"Have you heard anything from Mark?" Nico asked, like everything was business as usual. He couldn't allow Hugh to suspect a thing.
They hadn't mentioned Mark once in front of Elise, he realized, but he wasn't giving anything away by just saying the name.
"Reece is still working on it," was Hugh's reply.
"Good," said Nico. "We're just about done in here. Did you need anything else?"
Hugh shook his head and backed out of the room, letting the door click softly behind him.
Nico waited for several seconds to give Hugh time to clear the hallway. Then he dragged Elise's wrist with more than a little force and dragged her out of Cole's room, down the hall and into his own.
It was a mistake.
It still smelled like sex, though the scent had dissipated a little over the last hour. Had it only been an hour since he feasted on her like there was no tomorrow? Could his world change that much in such a small amount of time?
Nico flipped the lock on his door, as if that might do anything. It was just a flimsy interior door lock, not made to fight shifter strength or keep anyone out who was really determined to get in. It was an extra sign that he wanted privacy.
If he was being completely honest, it was mostly for Elise's benefit to remind her that she was not leaving without his permission.
He was an ass and an idiot.
"You lied to me," he said. He couldn't get over it. Anger rode him hard, and it was taking all of his crumbling self-control not to back her up against the wall and demandwhy.
She had been lying to him this whole time, lying while she wore his clothes and while she let him feed her breakfast. While he took her on a walk in the woods and while she slept next to him every night.
Lying to him while she laid back and let him give her pleasure.
"I didn't lie," Elise protested. She glared at him defiantly, her arms crossed and bunching up the fabric of her shirt. Ofhisshirt. "You never asked if I was a witch."
And there that word was, no denying it now, no pretending that he hadn't sensed what he'd sensed, that he hadn't seen what he'd seen.
The fear that rose in Nico threatened to destroy him. "Do you understand what's going to happen to you if the others find out?"
Elise let out a disbelieving laugh. "Are youseriouslyasking me that? I've been spending the better part of a week thinking about nothing else. You've got to be freaking kidding me."
"I've been harboring a witch," he said, more to himself. "You've been sleeping in my bed."
She threw her hands up. "You didn't give me another choice," she said. "I very specifically asked for a different room that first night. This," she gestured to the room around them, "isnotmy fault. Donotput that on me." Her voice was getting louder, but she pulled it back and narrowed her eyes. "Just how good is your hearing?" she asked.
It was such a simple question, and one she wouldn't have dared ask earlier. "Don't yell and we won't be overheard," he warned. How had she fooled him for so long? "Why were you asking about the cult? If you knew this whole time, why make something up?"
She stared at him like he'd grown a second head. "You thought I was human, and a human would be asking questions at this point."
"So you were lying," he said.
Elise rubbed her fingers against her temple and squeezed her eyes shut. "I was trying to survive. Jesus Christ, Nico.”
"I can't believe you."
"You can't believe me?" she spat. "You kidnapped me from my place of work. It isn't my fault that you couldn't tell that I was a witch. It's not my fault that you couldn't tell Iwasn'ta veterinarian."
"You're not a veterinarian?" he asked. In the time since he'd discovered her secret, he hadn't considered that possibility.
"Oh my god." She tilted her head back and closed her eyes. Her jaw clenched as she exposed her throat. She couldn't know what that was doing to him, to his wolf. She took two deep breaths. "No, Nico. I'm not a veterinarian. I work as an admin at the Wildlife Rehab. I'm also a healer. I snuck into the zoo that night to heal one of the foxes. It was in bad shape, and I wanted to help."
"You were wearing scrubs," he said helplessly.
"You know they don't ask for any sort of medical ID when you go and buy scrubs, right?" she asked.
