Chapter 16
ROSE
Hours pass in a blur of questions and talk that would surely overwhelm me if not for Zak’s constant presence. He is a shield at my side, unafraid to bark back at the werewolves when they pester me too much.
“She’s already said that she doesn’t know anything. How many times do you have to hear it? I’m beginning to get really fucking tired of this bullshit. And she’s not going to the First Realm with you. I don’t care what you think — she doesn’t owe you that. She just got here for fuck’s sake.”
“She needs to be monitored.”
“Then monitor her from here.” His voice is sterner than I’ve ever heard it before, having lost his usual friendly charm at some point in the last half hour. I lean into him further, and he re-tucks my woollen blanket higher around my shoulders.
“I agree.” Evander’s resolute tone cuts through the unsettled murmurs of his mother’s people. I hadn’t understood why he seemed so invested in my welfare until it was revealed to me that his wife’s father may very well be my own.
I keep thinking about Papa and wondering what he knew.
There’s further argument, but it’s so very difficult to pay attention.
Warm arms scoop me up, and Zak’s scent — wonderfully spicy and masculine and perfect — surrounds me as he holds me in his arms. “We’re going back with Evander,” he says.
With my head against his chest, his voice seems to rumble through me. “I’m not letting her go.”
I hear the words car and too late for a helicopter and holiday home out west in Titirangi, but I am in and out of sleep, waking only when Zak asks me to stand for a moment. “Sorry babe, but I can’t get us both through the car door.”
It’s cold and there are other hands at my back. I recognise Evander’s voice asking, “You’ve got her?”
“Yeah.” I’m lifted again, back into Zak’s arms. “I’m just gonna hold her, okay? Just don’t crash or pass by a cop.”
“Avoiding cops at this time of night might be impossible, but the windows are tinted enough,” Evander replies, and I can hear the humour in his voice, even if I don’t understand what he’s saying. “We’ll be fine.”
There’s another person in the front of the car.
A werewolf, I think. She turns, her gold eyes reflecting light, but I don’t recognise her.
“It’s me, Lylia,” she says with a small smile.
“I’m in glamour.” It makes no sense, but nothing makes sense right now except the strong arms that tighten around me.
I fall asleep under the glow of street lamps that are both familiar and foreign all at once, the heartbeat of my love steady against my ear.