Page 83

Had he told Grey that she was his mate? That his instinct had already picked her for him? It was only a matter of time before they bonded—if they could. The fact he hadn’t given in yet was astounding, really. It was to a testament of his control, of his ability to resist what he wanted.

However, with his current state, it would be best not to leave them alone together if possible. A Were’s instincts were strong, and I didn’t trust him to resist forever.

The selfish part of me didn’t want them to bond, either. The connection between her and Kelvin was bad enough, but to craft another such link?

As a Justice, I had nothing like that, no ability to lock her to me, no innate form of connection that ensured she remained mine. I lacked confidence that she might choose me for any other reason, that I had much of anything to offer her.

Worse, so far as I understood, Justices didn’thaverelationships. They didn’t fall in love, didn’t settle down. We worked, we held the peace, we upheld the rules until something got the better of us or we took our own lives. Those were our only futures, so far as tradition and history said, and neither were ones I wanted her anywhere near.

“So you’ll keep yourself in line?” I asked, forcing myself to return to the subject at hand, to stay on task.

Galen didn’t answer right away. “I’m going to try,” he finally said, then added, his voice low and his gaze pinned forward, “If I can’t, can I trust that you’ll make sure she stays safe?”

“You should know you don’t have to ask that.”

He laughed, the sound tense. “Who would have thought we’d end up here, huh? After all those meetings, all those times we sat across from each other, yet here we are. Grey asked me one day what it all meant, that there had to be more, and I told her life was random. I told her that life was mostly what happened in the meantime. This really proves it, right? I wouldn’t have thought this is where I’d end up, half a snap from feral and running around some other realm with the likes of you all.”

“Are you sorry about it?”

He peered over his shoulder at Grey. “No, I don’t think I am.”

And I certainly understood that. It seemed the normal way that things went with Grey—it never went the way I expected, but I always found it worth it in the end.

Chapter Twenty

No more caves for me.

After what had lurked in that first one—the memory still crept around in my brain just like the creature—I never wanted to try spelunking. Who knew what might exist even further into the darkness?

Instead, we stopped at a small clearing. Porter had suggested the fire, since it seemed to push away other things that lived here, given that fire wasn’t natural to this realm. I didn’t know if that was true, or if Porter had said it only to make me feel better, but I decided to take it at face value.

I could use a little comfort after all.

The others had moved away to survey the surrounding areas. It seemed they didn’t want a repeat of what had happened the night before, so they planned to make damn sure it was safe this time.

It left me by the fire, and I knew they’d created a good circle as they’d moved out to root out any threat that might exist. Occasionally I’d hear a yelp, something that wasn’t one of us, telling me they’d found some unfortunate critter. Of course, after the last thing we’d run into, I wasn’t a big fan of any of that.

My arm hurt, a burning and itching that could have been on any of those commercials for STI meds. I couldn’t smell what Porter could, but I could still feel the venom spreading through me. I had no idea what it meant, what it could do, and it reminded me that I wasn’t a fan of surprises, especially not bad ones.

My life was a collection of surprises, honestly. My crow meant I could take nothing for granted, that I had no idea what might happen next at any point. Maybe that was why I didn’t like the unexpected when I saw it coming.

I sighed and kicked my legs out, sitting on a sleeping bag that had appeared when they’d set up the little spot. I had to assume it was Blake’s, given no one else would need to sleep yet. He didn’t seem to care if I used it, so I didn’t plan to complain. I was okay with being a damsel now and then if it meant a more comfortable sleep.

I’d eaten a foil-wrapped sugary pastry—much to the annoyance of Porter, who claimed it wasn’t real food—for my dinner. He’d stared at it as though I were eating bugs, but I’d packed the vital shit. If we were here for fuck only knew how long, I’d have the important stuff with me.

Like sugary pastries.

A rumble came from ahead of me, past the fire, but the dancing flames obscured my sight. I pictured all sorts of things—none of them good—from that sound. It was low, dangerous, easier to feel than hear.

Before I found my voice, the source of that feral noise came into view, through the flames, as two amber eyes glowed in the darkness.

Galen.

He was human, at least he seemed to be, but those eyes were all wolf. They were vacant, nothing of the man I knew in them. He crouched there, on the other side of the fire, his head tilted slightly as though he wasn’t sure what was before him.

I’d think he didn’t recognize me, except no one had that much intensity in their gaze unless whatever they saw interested them very much. Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure if it was a, ‘hey, I like her,’ interest or more of a ‘I wonder what her small intestine tastes like,’ interest.

“Hey,” I said, my voice soft and coaxing. Maybe hearing me would help him decide? Help him get a grip on his own control? It could serve as a link between his currently fucked-up brain and the man I’d known for so many years.