Page 30 of In Her Own Rite

“A score withme? I was nine, Kier.” I hear something in her voice: soft and sad. The shadow of the girl she was then.

“Or, or, I don’t know. With Saga, or someone. With Viggo and Dagmar.”

“You just said this can’t be about Maren, because it wouldn’t have been an attack on a farm. This doesn’t sound like it’s personal.”

I stifle a growl from my inner wolf. She’s right, but Iknowthere’s more going on.

“I just need you to trust me,” I say. “Please.”

“Do any of the other elders share your suspicions?”

“No,” I admit.

“So what do they think?”

“Seb and Viggo aren’t worried.” I sigh. “They think it’s a group from the southern isles who came here to cause some havoc, but got stuck after their boats broke down. Maybe teenagers or something. There’s a search crew now, trying to find them before they do something else.”

“So why doyouthink my dad is involved?”

Because I saw him in the ring, I think.Because I know he’s here. Because of what the ancestors told me…

“I can’t let something happen to you. I’d never forgive myself. If you come back to thefikarig, I can keep you safe. If you go somewhere else, fine, but I’m coming with you.”

“I don’t want to go back there right now,” Em says, shaking her head. “I don’t want to inconvenience the others with what’s going on with me. And I think it’s best if you and I don’t…” She blushes. “Maybe you can send Gabe or something, if you’re so worried. But even then, I don’t really want them around me when I’m like this.”

“I’m not sending Gabe,” I say, annoyed. “If someone’s going to protect you, they need to be the strongest person we have, and that’s me.”

I see the flicker of Maren’s eyes rolling in the rearview mirror, but I’m right, and she knows it.

“I’m coming with you,” I say. “Sorry.”

“I don’t…” she murmurs. “I don’t know if I can trust myself around you when I’m like this.”

Memories come flooding back to me from last night: Em on the windowsill, grinding her hips into my face; her, naked in the moonlight like a goddess; the look on her face as she cried out my name. I try desperately to think of something else, knowing Maren will scent something in the air as soon as it gets too charged between us.

“It’s for your safety,” I say, and my voice comes out hoarse.

“I think this is a great idea,” Maren says brightly. “Em, you were just saying you’ll be lonely at the north island all by yourself. This is perfect.”

“Mare,” she mutters in admonition. But for once, I’m grateful for her transparent attempts to get us together.

“Come on,” I say to Em. “We’ll have fun. I’ll make sure of it.”

She shoots me a look, and I know she’s thinking what I’m thinking. Fun, alone together, is the thing she wants to avoid.

Just one night, I remind myself.

“If it’s so dangerous, shouldn’t you come with us, too, then?” Em asks Maren. “Aren’t you scared?”

“I’ll call Seb after we get to the north shore, but if he’s not worried, I’m not worried.” If Seb was anxious, she’d be able to feel it through the mate bond—even at this big of a distance.

“Besides,” she continues. “It sounds like Kieran is the only one who thinks it’s personal. As long as the rest of thefikafeels safe, I’m fine.”

“Em,please,” I beg. “I won’t be able to sleep if I think you’re in danger.”

“Fine,” she says finally. “But only for a few days. And you’re staying at the other end of the house.”

“Takka,” I say, and I mean it.

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