Page 316 of Alpha Mates

Not waiting for a response, Aiden exits the room, and I’m right on his heels. We book it to the elevator, trying our best not to look anxious with the eyes on us. By now, word had spread that the Council sent someone, and until they heard from us, they’d assume the very worst. Little did they know, it might not be the Council we had to worry about—but the all-powerful witch we’d decided to play hopscotch with.

“It’s nothing bad,” Aiden says once the elevator doors shut and we climb upwards.

“How do you know?” I mumble.

“Because we’d be dead already if it were.”

Aiden and I step out onto the familiar rooftop and relax slightly to find it empty. It looks as it always does, but the presence of magic, even masked, is one I’m now too familiar with to miss.

Katerina doesn’t make us call for her. She materialises out of thin air, not quite teleporting, but more like she steps through a gateway that only she has access to. I’m used to her magic enough not to be alarmed, but whatdoesscare me is the lack of her usual frivolities.

“What is it?” Aiden asks, sensing it as well. And with everything the morning has already piled onto us, patience is the last thing he wields.

Katerina mistakes it as annoyance and straightens, dressing herself in an indifference that doesn’t quite fit. “Don’t get your panties in a twist,” she grumbles. “I’m just trying to be nice and give you guys a heads-up before I hit the road.”

“You’re leaving?” Aiden exclaims with a surprising amount of dismay.

“It’s time,” she says, shrugging even as she frowns. “I was only here to juice up before giving my coven the chop. I’ve done that, so I’m leaving.”

It should be a relief to know we no longer have personified chaos as our neighbour, but relief isn’t what I feel. Despite the clear line that’s been drawnbetween our species for aeons, Katerina has done a lot for us, and she’s been honest while doing it.

“Where will you go?” Aiden asks, with evident concern that they’re both as ignorant of as their budding friendship.

“I don’t know,” she says with another shrug. “I haven’t really seen much of anything, so I was thinking maybe I’d get an apartment in a big city or something. But I like space, so maybe not. Maybe I’ll get a mansion in the middle of nowhere.”

“With what money?” I ask.

“I’m a witch. I don’t need it,” she deadpans, and I can’t argue with that.

Neither can Aiden apparently, because he stays quiet. He struggled enough as it was to express himself to me, so doing it with a witch is an entirely new challenge he’s not up for. Sadly, for the pair of them, Katerina isn’t any better.

“Anyway, that’s only half of what I came here for,” she carries on, trying to move past her obvious discomfort. She looks at me, and that strange expression from earlier returns as she studies me. “I wanted to give you guys a heads-up about some rogues.”

I stop myself from reacting, but only just, while Aiden stiffens beside me before his dark eyes cut my way. I ignore them, focusing on the witch in front of us—the one we’ve possibly gotten far too comfortable with.

“Rogues?” I question, as if I’ve never heard the term before. “Why would you be warning us about rogues?”

We never once spoke to Katerina about the rogues, and the very day the Council shares the news of their plan to fight, she shows up to talk about them?

“They’re everywhere in the unclaimed lands, so I see them more than you,” she says with a little hum. “There’s loads more now, so maybe I’m just looking out for you guys.”

“Ormaybeyou’ve gotten tired of syphoning power from them,” Aiden counters, and she immediately stills.

“Well, well.” A sly smile spreads across her lips as she glances between us. “Look who finally caught on.”

Aiden told me his theory after Katerina mentioned drawing power to him, but we’d had no reason to investigate it when we thought she was someone we’d see only once more before she disappeared forever.

“That’s why you settled here, of all places,” Aiden continues. “You needed to draw from something strong enough to give you power, but not strong enough to do anything about it if they noticed.”

“Oh, they noticed,” Katerina replies as her smile turns into a scowl. “You’re right. They shouldn’t have, but they did.”

Well, that’s not disconcerting at all,Alex mumbles as my anxiety crests.

“The rogues aren’t what they used to be,” Aiden agrees ambiguously.

“Yeah, no shit,” she laughs, but it’s dry and unamused. “They’re supposed to be an insane yet lovely power source for earth-bound and dark magic witches when we come across them. Unconscious.”

“But they’re not. So tell us plainly what you know, Katerina,” I say, eyeing her.