Page 6 of Wolf Bitten

It didn’tsoundlike a crazed vampire, but that could be part of the ruse. I hadn’t heard anyone leave. I remained silent, listening for anything odd.

“Skylar, he’s gone.” Glinda knocked again. “Come on out. It’s safe.”

Laughter bubbled out of me. “Is that what you call being kidnapped and held against my will? Safe?” I was dealing with people who didn’t see the world clearly. I’d heard some people had fantasies like this.

“That’s fair.” She sighed. “But I promise you this isn’t what it seems. We’re doing this to protect you.”

That was an angle I hadn’t expected. “You drugged and kidnapped me for my own benefit?”

“Exactly. Can you please come out? I swear I won’t let anything happen to you.”

She sounded sincere, and it wasn’t like I could stay in here forever. Blowing out a breath, I unlocked the door and opened it.

I wasn’t sure what I’d expected, but the room was in complete disarray. The dressers were toppled over in the middle of the room, and the bed had shifted against the far wall, the comforter wadded up on the floor and the pillows scattered around. The lamp on the desk had fallen over.

More surprising was that only one person was standing there. Warin was gone. I lifted a brow. “I didn’t hear the vampire leave. How is that possible? Are you cloaking him?”

Glinda raised a hand, and wind whipped past me to the bed. It pushed the bed back into the center of the wall. “I didn’t cloak the bloodsucker.” Her nose wrinkled, and the skin around her warm brown eyes tightened, bringing out her crow’s-feet. “He did the blur thing when he left, so you didn’t hear him. That’s all.”

“The …blur thing?” I rocked back on my heels, feeling like maybe my head was still foggy.

“Their vampire speed.” She continued straightening the room but turned to me. “Oh, you don’t know. The older vampires become, the faster they can move. Warin is one of the oldest alive today.”

Good to know. “How old is that exactly?” If she was being forthcoming, I would pump her for all the information she was willing to share. “Or is that rude to ask of the supernatural?” I wasn’t sure what the social norms were in this world.

She threw her head back and laughed. “Oh, it’s so refreshing to talk to someone who doesn’t know how the supernatural world works.” She brushed a strand of silver hair from her face.

My blood jolted. I didn’t like the way she was mocking me, especially when it wasn’t my fault that I’d been raised by humans. “Glad I can entertain you.”

“Oh, child.” She frowned and placed the comforter back on the bed. She’d restored the room to the way it had looked before Warin came along. “I’m sorry. That was rude. I didn’t mean to insult you. I was actually being sincere. In this world, everyone acts like they know everything about all the species and how they work, so it’s refreshing to talk with someone who’s open to learning.”

I did want to learn, but it wasn’t her place to teach me. I had Raffe, Lucy, Hecate, Slade, Gavyn, Cade, and Zella—someone from each species so I wouldn’t learn only prejudices from the others. “Are you going to answer my question?” I raised a brow.

“Vampires like to flaunt their age. The older they are, the more influence and stamina they have compared to the younger ones.” She lowered her hands and wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. She had to be in her seventies or eighties—at least, if she’d been human, that would have been my guess.

A sour taste filled my mouth. “The complete opposite of humans.” Humans were already physically weaker than supernaturals, and knowing that supernaturals got stronger as they aged made things worse.

“And witches and wolf shifters.” Glinda leaned against the dresser that held the television. “It’s a good thing you got your magic under control, or I might not have been able to hold off Warin. I was about to knock him out, which wouldn’t have boded well for our alliance.”

“Alliance?” I tilted my head. “In what, kidnapping me?”

She ran a hand over her brown dress, smoothing out the wrinkles from the two pockets sewn into it. “We brought you here to protect you.” She straightened and took a few steps toward me. “We have to ensure your mind remains untainted.”

Uh …what? I could think of a whole bunch to say to that, but one thing I’d learned from being bullied throughout my childhood was when to hold my tongue and keep my face neutral.Thistime, it was harder than ever before because of what I suspected she was talking about. One of the people she thought would “corrupt” me wasthemost important person in my life. My blood fizzed in tune with the hot anger flowing through me.

Mashing her lips together, she steepled her fingers. “You’re upset.”

Great. My mask must have cracked. “Why would you think that? I’m just very confused about why you would consider me corruptible. Is there a problem with the EEU board?” I couldn’t help but make the jab, though I tried to sound as innocent as possible. The supreme priestess was the head of the board.

Glinda’s shoulders drooped, reminding me of Mom whenever I disappointed her. She said, “I know you’re upset because your magic surged, and I’ve been informed that your magic is linked with your emotions. And no, the supreme priestess wouldnevertaint your mind. She’s the closest thing to a goddess the coven has, and she loves all her children.”

If that didn’t sound like a cult mantra, I wasn’t sure what did. It sounded like something Glinda had heard repeated over and over until there was no thought behind the message. “Then who would corrupt me?” I batted my eyelashes, my blood inching closer to a hum.

“Wolf shifters, especially one in particular.” She scanned me. “What happened to your nose? Did you hurt it against the barrier when you tried to escape?”

The gloves were off, which meant she would be careful about what she said, and she was testing me to see if I’d lie. “Yes. I didn’t realize I couldn’t leave the room, and I ran into what felt like a wall.”

“That’s a perimeter spell. I couldn’t cast an aversion spell because it wouldn’t work if you were determined to leave.” She lifted a hand. “Do you mind if I check to see whether your nose is broken?”

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