Kieran stares straight back, then sighs, pushing his hands through his hair. “Sit down. Please.”
I drop onto the sofa next to Drew. It’s not comfortable. I think Quinn’s flat is bigger than mine but only a little. I swallow hard. I want to spend time with him here. I want to help him make it look like a home.
“Is he—Are you—” Drew starts and stops, and I sigh, taking pity on him.
“Yes.” Doesn’t matter the question, not really.
Drew stares at me, then looks away. He picks at the stitching on his jeans. “Are you going to take him away from us?”
“What?”
He sets his jaw. “When you get his wolf back, are you going to take him away from our pack?”
“I—” Our pack of two. If he wants it. I don’t want to pretend I know what he truly wants, but I don’t think it’s that.
Oh, he wants me. But he wasn’t lying when he said Drew was his brother. He won’t survive away from this pack, not for long.
“No,” I say.
“And your Huntsman will just let you two be together?” Kieran’s question is much more challenging, as is his gaze. “We all saw Njáll and Maurice. What if he says no?”
“Then he says no.”
Kieran frowns—it’s not a good enough answer for him—but before he can ask me anything else, Sam comes back inside. He makes a beeline for Drew and, seeing I’ve taken his spot on the sofa, he drops straight into Drew’s lap. “They’re on their way.”
“They?” Kieran asks.
“Spectra and Sparrow.”
I frown. Sparrow. Sparrow told Quinn about that place. Sparrow knew there’d be a deal. Sparrow—
“When will they arrive?” I ask.
Sam shrugs. “Half an hour or so.”
Paxton comes back inside. “Good.” He looks at me. “We’ve got time to plan.”
Spectra and Sparrow arrive exactly thirty minutes later. Sparrow doesn’t look at all surprised to see me, but then I don’t expect them to. They’re dressed down today, long hair tied into a messy bun on the top of their head.
“How can we help?” Spectra asks. She takes me in with a glance; she knows Vlad and Grant far better than she knows me, but I’m sure she can see the state I’m in.
“We’re planning to go into Mischief & Mayhem today,” Paxton says. We’ve been over the plan. The twins don’t seem to go anywhere else, and even if they do, they likely teleport in and out of that building. “We’ll see if we can find Quinn’s wolf. With our blessings”—he darts a significant look at me, and I try not to let my nerves show on my face—“we should escape detection. Maurice is on standby for when we find it.”
“Ophelia will be here,” Sam says. “And me.”
“I can help, too,” Spectra replies. “If they have his wolf, they’ll have contained it in a vial or a similar receptacle. It’ll be hard to find—they have to make sure the wolf’s magic can’t get out and interfere with their own, especially if they’re using their magic to alter the space inside the pub.”
“They are,” Sparrow confirms.
Sam’s gaze swings immediately to them, and to my surprise, he looks angry. His voice is cold when he asks, “And how would you know that?”
To their credit, Sparrow doesn’t squirm, though they have to be able to feel what I do—Sam’s magic is beginning to flare.
“I’ve been there before.”
“And what else?” Kieran demands.
Sparrow lowers their gaze at that. “I told Quinn how to find the place.”
