When I shifted to my fae form, my clothes stayed on. When I used my chimera magic to fuel a shift, bye bye clothing. No rhyme or reason to it, but I made sure I either shifted in the nude or didn’t care about what I was wearing. Tonight was a little different. We were in Montana in December, and it was colder than a mofo out here.
Using my wren form was advantageous for spying, but I could keep my clothes on when I did. The thought of being naked out here sent a shudder down my spine.
“Ethan is in there,” I said. “Someone or something has him tied up.”
Caelan’s eyes flashed gold. Seconds later, he shifted, reaching for the bag that had fallen from around his neck. “He’s not trying to get away?”
I’d thought of that, too. “No. I’m not sure if someone is using magic to keep him in the chair or if he’s too afraid to try to escape, but we need to decide what we’re going to do.”
Caelan’s teeth flashed in the dark. “You think we should leave him there?”
My first instinct was to say yes. The asshole had damn near gotten me killed a few months ago.
Caelan’s wicked chuckle made me grin. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“How bad would it be if we did leave him there?”
Caelan shrugged. “We’re already down an extra Lord without Donovan. No one has moved to replace him yet. Ben is brand new. If Ethan gets taken out, it could signal a breakdown in leadership.”
“Which means someone might step in and try to start some trouble?” I finished.
“Exactly. I won’t say no if you want to leave. No one knows we’re here, so no one will know we saw him.”
I sighed. “Dammit.”
Caelan dressed quickly, but the clothing he had was not suitable for the weather. Wolves were naturally resistant to the cold, shifters even more so, but we lived in Texas, and the cold there was not the bone-deep chill of a Montana winter.
I chewed on the edge of my thumb. “Will he owe us a favor if we help him?”
Caelan glanced at me with surprise. “The time in that cursed tree has changed you, Evangeline.”
Not a hint of disapproval in his tone. The opposite, in fact.
“The only Lords who gave a shit about me disappearing were you and Rowan. The rest can go fuck themselves.”
He snagged me with an arm and pulled me into an embrace. “Don’t count Thorvin out so fast. He has grieved from the moment you went in.”
I stilled. “He doesn’t even know me.”
“Doesn’t mean he wanted to do you harm.” He pressed a kiss to my temple and pulled away. “Thorvin is a complicated individual.”
“If you say so,” I grumbled, glancing over at the house. “Think he’s dead yet?”
Caelan snorted. “It’s hard to kill one of us. If you’d like, we can time it.”
I snickered. “Let’s go save Ethan’s sorry ass.”
Chapter
Two
Ifollowed Caelan’s lead, staying low to the ground and hidden in the shadows. When we reached the patio, Caelan gestured for me to stay around the corner. I hunkered down at the edge of the house, hands buried deep in my coat pockets.
It didn’t take him long to return. “I can’t see who has him.”
“But he’s still alive.”
Caelan nodded. “Unfortunately.”
