“You’re afraid of something. If it’s not the swans, what is it?”
Moira started to giggle and slapped her hands over her mouth, but she couldn’t stop. “This is the dumbest conversation we’ve ever had,” she wheezed. “Swan shifters? Were the gods high that day?”
I snorted. “It’s not the swans. It’s…” What was it? Worrying about shifters who communicated through honks made me want to scream.
“They know about me,” I finally admitted. “If Gianna knew that means Nadia knows, too. Who else did they tell? Have they shared the info with other shifters, or has it stayed with them? If I retaliate or try to wipe them out and they haven’t told anyone, I’d be shooting myself in the foot. If they have told other people, maybe it’s just a matter of time before they come for me.”
I stared down at the daiquiri. “Why the hell is this so good? What kind of alcohol are they using in this magical drink?”
Moira wiggled her eyebrows. “The witches in town got together a few years ago because everyone was tired of drinking without being able to get tipsy. From what I understand, Hazel met with them when she was here. Looks like they were successful.”
I blinked. “Oh shit.”
“Yeah. Joy Springs is about to get lit!”
She kicked off her shoes and curled up on the couch. “I do my best thinking when I’m buzzed. Now, let’s talk this out. You’re a Chimera. The swans found out after they found you with Finn. May he burn in a fiery pit of awfulness forever. They want tobring more power into their bloodline, which might negate the wings with blades theory, and since Finn is dead, they set their sights on you.” She took another sip of her daiquiri.
“Obviously, you don’t want to be a broodmare, and killing them all, while fun and deserved, is illegal.”
“If they knew it was me.”
Moira gasped. Her eyes lit up. “Now we’re cooking! If they didn’t tell anyone else, which is likely considering they want your power for their own, we could find out where their Keep is and take them all out.”
Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe it was the fear. Maybe it was the bone-deep exhaustion. Whatever it was, swan mass murder was sounding better and better.
“They only have one Keep in the entire world,” Moira said. “A good indicator of fertility issues or an iron-fisted control on breeding within the race. Since we have proof it’s fertility, there’s a good chance they don’t have any secret populations of swans who might swear a blood oath and take out your entire genetic line once those left behind grow to adulthood.”
A hoarse laugh bubbled from my throat.
“I’m serious.” Moira took a sloppy sip from her cup. “Blood oaths are serious things.”
“Let’s assume there are no future warrior swans with a vendetta in our future.”
“Okay. Good. The only thing is, swans can fly, and they’re bound to do routine sky sweeps around the Keep. How do we take out their entire Pack without alerting those in the sky?”
“At night?”
“Easier to sneak in, but swans fly at night.”
“Snipers?” It was a joke, but Moira was super into planning the total annihilation of all swan kind.
She snapped her fingers. “Excellent. Think we can get Garrett to do it?”
I hadn’t told her my theory about Caelan yet. My long pause clued her in.
“Evie?”
“We can’t ask Garrett because I don’t want to ask Caelan. Plus, we can’t involve them in something like this. Too complicated politically.”
She tilted her head, her eyes narrowing. “You never cared about politics before. What happened?”
I looked at my empty cup and sighed. “Maybe we should have gotten two more of these.”
“What. Is. It.”
Before I could say a word, I started to cry.
Chapter
