Instead, I said, “Yeah, let’s go talk to Emma.”
* * *
Emma’s cabin was only a few doors down and she opened the door on Reed’s second knock. “Took you long enough,” she said by way of greeting, her blue eyes narrowed at Reed. Then her gaze landed on me and she softened fractionally. “Well, hi there. Welcome. Come on in, both of you.”
She stepped back to give us space to enter, her gaze lingering on me as I walked past. She was short and thin, with deep red hair and bright blue eyes. Her age was impossible to place, but if I had to hazard a guess, I would have pegged her as being in her mid-sixties.
She wasn’t alone, either. In the corner, surrounded by a massive pile of books, was Daniel, sitting on a weathered armchair next to the window. He nodded to us but didn’t say anything.
And sitting at the kitchen table with an enormous mug of coffee was a redheaded woman in her twenties who had blue eyes the same shade as Emma’s. She had a laptop open, was balancing a book on her lap, and simultaneously scrawling notes onto a yellow legal pad. She had headphones on, but when she looked up and saw Reed and me, her eyes widened in alarm.
She pulled the headphones down, her shocked gaze fixed on me. “Who is he and what is he doing here?”
“His name is Harris. We can trust him,” Reed assured her.
Her wide-eyed gaze swept over me. “But he’s human.”
“Sarah, hush,” Emma admonished her. “Don’t be rude to our guest.” Then she fixed Reed with an appraising look. “Want some coffee? I just made a pot and there might even be some left.”
“Nah. If I have any more caffeine, I’ll start levitating.”
Her questioning gaze landed on me and I shook my head. “I had plenty.”
Emma sighed. “Well, if you’re here for an update, there isn’t one. Hattie is still working on her analysis, and until she figures out anything concrete, we don’t have much to go on.”
“We were attacked last night,” Reed said. “I’m pretty sure it was the same monster that killed the hiker.”
“Well, holy shit.” Then Emma paused, her brows drawing together in confusion. She fixed me with a strange look. “Wait, ‘we’? As in—”
“Both of us,” Reed said, nodding. He glanced at me before turning back to Emma. “Harris found me in the woods last night, right before the creature struck. And if not for him, I doubt I’d be standing here right now.”
“Wait a second.” Daniel shot to his feet, spilling a thick book onto the floor with a dull thud. He stared at me in total shock. “How did you get out of the cabin? I set a boundary spell. Nothing should have gotten in or out!”
“I was wondering that, too,” Reed said, flashing me an assessing look.
“If Daniel says he did it, that means he did it,” Sarah said flatly, immediately jumping to Daniel’s defense. She narrowed her gaze at Reed, as if expecting him to argue with her.
I hesitated.
If I told them about the amulet, they might confiscate it in the interest of keeping me safe. But it would also let Daniel off the hook. And maybe things had changed enough between Reed and me that he was now confident in my ability to keep myself safe.
Did I trust him not to try to control me?
“You can tell me later,” Reed said quietly, as though he had intuited the reasons for my hesitation.
“But I cast the spell,” Daniel said, his voice rising, a defensive note creeping in, even though no one had challenged him. Hewent paler than before, as though afraid to have Reed or anyone else doubt him. “I swear I did.”
I remembered what he had told me the day before—that he wasn’t really part of the pack. He was just kind of… here. Maybe he was insecure about his position among the wolves.
“He did,” I agreed, meeting Daniel’s gaze for a moment before turning my attention back to Reed. “I watched him do it. It wasn’t his fault.”
Reed nodded at me and then glanced at Daniel. “I believe you.”
Some of the tension left Daniel immediately. But he still avoided Reed’s gaze, his cheeks flushed bright pink. He nodded, staring at the floor. His “thanks” came out barely above a whisper.
“I think you two need to sit down and tell me everything,” Emma said, pointing at the couch in the center of the room. Then, beckoning us to follow her, she made her way to the armchair next to the couch and took a seat.
Reed and I followed her and dutifully sat down.
