"As interesting as this is, perhaps you can postpone your conversation until later," Caden said, from several feet away where he waited next to the man he’d caught. "We have more important things to discuss with our visitor."
Eva gritted her teeth, knowing he was right. "This isn't over. We're going to have words about this later."
Even in the dark, she caught Sebastian's arrogant expression.
She ignored him, focusing on the man at Caden's feet, a shadow against the darker night. The moon was high, the sky cloudless.
"What do you want to do with him?" Eva asked with a bravado she didn't necessarily feel.
Caden was the expert in these types of situations. She imagined he had a lot of experience at interrogating prisoners. It made sense to follow his lead.
"First, we ask him who he is and what he wants," Caden said, crouching down in front of the prisoner.
The man spat at Caden. The commander didn't move, didn't shift, but Eva sensed the menace rolling off him. It was a riptide threatening to drag a person into the deep. Not something you wanted to mess with. She was glad she wasn't the one facing him right now.
"And if he doesn't answer, I have ways of getting it out of him," Caden said, pleasure in his voice.
Eva shivered at this aspect of Caden. A side of him she knew only his enemies saw. Necessary as it might be, it still managed to strike fear into the heart of her. She almost pitied the poor bastard who'd been hunting them.
CHAPTER TWELVE
"You should go," Cadensaid, his voice quiet and gentle in the darkness. "You won't want to see this next part."
Eva hesitated, tempted to listen. She had enough nightmares. Did she really want to add to them?
A glance at Sebastian stopped her. He stood ramrod still, not even his tail twitching as he breathed hard, staring at the man on the ground. A pinprick of the faintest red flared deep in his eyes. Shivers snaked down her back at the grim reminder that humans were far from the top of the food chain up here.
"I'll stay," Eva finally said. "I have a feeling these men had something to do with Sebastian's wounds when I found him. It's important to know all I can."
"Eva, go. I'll tell you everything you need to know later," Caden urged. There was only kindness in his words.
She shook her head, knowing he couldn't see her.
"I may be just a Lowlander, weak in your eyes, but I can do this. I can hear what he has to say and bear witness." It might not be much, but it was all she had to give.
She wasn't a warrior. That didn't matter. Each person had their own skills and could contribute in some way.
