She squealed. “Tell me everything.”
I told her about Locke’s party and how Severn was intoxicated and in the throes of lust, but then how vicious he’d been with the werewolf prisoner and how cutting his insults were to me.
She wrinkled his nose. “Typical fae. Assholes.”
“I mean, clearly, it can’t happen again. He said so, too. Especially not after what happened with Professor Decker. I swore I’d never fall for a guy in power.”
Zara dropped her voice. “Is this really about that professor? Or are you afraid of something else?”
“Something other than a sadistic torturer? Whose home is regularly attacked by demon hordes? Isn’t that enough?”
“I think you like him,” she observed.
I scowled, but my heart was thumping again. Leave it to Zara to read the truth behind what I was saying. I glanced at the cottage, knowing I should get back to Henry and May. At last, I admitted, “There’s an attraction there. I can’t deny it. I mean,lookat him. But I resent him as much as I crave him.”
She tapped a finger on her bottom lip. “Sounds like you need to bang him and get it out of your system.”
“He’s my boss!”
She made a dismissive sound and then leaned closer. “Hey, what did you mean, an attack on his home? Did something happen to Wilde Tower?”
I told her about the demonic attack and the red cloud and how no humans in the city even seemed to notice. Even as a witch, she hadn’t been aware of the attack.
“And they don’t think Black Ember is behind it?” she asked.
“They did at first but not anymore.”
“Well, that’s good. Black Ember is…” She shuddered. “He’s terrifying. He’s regent of the Sun Court in Los Angeles. I saw him once while I was out there. He was at an expensive restaurant with two fae women. He stared at me like he could see into my soul. Like he knew I was a witch and knew that I was in his realm. He’s got a reputation for excess. Most fae courts lay low and manipulate the human world behind the scenes. Not Black Ember. He hates hiding. He’s known in LA as a magician, like, an entertainer. But it’s because he doesn’t want to hide his spells. So who does Severn think attacked the tower if it wasn’t Black Ember?”
“Someone affiliated with werewolves.”
“Hmm. I don’t know why a werewolf would attack. Especially an organized attack like that. It doesn’t sound like their ways. Unless…” She trailed off, chewing on one lip. At my prompting, she said, “Have you heard of the Werewolf King?”
“No. Severn says there is no central shifter leader.”
“There hasn’t ever been, but I’ve heard rumors in LA of someone who is trying to organize the werewolf packs. I’ll ask around here. A lot of these people know things.”
A howl suddenly rang out in the night. I gasped. “Did you hear that?”
“Of course I heard that.” She started paddling to shore. “That wasn’tyourpuppy, that’s for sure.”
I gasped. “Henry. May. I’ve got to check on them.” I splashed off the raft and through the surf, waving back to Zara. I ran up onto the porch with my dripping feet but paused at the sliding door.
I’d closed it, hadn’t I? It was open now.
I ran in, breathing hard. Had someone come in? Where was Puck? I threw open May’s door and relaxed. She was there, asleep, snoring into her pillow. I checked the door across the hall, and Henry was fast asleep, too, with Puck curled up at his feet.
Pressing a hand to my chest in relief, I started back upstairs but froze. The sliding door was closed again. I swore I saw a ripple of movement on the other side, a glimpse of someone tall and lithe with long black hair.
ChapterSeventeen
“Is this seat taken?”
It was evening on the following day. I looked up from my sketchbook at a guy a little older than me in swim trunks, with a tanned and toned chest and adorable dimpled smile. I sat up from my pool chair, moving aside the towel I’d put in the one next to me.
“I was saving it for the kids I’m watching, but they’re swimming now. You’re welcome to it.” I motioned to Henry and May, who were playing Marco Polo with some of the other kids in the pool.
The cute guy sat next to me. I couldn’t help but glance at him curiously; he wasn’t fae or werewolf, so I assumed he was another human employee like me. “So, who do you work for?” I asked.
