Page 6

CHAPTER 5

D evastation.

Xavier stood outside what had once been a beautiful Sacred Grove and mourned the charred earth. Why did Melcori have to burn the place down? There had to have been a better way to move the Grove and take their jewels. He understood his master needed money, but he could’ve earned it with a few jobs.

Unless it was more than he claimed.

It wouldn’t be the first time Melcori tried to downplay the extent of his debts, and it wouldn’t be the last.

He had an appointment with the Chimera tomorrow morning to discuss his new duties, so he only had this afternoon to find the child. Either Melcori overestimated Xavier’s time management skills, or he was waiting for him to fail.

Dryad magic hummed in the air. The power hadn’t dissipated yet, or if it had, an enormous amount remained.

Melcori had said it would take days for the magic to transfer. As much as he loathed the forest burning, the transference process interested him. He doubted he would ever again get the chance to see a Grove created. The Green Men who used to establish Groves had long passed into legend. If any were still around, they were hiding better than a unicorn from a Blood Mage.

Xavier pulled the vial of blood out of his pocket. He was glad Melcori had received the dryad’s permission to take it. Stolen blood often caused backlash to punish the blood thief. Blood magic using unwilling donors frequently resulted in family bloodline curses.

Melcori might say they were searching for the kid for his usefulness, but the blood mage had a soft spot for children. He would never forgive himself if some dryad kid died because they’d abandoned him in the forest. Granted, a dryad would survive much better than a regular kid, but he was still a teen without his mother.

Octavia had better have a solid contract with Melcori. Xavier’s master would drain every dryad dry for their valuable blood if given the opportunity. Willing or not, if Melcori got their agreement in a contract, he could do what he liked. Despite his respect for his master, Melcori couldn’t be trusted with easy access to top-notch blood. It would be too tempting for a gambler, especially one who loses as much as Melcori, to trick them into a contract. The magic wouldn’t care if they were unwilling.

Luckily, Xavier’s apprenticeship was ending soon, and he finally had enough money saved to provide for himself if he lived in a questionable neighborhood and didn’t mind eating ramen every meal. His father had left him a nice nest egg, but it wouldn’t last forever. He’d rather save it for emergencies than chip away at it for everyday living.

Not that he would be cut entirely free. After his apprenticeship, it was an unspoken rule that Xavier would always be available for jobs if his ex-master needed him. If he refused, others might blackball him for being ungrateful. None of the other Blood Mages would consider Melcori being unhinged as a legitimate reason to ignore his requests. Blood Mages’ reputation wasn’t all poor public relations.

After all, Melcori thought nothing of burning down a rare dryad grove to solve his money problems. Xavier couldn’t even hate him for his actions because, despite everything, Melcori had provided him with the best childhood possible under the circumstances. Was it a great one? No. But it was far better than any ‘accident’ his parents might have caused had they failed to find someone to take him. From their behavior after his magical aptitude test, he had no doubt they would’ve dealt with him one way or another.

Neither had attempted to contact Xavier since they had signed his life away. His siblings also hadn’t reached out, but he figured they might not even remember he existed. They were young when Xavier was kicked out of the family, and his mother was skilled with memory charms.

He turned his attention away from his depressing past and returned it to the equally depressing, sooty forest.

He could sense the empty spaces where the dryads should have slumbered. Blood magic heightened his sensitivity to other magic and the life forces in those who contained it. Magic resided in all blood, and blood represented life. Over the years, Xavier had learned to perceive magic in beings, regardless of their species. Melcori often boasted about Xavier’s abilities.

That was why he immediately felt the newcomers when they came within a mile of his location. He’d already filtered out the wandering deer and other assorted wildlife, but this group couldn’t be ignored. It was as if the world was hushed as these beings walked upon the earth.

Xavier tucked the vial of blood back into his pocket. Maybe he’d come back tomorrow after his morning meeting with the Chimera. Distracted, he almost jumped when someone spoke closer to him than expected.

“Here it is.” A tear-filled male voice led the group of five to the blackened remains of the once-great Grove. They stopped before a completely burned-down tree with only a stump. “There’s nothing of her left.”

“That doesn’t mean she’s dead,” a female consoled. “We’re here for you to search for her magical trace. If she’s alive, you should be able to find her. You found her tree from here. You should be able to sense her magic if you apply the same technique you used to find the bar.”

Xavier watched as a young man touched the base of a charred trunk. Could this be the kid he was looking for?

He stepped closer, stirring up ash. A stray flake tickled up his nose.

He sneezed.

The group froze before turning toward him as one body.

Creepy.

“Come out!” a deep voice called.

Knowing he’d been caught, Xavier stepped from his hiding spot.

“Who are you?” The group's largest member asked, blocking the others from Xavier’s sight. His eyes gleamed gold with shifter magic, and he emitted intense Alpha energy.

“I’m Xavier. I’m here investigating the fire.” He waved a hand toward the still-smoking remains.

“You don’t look like a fire inspector.” A slim, beautiful man stepped beside the first. The way the bigger man moved to accommodate him spoke of them possibly being mates or longtime lovers.

“Xavier?”

Damn it. He clenched his teeth as he spotted his fellow magic user in the group. “Oliver, how have you been?” Why did it have to be Observant Oliver? Nothing ever got past the former assassin. Or was it the current assassin? He wasn’t up on the latest gossip.

“Not setting trees on fire. What about you?”

He scowled at the implied accusation. “I’m not responsible for this.” He waved a hand to encompass the Grove. Melcori hadn’t even hinted at what he had planned to do. No doubt, Xavier’s inconvenient morals would have gotten in the way.

“Do you know who did?”

There was no way this would end well if he turned Melcori in, but an Alpha could usually tell when someone was lying, and he didn’t wish to be torn apart if he angered him. “It was a tragedy.” Truth. He saw the others relax at his words.

“Do you know what happened to the dryads that were here? Where did they take my mother?” A teenager with a shaky voice piped up. The same one that had sounded close to tears a minute before.

A change in the wind brought the scent of unbridled power pouring off the more petite man. He didn’t have any shifter characteristics, and his eyes didn’t have the stereotypical traces of amber of those kissed by the moon. Despite this, Xavier’s danger senses blared high alert. Out of all the entire group, this one was the most dangerous despite his size.

“Who are you all?” He wanted to ask what they were, but that didn't sound nice even in his head. He had to maneuver with a delicate hand if he didn’t want these strangers or his mentor to tear him apart—a delicate dance between powerful entities—one he had done more than once.

“I’m Anthony Carrow. This is my mate, Alpha Silver of the Moon Pack, my mother Hallea, you know Oliver, and this is Katlego, but he goes by Kat…”

He lost track of Anthony’s words once he met the gaze of a slim man with gorgeous amber eyes and beautiful cocoa skin—beads clacked in his braids, accompanying Xavier’s rapidly beating heart.

Before he could give a greeting or ask him out, the pretty man transformed into a cougar and pounced.

Xavier collapsed beneath a powerhouse of muscle, fur, and claws. Don’t forget the claws. Even retracted, their danger remained. He didn’t dare breathe or wouldn’t even if he could pull any oxygen into his lungs with the heavy feline on top of him.

“Kat, off,” the Alpha commanded.

Katlego, or Kat, licked a wet stripe up Xavier’s face from chin to forehead before sashaying away as if his mission had been accomplished. The sly cat’s gleaming eyes reinforced that Kat had already done everything he had hoped to achieve.

Mine.

The words were spoken into Xavier’s head—in a voice that wasn’t his.

“What?”

“Are you all right, Xavier?” Oliver asked. Xavier doubted his sincere concern since Oliver bit his lip as if hiding a smile.

Asshole.

“I thought I heard something.” He wouldn’t confess who or what. He didn’t want to sound like a mad person. He climbed to his feet and tried not to wince. Between the heavy cat and the rock embedded into his spine, he was more than a little battered.

“Hearing voices, are we?” Oliver taunted.

“How do you…” Before he could continue, his magic pulsed and wrapped around Katlego. The cougar shimmered a bright gold before transforming back into the pretty, pretty man.

“I was right. You are my mate,” Kat said, licking his lips. Before Xavier could respond, Kat lunged at him. Xavier toppled backward, caught off-guard by the sudden weight, and slammed onto the ground.

He found the rock again.

“Ouch.”

“Are you okay?” Kat asked, even as he remained straddling Xavier’s waist.

Xavier found it hard to focus on anything other than Kat’s bright smile. He rubbed his hands up and down Kat’s thighs, confirming that a gorgeous man was sitting on top of him and not the result of a vivid dream or a coma. It wouldn’t surprise him to wake up after Melcori got him into a situation that might result in unconsciousness. “I think a rock is permanently fused into my spine.”

“Good thing I’m excellent at healing,” Kat smirked.

“Good thing,” he agreed, still dazed from his second fall.

The beautiful shifter beamed like the sun. “Hi, mate!”

“You might want to get off him if you want him to breathe,” Anthony teased.

Kat moved to the side, and Xavier was reunited with his old friend, oxygen. He sucked in a deep breath, desperate to refill his lungs. The pretty man wasn’t any lighter as a human than a cougar—likely a one-to-one ratio.

“Sorry.” The laughter in Kat’s mischievous eyes didn’t reassure Xavier at all. He was as smug in his human form as his sly feline version.

“I have doubts that you are.”

Kat wiggled in place. Xavier could imagine his cat tail whipping back and forth. “I’m so happy to meet you. I was convinced I didn’t have a mate.” He fidgeted with a leaf, avoiding eye contact.

Xavier tried not to be distracted by the fact that Kat could find an unburned leaf in a charred forest. “Why didn’t you think you had one?” He placed a hand on Kat’s arm, stilling his motions. “I thought all shifters had mates.” He’d learned that while writing one of the many research papers Melcori had insisted on as part of his training.

Granted, his research into shifters hadn’t been extensive, but Melcori made him study most magical beings for the ways to use their blood.

Kat adorably wrinkled his nose. “No one else in my family has ever found their mates.”

Xavier frowned. Sometimes, mates weren’t matched, but it was rare for an entire family not to find one. “I’m not an expert, but I find that surprising.”

“Was your family cursed?” Anthony asked.

Maybe it wasn’t only Xavier who found Kat’s statement strange.

“Why would you think that?” Kat tilted his head.

“Because if no one has ever found their mate in your family, that feels more like outside interference than a natural occurrence. If they were less likely to find them than not, I would say it was just luck, but your statement implies otherwise.”

“It’s that unusual?” Xavier didn’t know much about shifter mates, but he wouldn't fight it if Kat were the one for him. This was like having a supernatural matchmaker without all the awkward first-date bullshit. Sign him up. He’d check with Zabria later. She mentioned that he would have a lot happening soon.

Silver frowned. “It’s hard to judge average statistics next to our pack. We have a higher-than-normal success rate in finding mates. I don’t know for certain the success rate of others.”

“Four percent,” Anthony piped up.

“Really? That low?” Katlego asked.

“I researched it when it seemed like the pack kept getting bigger. The average mate percentage is two to four percent. I was rounding up.”

“Can we focus on my missing mother?” the teenager snapped.

Xavier blinked at the irritated teen as he reached down to help Kat to his feet. “Who are you?” Xavier had a sinking feeling before the kid opened his mouth.

“Rance. My mother is one of the dryads missing from the part of the Grove you didn’t burn down.”

“I didn’t burn any of it down.” He understood the teen was concerned for his mother, but he didn’t deserve the attitude despite his connection to the pyro who did all this damage.

“He didn’t,” Silver spoke up. “There were no lies in his voice.”

“But you know who did this, don’t you?” Anthony scowled at him, and the scent of ozone overwhelmed the smell of ash.

“There are traces of wizard magic here.” Oliver pointed to a shattered stone that must have held the safety runes before it was overpowered.

“It’s not mine.” Xavier winced. Why did he announce that like a newbie? He’d make a terrible criminal.

Oliver’s smirk told him he wasn’t the only one who thought so. “It’s not mine either, but it is blood magic, and since you say it isn’t yours, you should be able to tell us who.”

“You make it sound like I know all the Blood Mages.” Xavier carefully eyed the exuberant shifter who claimed to be his mate. There were only so many times he could be slammed to the ground without multiple bruises.

Oliver scoffed. “There aren’t many Blood Mages strong enough to overpower ancient runes, and you’re a small community. Your Master is Blood Master Melcori, isn’t he, Xavier?” Oliver’s eyes were colder than icicles in February.

“You know he is.” Xavier winced.

“Is there any reason he would want to destroy a Grove?”

He almost turned and left, but his newly found mate had wrapped his arms around the traumatized dryad teen. He knew this was the youth he was looking for, just as he instinctively knew that if he grabbed him and took him to Melcori, it would destroy his newly found mateship. He could support his Master, who was going around the bend, or protect a vulnerable youth. Self-preservation told him to grab the kid and go, but Katlego’s eyes were so pretty.

“Ugh. Yes, okay, Melcori did it!” he snapped.

“No need to shout,” Anthony scolded.

“What does he want with the dryads?” Silver asked.

Xavier hesitated in answering. He didn’t want to lie and owed Melcori his allegiance, but if this group broke into Melcori’s castle, there was no saying what he would do.

“Does he have all of them? Even my mother?” Rance asked, wiping away his tears.

“I believe so. I don’t know how many were in the Grove, but they are all alive. Melcori is looking for you.”

He was going to get killed for a pretty face. Would his family pitch in for a tombstone or drop him in an unmarked grave? It was a grim thought exercise.

Oliver frowned. “But why does he want this Grove?” Before Xavier could come up with an answer. Oliver kneeled, closed his eyes, and pressed his hand to the ground. A low buzzing sound drifted around the edges of Xavier’s hearing.

He knew he was doomed before Oliver opened his eyes and locked gazes.

Damn it.

“Dryad gems. That’s it, isn’t it?” Oliver’s voice was carefully neutral, but Xavier still felt guilt bite him down to his bones.

“Yes.” What was the point in denying it? “Melcori needs the gems.” They didn’t need to know about his gambling addiction. Xavier still had some loyalty. “He made a deal with one of the dryads for them.”

“Don’t the wizards and the dryads have a pact?” Hallea asked. “I thought they couldn’t harm each other.”

Xavier nodded. “They have a pact not to kill each other. Melcori hasn’t broken that.”

Silver clenched his massive fists. “He will if anyone dies imprisoned.”

“I’m aware, but there isn’t anything I can do about it. If it helps, he’s ensuring they get good medical care.”

“And you’re not willing to help,” Oliver sneered.

He took a deep breath and employed calming techniques to avoid punching the assassin in his judgmental face. If it came to a fight, he wouldn’t win, and he didn’t want to get his ass kicked in front of his new mate. “He doesn’t have a pact not to kill me.” Xavier had lost sleep over that little fact when he was younger. Nowhere in the contract does it state that Melcori had to prevent his death.

“That’s not true. Your apprenticeship contract should stop him from killing you.” Oliver folded his arms and stared at him like a lawyer giving his closing argument to a hostile jury.

“Have you ever read one of those contracts? My parents offloaded me to Melcori. They didn’t care what he did to me as long as I was no longer their problem. I don’t have the luxury of hoping my master doesn’t use my blood in a ritual if I betray him!” he ended, all but shouting. The few remaining birds that had reclaimed a half-charred branch took off in a flutter of caws and feathers.

He guiltily lowered his voice. ”My contract states that he won’t ‘purposely’ kill me. There is a universe of nuance in that phrase.” Accidents happen all the time in Blood Magic rituals. If Melcori ‘forgot’ to give him safety tips for a ritual or had him do something that drained his magic or his blood, he could always tell others that Xavier had overreached. There were drawbacks to his reputation as an overachiever. It made it far too easy for Melcori to kill him while blaming Xavier for improper preparation. It wouldn’t be the first time Xavier rushed a ritual seeking faster results. The excuse would be entirely plausible.

Oliver continued his staring match. “He needs Rance to get the gems, doesn’t he?”

Xavier’s defenses crumpled like a cheap paper bag. “No. He needs Rance to convince his mother to let another dryad lead the new Grove. If we have him in custody, Melcori is convinced Talula will allow another dryad to become the leader, and per their agreement with Melcori, he will get the gems.”

“Which dryad?” Hallea’s sweet voice turned colder than winter frost.

“Octavia.” He didn’t see any reason to hide the truth. They were determined to squeeze it out of him, and he wouldn’t start a relationship lying to his possible mate. “Melcori made a pact with Octavia that she would get the leadership of the Grove if she helped him. Although, if they find out she’s why the Grove went up in flames, I’m not certain if the others will let her.”

“They will,” Rance spoke up. “There are enough of them mad at my mother’s choices. They will support her.”

“How long does it take for a new Grove to form?” Kat released the young dryad, then scooted closer to wrap around Xavier’s right arm.

“I was told it could take between seventy-two hours to a week. It’s not an exact science, but as long as the majority of the dryads are gathered, they should be able to pull the magic from the old Grove and into the new.”

“They won’t be able to,” Rance said.

“Why?” Xavier thought Melcori had covered all his bases from everything he'd read.

“Mother confessed to me that Mother Nature told her that only a male dryad can create a Grove. We’re the original Green Men.”

“But all the books say a Grove of dryads can make a new one,” Xavier protested. He didn’t like where this was going.

“According to Mother, one dryad leader hated that males were needed and did something to remove any references to Green Men. I don’t know what magic was used, but now there is nothing about male dryads in any literature.”

“That explains so much.” What was he supposed to do now?

“What happens if Rance isn’t there to make the new Grove?” Kat clutched Xavier tighter.

His arm was going numb.

Rance paled. “If I’m not there to help guide the Grove magic, it will suck out their life forces, then become something else.”

“What does it become?” His thoughts from before came back to him in a rush, and he answered his own question. “A haunted wood. That’s it, isn’t it?”

“Mother thought so.” Rance picked at his nails and did not look at anyone. “If I’m not there, they could all die.”

“But what if they attack you?” Kat released Xavier and went to stand beside the teen with a hand on Rance’s shoulder. “You said they didn’t believe your mother when she told them Mother Nature wanted you grown.”

“I know.” He dug the tip of one sneaker into the ash, then slid it back, leaving a stripe across the forest floor. “But I can’t let them die, even if they don’t like me.”

Xavier resisted the urge to join Kat in squeezing the kid.

“We need a contract,” Oliver interjected.

“Yes.” Xavier grabbed onto the idea like a lifeline. “You’re in a good position to bargain with Master Melcori. He'd be open for negotiation as long as he gets the gems. Your blood is more on his wish list than a necessity.”

“Somehow, that doesn’t reassure me,” Oliver said dryly.

Xavier shrugged. It wasn’t his job to make Oliver feel better.

“I should go to him.” Rance stood, his expression set. “If I don’t, the others might die.”

“I wouldn’t advise rushing to your mother quite yet. There are still dryads in your Grove willing to let you burn to death. Melcori wanted you somewhere safe and out of the way, but I doubt he knows about Green Men. If I tell him you are in Moon Pack custody, you will be safe from Melcori and whatever dryad might be out for you. Octavia was the one who made a deal with Melcori to burn down the Grove, but that doesn’t mean she was the only one willing.”

He refused to make any promises for his master. Until he talked to Melcori, this was all guesswork. In the end, Melcori would do whatever was best for Melcori and the rest of the Blood Mages if they aligned with his needs. It was only a secondary concern if it worked well for the dryads.

“How will this affect us?” Kat pointed a finger back and forth between them. Snowflakes began to pop into existence and drift lazily down among the ashes.

Xavier tilted his head back to watch the lacy bits of ice. “It isn’t cold enough for snow.”

“That’s me.” Kat lifted his right hand in the air like a schoolboy. “I can make it snow when I’m stressed.”

“Or even when you’re not,” Anthony reminded him.

“Or when I’m not. It’s just a thing.”

Xavier eyed Kat with appreciation. His new mate packed a lot of power in that unassuming package. Weather magic needed a ton of magical energy. “Impressive.”

He received a shy smile in response.

“What happens if Rance isn’t strong enough to form a Grove?” Silver asked. “He’s quite young, and his core is still forming.”

That was something Xavier hadn’t considered.

Hallea answered, “The Grove will provide most of the magic. It is my understanding that Rance is there to guide it, not make it. If too much magic builds, it should flow back to the other dryads. However, if the other dryads aren’t open to Rance’s power, it could warp the trees around them. That’s where dark fairy tales are born.”

“Great.” Xavier could only imagine all kinds of terrible outcomes if the old Grove’s magic overwhelmed Rance. Maybe Zabria could show him the best path?

“It’ll be fine.” Kat patted Rance’s shoulder. “There are enough of us that we can stop anything too bad from happening.”

The forest was silent while everyone considered the implications. Hallea spoke first. “Nature magic is sentient. If the Grove recognizes its magic is in danger, it should play nice with the one person trying to save it.” Her words were measured, and her expression was tight with worry.

She wasn’t the only one who thought it might be a problem for a rush of magic to go through a teen’s developing core. Xavier might not know much about dryads, but he knew magic, and none of that sounded good.

Rance’s voice cracked in his distress. “I have to try. Otherwise, Mother and the rest of the dryads will die without a Grove. It took all her strength to grow one new tree. An entire Grove is too much!”

The earth rumbled beneath their feet.

“No offense,” he blurted out.

Hallea put a calming hand on the teen’s shoulder. “We will do our best to make sure that doesn’t happen. There’s a reason you need more than one tree for a proper Grove. You need multiple dryads to absorb the magic. That much power rushing through one being can have serious repercussions, even if Mother Nature chose you.”

“Where did Melcori take the dryads?” Kat asked.

“I can’t say.” Xavier tilted his head to examine the hazy sky, avoiding all eye contact.

“You’re a bit of an idiot,” Oliver taunted.

Kat flexed his fingers, freeing his claws. “I would watch it if I were you. That’s my mate.”

“Your idiot mate.”

Kat leaped. Xavier grabbed him around the waist in time. “Hold on, Kitten.”

“I’m going to claw off his face.” His eerie yowl raised the hairs on Xavier’s arms.

“Enough!” Silver’s voice snapped the combatants out of their locked gaze. “Fighting between ourselves won’t solve anything.”

Xavier released Kat. The cougar shifter relaxed against him.

“What are your plans for the dyads?” Oliver asked.

“I don’t have any plans. It’s Melcori you need to worry about.” And worry, Xavier did. “Melcori wanted me to find Rance to sway his mother. I would suggest you take him like I said, and I’ll tell Melcori you have him. I'll pick him up when it is time to go to the new Grove. That will protect him from Melcori and anyone wanting to harm him. Unless any of you have a better plan?”

“And Melcori gets his way,” Oliver said. “If this works, he’ll do the same to other Groves.”

Xavier shrugged. “I don’t know what you want me to say. If this doesn’t work, he might try other Groves anyway. Melcori only knew the location of this Grove because one of its members betrayed them. He doesn’t necessarily know where the others are unless they also have detractors who are willing to sell them out. Let’s not borrow trouble, obsessing over Groves that Melcori may or may not know the location of, and focus on this one.”

Oliver put his hands on his hips. “You overlooked option two.”

“Did I?” Oliver was jumping on his last nerve.

“Yes. We kill Melcori, save the dryads, and end the situation.” Oliver smirked.

“Right. Sorry. I know Blood Mages have a terrible reputation, but we don’t all work as assassins, so my first instinct isn’t murder, and killing Melcori won’t remove the need to create a new Grove.” He disagreed with Melcori’s actions but wouldn’t move against him and be branded a traitor.

The group exchanged glances that conveyed a message Xavier couldn’t decipher.

“Since we ‘re at an impasse, I guess I’m done here.” He pulled a card out of his pocket and handed it to Rance. “Call me if you decide to turn yourself in. Good luck. Melcori is just as excited to drain all the dryads as to get the gems. You also might consider that one of your Grove betrayed the rest. If Rance were to show up, he might be in more danger from the ones who don’t believe they need him for a new Grove. I’ll tell Melcori what you told me about the Green Men. Why don’t you start writing up what you want in exchange for building a Grove?”

Hallea cleared her throat. “What if they banish him after the Grove is established? He’s almost of age, at least for dryads.”

“I’d be surprised if they didn’t. If things don't work out, you might want to ensure he has somewhere to stay. They might change their mind if they learn he’s useful.”

“I still want to make them a Grove.” Rance didn’t look up as if afraid of the adults’ responses. “And I’m not going to stay somewhere I’m not wanted. Not anymore.”

No one had anything to say to that.

Xavier sighed. “I’ve got to go.”

“Wait!” Kat glommed onto his arm. “Come home with me.”

“Kat!” someone shouted.

Xavier didn’t look up to identify the speaker; he was too lost in his mate’s eyes. “Why?” Kat appeared protective of the young dryad, and Xavier’s presence wouldn’t help.

“Because you’re my mate, and I want to get to know you better. Come home with me, please.”

Xavier sighed his surrender. “All right. Melcori doesn’t expect me to check in until tomorrow anyway.” Xavier blushed. “Not that I plan to spend the night.”

Kat grinned. “We can discuss that when we get home.”

“Why don’t we take Rance with us so you two can get to know each other?” Silver offered.

Kat answered before Xavier could, never taking his eyes from Xavier’s face. “Thank you.”