Suddenly, I was the one starting to get impatient for answers. I grabbed the wolf by the arms and stopped him.
“Tate. Answer me.”
His heart was racing, his skin as sweaty as mine, and his gaze darted to mine before moving away again. He dragged a hand over his hair and tugged his lip ring between his teeth.
“I don’t know what to do. She just took off.”
I watched his face closely. “What do you mean she took off?”
“She just... ran away.” He pulled away from my grasp and sat on the arm of my couch. “We were in the courtyard. Everything was going fine and then she suddenly started to freak out. I don’t know what caused it exactly and then...”
He swallowed visibly, his gaze lifting to mine, fear and shock in his gaze. “She froze me.”
“Froze you?” My brow furrowed, not understanding what he was saying. “Did she say something that—?”
“No, no.” Tate shook his head. “I mean, she literally froze me. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t talk. Fuck, I couldn’t even blink. I was lucky whatever happened let me breathe, or I’d be dead right now.”
My mind twisted around his words, trying to make sense of what he was saying. How could Jack have frozen him? She didn’t have any magic powers. She wasn’t a witch. For her to be able to force him to literally freeze in place, she’d have to have... Suddenly Antoine’s face flashed through my mind, and something occurred to me.
Kneeling in front of the panicking werewolf, I tried to keep my voice low and calm.
“I need you to tell me exactly how it happened. Did she cast some kind of spell? Throw a potion? How did she freeze you?”
“I don’t know, man.” Tate shook his head. “She was already a bit spooked when I got there. Probably the dead crows. That’d spook anyone, bad luck, I’m sure.”
“Dead crows?”
“Yeah, there were a bunch of them, just lying there on the ground in the courtyard.” He waved his hand in front of him to illustrate his point. “She seemed really upset about it. Does she have a thing for crows?”
“No.” I sighed, looking down at the ground. “But her dad does.”
Tate was quiet for a moment. “Is that where the crow thing comes from on their sigil? You know, I always wondered why a crow—”
“Tate.” I snapped my fingers in front of his face. “Wonder later. What happened next?”
“Well, I got her to calm down, and we started talking about my family issues, and then, of course, the subject of Kyren came up and what would happen if I had to choose between them. I thought I was doing a good job reassuring her I wouldn’t just leave her for him...” He trailed off, his gaze dropping.
“I must not have cause her heart rate picked up, and anxiety was pouring off her in wave. I reached for her.” He paused and swallowed again. “I was just trying to comfort her. I hate seeingher like that. She’s always so strong, you know? Sometimes it’s hard to remember she’s still just human.”
“Yeah,” I murmured, “I get how you feel. Jack has a tendency to do that.”
“Well, I reached for her, and she suddenly shouted at me, ‘Stop!’” His eyes went wide, his hand out in front of him pausing for a second before dropping his arm. “And I just... did. I stopped everything but breathing.”
He huffed a laugh. “I supposed I was lucky for that at least.”
I almost fell back on my ass at his words. It was as I feared. Jack hadn’t used some spell or potion to freeze the wolf—she’d used her voice. A command, just like her dad, Antoine.
The magnitude of this discovery had me dumbfounded. She was already a miracle, a logistical anomaly. There had never been a child of two human servants, at least none that we had ever heard of. We didn’t really know what that meant for her.
The super strength, speed, and senses could almost be rationalized away. But this... if what Tate was saying was true, she’d inherited one of her dads’ powers. A power that not only could control someone’s very actions, but could kill.
Suddenly, the dead crows came back to mind and her panic about them. She must have accidentally killed them right before Tate showed up. It would explain why she was upset. Then for her to also turn around and accidentally use it on Tate?
She must be freaking out. Completely distraught over what she did and to who. I knew I would be.
“So...” Tate leaned forward on the couch’s arm. “Do you know where she went? I wanted to let her know I was okay. I’m sure she’s worried that she hurt me in some way, and I don’t want her to think that. It freaked me out, sure, but I know she didn’t mean to do it. Right?”
I lifted my eyes to his before standing. “No, I don’t think she did. Look, I don’t know where she is. I’m assuming you checked her room?”
