"We should talk," he said. "About the land."
Chloe's brow furrowed. "Now?"
"I had some thoughts. Last night, when I was patrolling." He was grasping for anything, any distraction from the roaring in his blood. "About druids."
She went still. "What about them?"
"You said you can't control your gift. That you don't fully understand it." He forced himself to meet her eyes, to keep his voice steady. "Is it possible for a druid to affect the land without knowing? Accidentally?"
The warmth drained from her face. "You said you didn't think I was causing this."
"I don't. I'm just trying to understand how it works."
"I don't know how it works." Her voice had gone flat. "That's what I've been telling everyone. I can feel things, but I can't explain them. And I definitely can't poison soil across half an orchard without noticing."
"I know."
"Do you?"
He was making this worse. Every word coming out of his mouth was wrong, too distant, too clinical. But he couldn't seem to stop. If he let himself soften, let himself lean into the pull that was screaming through every nerve, he'd do something he couldn't take back.
"Chloe." He took a breath. "I believe you. I'm just trying to rule out possibilities."
She studied him for a long moment, her expression guarded in a way it hadn't been before. Then she nodded, a short jerky movement.
"It's getting late. I should go."
"The roads might be bad."
"I'll be careful."
She was already moving toward her car, her boots crunching through the icy slush. Corin watched her go, unable to do anything else.
He'd hurt her. He could see it in the stiff set of her shoulders, the way she didn't look back. She thought he was accusing her. Thought his questions meant he'd changed his mind about her innocence and right after touching her.
He should correct it. Should call out to her, explain that his distance had so little to do with suspicion and everything to do with the fact that he'd just discovered she was his mate and had no idea how to handle it.
He should, but he didn’t.
Her car started, headlights cutting through the falling snow. She pulled out of the drive without a wave, and then she was gone.
Corin stood in the cold until he couldn't feel his fingers anymore. He was in shock of how badly he had reacted to this knowledge and now, right after Chloe trusted him enough to share her own pain, he had passively sounded as if he was accusing her.
He had to move. He had to figure out damage control, but first he had to understand this. He went back only to grab his keys, then took off to see Elias.
The Vane workshopwas quiet at this hour, the other cousins long gone for the night. Elias was in the back office, reviewing invoices by the light of a single lamp. He looked up when Corin walked in, took one look at his face, and set the papers aside.
"What happened?"
Corin dropped into the chair across from the desk. For a moment, he couldn't find the words.
"I found my mate."
Elias went very still. "When?"
"Today. About an hour ago."
"Who?"
