It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth, either. Why was I like this? Why did I want to hide from Bri? The dragon woman had given me no reason to fear her. If anything, Bri had been nothing but kind up until now. She deserved the truth, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it.
Bri gave a rueful shake of her head. She wandered away from the counter and took a seat at a nearby table. “He’s always been overly independent. I’ve told him time and time again that he doesn’t have to handle things on his own. His father told him the same thing. One would think that with the way he looked up to his father, Ryder would have listened to the old man.”
I leaned forward, elbows on the counter, and cupped my slick drink between both hands. Cerri glanced at the clock, then at the door. We should have opened ten minutes ago, but no one moved to flip the sign.
A question reached the tip of my tongue, but I didn’t know how to ask it. Ryder had told me that he’d killed his clan leader to protect the others. Did Bri know about that? Had he told her? I desperately wanted to ask, but I didn’t want to give away Ryder’s secrets without knowing if she was in on them, too.
Once again, I heard his voice in my ear. The day he’d confessed to killing his clan leader, Ryder had also promised me that he would never hurt me. That’d been after I’d had a panicked meltdown, of course.
Did he say the same thing to Bri? What did he say to her?
Why was I thinking about this?
I wanted to bonk my head off the counter to see if it would clear my mind. With how thick my skull was, I doubted that would work.
Cerri broke the silence. “Do you know why Ryder is here, in Syracuse?”
Bri grimaced, her teeth clenched as she studied us. I could see it in her face, the pain of her loss. Had the clan leader been her father? Perhaps Ryder’s mate bond with Bri had made him the clan leader’s heir. No wonder Ryder loathed himself so much. He’d betrayed so many just by doing the right thing.
I nodded. “I know.”
Bri sighed. She seemed almost relieved. She ran a hand over her face. I wanted to tell her that wasn’t enough to chase away the ghosts.
“I have to go somewhere today,” Bri said. She locked eyes with me. “Can you watch over him tonight. Please, stay with him and make sure he doesn’t go back to the court for more faery food.”
I straightened. “Why me?”
I couldn’t read the smile that overcame Bri. It was secretive and all knowing all at once. If she suspected I had feelings for her mate, then she wouldn’t ask me to spend the night with him…unless she wanted to prove that he would never leave her. I didn’t need proof.
Mate bonds were unbreakable.
“Sure, I guess.” My voice trailed off.
Cerri bumped my hip. “It’ll be safer for the both of you. Call Connor and have him drop an overnight bag off at Ryder’s place.”
Connor.
Just hearing his name made me livid. He’d made excuses. He’d tried to protect me the night of the hunt. I wasn’t sure that I would ever be able to forgive him, though. He’d let Alvin whisper lies into his ear. No one should believe a word Alvin said anymore, but Connor had listened anyway.
“I’m not saying you have to forgive him,” Cerri said softly. “Asking him to do something for you has nothing to do with forgiveness.”
Bri waved a hand. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll tell Ryder to do it for you.”
I jumped, heart racing at the thought of Ryder going through my underthings to pack my bag. “Oh, no. No worries. I’ll ask Vi to do it. No need to involve Connor or Ryder for this.”
As it turned out, Vi was busy. That explained why Cerri had suggested Connor. I stared at his name in my contacts. His number had been in there for a while, since the pack made sure that everyone had a way of contacting one another. Yet, I’d only just started trusting him enough to call him.
We’d been childhood friends, Connor and I. Our parents had raised us together until my first shift. Before then, I’d thought that there was a chance that Connor and I would grow to love one another. I’d let myself believe we could be high school sweethearts and maybe even mates.
Then, my first shift happened. Alvin ostracized me for what I’d become, and Connor drifted away from me to protect himself. Apparently, he never stopped loving me. He just stopped being able to show it.
When Alvin lied to Connor and asked him to bring me to the Alpha’s house, Connor had believed him. Connor should have known better. He should have tried to protect me. Instead, he’d handed me over to the man who hunted humans for sport.
My anger writhed inside me and raised the dark presence of my arcana once more. As I hit the call button, I lifted the phone to my ear and let the arcana drift to the surface where it could coat my tongue.
“Ness?” Connor asked. “Is that you? I’ve been meaning to call you…I just…I wanted…”
“Shut up,” I said. I wasn’t sure if the arcana reached through the phone or if he was actually listening for once. “I don’t want your apologies. Go to my house and ask my mother to pack an overnight bag for me. Bring it to Bad Moon when you’re done.”