"I don't sleepwalk. I certainly didn't want her roaming about."
"Well, something let her out. I found her in the kitchen, and she didn't seem interested in going anywhere else." Felix's tailflicked. "She cleaned it, the lab, and the adjoining suite. She got into the garden and picked things."
That made them all go silent again.
"Impossible," Tenebrys whispered.
"I'm not lying to you, Ten. I would never joke about it. She cleaned, and the château let her. It hasn't tried to change it back either. Its magic must have let her out of her room too if you didn't."
Syn's green eyes glowed. "Is it because she's female?"
"I doubt it." Tenebrys thought of the ancient soap that had been in his bathroom. "It left out soap for me today. I was too asleep and too focused on being dirty, I didn't question it being there."
The rest of the shifters got clean by swimming through the rivers in the woods.
"Whatisshe?" Syn asked, his claws loosening as if sensing a threat.
"She is my prisoner." A warning growl came out of Tenebrys before he could think about it. Both Felix and Syn startled.
"If it's not because she's female, then the château has to be reacting to her magic," Felix said when Tenebrys made no other threats. "She said that she's never been taught to use it, and it's pouring out of her. We haven't had anyone with that kind of magic here since the wars, except for Cassia, and she was the one who killed the heart when they cursed us."
"Maybe it's because Delphi's magic came directly from Cassia that it's waking up again… No. I refuse to hope that's the case. As you say, the château's heart hasn't beat since they killed it." Tenebrys's tail began to flick in frustration, sweeping the dust off the stairs he stood on. "I don't know, but I'm going to find out. Felix, Syn, send word to the others. Make sure the gateways are being watched tonight. I'll deal with Delphi."
Felix cleared his throat. "Small suggestion? Try to talk to her instead of snarling. Narcisse kept all knowledge of us from her. I asked her about it today, and I didn't smell any lies. She's just confused."
Out of all of them, Felix had the most sensitive nose and intuition. He had always been in charge of interrogations because of it. Tenebrys wanted to tell him that he was lying, that Delphi was just as treacherous as her parents and had fooled him somehow. It would have made him sound like an ass. Felix wouldn't lie about something so important.
"You want me to promise not to kill her too?" he complained instead.
Felix's laugh was a husky, yipping sound. "I'm not worried about that."
Tenebrys waited until they had both disappeared out the main doors before he followed his nose toward the kitchens.
Amid the cooking smells, he caught the lemon-scented soap the kitchen staff used. The château had magic to help with the cleaning, but the head cook always wanted her kitchen done by hand to ensure 'real' cleanliness.
How had Delphi found the soap? Last time Tenebrys had been in the kitchen, it was empty. Not a spoon had remained. None of this was making any sense. Her parents had killed the heart of the house. Its magic shouldn't be stirring because of her.
He lingered in the shadows of the doorway and glanced into the kitchen. She had hung up bunches of lavender and rosemary over the doors. A small bowl of fruit and vegetables was on one of the tables, and the door to the garden seemed to have been cleared.
Delphi had washed everything, including herself. He could smell the freshness of her skin and clothing and spotted where she had a wet tunic drying near the fire. Her long hair was out and damp.
In the light of the fire, it had a red tinge that the cheap brown vegetable dyes she had been using couldn't hide. She pushed the hair over her shoulder, and the scent of her clean skin, warm and feminine, wafted over to him.
He wanted to hate himself for staring at the daughter of his enemy, but he couldn't look away.
Weakness.
The mark of his fang was still a red line on the back of her neck. Blood and heat rushed to his dick. It surprised him enough that his claws scraped the stone tiles, and Delphi looked up. Her eyes were the same shade of blue as the flowers she was named after.
"Oh, it's you. I was wondering when you would come looking for me again," she said. They eyed each other for a long, silent moment before her sigh of frustration broke it. "I've made a lot of stew. Do you want to... Are you hungry?"
"You want me to dine with you?" he asked and eyed the pot. "Did you poison it or something?"
Delphi grinned, devilish and charming. "I wouldn't want to waste good food like that, but if you're tooscaredto eat with me, I would understand."
Those dangerous blue eyes sparked with a challenge that the alpha in him couldn't ignore. Tenebrys moved into the kitchen. She didn't gasp at his appearance in the firelight. Her mocking expression didn't alter a bit as he loomed over her.
"Sit down, and I'll fill some bowls," she said and then turned her back on him. It was a foolish move and far too trusting. She had never been around shifters, that much was clear. If she had, she would know offering a shifter food was a powerful bonding ritual. It showed a special kind of trust that was never casually offered.
