Were too. Talking about the oversized lizard instead of paying attention to me.
“Oh my god.” Cassia pressed her fingers to her temples. “You’re jealous of the dragon.”
Am not. Just don’t like him. He looks at you wrong.
“Wrong how?”
Like he wants to devour you.A pause.Not in the bird way.
Color flooded her cheeks. The cracker-thief on the curtain rod had absolutely no right to make observations like that.
Narla, who had watched the entire exchange with quiet amusement, reached for a new cracker. “Your familiar isn’t wrong, you know. Dragons are predators. When they look at something they want, it’s… distinctive.”
“I don’t want to talk about how Aero looks at me.”
“Fair enough.” Narla’s expression shifted, losing its warmth. “Then perhaps we should talk about the other visitor I noticed at the harbor this morning.”
The atmosphere in the room changed. Cassia felt it—a subtle drop in temperature, a heaviness in the air that had nothing to do with weather magic.
“What visitor?” Avine asked.
“A woman. Tall. Beautiful in a way that made it hard to look away.” Narla’s fingers tightened on her wine glass. “I was walking past the marina when I saw her stepping off a boat. Every candle in my shop flared when she passed, even though she was two streets over.”
“What kind of supernatural?” Dahlia leaned forward, her baker’s calm replaced by something sharper.
“I couldn’t tell for certain. But the feeling she gave off…” Narla shook her head slowly. “Old. Powerful. Dangerous.” Her dark eyes met Cassia’s. “And she smelled like the deep ocean. Like brine and cold currents and things that live where the light doesn’t reach.”
Junie went still. All the playful energy drained from her posture, replaced by the sharp alertness she’d developed after Victor Sable had tried to destroy her relationship with Leo. “A siren.”
“Possibly.” Narla’s voice was careful. “I’ve never met one, so I can’t say for certain. But the descriptions match.”
“Sirens in Haven Shores are unusual,” Avine said slowly. “We’re coastal, but we’ve never had much contact with the Deepwater Courts. They keep to themselves.”
“Maybe she’s just passing through.” Dahlia’s tone suggested she didn’t believe her own words.
“Maybe.” Junie was already pulling out her phone, tapping rapidly. “But I’m sending a message to Leo. The Castellan network has contacts in the siren communities. If someone from the Deepwater Courts is visiting Haven Shores, he might be able to find out why.”
“You think she’s a threat?” Cassia asked.
“I think Victor Sable taught me that charming strangers who show up during crisis periods are never just passing through. The surge is attracting attention. We’ve had three successful mate bonds in the past year—that’s unprecedented. If someone from another court is here to investigate…” She shrugged. “Could be harmless. Could be political. Could be something worse.”
“I’ll keep an eye on her,” Narla offered. “My shop is near the harbor. If she’s staying in town, I’ll notice.”
“We should all watch,” Avine agreed. “But quietly. If she’s a legitimate representative from the Deepwater Courts, we don’t want to cause a diplomatic incident by treating her like an enemy.”
The conversation shifted to practical matters—schedules, observation rotations, who would mention what to which alpha. Haven Shores had become adept at coordinating since the surge started, witches and shifters working in tandem in ways they never had before.
Cassia listened with half an ear, her thoughts drifting back to the dragon who’d taken up residence in her mind. He was investigating the surge too. If anyone might know why a siren would be interested in Haven Shores, it would be him.
Which meant she’d have to ask him.
Which meant another conversation. More proximity. More charge building between them.
More of feelingseenby storm-dark eyes that she absolutely wasn’t going to think about for the rest of the night.
NINE
CASSIA
