“What’s the big deal?”
I rub my arms, then tug a long-sleeved shirt on from my cubby. “Red might be able to do a tracking spell,” I manage, my lips numb from cold. “He can trace the last person who touched it.”
Jericho frowns. “Wouldn’t that be me?”
“Skin contact,” I clarify.
He looks at his gloves, something like hope flickering in his eyes. “You’re saying…”
“This could lead us to them. This could lead us to the coven.”
7
TOBIAS
Ipull my knees up, sitting on the ledge as I stare out the bedroom window. Outside, the wind is howling through the trees, and drifts of snow dance across the yard in elegant spins and swirls. I can’t stop watching, just like I can’t stop shaking.
But my shaking has nothing to do with the snow.
Even now, I can feel the echo of that moment in my bones—the way my body locked up when I saw him at the table. Jericho. The vampire.
Rowen had told me he was safe. That he was one of theirs. But the word “safe” means little when I know what their kind can do. I’ve witnessed their control vanish in a split second, felt their fangs pierce my skin—felt my own blood leave my body. I’ve witnessed countless others die at their lips, and always wondered why I wasn’t one of them.
Jericho isn’tsafe, no matter what they say.
I haven’t eaten since the chili Rowen brought me last night, and my stomach aches with hunger, but I can’t bring myself to go down there, afraid that I might see him. So I sit on the window ledge, wrapped in a blanket, and stare at the snow.
I saw three wolves and a man leave earlier. Only two wolves have returned so far. I wonder where the others are and if they’ll make it back safely. The storm is picking up.
When a knock comes, I nearly jump out of my skin.
“Yea—” The word gets lost in my dry throat. I clear it and try again. “Yeah?”
Red enters the room, holding a tray of food. Steam curls up from a bowl, and a thick slice of buttered bread rests on a napkin beside it.
“Sorry it took me so long to get up here. It’s been a crazy morning.”
I barely hear him, my attention on the man behind him. A pack member, maybe? He has blond hair that’s a little long around his ears and startling blue eyes. They seem to take in everything. Especially me. He’s staring at me as much as I’m staring at him.
Red sets the tray on the bed, then nods toward the stranger. “Tobias, this is Evan. Evan, this is Tobias.”
Evan? Why does that name sound familiar?
The man gives me a polite nod. “Hey.”
“Evan is Jericho’s mate. Hishumanmate. He’s also our friend and someone we care a great deal about. I thought you might like to meet him.”
Of course.
The human who’s dating a vampire.
Rowen said they had a cool story or something. But what kind of story can be “cool” when you’re willingly fraternizing with the enemy? Doesn’t he care that Jericho is a dangerous predator?
When Evan tugs at his shirt, my attention slips to his throat, where a scar is just above his collarbone. It’s still a little pink. Fresh and deep. Too deep to be anything but a bite.
A really, really terrible bite.
“Did he do that?” The question slips out before I can stop it.
