Page 15 of Research with Rivals
I shook myself from the memory and changed course, walking toward her.
She didn’t acknowledge me, even when I arrived at her desk. I cleared my throat.
“Oh!” Her hand went to her chest as she jumped in her seat. “Ambrose. You scared me.”
My wolf preened. I tried to disguise my smirk with a frown. “Sorry. I thought I’d check when you wanted to hunt down Lord Arctos for the information he promised. Have you finished with the journal?”
I glanced at the plants she’d experimented with yesterday. A rose, and … was that a morning glory? They didn’t usually do well together in a garden. Evelyn had told Gabriel about them afew weeks ago. She’d mentioned that she’d planted them beside each other in her own garden. The roses had never bloomed; the morning glories strangled them out. What could Evelyn be testing with them both in the same pot?
I’d been staring too long at the plants, so I shifted my focus to Evelyn. Her eyes narrowed; clearly, she’d noticed my attention on her experiment. She thought me too critical of her tests, I knew.
“Now works for me,” she said.
Her tone was polite, but it felt closed off. I hated that this project set us against each other. No one had ever challenged my hypotheses or conclusions as much as she did. Well, my father did, but his approach was to tell me what I should be doing, not to ideate with me. Evelyn seemed genuinely interested in brainstorming together—when she wasn’t angry with me.
Unfortunately for Evelyn, competing against her would only motivate me to strive for further improvement. A motivation based solely on the fact that I didn’t want to seem like an idiot to her.
The defiant expression on her face yesterday made my wolf want to howl.I want the Vesten historian position.She had said it so boldly, so proudly. I wanted that kind of conviction. I wondered how few people she showed hers to.
“Should we try Gabriel’s office?” she prodded as she stood, reminding me we were supposed to be searching for Lord Arctos.
“Yes, good idea.”
We began to walk together toward the Great Room’s large double doors. I grasped for something, anything, to fill the silence. “Anything of note in your readthrough?”
She hesitated. Her brow furrowed as if she were at war with herself. I knew the struggle. The desire to discuss what I’d found was at odds with the fact that we were theoretically competingon the outcome of this research. I would tell her about my findings anyway. They would never sway her conclusions. If anything, she would reread with my interpretation in mind, probably to try to prove me wrong. My wolf sighed, telling me that I sounded pathetic. While true, I didn’t care; I just wanted to discuss the ideas with her.
“It’s not like I haven’t read it myself,” I pressed.
She crossed her arms over her chest as we made it to the door. Just when I thought she wouldn’t indulge the desire, she spoke. “These two human sisters practiced blood magic … recklessly, as you would say.”
I paused with my hand on the doorknob. “Yes, but I think almost all practice of blood magic is reckless.”
She raised a brow at the admission. I was a little surprised by it myself. It was complicated to separate my views of blood magic from my father’s experience. Evelyn’s experience with blood magic was utterly different, though. I wanted to know more about it. Before I could ask, her expression soured. Something about what she wanted to say next clearly made her very uncomfortable.
“What is it?” I asked. I’d pulled the door open, but we both stood still.
Her nose twitched again, like she was trying to inhale deeply to calm herself. Now I really wanted to know what she thought.
“When the sisters turn into veil cats…” She paused and glanced at me. Her sharp features were guarded, like she dared me to object, but there was curiosity there, too.
“I read it, Evelyn. I’m also familiar with the animals. They shepherd spirits to the afterlife.”
She scanned the surrounding space, as if checking to see who else could hear us. “You are?”
“I previously considered them only a children’s story. I know others believed they were extinct, but I think our illustrious leader would contest both facts.”
She looked confused.
“The Vesten Point, he’s a veil cat shifter,” I elaborated.
I wasn’t sure she was breathing.
“How do you know that?” she asked.
Now she had me questioning it. There was very little that Evelyn didn’t know. I couldn’t believe she was unaware of this. Although I did get the sense that, as a half-fae, she didn’t pay much attention to court politics.
“He took the form regularly when waking those impacted by the sleeping plague.” I scratched the back of my neck. “He didn’t make a formal announcement, but it’s out there.”
