you, of all people, think I should kill her?”
Soren’s lips thinned. “She is a threat to your rule. To all of us. If she wants power, all she has to do is reach out and take it.”
“That girl wants to be left alone to talk to her plants, Soren.” Rowan sighed and looked away. “She has no use for politics and certainly not with our nonsense.”
“And you know her so well, Rowan?” Ethan drawled. “Or are you just as fascinated by the temptress as Caelan is?”
Rowan rolled his eyes. “None of us can sit here and claim she isn’t stunning. Perhaps she can become an ally.” His eyes glittered. “Or something more.”
“More?” Soren asked a second before his eyes widened. “Ah. Always thinking ahead, aren’t you?” His eyes slid to me. “Though I believe you’ll end up in a dominance fight if you try to take her.”
My chest rumbled with an involuntary snarl.
Soren laughed. “See?”
“And what of Halvar?” Rowan asked.
“The real Halvar?” Soren asked. “Probably dead, cast away by whatever that intruder was for his skin.”
Ethan’s face turned grim. “You think we’re dealing with a Skinwalker?”
The last Skinwalker on U.S. soil disappeared hundreds of years ago. I shook my head. “No. It has to be glamour magic. We should send a party out to search for him. If he’s dead, we’ll hold a quorum to appoint a new Lord.”
“And if that thing knows our secrets?” Donovan asked.
