Page 18 of Junk Magic

Sebastian’s intelligent blue eyes met mine. “And you believe this?”

I shrugged. “It’s what the Corps’ lab rats think.”

“I asked about you.”

Yeah, he had.

In for a penny, I thought, and came out with it. “I think it’s odd that Colin had just been talking about strength and how important it was. How his clan would have taken him back, if only he’d been stronger. And then he goes and takes something that made him stronger—by a lot. I don’t like those kinds of coincidences.”

“You think someone gave it to him on purpose,” Cyrus said, his voice blank.

“It’s possible,” I said again. “Someone who wanted to see what would happen, maybe? If you’re already experimenting on humans, well, the idea would occur, right? What if we gave our new drug to some other type of creature, and see what might be lurking in their bloodstream? Maybe they could be used as soldiers, too—”

“Not my boys!” Cyrus said, standing up abruptly enough to knock over his chair. “Not my clan!”

“They’re not your clan,” Sebastian said sharply. “Arnou is. It worries me that you seem to be forgetting that.”

I didn’t know what he meant by that, but maybe they’d had a discussion before I came in. It sort of looked like it. Cyrus scowled, and ran a hand over his face, which was going to have a beard in another few hours.

“I’m not forgetting anything! But Arnou—”

He got up and walked away from the table, although my kitchen was small, so there wasn’t far to go. It also wasn’t made for pacing. He realized that and turned back around, leaning against the counter with the coffee machine, his arms crossed defensively.

I knew that look, and I guessed Sebastian did, too, because his jaw tightened slightly.

“Arnou is rich and powerful,” Cyrus said, before his brother could comment. “These boys aren’t. They need protection—”

“As do you.” It was flat.

“I can protect myself!”

“Normally, yes. But as a vargulf? There are many with grudges against me or our clan who would gladly destroy you to hurt me, as Grayshadow demonstrated.”

“He knew the truth about us; others don’t. They think we’re estranged—”

“Some do. Others suspect something—”

“Suspicion isn’t knowing—”

“Which is why we agreed—”

“—and doesn’t mean they’d act on it!”

“—which is why you swore to me, that if we did this . . . charade . . . made necessary by the thick necked pride of our people, that you would do certain things—”

“That was before—”

“—one of which was to keep a low profile and stay out of sight!”

“I’m not planning on buying a bullhorn,” Cyrus snapped. “But you can’t expect me to stand by while—”

“That is exactly what I expect.”

“—my people are killed!”

“They are not your people!”

And okay, maybe I’d been wrong about the ice water, I thought, staring at Sebastian. And understanding a lot better why he’d been able to herd the cats of the vicious clan council. Only, that’s not what they were, was it, I thought, as a shadow grew on the wall behind Sebastian.

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