Page 111 of Change

This was a stakeout?

I thought we were looking for a ghost and meeting someone. Besides, I was still a mentee. Why should I be held to the same standard of ethics as the professionals?

I glanced back to my food—the bar of chocolatey goodness was already softening under the heat of my fingers.

“It’s real German chocolate?” For some reason my statement came out as a question, as if the purity of the chocolate to milk ratio would make a difference, and I broke off a piece, holding it toward the angry woman.

Perhaps she just needed a healthy dosage of tryptophan. “Here,” I offered.

She reached for it, lips pursing as her nostrils flared, and her fingers were inches away before I recalled one very important detail.

“Wait—” My pulse skipped, and I pulled my hand back, ignoring the flash of annoyance in her eyes.

Let her be annoyed; I refused to have her die on my watch. “Can hyenas eat chocolate?”

Instead of getting angry, her expression softened slightly. “Are you worried about me?” she asked.

Was this a trick question—something to catch me off-guard before she ripped off my head? “You’re important to Titus, which means you’re important to me too.” Something stirred in my chest as I spoke the words, and, suddenly, I realized I’d meant them completely.

But I hardly knew the woman, and I generally tried to stay out of other people’s business, with the occasional exception. However, despite meaning to do so, my circle of people to protect just kept growing larger. How could this be?

“Whoareyou? What is your relationship with Titus?” She seemed genuinely curious, and her forehead wrinkled in concern. “And don’t tell me it has anything to do with Bryce. You two are not couple material.”

Now Ireallyliked her. This was a woman who understood reality.

That didn’t mean I could tell her about me being Titus’s mate. If the others hadn’t already, there was probably a reason. “I…”

“Be quiet.” Gloria’s order cut through our conversation, and we jumped as she sat up suddenly in her seat, her faux blanket falling into her lap. “Do you hear that?”

Ada stood tall, her attention mimicking Gloria’s, focused on some point above my head. “Yes,” her voice was a hiss. “There’s multiple people out there. This is not what we agreed on.”

My trepidation grew, and I dug my fingers into the dirt.

“It’s not a ghost,” I offered. The hair on my arms stood straight up, and the back of my neck itched. Reflectively, I pressed myself closer to the ground, hiding low behind the tombstone.

“There’s more than one rogue.” Ada spared me a quick glance, frowning deeply before she whispered to Gloria. “They’re not supposed to be here.”

“And an onmyoji too, maybe two.” Gloria had gotten to her feet, more alert than I’d ever seen her, and a little bit taller than I remembered. She tilted her face up as she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. “There’s at least one shikigami already. They don’t smell friendly.”

“It’s too late to run, they’re headed our direction.” Ada pulled at her jacket, crimson falling to the dirt beside her discarded shoes. “I’m going to shift.”

“Don’t!” Gloria was no longer hobbling. In fact, she moved rather quickly for being so frail, as if adrenaline was giving her extra strength. She grabbed Ada’s arm—her usual walking stick forgotten—as she shook the younger woman once. “These are wolves—they’ll attack you right away if you approach them as a hyena.”

“Well thenyoudo it.” Ada stepped closer to me, picking up Gloria’s fallen cloak and tossing it around my shoulders. “You’re Alpha to most wolves anyway. Even if they’re rogues, they’ll be hardwired to listen to you. Maybe they won’t notice her.”

Gloria bit her bottom lip, watching me with a look that caused my blood to chill.

Why were the two of them suddenly so worried about me?

“It’s too late. It won’t matter what I do,” she said finally. “They’ll know she’s here already—the scent of a fae is hard to miss.”

“Goddamn it. We’re going to be killed for this.” Ada crouched in front of me, keeping me trapped against the headstone. She pulled out her phone, typing something quickly on the screen as she whispered in a barely discernible voice. “You justhadto bring along hismate, didn’t you?”

Gloria moved to stand beside her. “You could tell?”

“Of course I could tell!” Ada snapped, putting the phone back into her pocket. “Do you think I’m a complete idiot? He’s my boss!”

My eyes dropped to the ground, and my teeth chattered. “Sorry.”