“I’m glad you’re all right,” I whispered in her ear.
She glanced up, her beautiful, wide eyes staring up at me. She opened her mouth to say something. Before she could, however, a hush fell among the crowd behind us. My ears pricked as shuffling sounds reached them. Frowning, I turned intime to see the crowd part, and a small group of familiar faces shuffled through to the front.
The elders came to the foot of the oasis. Some of them shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot with sheepish expressions on their faces. Others looked more reluctant than chastened. They gave me a short bow.
“I’m assuming the deed is done?” Dorian asked, his voice tight.
“The wraith managed to get away before I could land the killing blow,” I said. “But it won’t show up here anytime soon. My men and I will start making preparations to better secure the town. We’ll start planning right away.”
Romulus gave a stiff yet approving nod. “Good. Keep up informed.”
The elders stood, still moving from foot to foot, eyes darting toward Emma with obvious discomfort as they glanced between one another, then back to Emma.
“Is there something else you wish to say?” I asked, my voice filled with warning. If they so much as looked at Emma the wrong way right now, I would tear them limb from limb.
Romulus cleared his throat. Dorian stared fixedly in the water, brow knitting together in annoyance. Everyone watched, waiting to see how the elders would handle the next few moments. I did, too. Knowing their next action would help dictate how the rest of the town saw Emma.
“I believe we owe you an apology,” Thaddeus said to Emma as he gave her a low bow. “It seems that we were wrong about you on several levels.”
She raised one eyebrow, one hand stroking Grace’s hair as she leveled her gaze at the elders without saying anythingfor a long moment. The elders shifted uncomfortably. Romulus’s face turned a brilliant shade of red. I had to bite back the smirk that wanted to creep up my face.
“Thank you for the apology,” she finally said, and the elders visibly eased. “I think it’s best if we put all that animosity behind us, don’t you think?”
The barbed edges that came with the question left very little room for interpretation: drop the hostility from here on out, or she’d make their lives hell.
Once again, I had to admire her spirit.
“I believe that is the best for everyone involved,” Romulus responded.
“Good.” Emma stumbled to her feet. “Now, if you don’t mind, I want to go lay down for a month.”
“That will have to wait,” I said, glancing at the crowd, all trying to press in. “Right now, I think you have a bunch of new fans waiting to thank you.”
***
The rest of the night was a bit of a blur. People kept coming up to thank Emma, or me, or both of us. Rachel took Grace home early, but it was several hours until we were finally able to extract ourselves and get to the house.
“Feeling better?” I asked after she had changed clothes.
“Exhausted,” she said. “And in need of a drink.”
“Here, you should rest on the couch,” I said, guiding her over to it.
She glanced up at the stairs. “I should go check on Grace,” she muttered.
“She’s fine,” I said, gently pushing her down until she was sitting on the sofa. “I went ahead and checked on her. She’s out like a light.”
“You did?” she called after me as I dipped back into the kitchen. I returned with a bottle of her favorite wine and two glasses.
“Of course. She’s out like a light.” I filled both glasses nearly to the brim and handed one over to her.
Emma took it, but still glanced up, biting her lip. “She’s always been a restless sleeper.”
I gave a half-laugh as I came to sit next to her. “She’s going to be worn out after everything tonight. I can promise she won’t have any energy to shift.” When she still looked uneasy, I added, “Tomorrow, I’m going to take her out running before I get to work. There are some great places for young wolves to run, and I think she’s going to love it. That way, she’ll get a lot of that energy out of her.”
“You will?” she asked, and I couldn’t read the strange tone that accompanied the two words.
“Of course. If you want, I can also talk to the woman who helps train young wolves. Normally, she only takes kids who are at least nine, but I have a funny feeling she’s going to have an influx of requests for exceptions coming up. And she knows me. Plus, after what you’ve done for the town, I’m sure she’d be happy to take in Grace. It’s an after-school program. I think Grace would like it.”
