I slumped into the back of the couch. “Then we’re back at square one.”
Connor patted my shoulder and rose. “To answer your earlier question, I had no need for blood when I was a stag since I was in what is considered a magical state. My normal needs were repressed.”
I had a brief image of Connor, his snout dripping with the blood of forest animals, before I shook it away. “What happened when you returned to your true form?”
There was a brief glimpse of something dark in Connor’s face before his features smoothed into calm lines. “There is a reason I didn’t appear before you for several weeks.”
I was quiet, noting the brittle way he was holding himself.
“You’re not going to ask?” Connor asked with a sharpness he usually reserved for other people. Not me.
“Do you want me to?” I asked carefully.
His face went blank.
I sighed, wishing I hadn’t brought the subject up if it was going to have this effect on him.
“I’m not going to abandon you, Connor,” I promised him.
It was what he was afraid of, I knew. That I would walk away, leaving him alone.
“Is this part of that battle buddy thing,” he asked, no longer as hostile as he’d been a few moments ago.
“You could say that,” I agreed. “I don’t walk away from you. You don’t walk away from me. We always talk things out and have each other’s back.”
Connor’s thoughts were hard to read as he observed me. After a long moment, his lips twitched upward. “You needn’t worry, Aileen. Liam and Thomas were there to monitor me. They ensured no lives were lost.”
I released the breath I was holding, relieved. Despite my big words, I was glad Connor didn’t have the added trauma of taking a life while not in full control of himself.
He rose from the couch and started toward the front door.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“I thought it best to do a perimeter check. Even though I don’t think we were followed, I want to be sure no one is out there watching us.”
I popped up to standing. “Want company?”
“I would never say no to an offer like that, but do you think you can keep up?”
I grinned and started toward him. “I did it before in far worse circumstances, didn’t I?”
seven
Myconfidenceinmyabilities was sadly premature.
Hours later, I dragged my exhausted body through the front door just as the dawn’s rays stretched their fingers across the sky.
Apparently, Connor’s stag form was incomparable to his human shape. He’d run me ragged as we traipsed back and forth over the property and the surrounding areas.
I was pretty certain he was running literal circles around me at one point. But that might have been a product of my oxygen deprived brain.
As it was, I could barely keep my eyes opened as I struggled up to the second floor.
Connor caught my shoulders as I listed to the side, guiding me away from the wall I’d nearly crashed headfirst into. “Your room is at the very end.”
A mumbled thanks was my only response as I staggered in that direction, too tired to point out that we hadn’t chosen rooms yet.
At this point, I didn’t even care about finding a bed. Any horizontal surface would do. A vertical one if that wasn’t available.
