Seeing Simon still wearing scraps of clothing and eating a turkey leg makes me smile. He looks both barbaric and adorable at the same time.
“Please, enlighten me,” Cyrus answers.
Simon chews the bite still in his mouth. “Shifting makes me hungry. Sorry.” He burps softly, covering his mouth with his hand. “Pardon me.” I can’t hide the smile he brings. “Lucien Creed is his name.”
“I’ve never heard of him.”
“That’s because he’s in Savannah,” Simon retorts.
“Georgia?” I ask. Simon nods.
“If he’s powerful enough to reverse a spell, I would’ve heard of him,” Cyrus answers.
“Lucien keeps to himself. He’s been around long enough to have been friends with many people of his choosing. He’s strong-willed, stubborn, and kind of an asshole. But, if anyone can reverse the spell, it’s him.”
“How do you know him?” Cyrus asks.
“The pack has used his services a few times over the years. He has a long history of helping lycan.”
“You have nothing to lose,” I add my two cents to the conversation.
Cyrus sighs. “If Aurora knows him, or discovers the fact that we contacted him, it’s not only my life that will be in danger.” He looks into my eyes, and I instantly understand the unspoken words.
The thought of being sold like a piece of meat, especially to someone like Aurora, makes my stomach flip. “I’m willing to risk it.”
“Violet, you don’t know what you’re asking. Aurora tortures humans and vampires like it’s nothing. Dying would be the easy part. If she discovers we’ve approached Lucien, she’ll make your life even more of a hell than you can imagine.”
“Being purchased and used by her would be better?” I retort.
“Yes,” he answers simply. I can tell there’s history behind his response, and I don’t push for more information. Cyrus is standing in front of the main door, leaving Simon and me alone in the garden a heartbeatlater. “You did well, Violet,” he whispers before entering his home.
Simon moves to my side, joining me on the bench. “Lucien is our best option,” he says between bites.
“There’s no one else?”
He shrugs. “Possibly, but Lucien is the only one I know of.”
I turn, facing my lycanthrope sparring partner. “Does it hurt?”
His face wrinkles. “Does what hurt?”
“Shifting. Does it hurt?”
He smiles, showing a mouthful of white teeth. “Not anymore. When I was a kid, yes. It hurt like hell. Now, it just feels like I’m changing clothes.” He shakes his head. “That’s a horrible analogy.”
“No, I get it. What about the full moon?”
Simon’s laugh echoes off the stone. “The moon doesn’t affect my shifting. That’s a lie, fabricated for novels. I can shift whenever needed.”
“I’m sorry I ask a lot of questions,” I admit. “It’s something I do.”
“That’s how you learn. I don’t mind answering them.”
His words encourage me to ask the question I’ve wanted to know since he picked us up at the train station. “Are you and Cyrus friends? When you picked us up, I was under the impression you worked for him.”
The lycanthrope sighs. “I play whatever role Cyrus needs me to play. To answer the question about friendship,you have to know the whole story.” He turns toward me, no doubt hoping that answer will be sufficient.
“I don’t have anywhere to be.”
