“Everything,” she groaned. She squeezed her eyes shut. When they opened again, I had to force myself not to recoil in shock. Instead of the same blue as Elias’s, her eyes were a deep, beautiful amber. Wolf eyes.
Oh, God,I thought, worry for Grace temporarily overcoming my anxiety for Elias.It’s starting.
Grace had complained of transformation pains before, but this was the first time aspects of her wolf had manifested. It always started slow: eyes, claws, and teeth before anything else, and they would quickly revert back to human.
“It’s going to be okay,” I promised. “The pains will pass. For now, why don’t you finish dinner, and I’ll fix you some chocolate ice cream? I’ll even add marshmallows and whipped cream.”
It was her favorite dessert, and it seemed to pierce through some of the pain. When she blinked again, her eyes had shifted back to their normal blue.
“That sounds good,” she muttered.
After she finished eating, I ushered her to the couch, trying to keep my own anxiety to a minimum, not wanting to alarm Grace or Elias through the mating bond. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stifle the nauseating unease swirling in my stomach, telling me that it was only going to get worse from here.
***
I managed to coax Grace to sleep after some time. When I was certain she was out for a good long while, I collapsed on the couch. I hadn’t heard anything from Elias yet, and I hadn’t sensed anything through the bond, either. I tried to tell myselfthat it was okay, and yet that didn’t stop the fear from creeping up.
I closed my eyes, trying to get myself to relax. I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I heard was the door creaking open.
Shooting up, I turned to look at the front door. My heart stopped jackhammering when I saw Elias standing in the doorframe. Scratches and dirt covered his face, but beyond that, he seemed okay. He blinked when he saw me on the couch.
“Did you stay up for me?” he asked.
Heat flushed my cheeks. “I just wanted to make sure you didn’t die,” I said.
His lips quirked upward. “Glad to hear that I at least merit ‘wanting me to live’ status,” he teased.
You merit more than that, I thought, though I couldn’t bring myself to say it. I coughed awkwardly, shuffling a little as I got to my feet.
“How did it go?” I asked.
His lips twitched downward, his eyes narrowing. “We managed to drive it back,” he said. “We can hurt it when it’s in its human—well, humanoid—form, but that’s all. It feels more like we’re an inconvenience to it than an actual threat right now. We haven’t found a way to do permanent damage yet. Until we figure that out, it’s going to keep coming, and it’s probably going to get worse.”
I tried to keep my expression neutral. This was the last thing I needed with Grace’s pre-transformation ramping up in earnest.
He frowned, staring at my face, head tilted. “Are you all right? You have that look you get when your mind is torn between two important things that are bothering you.”
The fact that he knew me well enough to recognize that expression took me by surprise. I hesitated, flip-flopping back and forth on whether to tell him about Grace. He would find out eventually. It wasn’t as though I could keep it from him forever. At the same time, he had enough on his plate tonight. I didn’t want to add one more problem to his pile, at least not after he had skipped dinner to go after a dangerous wraith and didn’t return until nearly midnight.
It could wait until tomorrow. I could give him the night to sleep without that issue pressing on him.
“I’m fine,” I said. “Just tired.”
He scrutinized me, and I had a sinking suspicion he knew I was lying.
Before he could push, I said, “There’s still dinner waiting. Why don’t I heat some up for you? I’d hate for that garlic bread to go to waste.”
A smile lit up his grimy, scraped face.
“I’d like that,” he said.
Chapter 11 - Elias
At first, I didn’t know what had woken me up. Then, I felt an overwhelming panic seeming to cloud everything else, nearly drowning out my thoughts.
Except I could tell the panic wasn’t my own. It was Emma’s.
Panic mixed with confusion and desperation. Something had happened.
