Chapter Two #3
When they reached the spot where they both could feel the shields being touched, Dermot looked around.
The only person he could see was a woman standing there.
She seemed to be alone, but Dermot didn’t trust that.
As far as he was concerned, it was possible that Parrish was there, waiting in the bushes.
The fact that Dermot couldn’t feel the man didn’t mean anything.
If Parrish was there, he wasn’t the one touching the shields.
The woman was.
She was tall and blonde, like a lot of Vila.
Her eyes were green, rimmed in red, and one was so swollen that there was no way she could see anything through it.
Her tank top was only held on by one strap, and there were bruises on her bare arms and legs.
The shorts she was wearing couldn’t hide them.
Her blonde hair was messy, standing up on one side as if someone had grabbed it and pulled.
Tears were still rolling down her cheeks, and she had a hand pressed against the shields, looking like she was about to break down.
Dermot and Tamsin looked at each other. Dermot knew his friend well enough to be sure that Tamsin wanted to open the shield to let the woman in, but Dermot wouldn’t allow him to do that before asking questions at the very least. As sorry as Dermot felt for this woman, the clan and their safety was the most important thing to him.
He’d already had to compromise over it for Celeste, then Bastien. He wasn’t going to do it again.
“Who are you?” he asked.
The woman jerked away from the shield. Her eyes were wide as she took in Dermot and Tamsin, and of course, Tamsin had to do something about it.
He raised his hands as if to show the woman that he wasn’t dangerous.
Dermot almost rolled his eyes. Out of the two of them, Tamsin was probably the more dangerous.
Thanks to his mate, he could turn into a wolf.
It wasn’t something Dermot would ever be able to do, not when his mate was a Krsnik.
Vila and Krsnik had been bonding and falling in love for hundreds of years.
None of the Vila had ever been able to shift into an animal just because their Krsnik mate could.
It seemed to be something that only Vila bonded to Kudlak could do, although Dermot wasn’t even sure about that since Celeste hadn’t mentioned shifting.
For now, this was Tamsin-specific, and Dermot wasn’t sure he wanted to find out if there was more to it.
He didn’t need more Kudlak in the village.
In fact, he wished he had fewer of them.
He didn’t trust Nico, even though he felt a little guilty for that. He wanted Tamsin to be happy.
He just wished Tamsin could be happy without having to bond to a Kudlak.
“My name is Rose,” the woman said. Her voice was shaking. “I need help.”
She did look like she needed help, but Dermot couldn’t trust her, not yet. “What happened to you? Why are you here?”
Dermot heard Tamsin murmur something about him being rude, but he couldn’t focus on his friend right now. It didn’t matter that he was being rude. What mattered was that he was protecting their clan.
Rose clasped both of her hands and linked her fingers together. “I heard about this place from another Vila. They told me that I could find a home here. I was on my way here when I was attacked by Kudlak.”
“Who’s the friend who told you about this place?”
The woman hesitated. “Her name is Lily. She heard about the village from other Vila.”
It made sense. Rowan and Clay had spread the word that the village was looking for more Vila.
They needed them to be able to use magic to protect the clan from Parrish and his Kudlak.
The problem had always been that it was hard for the Vila to reach the village because of Parrish and his Kudlak.
It seemed like Rose had found a way, though.
Maybe it had been easier for her because she seemed to be traveling alone.
“What’s going on?” Rowan asked when he appeared.
Rose looked at him with wide eyes. She was obviously terrified.
“This is Rose,” Dermot explained. “She heard that we were looking for more Vila to become part of our clan, and she tried to reach us, but as you can see, she had to escape Kudlaks to do so.”
Rowan stared at her for a moment, then looked back at Dermot. “Do you believe her story?”
“I do,” Dermot confirmed. It was the same story he, Tamsin, and most of the other Vila had.
When they’d heard about the village, they’d all decided to come and see if they could make it their home.
They’d all been on the run, mostly from Kudlak, but not only.
And they had found a home here. If that was what Rose was looking for, she was in the right place.
Dermot heard Tamsin suck in a breath. He half expected his friend to say something, but instead, Tamsin reached over and quickly squeezed Dermot’s wrist. Dermot had no idea what that was about, but right now, it didn’t matter.
What mattered was that they were going to have to lower the shields to let Rose in, and they had to be fast.
Rowan hesitated for only a few moments before nodding. “All right. Let her in. I’d like to talk to her.”
Dermot finally looked at Tamsin. It wasn’t the first time they’d lowered the shields to let someone in, so it wouldn’t be hard for them to coordinate. Tamsin knew what he was doing, which was always a relief. Dermot probably disliked having to explain to people what they were supposed to do.
They had Rose inside the shields within a few minutes.
Dermot was nervous the entire time the shield was down, but Parrish didn’t explode from the bushes like Dermot had half expected.
In fact, there were no signs of him at all.
Rose came inside, and Dermot and Tamsin closed the shield after her.
Nothing disastrous happened. No one got hurt or died.
For a second, everyone was quiet and looking at each other. Rose was shaking a little, but no one moved toward her.
“I need to talk to you before I can allow you to stay,” Rowan said.
Rose wrapped her arms around herself. “Please. I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
“I understand that. I still want to talk to you.”
“You don’t have to worry,” Dermot said. “Rowan is a good clan leader.” And if he’d let Celeste in, he’d have to let Rose in, too. She wasn’t bonded to a Kudlak like Celeste was. She was just a woman looking for a safe place, and she’d found it.
* * * *
THE VILLAGE WAS SMALL, and the clan wasn’t big.
As such, when something happened, it felt like everyone was always involved.
Bastien would have known something was happening even if he hadn’t been staying with Clay and Rowan.
He wasn’t surprised when he stepped out of the house and noticed several people grouped nearby, talking about whatever was going on.
Bastien didn’t know what it was. He just knew that someone had come to talk to Rowan, and Rowan had left in a hurry. It wasn’t Bastien’s place to ask, but he was curious, and Celeste was even worse than him when it came to sticking her nose into other people’s business.
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Bastien told her as she clung to his arm.
“Well, if it’s nothing, no one will care that we’re checking it out.”
“I’m sure they won’t.” Although Rowan might have a problem with it depending on what was going on.
Celeste wasn’t a prisoner, but Bastien wasn’t stupid.
He knew that most people here didn’t fully trust her, and he couldn’t even blame them.
He trusted his sister with his life, but even he was wary because she was bonded to Parrish.
There was no way to know how Parrish could influence her, even from a distance.
Bastien wouldn’t feel completely at ease until Parrish was dead, and unfortunately, for now, he couldn’t say when that would happen.
He was resisting the urge to go out there and find the Kudlak himself, but he needed to be careful. They all did.
The whispers stopped, and Bastien frowned.
He looked over Celeste’s head to see that Rowan was coming back toward the house, a woman walking next to him.
She was looking around with wide eyes, almost as if she expected people to try to stop her.
She wasn’t in great shape, although from what Bastien could see, it wouldn’t leave any lasting consequences.
The woman was bruised and scared, but she’d be fine unless she had internal bleeding, and she seemed okay.
Of course, Bastien wasn’t an expert. He was sure the woman would be examined by a capable Vila who would take care of her if needed.
“Oh,” Celeste said, letting go of Bastien’s arm. “That poor woman.”
She was moving before Bastien could caution her.
She reached the gate just as Rowan and the woman did, too.
They weren’t alone. Tamsin and Dermot were there, too, and Bastien hesitated, wondering what his mate would do.
He wasn’t surprised when Dermot firmly looked away, although it did hurt a little.
The way Dermot was behaving didn’t bode well.
That wasn’t something Bastien could worry about now, though. His attention went back to his sister, who was hovering near the woman.
“What happened?” Celeste asked.
“This is Rose,” Rowan explained. “She was trying to reach the village when she was attacked.”
Celeste looked like she was about to drag the woman into a hug, but Dermot stepped forward as if to stop her. Celeste blinked at him, then took a step back.
Bastien wasn’t sure what was going on, but he didn’t like it. He glared at Dermot, who glared right back. The pain Bastien had been feeling was gone. Now, he was a little pissed at his mate.