Page 95

Caleb started to unbutton his shirt. Regan watched him, holding her breath.

“You don’t need to do that,” Kael said. “Shifters don’t lose their clothes like werewolves.”

“Spoilsport,” Regan murmured.

Caleb shrugged, but dropped his arms to his side.

“Now, change,” Kael said.

“What should I change into?”

“Anything but a wolf.”

Caleb stood for a moment, then he vanished, and in his place stood a tall, black …wolf. It turned its head, looked along the line of its body, and snorted in disgust.

Regan laughed softly. A moment later, Caleb was back, and he was naked. She stopped laughing and stared. He was quite the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Her eyes moved from his body to his face.

He scowled. “Well, that went well.”

“Looks pretty good to me,” Regan said, and Caleb turned to her. He held her eyes for long moments, then turned back to Kael with obvious reluctance.

“Try again,” Kael instructed. “And concentrate on what you’re doing, not on the witch.”

Again, and again, Caleb shifted, but each time it was his wolf who answered the call. After the fifth time, he swore, loudly. He ran both hands through his short hair so it stuck on end, stared at the ceiling, then looked back at Kael. “Maybe you’re going to have to accept that I can’t shift. I’m half-werewolf, and maybe wolf is all you get.”

“You can do it,” Kael growled. “You’re just being stubborn.

“Is that something I get from being half-shifter or half-wolf?” Caleb growled back.

Kael shook his head, but the rigid line of his body relaxed. “Okay, enough for today.” He shrugged. “I thought it might come in useful when you face Sardi, but it will have to wait for another time.”

Caleb appeared entirely at ease in his naked state. Regan wasn’t so comfortable; she whispered a word and gave him a pair of pants. Black, drawstring linen pants that hung low on his lean hips but left his impressive chest bare. He turned to look at her, one eyebrow raised in query.

“I was finding the view distracting.”

His lips curled up into a sexy smile.

“So what’s the plan?” Kael asked.

“We don’t really know until we see what the situation is,” Caleb replied. “We’re going to have to play it by ear. The main priority is to get Catrin out—”

“No,” Kael interrupted. “The main priority is to kill Sardi.”

“That’s not possible,” Regan said.

Both men swung around to look at her, and she scrambled to her feet, brushing her clothes down, to give herself time to think.

“What do you mean—not possible?” Caleb asked.

“I’ve been reading about it. That’s why he didn’t die the last time. He can’t be killed here on earth. His human body dies, but he reappears in his own world. But we do that, and he’ll be weakened. For a long time.”

“And you only found this out now?” It was Kael who asked, and Regan had to force down her urge to snap right back. She was at fault here; she should have known. Instead of answering Kael, she turned to Caleb.

“I thought I loved him, and I thought I’d killed him. I wanted to forget.”

He nodded once, and she knew he understood.

“Then we’ll get Catrin out, and we’ll send him back to where he came from,” Caleb said.