“I don’thatehim. I just don’t care for him.”
“Sure. Do pigs fly, too?”
Muzo butted in. “They can, if you put a pig shifter on a plane!”
Alaric let out a theatrical sigh. “Why do I even bother?”
“The concept of a flying pig is scary,” Poppy murmured, rubbing his arm. “That boar we hunted in season one was terrifying enough...”
“Oh, for gods’ sake,” Alaric snapped. “You’re a wolf. Don’t you have any pride?”
Poppy meekly disappeared behind Muzo’s shoulder, avoiding the question.
“Hey, pride doesn’t mean squat if you’re dead,” Muzo pointed out. “Don’t try to tell me that boar didn’t freak you out, too, Alaric. All your fur wentpoofduring that hunt.”
Alaric narrowed his eyes. “That was a different situation.”
It was too early in the morning for this tension. I swooped into the conversation to save all three of them.
“Thystle spoke to me about the challenges,” I said. “There shouldn’t be any dangerous ones from now on.” Alaric’s pencil-thin brow arched sharply. “When did he speak to you? Nobody saw him yesterday.”
Shit. In my effort to dissolve the conflict, I’d dug myself into a hole.
“After the challenge ended, we went back to our rooms. So, where wereyou?” Alaric accused.
His odd eyes sharpened into daggers of blue and green. I understood now why Taylor often clashed with him. Being on the receiving end of Alaric’s ire wasn’t pleasant. But I wasn’t as eager to fight back as Taylor. I avoided conflict between friends, but more than anything, I loathed being the source of it. I’d had enough of that for one lifetime.
My instinct to keep the peace warred with my desire to keep my rendezvous with Thystle a secret. Would Alaric understand if I told him the truth—or would he turn on me, just like all the others?
“Why, he was with me!” Talon declared. The other eagle shifter appeared out of nowhere, throwing a friendly arm around me and flashing Alaric a million-dollar grin.
Both of Alaric’s brows disappeared beneath his bangs. “He was?”
I swallowed a groan. What the hell was Talon doing? If he was trying to save me, his timing was abysmal. Barely five minutes had passed since I’d spoken to Alaric about my dislike of the man.
“Of course. After the challenge, Thystle pulled us feathered folk aside for a little chat,” Talon proclaimed, then winked. “Consider it a little after party between the winner and the runner up.”
Alaric glanced back and forth at the two of us, unsure of who to believe. I didn’t blame him. I thought I was a decent liar, but Talon was like a boasting politician. If I shattered Talon’s lie, we’d both look bad. Maybe I owed it to Talon to play along. I didn’t know why he did it, but hedidsave me from an uncomfortable conversation.
“That’s right,” I said. It came easily because it wasn’t a total lie—Ihadspoken to Thystle after the challenge, just under different circumstances than Talon’s story.
“I see,” Alaric replied, his expression unreadable.
Talon clicked his tongue. “Ah! I forgot my drink by the table. Come on, Matteo.”
There was no room in his statement for disagreement. I waved a quick goodbye to my friends before Talon whisked me to the opposite end of the lobby and hid us behind a pillar. There was no drink on any table.
“So, my feathered companion, let’s trade,” Talon began, still wearing that blindingly white grin. “I saved you from a sticky situation. Now you owe me.”
Of course there was a catch. Not that I was surprised.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“Information. What did Thystle tell you about the next challenges?”
I shrugged. “If you want specifics, you’re out of luck. All I know is that he wants them tailored towards his interests.”
Talon nodded. “Those bands he likes.”
