Page 120 of Shadow City: Silver Wolf

"Luna hasn’t come in since the incident," I said as I walked to the loveseat and dropped onto it. "So other than her staying away, nothing out of the ordinary." The girl did like being the center of attention.

Killian walked out of the kitchen and joined us. "Well, Rosemary here has been pacing the room since she got back. Each day, she gets more amped up. She’s been a whole lot more nervous about Sterlyn going to the coffee shop than she let on." He took his usual spot on the couch and smiled at the angel.

Wait...he was smiling at Rosemary. What dimension had I entered? They had seemed to be getting along more amicably the past few days, but I hadn’t expected them to be friendly.

"If you’ve been that worried, why didn’t you go keep an eye on her?" Griffin asked, angrily.

"Because Carter and I flew off together the morning I brought him to talk to you." Rosemary scowled back at him. "So if I looked protective and whoever is behind all this was watching, they might become alarmed. We have to be smart."

Killian tensed, somehow adding more tension to the air. He glanced at us and cleared his throat. "Carter just linked with me. He said Rosemary needs to meet him. They finally made the call."

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The rideto Shadow Lake passed in a tense silence. One of Griffin’s hands was on the Navigator’s steering wheel while the other one gripped my leg like I might disappear. As if his grasp was the only reason I was still sitting beside him.

Killian sat behind my seat, breathing heavily with his own anxiety. "I can’t believe I’m coming back here."

"Wait… What do you mean?" Something must have been bothering him more than I realized.

He didn’t respond, and Griffin linked with me,His family died where we’re heading.

Oh, my God. "Killian, you don’t have to come—"

"Hell, yes I do," Killian growled. "I’m not having the two people I consider family go here without me. Never again."

I already felt like I was suffocating, and their stress-filled demeanors only increased mine—but there wasn’t anything I could do about it. If I reacted, it would cause them to become even more stressed. Besides, to be fair, if one of them were in the same situation, I’d feel the same way. "Okay, but if it gets to be too much—"

They were upset because they cared, and even though I was miserable because of it, I wouldn’t change them feeling this way for the world.

Both of them were my family.

"Please stop." Killian exhaled. "I’m going. It’ll be fine. We aren’t going to hang out—we’ll be dealing with shit so I won’t have time to think about it."

Griffin glanced in the rearview mirror. "Are you sure he won’t fuck this up?"

"Dude, how many times do we have to go through this?" Killian grumbled. "He’s meeting Rosemary in the woods behind the pack neighborhood, and he’s willingly letting her fly him to Shadow Lake to meet us to ensure he isn’t followed. You need to keep your attention on the road and make sure no one is following us."

"Including any damn crows." I still hated that one. I’d been staring out the windshield, paying more attention to the sky than the road behind us. My stalker’s first crow was dead, but there was no telling whether he had another that had stepped in.

Wow—he… I might be as sexist as Dick. Why couldn’t the bad guy be a girl?

Great, I was losing it. Scolding myself and having internal debates revealed that little nugget.

Griffin smirked. "I’m so glad I shot that bastard."

"That was too kind after everything he’d done." I had wanted to be the one to end him. "I planned to pluck out each feather one by one before providing a slow and painful death."

"Damn, Sterlyn," Killian chuckled. "And here I’ve been thinking that you were kind and empathetic—only killing when required—but then you spout off something like that."

"I’d planned on killing the bear shifter who attacked me." I’d been ready to get my revenge. "But when he was lying helpless,crumpled on the ground…I just couldn't do it." To actively kill someone like that in cold blood… I didn’t have it in me.

"Hey, I was teasing." Killian placed a hand on my shoulder and rubbed. "I know—when it came down to it—you wouldn’t have been able to kill the crow, even though he deserved it."

Maybe not, but…the crow was a little different. He’d put not only me but the people I loved in danger.

"I won’t be nearly as kind as her if Carter tries to put one over on us again." Griffin’s hand tightened even more.

Hey, everything is going to be okay.If he didn’t breathe, he could have a heart attack like his father. "He told us they called; I think we’re good."

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