She goddamned well knew Evie was far more than just a florist. But Evie didn’t even stutter. “Florist and Caelan’s fiancée.” A thin smile. “Since you’re still here, I assume you’re taking advantage of Caelan’s hospitality. The Keep really is a wonderful place. I spend lots of my free time here.”
Rachel blinked.
Pride filled me.That’s right. Your mean girl charms don’t work on real women.
I brought Evie in closer, holding her tight to my side. “Dinner is in a few minutes. Can you stay?”
Evie nodded. “We can talk after dinner.” She glanced at Rachel. “In private.”
Two high spots of color appeared on Rachel’s cheeks. Evie smiled and brushed past her, tugging my hand to follow.
And I did. Like a happy little puppy.
Dinner was an awkward affair. Rachel tried to snag the chair closest to me, only to receive a not-so-subtle hip check from Simone. Evie rolled her eyes and sat next to me, twisting the knife by scooting her chair a little closer.
Rachel’s nostrils flared as she took her seat on the opposite side of the table, next to Simone.
“Garrett is coming,” Simone said once we were all situated.
I hid my smile.
“Thalia will be with him,” she added with a twinkle in her eye.
Evie stiffened but relaxed a moment later. Thalia’s relationship to Evie threw a wrench in our relationship due to my keeping Cernunnos’s secret. The Fae King hadn’t wanted Evie to know for whatever reason, but she’d found out and was pissed I hadn’t told her.
We were both right, and we were both wrong. Fortunately, we’d worked it out.
Only for Rachel to abruptly show up out of the blue. I swear, it felt like I couldn’t win these days.
Evie reached over and took my hand under the table. My shoulders dropped from my ears.
We were still okay.
The first two courses were eaten in relative silence, Rachel casting odd glances Evie’s way every so often as if she couldn’t quite figure her out—the same way most people looked at Evie when they first met her. Simone wore an amused expression, but her eyes glittered with ill-concealed violence. She wanted a piece of Rachel, and the other shifter was completely clueless, too vain and entitled to realize she danced on the edge of violence.
Most shifters never attained the level of cluelessness Rachel currently exhibited, given that Packs were often savage and dangerous places if they had the wrong kind of Alpha leading them. If a shifter wanted to survive in a Pack like that, they never let their guard down.
A few still existed in the U.S., but most of the Lords put cruel Alphas down. But even if an Alpha was fair and just, it was never a good idea to get too relaxed. Dominance challenges happened every day.
By not being aware of the danger Simone presented, Rachel was edging toward a violent line. But Evie had no such compunctions. Simone would wait and act with the behavior expected from one of Caelan’s Pack members. Evie would throttle Rachel with a vine the first chance she got.
A smile played upon my lips.
The doors opened then, announcing the presence of my Enforcer. Garrett was leanly muscled, his body a weapon—the better to hunt down our enemies—but his mind was even sharper. Looking at him without knowing him, you might see the scars flecking his hands and arms, the way his eyes never missed a thing, but you might miss the gleam of intelligence in his amber eyes.
And those gleaming eyes had just landed on Rachel and narrowed with suspicion.
Simone must not have told him the reason why she’d summoned him to dinner.
His lips tightened for a brief second before he turned to me and dipped his head in acknowledgment. “Lord.”
“Second.” I gestured to the seat next to me. “Just in time.”
Garrett sat and acknowledged Simone with another nod. When he spotted Evie, his eyes lingered. “Thalia sends her regards. She’s working this evening and cannot attend.”
Rachel hadn’t taken her eyes off Garrett from the moment he walked in the door. “You’ve grown up,” she murmured.
Simone sighed.
