"Right. The brownies." She rolls her eyes, but there's a hint of amusement beneath her exasperation. Her gaze lingers on my bare chest a moment longer than necessary before she forces her focus back to my face. "Are you always this prepared for emergency nudity situations?"
"Only on days when I'm following you," I reply with a wink.
She makes a strangled sound that might be embarrassment or laughter. "Are you done?" she asks, crossing her arms in a gesture that fails to hide her lingering discomfort—or interest.
"For now," I answer, my voice dropping slightly lower. Her pupils dilate in response and I fight to hide the grin I feel pulling at my mouth.
Cormac clears his throat pointedly. "Perhaps we could focus on the deadly magickal birds and the dying forest?"
Right. The actual threat. I drag my attention back to the situation at hand, though I can't help but enjoy the way Astrid seems to be having an equally difficult time refocusing.
"Are you hurt?" I ask.
She shakes her head, then glances at her unconscious rookies. "You didn't have to hit them that hard," she says, but there's no real accusation in her tone—just the practical assessment of someone accustomed to evaluating tactical decisions.
"I did," I counter. "If they'd stayed conscious, the harbingers would have killed them for sure.”
“So you didn’t know that would save them?”
I shake my head. “I hoped.”
“These aren’t ordinary creatures, Miss Mathieson. When left alone, they are scavengers to magickal death, but when provoked they’re vicious killers."
She studies Cormac for a long moment, her expression unreadable. "How did you know I would be here?"
"I have sources, Miss Mathieson."
Her eyebrows lift slightly. "More brownies?"
Cormac grins. “No ma’am. Something a bit bigger.”
“I see.” She glances around Cormac at her fallen teammates. “They’re okay, though?”
“Just unconscious. I can hear their heartbeats from here,” I assure her.
Astrid nods and walks to them anyway. She crouches beside Sutter, checking his pulse. "He's going to have one hell of a headache." She moves to Mendez, performing the same check. "Do you know who caused this?"
"Yes, do you?”
She shakes her head. “These pop up several times a year, actually. But I’ve never seen those birds before.”
“It’s a magickal birth. The mother was obviously trying to get out into the forest away from people. The hunters were likely accidental casualties.”
"It's a magickal birth? What do you mean?" Astrid asks, her brow furrowed with confusion.
I step closer, keeping my voice low even though the rookies are still unconscious. "Earth's magick is tainted," I explain, gesturing to the dead forest surrounding us. "It's why when something here uses magick, it drains lifeforce from other things."
"Magick harms things, I know," Astrid murmurs, touching a blackened branch that crumbles under her fingers.
I nod. "That is not so elsewhere, only on Earth. The World Tree's connection from this planet was severed, at least partially." I watch her expression carefully as I continue. "At least that's what we think happened. We don’t know for sure what changed the magick."
Astrid looks up at me, her eyes narrowed. "Wait, world what? This planet? What the hell are you talking about?"
"There's a lot you don't know, Astrid. A lot." I can't help but smile as I watch her process this information. Her confusion both amuses and endears her to me. The furrow between her brows, the slight tilt of her head as she's piecing together fragments of a puzzle without knowing what the finished picture should look like.
“We need to go, they’re starting to wake.” Cormac touches my arm and pulls me back inside his glamor.
"Wait." Her hand catches my arm before I'm fully behind the veil, and the contact sends a jolt of electricity up my spine. The magick beneath my skin surges toward her contact point like water finding its level, humming with recognition and pleasure. My wolf rumbles in satisfaction, fighting against my self-control to keep from pulling her closer. "You know more than you're telling me."
