Page 51 of Eclipsed Heart

She brushed her fingers through the captive’s hair and murmured, “Goddess, please protect her in death.”

My heart clenched at Dina’s mercy.

She’s a good woman,Bodey linked as he nudged me toward the door. He kept his head forward, not glancing back.

My wolf was finally at ease, though slightly flustered by the ordeal.Should I be jealous?I teased, trying to make light of everything.

Never. You own my heart, body, and soul.

When the two of us headed back to our house, I expected to feel relief. But every step felt heavier.They’re expecting me to have answers, and I don’t have any.

That’s fine,he reassured me.We’ll figure out the next steps together. All of us. This is new territory for everyone, not just you.

The words fell flat. Even if this were a routine situation, they’d all know how to handle it before I did. I hadn’t been brought up in this world and had no clue what was required of me on anormalbasis, let alonethis. Samuel should’ve been marked. Not me. I didn’t care if I was the true heir.

“I hate to leave, but my magic is depleted, and I need to contact the other witches so they can plan their travel here.” Dina gestured to me and said, “So we can figure out what happened to you.”

“Of course.” That was exactly what I wanted.

She waved and headed toward the street while Bodey and I continued inside.

When we entered the den, I found that my parents were gone, and Jack, Stevie, and Stella were sitting on the couch. Janet was heading down the hall from the living room to join us.

I paused. “Where are Mom and Dad?”

Janet cringed. “They just left.”

My breath caught. They hadn’t even said goodbye. Not even Mom. They did things like this on occasion, and I’d always justified it before, but I was struggling to now.

I’m sorry, baby,Bodey linked, standing behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist. He pushed his love into me, but I could tell he hated that I felt this way.

Whatever.I exhaled, forcing my body to relax.We have things to discuss anyway.I rubbed my hands together as the fathers took their spots against the island again and Miles went to stand at the end of the couch near Stella.

Samuel, Bodey, and I opted to stand in front of the fireplace.

“So, the bitch took poison.” Jack snorted, his face twisting in disgust. “Figures.”

Lucas strolled over and smacked Jack on the back of the head. “The woman just died. Have some manners.”

“Hey, I carried her back here!” Jack rubbed the spot and glared over his shoulder. “If that’s not gentlemanly, I don’t know what is.”

Stevie growled. “What?”

Someone had to bring this conversation back on track. “Our captive is dead, and we have no leads. Does anyone have any suggestions on what our next course of action should be?” I prayed that someone would speak up because I was clueless.

“What if we reach out to Queen Kel and request a parlay?” Samuel tapped a finger against his chin. “That might buy us time.”

“Parlay?” I bit my bottom lip, hating that I had to ask the question. Once again, this was further proof that Samuel was the right person for the role.

Michael bobbed his head. “It’s when two warring parties meet to see if they can come to an agreement to end the fighting.”

My brows furrowed. “Invite herhere?” That didn’t sound wise.

“No.” Phil leaned against the island. “It would have to be neutral ground. Maybe somewhere in Nevada, near where California and Oregon meet, which isn’t part of either person’s territory?”

I pursed my lips. I didn’t have a better idea.

Bodey exhaled. “I don't know. That sounds like a waste of time. She isn’t going to settle. We need to focus on something that can give us answers, like who suppressed my mate’s—ourqueen’s—wolf and altered her memories. That could have been Kel’s doing too, for all we know.”

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