So, I’d do the wrong one. Starting with getting the hell out of here, no matter how many reasons there were to stay.

  Screw Miranda. Screw all of them.

  A server passed me in the hall, carrying a full tray of drinks. I stopped him and grabbed a champagne in one hand and a glass of what looked like vodka cranberry in the other.

  I chugged the vodka cranberry and gave him back the glass.

  Dude grunted as if impressed and then walked off.

  I gulped at the champagne as I made my way toward the door.

  “Leaving so soon?”

  The sound of Miranda’s voice grated on every single nerve.

  “I have a lot of work waiting at home.”

  “Oh, I doubt that.” She pushed off from the wall, stalking closer like a cat toying with a mouse.

  Bitch.

  “Business isn’t quite so booming these days, I hear.”

  I stopped myself just before giving in to the urge to toss what was left of my champagne into her smug face.

  “My business is none of yours,” I snapped.

  She ignored my words and the sharpness of them. “I also hear you’ve used your free time for a special project.”

  Fear overrode my anger, and I stilled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Don’t you?” She smiled. “I don’t blame you for it one bit. I’ve had my share of diversions, of course, and he is attractive in that bad boy, forbidden sort of way. But at the end of the day, we must remember what we are. And what we are not.”

  “And what are we?” I asked, mostly so I could toss in her face that “we” were not the same, no matter what she said next.

  “We’re hexerei, darling. The chosen children of the goddess.”

  I gripped my champagne with white knuckles, biting back a scathing response. Why did it have to sound so damn smug when she said it? Like that made us somehow better than Silas—or anyone?

  “True, but that’s not what sets us apart, now, is it?” said a familiar male voice. Just the sound of it stirred my rage.

  Travis strode up, his arm brushing mine as he stepped up between Miranda and me.

  “Travis,” Miranda drawled. “You look dashing this evening.”

  He looked a lot of things. Dashing wasn’t one of them. But I kept my mouth shut, my heart thudding loudly enough that even a witch could hear it.

  “As do you, Miranda.” Travis smiled strangely at me. “And especially you, Chloe.”

  Miranda cocked her head at him. “And what is the thing that sets us apart?”

  “At the end of the day, we are more than our baser instincts. We have a power in us, gifted by the goddess herself, that allows us to be so much more than animals.” He slid a glance to me. “Don’t you think so, Chloe?”

  “The only animal I see here—”

  “Chloe.”

  I turned to see Silas standing in the archway. His black suit could have been a metaphor for the look in his eye as he stared at Travis beside me. Heat rose to my cheeks at the picture we must have painted. Rather than step away, Travis pressed in closer to me. Goading him, I realized.

  The heat in my face turned to anger.

  I took a deliberate step away. “Silas. I was looking for you.”

  “Were you?” His voice was hard, but I knew it wasn’t aimed at me. The way Travis baited him while Miranda watched like this was some sort of sideshow sent me over the edge. I stopped caring about Kel’s warnings. Or Drew’s lectures. All I cared about in this moment was Silas. He deserved so much better than we were offering him.

  “Yes,” I said. “Would you like to dance?”

  At that, his eyes flicked to me. He frowned.

  Travis laughed. “I’m sure Hale lacks the experience and skill necessary for dancing.” He offered his arm. “But I’d be happy to take his place.”

  I nearly shifted and ripped out his throat.

  “I think I’ll take my chances with the animal,” I said and left a cackling Miranda behind me as I joined Silas and walked off.

  We walked in silence for the length of the next hallway before Silas stopped.

  “What’s wrong? Come on.” I tugged at him to keep going—all the way home if I had my way. But his hand closed over my wrist as he dragged me into a storage room and shut the door.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Leaving. This is bull shit.”

  “What happened to winning them over?”

  “They’re all assholes,” I hissed. “Who cares what they think?”

  “Your pulse is through the roof,” he said.

  “I’m pissed,” I said, wondering when this had become about me. Or why I felt so defensive in the first place. “They’re treating you like shit.”

  “No, they’re treating me like someone who used to be their enemy,” he said. “Travis is treating me like I still am.”

  “They called you an animal.”

  He bared his teeth at me. “I am an animal.”

  I stared at him, stricken. “How can you be so cool about this?”

  He cocked his head, studying me in that way he had, and suddenly I felt more exposed than if he’d ripped my dress right off my body.

  “Have you even stopped to ask yourself why you’re so damn angry?”

  “That’s a stupid question, Si. You know why I’m angry. And if you had any self-respect, you would be too.”

  “Self-respect.” He snorted. “That’s rich. Coming from the girl who makes every decision based on what people will think of her.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “I did,” he said, shocking me into silence, “And you know what? It only made me more sure of something you’ve yet to admit even to yourself.”

  “What are you talking about? And since when am I the bad guy? I came here to help you—”

  “We’re mates, Chloe. Fated fucking mates.”

  My jaw dropped.

  “Yeah, I had a feeling you didn’t recognize it.”

  Anger speared through me. Confusion. Denial. Happiness. Heartbreak. Emotions—too many to name.

  “You’re lying,” I hissed.

  “I’m not.”

  “I think I would know if we were mates.”

  “Would you?” He studied me. “You knew jack shit about your wolf before I taught you.”

  I opened my mouth. Closed it again. My thoughts were racing so fast they’d left me behind. For some reason, my mind conjured words he’d spoken to me. “I don’t belong to them. Not anymore.” Had he meant… he belonged to me?

  I shook my head. This couldn’t be happening.

  “What do you feel when you look at me?”

  His words were rough. Angry. Challenging.

  “I… I don’t know.”

  “Yes, you do.”

  “I feel warm,” I said, nearly shouting now.

  This was crazy.

  “What else?”

  “I feel…safe,” I said, the words tumbling out now. Faster than I could filter them. Just raw. And true. “Calm. Settled. I don’t know. Attracted to you. Overwhelmed. Protective. When I look at you, I feel like I’m home.”

  He stepped back, apparently satisfied.

  But I was freaking out.

  He started talking again, saying words like “tapped into your wolf” and “kept waiting for you to understand” and “patient,” but I barely heard it. The roar in my ears was a rushing wind that threatened to toss me aside with the force of its will.

  Fated mates.

  My dad had told me about it once. But I’d never realized… Mates couldn’t be apart without literally fading away.

  From the moment I’d met Silas, I’d felt something. Not just attraction or lust or even love. This was different. It was… more. And that made what we were doing so much more dangerous. Not just for me but for him too. What if they exiled only one of us? Worse. What if they found out I was a wolf?

  “Say something, Chloe.”

  I realized Silas had stopped talking.

  He was waiting for me. For whatever would happen next.

  And sure, every girl probably wanted a guy so committed to her, he’d literally die if he couldn’t be with her. But I wasn’t every girl. And the slow dread curling in my gut only let me feel one thing.

  “This is terrible,” I whispered.

  Silas’ expression shuttered, and the look in his eyes turned worse than cold. He looked at me now like he didn’t even know me, like there was no feeling in him at all.

  He stepped around me and reached for the door.

  “Wait, Silas, that’s not what I meant—”

  But he was already gone.

  Chapter Seventeen

  By the time I got home, the apartment out back was empty. Silas, and any trace he’d ever been there, was gone. Drew met me at the back door, his concern only increasing when he caught sight of my expression.

  “Silas is gone,” I said.

  “Gone? Where?”

  “I don’t know. His stuff is gone too.”

  “What happened? Miranda said you left early, and then Silas was missing too. I was worried.”

  “I’m fine. Just tired.” I tried slipping past him into the house, but he grabbed my elbow and spun me to face him in the doorway.

  “What happened?” he repeated.

  When I didn’t answer, he let me go. “Fine. I’ll find out for myself.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “To beat the shit out of Silas and Travis.”

  “What?” I hurried after him, through the kitchen and into the living room. “Why?”

  “Because you spoke to both of them right before you left. Or that’s what Miranda told me. And if you’re not going to tell me what happened, I need to cover my bases.”

  “Cover your bases? You sound like an idiot.”

  He whirled on me at the front door and jabbed his finger into my shoulder as he said, “Pot. Kettle.”

  I scowled at him, but he wasn’t done.

  “The guy knows our secret, Chloe. You burn that bridge or something goes wrong between you, and we pay the price for it. Or didn’t you think about that?”

  “Silas would never tell anyone about us.”

  “You can’t be sure about that.”

  I stared at him, wondering how he could go from calling Silas “brother” to seeing him as a threat in the same day.

  “Would Kel do that to you?” I shot back.

  “What?” His expression twisted. “Of course not. That’s different.”

  “Give me a fucking break, Drew. I know you two are sleeping together.”

  His eyes widened. “Chloe, that’s not— Wait a fucking minute. Did you use aerona on me?”

  “Why would that matter, dear brother? Unless you’ve been pained by a secret?”

  “Son of a bitch,” he muttered.

  “You guys are terrible liars, Drew. Even without magic, I would have known you and Kel had feelings for each other.”

  “Look, we’re not sleeping together,” he said. “And we didn’t tell you because we don’t want to burden you or make it weird or whatever, okay?”

  “I’m not mad, Drew. I’m just proving a point. Kel loves you. She loves both of us. And she would never, no matter how pissed she gets at your dumb ass, ever tell our secret to a soul.”

  “Fine. Whatever. But how can you say the same about a guy you’ve just met?”

  “Because,” I said, “Silas and I are mates.”

  I wasn’t sure what I expected Drew’s reaction to be, but when he tipped his head back and laughed uproariously, I realized it wasn’t that.

  “I’m so glad I could entertain you,” I said, eyes narrowing.

  Drew wiped the corners of his eyes, clearly unapologetic about his amusement.

  I crossed my arms. “Are you done?”

  “Honestly, probably not.”

  “I’m so glad you find my drama so entertaining.”

  “I’m sorry, it’s just—only you would mate with the one wolf allowed on coven land in a quarter-century.” He shook his head. “No more goodie-two-shoes, eh?”

  I picked up my purse from where I’d hung it beside the door and smacked him with it.

  “You’re an asshole,” I said.

  Drew laughed and darted away.

  “Don’t tell Kel,” I called after him.

  “Oh, believe me, my lips are sealed, sis. I’m saving that job all for you.”

  Ugh.

  An hour later, Drew found me in my workshop, bent over my mortar and pestle.

  “I think you ground those herbs into dust like an hour ago,” he said.

  I opened my mouth to fire back, but he set a tall glass of wine in front of me, and I decided to hold off on cursing him to hell just yet.

  “What’s this?” I asked.

  “Peace offering.”

  I glared at him but took the wine.

  “Kel called and said no harm done at the party,” he said.

  I didn’t answer.

  “Unfortunately, I also didn’t learn who filed that bull shit complaint.”

  What did it matter now? Silas was probably long gone anyway, and why shouldn’t he be? Without me holding him here, he was better off. Hadn’t that been why I’d rejected him like that? To keep him safe?

  Drew waited expectantly for an answer, so I held up the wine and said, “I accept it. Not you. Get out.”

  He chuckled but went without argument.

  “I’m here when you want to talk,” he called as he left.

  I ignored him and went back to grinding the dried herbs like my life depended on it.

  My phone rang, yanking me out of my work. I grabbed it, heart thudding in anticipation, but then deflated when I saw the caller.

  “Hi, Kel,” I answered, hoping I didn’t sound as disappointed as I felt.

  “Hey, you disappeared before I could catch you.”

  “Yeah, I’m partied out.”

  “Well, I wanted to say thanks. Whatever you did, it worked,” she said.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Silas is moving into the coven house. He’s going to attend council meetings so he can learn our process, and he’s agreed to comply with an investigation into the validity of the complaint against him.”

  “Seriously?”

  What the hell?

  None of that sounded like the Silas I knew.

  In fact, it sounded a hell of a lot like letting the assholes win.

  “I owe you, girl. Big time. Name that favor whenever you’re ready.”

  “Yeah,” I managed. “Okay.”

  “Listen, I’m sorry I was so hard on you about him. If you really care about him, I’ll help you find a way to make this work when the dust settles around him. Just be patient, okay?”

  “Sure.”

  “Tell Drew I’ll see him Monday.”

  “Monday?”

  “Mom’s hearing. You’re coming, right? I could really use the support.”

  I swallowed hard. “I’ll be there.”

  “Great. See you then.”

  “Bye.”

  I set the phone aside and stared blindly at the herbs and tools before me. Then, I picked up the wine and chugged every last drop.

  *.*.*

  Saturday, I called Vylan to check on Rusty.

  “He’s doing just fine, Chloe. Thank you for checking.”

  “I want to take a look at those stitches. Do you know if his mother would be willing to bring him over?”

  Vylan hesitated. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary.”

  “Because it’s me.”

  “That,” he said on a sigh. “And Miranda’s healer has already done it.”

  “Miranda’s healer?”

  “LaDonna. The new hire. She completes Induction next week. I’m sorry, Chloe. I thought you would have heard.”

  I ignored the betrayal twisting in my gut and did my best to recover.

  “I… yes, of course I did. Well, tell Rusty I said hello, would you?”

  “Absolutely. And thanks, Chloe. I’m in your debt for helping him.”

  “Your discretion more than paid that debt,” I said.

  After we hung up, I tried concentrating on mixing tinctures, but my thoughts kept drifting back to the new healer. And the fact that no one had bothered to mention it to me. Not even Kel.

  It hurt.

  I couldn’t remember the last time Kel and I had fought, and I didn’t want to start now. Not with Arnie’s hearing coming up. Instead, I sulked in silence and grumbled internally about the curse of always being the nice one who sucked it up.

  I was getting so tired of taking everyone else’s shit.

  When I dropped a glass tincture bottle, shattering it, I knew I couldn’t multi-task anymore. Once I’d cleaned up the mess, I stomped back to the house. Maybe the latest Jessica Wayne novel would succeed in distracting me where work could not. Hot fae men always made for good entertainment.

  Inside, Drew sat on the couch, watching the game. He took one look at my face and hit the button on the remote, turning the TV off.

  “Talk to me, sis.”

  “Nothing to talk about.” I strode past him and went into the kitchen.

  He followed, and I scowled at him before sticking my head into the fridge and pulling out the opened bottle of wine. By the time I filled my glass, Drew’s impatience was palpable.

  “What?” I demanded.

  “You tell me.”

  I responded by picking up the glass of wine I’d just poured and draining it. Then I poured a refill and eyed Drew stonily.

  “Did you know?” I asked.

  “Know about what?”

  “LaDonna. The new healer.”

  He looked guiltily away, and anger flooded my veins.

  “Like I said, nothing to talk about.”

  I picked up my glass, but Drew interrupted before I could chug that one too.

  “She hasn’t finished Induction. Hell, she hasn’t even gone in front of the council yet. And I wasn’t going to make something out of nothing.”

  “You think this is nothing?”

  “I just meant…”

  “What?” I demanded.

  Something flashed in his eyes. A secret.

  “What are you not telling me, Drew?”

  “Kel…”

  “What about her?”

  He sighed. “She saw something. I don’t know. Ask her about it.”