Esther groaned. “Great. It would have to be my bedroom.”
“How is Allegra?” Dylan asked as Saber helped him to stand.
“Gavin is here now,” Esther called. “He thinks he knows what the poison is—something about the scent of it.” She paused. “Allegra is coming around. Gavin has given her an antidote and says she’ll be fine.”
“Thank god,” Dylan muttered, still feeling lightheaded. “The guy was so fast.”
“We’ll figure out who he is and why he wanted Allegra.” Saber pulled out his phone. “We need to get a full description of him to the police.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Isabella said.
Dylan reached for Allegra’s hand, taking in the blood on her clothes and her bruised cheek. Her pale skin was almost translucent, and she winced as she tried to stand. At least she was alive. He had nearly lost her and hated the thought of something happening to her when he’d just found her. He made a quick decision.
Whatever the cost, he’d protect her.
Dylan helped her to bed, and once she’d settled and closed her eyes, he pulled out his phone to call Rory, his boss. No way in hell was she returning to Val-des-Loups without him.
Every part of her body ached, even now. Hours later. Tired of lying in bed, she struggled into a dressing gown and trudged down the hall to the kitchen, where she’d heard Dylan and Esther talking in low voices.
Esther spotted her first. “What are you doing out of bed? Gavin told you to rest and give yourself time to heal.”
“I’m fine. Just a little tired, and if I let myself snooze now, I won’t sleep tonight. Have we learned anything more?”
“Isabella has,” Dylan told her. “The man was a werewolf hunter, and his name was Leopold Adler. According to Isabella, Leopold has two sons. Johannes and Matthias have hundreds of kills between them. Isabella mentioned she has met Matthias and believes every word of his reputation.”
“Oh. I thought werewolf killers were fictional.” Her laugh sounded forced even to her. “Shows my inexperience.”
“Dylan and I haven’t heard of killers specific to werewolves, and we’re wolves the same as you.” Esther poured a mug of tea and shunted it toward Allegra. “I’ll make you a sandwich. We’re having dinner at the café if you’re up to it.”
Allegra felt the weight of Dylan’s attention and turned his way. He was blaming himself.
“Stop,” she ordered, subconsciously threading a note of steel in her voice. Once she realized this, she huffed out a breath. “Sorry. I must’ve absorbed more of my mother than I realized. But the sentiment is the same. This man—Leopold Adler—arrived in Middlemarch because of me. None of what has happened is your fault.”
“But—”
“I mean it,” Allegra said. “If anyone is to blame, it’s me who brought trouble to Middlemarch. I’ve been thinking about what to do next, and it’s clear that I need to head home immediately.”
“But you’d decided to do that anyway,” Esther said.
“That’s true, but I didn’t know about the werewolf hunters or the power the runes gave me over Val-des-Loups. I owe it to my people to rid the city and the kingdom of corruption. And that’s my goal.”
9
The private plane soared through the sky, nothing but blue ahead and puffy white clouds below. Isabella had pulled strings to make it possible, and their flight was much faster and smoother than Allegra’s escape from the kingdom mere days ago. She studied the flashes of green forest, visible between the clouds, as the plane descended toward Val-des-Loups. Not long until they landed now.
Isabella’s contact hadn’t discovered anything more about Allegra’s runes. However, Allegra was confident she’d learned enough to get by.
She stood, and when Dylan looked askance, she gestured at her baggy track pants and a casual T-shirt. “I’ll do a quick change before we land. The council members are snobs and won’t take me seriously in these clothes. According to Gabriel, appearances are everything.”
Allegra had chosen her borrowed outfit with the utmost care, an ensemble of power and sophistication. The deep papaya suit fit her body like a glove, and she arranged her dark hair into a simple knot that complemented her blue eyes.
She tucked the runes into an inside jacket pocket. The black symbols fascinated and intrigued her, and a sense of peace and power filled her every time she was near them. Esther had made her a soft pouch to safely hold the symbols and prevent them from clacking together.
Right now, she recognized the strength from within, but doubt lingered in her mind. This was the moment when she either rose to the top or crumbled under pressure. Would she be able to make the council members answer her questions?
Yes!
This time, she would not skulk. She would demand information.
