“Fantastic,” CK mutters, taking Thia off me and moving back over to the corner. “What a team.”
The sarcasm is dripping off every word, but I ignore him in favor of seeking out Marguerite. I stare at her in horror as she is still sporting the hideous scar across her throat. I don’t know why I expected it to vanish, I just did. Naiveté is a bitch.
“It’s okay,” she rasps, putting her hand up to her neck. “I didn’t think it would go.”
“I will find a way to fix it,” I promise her, rightly or wrongly.
She just nods absently and walks from the room to be alone. I watch her go with a sinking heart. She isn’t talking about what happened to her. She needs to or it will eat her alive. I know better than anyone how destructive it can be to keep things bottled up, afraid of saying the things out loud in case it makes them real.
I hear a soft whine and look down. Lincoln is still in Wolf form. “Why aren’t you Shifting back?” I ask him.
He shakes his head. I frown at him. “You can’t or don't want to?”
He lets out a loud howl that I take as the former. Not good.
“How come this didn’t work on you?” I ask, dropping to my knees. “Dammit.” I stroke him and hold him close, needing to give him comfort. “I will fix this as well,” I tell him determinedly.
He plonks his head on my lap and I sit with him for a few moments before CK declares he is going home.
“Wait,” I say standing up quickly. “We all go together.”
“I thought you said it was clear,” he complains, clearly having hoped to have everyone else stay here.
Fat chance of that happening. “We stick together.”
“Agreed,” Remiel pipes up. “That woman is clearly out to get you and will try again.”
I close my eyes in annoyance. I had hoped to keep Clementine’s betrayal a secret for now, until I could get CK on his own.
“Woman?” he asks, as I knew he would, with every ounce of suspicion that he can muster. “What woman?” He jiggles Thia around and props her up on his shoulder.
Remiel gives me a piercing look that I take as a reprimand. “Aefre, you are in danger,” he starts, but I hold my hand up.
“Clementine, apparently,” I interrupt him. “She is the one who made the deal with the Hunters. Although, how she got through the wards is another mystery altogether.” I chew my lip watching his face go puce.
“C-Clem did this?” he splutters.
“That’s what one of the Hunters said.”
“That BITCH!” he roars, startling Arathia into screaming loudly in his ear. I take her from him as he is absolutely shaking with fury. “How dare she use the knowledge I gave her to attack me!”
Me? Me? Erm, how about actually me? “You did this?” I ask quietly.
He pauses long enough in his anger to stare at me. “Not intentionally, of course, Aefre,” he says witheringly. “I taught her centuries ago how to erect wards to keep herself safe.”
“She is magickal?” I squeak.
“She has some in her blood. Not much, but enough,” he explains through tight lips.
“Fantastic,” I mutter. “Might have been nice to know that.”
“I will skin her alive for this,” he says fiercely.
“Not if I get to her first,” I challenge him with a level stare that does nothing to ease his anger.
“My charge, my responsibility,” he barks out.
“My charge, my responsibility,” Remiel counteracts as I roll my eyes.