Page 35 of Roaring Flames

I don’t say all of that to Izzy, however. Instead, I tell her what I can.

“I didn’t kill those women. I promise you.” But I did unintentionally help the murderer who did. Indignant anger races through me—along with guilt—but I shove them both down before they can fester. “I work for the Elders?—”

“The Elders?” She tilts her head to the side in confusion.

“They’re sort of like the wolf shifter Council,” I explain, reaching around her to grab my water bottle yet again. All of this talking has caused my throat to start acting up. It aches fiercely, almost as if someone took sandpaper to the skin there. “I…do odd jobs for them.”

That’s one way of saying I’ve been their personal assassin for the last ten or so years of my life.

Izzy’s eyebrows scrunch together. “Okay…?”

“Someone discovered that and got a hold of me. Wanted me to dig up some dirt on a few wolf shifters.” I swallow around the lump of guilt in my throat.

If I would’ve known that my actions would lead to those women’s deaths, would I have done anything differently? I’d like to say yes, but I still remember the fear I felt when they threatened me with Izzy. Somehow, someway, they discoveredwhat she meant to me and threatened to kill her if I didn’t comply.

I don’t say that to Izzy. The last thing I want is for her to feel guilt for my actions.

Izzy’s eyes widen in horror as understanding dawns. “Those women…”

“They were female shifters. I swear to you I didn’t know they would be killed. Once the first girl was murdered, I tried to back out, but…”

They threatened you. Told me they’ll chop you up into tiny pieces and deliver each one to me every day for the rest of my life.

I take another swig from my water bottle before continuing. “That shit with Sidney… I swear to you it meant nothing. She was just a way for me to receive insight on the wolf shifters. I never kissed her or even touched her. I promise you.”

There was one time Sidney tried to seduce me. I remember she asked me to meet her at her apartment before dinner, and when I arrived, she was sitting on the couch in nothing but a lacy teddy that left little to the imagination.

I turned right the fuck around.

“Your wolf…friendswere right to arrest me. I’m sure my actions looked pretty damning.” I flex my fingers on her waist before I reluctantly release her. “They took me to the Council building, and I was interviewed by some shifters. And then…”

“And then?” she presses, when it becomes apparent I’m not going to immediately continue.

“And then I discovered that my contact—the Hunter who killed those wolves—was another wolf shifter.”

Her breath hitches. “What?”

“I met with one of the higher-ranking Councilmembers. Matthew, I believe his name was. I think he’s the father of thosewolf shifter twins. Anyway, I told him what I knew, and he let me go.”

“Just like that?” Her brows arrow downwards suspiciously, and I have to hold in my bark of humorless laughter.

No, it wasn’t “just like that,” but this is another thing I don’t want to share with Izzy.

She doesn’t need to know that they dragged me out of my cell and threw me into a separate room, which consisted of a tiny chair and a table full of torture equipment.

She doesn’t need to know that I screamed myself raw after hours and hours of torture.

She doesn’t need to know that only my enhanced healing capabilities helped eliminate the majority of my bruises and scars.

When Matthew eventually walked into the room, I thought this was my end. I thought I would die. But he demanded the torturer stop what he was doing at once. I told Matthew everything I knew about Kain and his involvement, and surprisingly, Matthew listened.

“I suspected something was going on for a while,” he said. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention.”

And then he let me go.

Just like that.

I don’t know what to make of it. Obviously, I’m relieved to be free of that shit show, but everything felt too easy. I half expect to look over my shoulder and see a wolf shifter stalking me, watching my every move, writing down exactly who I talk to and when.

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