Caroline reached forward, smoothing down Peter's collar. "If you can take this form, that means the other was an illusion. Do you get your kicks pretending to be a child?"
Peter no longer looked infatuated. His face had gone blank and hard, her words hitting what I knew was a sore spot for him. The arrogance was gone as he finally watched Caroline with the respect a predator like her deserved.
"Caroline," I warned.
Caroline ignored me, saying in a sweet voice. "I do thank you for helping me." Her eyes hardened. "But you didn't save me. Aileen did."
I gaped at her. That was what set her off?
No, my long history with her told me there was more. There was a banked rage vibrating through her body.
"She never would have found you if not for me," Peter said.
His stubborn insistence proved Peter might be an uber powerful sorcerer feared by most of the spook community, but apparently, he wasn't smart enough not to anger the demon-tainted wolf wanting to rip him limb from limb.
Caroline's gaze had gone wintry. "That's right. I remember." She took a step closer to Peter, peering up at him from beneath her eyelashes. "But you see, I have something of an idea about what goes into making a spell like that."
Caution finally entered Peter's expression.
About damn time.
"You hurt my friend," Caroline said, her voice deepening until I could hear the wolf in it.
Peter's gaze dropped to where her hand had fisted in the material of his coat. To my magic sight, Caroline's wolf was a pale, ghostly overlay on top of her figure.
I swirled the wine around the glass, considering my options. As amusing as it was to contemplate Caroline teaching Peter a lesson, I knew it would only result in disaster. Peter wasn't a weakling, nor were our hosts likely to allow such violence against another guest.
That left me in the role of peacemaker—again.
"Enough, Caroline." I sank a wealth of authority into my tone. "He was only doing what I asked him to."
It wasn't his fault I hadn't realized the cost.
When she didn't move, I said softly, "I would have sacrificed anything."
Peter's expression flickered, an emotion chasing across his face before it was gone.
Caroline unclenched her fist from his coat, stepping back with an audible inhale. "You always were the kinder one of us."
I arched an eyebrow. Where did she draw that conclusion from? Didn't she remember who replaced Ms. Thurber's markers and pens with quills and ink because I didn't like how she talked to her student's?
Caroline's expression was wry. "And you never saw it that way either. Perhaps that's why we're friends."
She sauntered toward her packmates. Over her head, Brax's gaze lingered on me. He dipped his chin in a nod before turning back to the Fae he'd been talking to.
"Spooks are so weird," I muttered. Even spooks who were my childhood friend.
"We're not human. You can't measure us by their standards." The sorcerer paused, looking like he was struggling to say something.
I waited.
In the end, he shook his head. "Why did you lie?"
"I didn't lie. Everything I said was the truth."
"You didn't know," he said.
My expression was thoughtful. "No, but even if I had, I would have made the same decision."
