“Not yet. Help them get to their vehicle, then the three of you come back.”
The women, still unsteady, needed the help. They objected to being carried, so it was a slow-paced group that left.
A few minutes after the sounds of them speaking had faded, Reynard froze and whirled around. "Come out," he said in a voice that while it was normal volume, somehow filled the clearing and beyond. "Now." I could feel the power in his tone wash over me. Like pure magic.
"Finally. He doesn’t like invoking his power over us," Carissa explained. For such a grump she was being very helpful. Maybe I was winning her over, or maybe she just wanted to make sure I didn’t ask any stupid questions.
"Good to know," I replied under my breath.
Two figures stepped out of the shadows as I watched with wide eyes.
"Thomas and Carrigan, come forward." The same weight was in Reynard's voice that had been there before. They walked forward in a way that, if they'd been shifted and had tails, they would've been tucked between their legs.
Reynard stepped in front of them and crossed his arms. "You kidnapped two people under my protection." His gaze was icy. "I'm sure you know the consequences. You will tell me why you’ve allied with our enemies."
The men bowed their heads. The one he’d called Thomas said, “I love her. The alchemist told me if she drank this, she’d love me back.”
The other added, “They said that you were going to force us to take humans as our mates.”
The long silence was so cold I expected to see frost on the ground. It was strange, too; I didn’t get the impression shifters wanted other shifter’s mates. Unless they’d been primed for this by a love potion like the one Cassie’s husband used?
"You'll pay a hefty fine to them for this assault," Reynard said. "And you'll be leaving this territory after you’ve been educated on the modern concepts of consent and the general idiocy of uncritically accepting the help of your enemies. Idiots."
The two men nodded forlornly.
Reynard’s eyes narrowed. "For the crime of working with the alchemists, you'll be debriefed by Halo." Interesting. He used her nickname. Maybe that was like her tough-girl name.
I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. Sure enough, she seemed taller, more imposing. Even less approachable than Reynard right now if that was possible. I shivered and looked away.
"After your debriefing, if you don’t give an extremely good reason not to be, you'll be banished back to Dream."
"No," one of the men gasped. "Please, not that."
"I have no sympathy for anyone who works with those evil magicians. Make your arguments to Halo. If you’re honest, she might show more mercy than I will." Reynard nodded once to Halo-slash-Carissa.
Her expression wouldn’t have given me any hope of mercy. She noddedherhead toward the other wolves in the clearing. Thomas and Carrigan were quickly taken away.
She paused as she followed. “I’ll call after I have the information.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I said, trying to be fair even though they’d been thugs, “If they’d been fed a love potion…”
“Good point. I’ll consider it as a mitigating factor.” His voice still held the magic overtones.
Finally, we were alone in the woods.
Holy crap. That had been hot
9
REYNARD
"Come on."Cathy grabbed my hand and pulled me through the woods, toward the car, nearly as fast as we'd run here.
"What's going on?" I asked, trying to get her to slow down. I’d noticed her troubles earlier, and the last thing I wanted for her was a broken ankle or to have a briar whip across her face or eyes. Even when I wasn’t in my fox form, I was still more aware of the forest than most, and even I had been struggling not to make a fool of myself.
She stopped and pulled me to her chest, smashing her lips into mine.
"Turns out I really,reallyliked seeing you go all alpha male," she said into my mouth.
