Mom snorted. “Morals are a human construct.”
“Yes, and I live in the human world.”
“Exactly,” Mom said, allowing me to tug her out of the restaurant.
We both pretended not to see the gaping hole in the restaurant wall where Mom had tossed Rachel through.
So much for not causing a scene
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
CAELAN
The light hurt my eyes. Pinpricks of pain pulsed at my temples. Simone was saying something to me, but I couldn’t make out the words.
Seymour sat in my lap, rubbing his traps against my chest. He was making those odd sounds again, but this time he sounded…worried? I sat up straighter, wincing at the goddamn light. Had someone changed the bulbs?
“What?” I asked her again.
Simone and Garrett exchanged a look. She reached out and touched my forehead with the back of her hand.
“No fever,” she murmured.
I swatted her hand away. “Of course I don’t have a fever. I’m a shifter.”
Garrett perched on the edge of my desk and stared at me. “Do you remember tonight?”
My lips tightened. Why was everyone questioning me lately? “Of course, I remember tonight,” I snapped. “I came into the office and did some paperwork and then I…”
What had I done? I closed my eyes and pressed my fingertips to my temple. Why was my head pounding?
“You don’t remember going out to eat? To Santino’s?”
I jerked my attention to Simone. “Santino’s? Evie wanted to go there.” Why couldn’t I remember?
Simone nodded, a strange look passing over her face. Anger, if I had to guess. But she’d never looked at me with that kind of quiet rage before. “You’re right. She did want to go. You were supposed to take her when things calmed down.”
I frowned. “I didn’t take her?”
“I’m afraid not,” Garrett answered.
I slashed my hand in the air. “Cut out the cryptic shit. Why did I go to Santino’s if I wasn’t with Evie?”
Another look between Garrett and Simone. “You went with Rachel.”
I recoiled. “Rachel? Why would I go with her?”
“That’s what we’re wondering, too,” Simone said. “You’ve been a little different lately.”
I scoffed. “Different how?”
“Well, for one, you took Rachel out to the restaurant Evie has been begging to go to for weeks now.”
My heart lurched. “It must have been a business dinner.” But that didn’t sound right. I had no meetings on the books today.
Simone slowly shook her head. “No. You were alone with Rachel.”
