“What did she say?” Iwhispered.
“She called us her little Creeks,” Sarahmuttered.
Cassandra gestured behind her. “I’ve come barin’ agift.”
Two men with bulging muscles entered the room, hefting a stretcher. On top rested Julian’s naked body. No sheet covered it. No blood or dirt either. The Creeks had cleaned him up and sewed his thorax shut with thick black thread. Considering how waxen his flesh was, I assumed they’d syphoned away his blood. Unless they’d left him in the field until he’d bled outcompletely.
Gasps thundered through the crowd, and then a jarring sob ripped across the room, louder than all thegasps.
“Justin urged me to return your fallen Alpha. So here I am, returning’ him. Consider it a peaceofferin’.”
The men behind her crouched, depositing the stretcher beside the framed picture; then they backed up and remained standing shoulder to shoulder by the frontdoor.
A raucous voice swam through the bewildered crowd. “Cover. Cover,” it said, and then heels clicked on the stone stairs as a gray-haired woman tottered up to the landing. She vanished through a small door, before returning with an armful of lavender hand towels monogrammed with golden Ps. Complexion almost as pallid as her dead Alpha’s, she kneeled and gently covered him, strip by cottonystrip.
Once Julian was mummified in terrycloth, Casandra started down the stairs. “Aidan said Boulders weren’t empathetic, but I see my cousin was wrong. I thank you”—she inclined her head toward us—“for showin’ my people suchkindness.”
“We arenotyour people!” Sarah’s voice pinged against the buffed stonefloors.
Cassandra narrowed her eyes, and Sarah clutched her head, shrinking intoherself.
“You can hear my voice in your head, can you not, Miss Matz?” the Creek Alpha askedpleasantly.
Sarah didn’t say anything, but her spinetautened.
“If you can hear me, then you are mine.” As Cassandra strolled through the room, shadows played across her features, staining her eyes. “Just as I am yours.” She stopped when she reached Sarah’s brother, who’d gathered his shoulder-length blond hair into a ponytail. “You were next in line if I’m notmistaken.”
Robbie nodded cautiously, his hair glinting gold in the dimlighting.
“I’d like you to tell me about your pack so that I may lead it well. Shall we take a walk in thegardens?”
Before he acquiesced, Robbie’s eyes flashed to his sister’s. I moved in front of Sarah as though I could somehow deflect his glance, but Cassandra trailed his line of sight, and although her gaze paused on me, she tilted her face, which told me she hadn’t missed the true object of Robbie’sattention.
Dread pooled in my stomach. Robbie probably hadn’t considered the repercussion of looking his sister’s way, but I did, and I didn’t like it one bit, the same way I didn’t like that he’d left the Sillin in her care. If he didn’t have all the answers Cassandra wanted, she’d come looking for Sarah, and I didn’t want the Creek Alpha sniffing around myfriend.
Cassandra claimed she’d come in peace, but if that were true, she wouldn’t have brought her shifter army with her . . . she wouldn’t have created an escort agency to spy on otherpacks.
We should leave.Liam’s silent command startled the air out of mylungs.
I sucked in a breath before nodding and turning toward my friend. “Ready togo?”
Sarah’s dark eyebrows quirked. “Go?”
I spread open my eyes to drive my intent home; I wasn’t leaving without her. “My car’s rightoutside.”
Maybe Cassandra wasn’t after the Pine’s stock of Sillin, but what if shewas?
As understanding crept over Sarah, color leached from her skin. “Let me say goodbye toMom.”
“Ofcourse.”
She wound around her pack toward her mother, who was slumped on a couch, pallid cheeks shiny withtears.
“Ness?” Liam nodded to theentrance.
I set off alongside him and Lucas. As we took the stairs, my gaze wandered to the lavender shroud atop Julian’s stillform.
“If anyone ever buries me in fucking tea towels, I’m going to haunt their ass,” Lucas huffed under hisbreath.
