Page 76 of A Dawn Of Blood

I watch Lorcan’s hands ball into fists.

“Lorcan,” I call out for fear of him doing something stupid.

“What?” he snaps, looking at me over his shoulder.

“A word.”

Gritting his teeth, he throws another glance at Cain, but then he walks over to me. “It’s your boyfriend you should be having a chat with, Anna, not me. This is becoming—”

“Please, Lorcan,” I urge him, motioning for him to take a seat. He does. I throw a glance at Cain, who’s already gone back to training, completely ignoring us. “I understand he’s being disrespectful and I apologize for his behavior.”

He fumes for another second, then grits out, “Fine. Apology accepted.”

He moves to get up.

“But that’s not the only reason I called you over.”

He slumps back in the chair.

I think for a moment, hesitating to even broach the topic for fear of what he might tell me. “When you were still researching the Aurora and her mate bonds, did you ever come across a case where the bond was one-sided? Can something like that even happen to an Aurora?”

He looks away, thinking. Then he shakes his head. “Not to my knowledge.”

“Perfect,” I say, not knowing whether to be relieved or even more concerned.

He moves to get up again, but the worry that’s twisting his face again makes me risk annoying him. “Lorcan?”

“Yes, Anna?” he asks with an exaggerated sigh. “I really need a glass of whiskey so if you could make this quick…”

“When they come back, it might be a good idea to show some of that concern about your daughter… to your daughter.”

He just looks at me for a second. Then he lets out a grunt, gives me a nod and walks away in search of that whiskey.

I go back to watching Cain, but it’s the very next moment that Nuala, Dryden and Raven march into the room, headed straight for my desk.

Excitement floods me. “And?” I ask as de Groot, Lorcan and Nimueh all join us.

“Nothing,” Nuala says with tense features.

“Did you checkallthe runestones?” I insist. “They can’t always be found above ground.”

She rolls her eyes at me. As she should, to be honest. “Raven used her echolocation and I unearthed the two that got buried. Still nothing.”

All my excitement gets switched out for desolation. That was the very last of the options.

Chapter 56

Cain

Ikeep observing without being observed, but the moment the witch moves to get up, I stop doing push-ups and get to my feet.

It’s to the table that she’s headed, with everyone else in tow. I move to one of the chairs lining the southeastern wall. Normally, I’d choose the one with the clearest view of the room, but since I got captured, my criteria has changed. These days, I’m opting for spots farthest from the onesshe’soccupying. It makes it easier to ignore her presence.

Of course, the moment I approach the chair, the bloody pest jumps up, turns around and lowers itself on its haunches, tipping its head back to stare at me with those strangely intelligent yellow eyes.

As always, it feels as if it wants something from me andonlyme, which is interesting in a way. More than anything else, however, it’s annoying, perpetually having a four-legged creature underfoot like this.

I flash my fangs at it.

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