Page 49 of Last Gift: Supernatural Battle

“Huh, I guess so.”

Wild growled again, and I turned to find his narrowed eyes on me. Oh, come on. I hadn’t even looked at Sascha. Shit, I’d been avoiding him exactly like Basilia was to help Kyros keep a grip.

I sent Wild a warm promise of later, and his growling abated. I sent him more lustful thoughts, and he started growling for an entirely different reason. Oops. Too much.

I exchanged a look with Huxley. Yep, too late to realize that Wild shouldn’t be present. Then again, I wasn’t sure anything would get him out of the room now he’d spotted Kyros and Sascha.

Basilia tossed Andie a backpack, and she and her mate dressed quickly, then sat at the stone table once more.

Kyros seemed like the type who never stopped taking in his surroundings. I preferred the way his gaze roamed to when it focused on me. Then it was like looking through time itself. “The cave is spelled to replicate the outside?” he asked.

“It is.”

The princess wasn’t too enthused by her rocky surroundings, and there was an edge to the Luthers that made me suspect they may not love being underground. “Might I introduce you to Winona and Huxley, two more of my esteemed advisors.”

Winona dipped her head and murmured a greeting.

“Hello,” Huxley said to them loudly and very slowly. “Welcome to our coven. I. Am. Esteemed. Advisor. Huxley. Lief.”

Mother be. What was he doing? Vissimo could hear a fucking pin drop half a mile away, and Luthers had far better hearing than a magus not using their battle affinity to enhance the sense. Huxley knew all this too.

Amusement swept to me from Wild’s direction, and I quickly covered my grin. Nerves were getting the better of Huxley big time.

The Vissimo watched him like an animal in the zoo. Sascha appeared to feel much as Wild did, but Andie smiled kindly at the grimoire on my left.

“Nice to meet you, Huxley,” she replied.

“You too,” he replied loudly. Then repeated, “Welcome.”

I schooled the smile from my face by the skin of my teeth, then cleared my throat. “Thank you, Huxley.”

Wild’s soft laughter reached me, and I made a strangled sound before latching onto control again.

This was not the time for laughing, and unfortunately, it was all I wanted to do now.

I took a breath. “Thank you for coming here on such short notice.”

“We’ve waited some time to do so,” Basilia answered, shifting her bemused focus from Huxley. “We were glad to come.”

“Your patience was appreciated.” I tapped a finger on the stone table. “It’s hard to know where to begin.” I gathered my thoughts. It was crucial to minimize any lies. The Vissimo may pick up any changes in heartbeat. I could regulate my heartbeat, but best to play it safe. I didn’t plan to mislead them in any dangerous way. Winona’s presence had to be accounted for, however. I couldn’t risk telling the supernaturals something damaging that may be repeated to another magus here. “Some time ago, a group of us became aware that demons had infiltrated this coven. They’d been doing so for some time, shifting themselves—via gates in ravines—into our midst without a trace. Or much of one.”

“This is of concern to maguskind, not Vissimo or Luthers,” the crown prince remarked. “How does it affect us?”

A rumble started in Wild’s chest.

I rested a hand on his thigh. “Do you know much of demons, Prince Kyros?”

“Only what is in our archives. Which is much.”

Vissimo had archives, and he’d been quick to let me know they were vast. That could be huge, and his comment seemed to imply that they were a bargaining chip on the table in any alliance between us.

My eyes shifted to the Luthers. “And yourselves?”

Sascha answered, “We do not keep archives in the pack. We track our history through storytelling and song. We have lost Luthers to demonkind. Then again, we’ve lost Luthers to magus too.”

There was an accusation in his words. The Luthers had been attacked by this coven? I glanced at Winona.

“Not to my knowledge,” she replied to my unspoken question. “I will investigate the matter.”

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