Page 24 of The Sacred Wolf

Good grief. What under the Moon God Halo is going on?

They must know.

Know what?

About the Mark of Chann. And Evan.

Dear Gods, I hope they don’t know about Evan…

“Can we go somewhere to sit, please? I asked. “I need a minute.”

“Of course, Prom—” Ayla began.

“Stop calling me that,” I snapped. “Sebastian? Where can we take this party for a more suitable meeting?”

“Uh… give me some time.” He shook his head, his twitchy movements still reeking of concern. “We can go to the Monarch rooftop. It’s right off Herald Square, just a couple blocks away. I meet Kenzo there for business on the regular. They’ll set up a private area for us.” He turned to the Children and pointed a warning finger. “You three walk behind me, and in front of her. I still don’t trust you.”

Ayla’s eyes widened. “But we cannot walk before the Promised One. It wouldn’t be right.”

“Can you back me up here, please, Elyse?” Sebastian growl. I could tell that his fangs were lurking just below the surface.

“Ayla,” I said, “until we get this sorted out, I’m going to need you to do two things for me, please?”

“Of course, Promised One. Anything you command.”

I face-palmed. For real. “Okay, so, I need all of you to follow whatever I say, and whatever he says.” I gestured to Sebastian, who looked as face-palm-ready as I’d ever seen him. “And if you don’t start calling me Elyse, I’m going to wolf out and kick your asses.”

Ayla’s eyes went wide. “Understood, Prom…uh, Elyse.”

“Wonderful, now get in line behind our fearless leader and let’s all mosey over to the Monarch, shall we?”

I wonder if Sebastian can get me a drink...

Not recommended.

Party pooper.

I was tired and annoyed and completely over this insanely long day. My jeans felt much too tight after that giant burger, and worse, my shiftskin was chafing. I wish the mysterious magic of our rubber superhero suits prevented chafe, but it didn’t. At least the jacket was keeping me warm.

Our strange little band scurried over to the hotel where the Monarch rooftop bar and lounge were located. Sebastian in the lead; Hither, Thither, and Yon in the middle; and me at the caboose, looking oh-so-normal as I kept an eye on all of them.

They didn’t even walk normally, for Leto’s sake! They kind of slunk, as if the weight of the surrounding buildings was holding them down. Worse, they kept turning back to stare at me, then stare up at the buildings, and then back at me, as if they’d never seen anything like it all—me included—in their lives.

I was beyond perplexed. I wished Mateo’s note had included any information about these people. What kept rattling around in my head was that my mother had been a part of this. While I’d been content to let that mystery rest before, it wouldn’t stay in the background any longer.

When we emerged from the elevator to the rooftop, Sebastian gestured to an area of seats at the far end. He’s spoken with the host downstairs before we’d headed up, and the “Reserved” placards were already perched on two little tables nestled against the bench seating.

As we walked out from beneath the roofed area, I stopped, frozen. The Empire State building was right there! And because we were now on a rooftop of our own, it felt like we were flying alongside it in one of those little biplanes King Kong would have grabbed and crushed. I turned to Sebastian, and he shrugged. I knew this hadn’t been pre-planned to impress me, but it was doing the trick anyway. This was a place where he often came for meetings?

Lucky.

He turned to our tag-a-long friends and showed them that they should take a seat against the banquette, then pulled up chairs on the opposite side for us. It was a smart move. If for any reason they got aggressive, they’d be trapped behind the tables, and we’d be free to move. That said, I couldn’t imagine a world where these three would be aggressive toward us—well, me. The Eau de acolyte hung heavy in the air as they gazed at me with looks that, were I an arrogant or power-hungry person, would probably have pleased me greatly. But as it was, I couldn’t have been more uncomfortable if I were standing naked in the Sheep’s Meadow.

“Okay,” I said after the server had handed me a fresh, fizzy soda and left.

Looked like my older boyfriend-type-figure wasn’t going to hook me up with something stronger, which was probably just as well because the last thing we needed was word getting out that shifters bought alcohol for underage pups.

“Ayla, why don’t you please explain why the Chil—why you and your friends are stalking me. And again,” I said, putting up a hand as she opened her mouth, “call me Elyse.”

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