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Roan caught sight of me across the camp, and he froze. The others were busy with the disintegrating vampires and protecting the camp. Even Ozias had his attention elsewhere, watching the sky for any further threats, though as he sensed my alarm, I could feel him turning back to me with concern.
Myriad emotions chased themselves over Roan’s face as he stared at me, and every one of them was baffling. Pride. Disorientation. Confusion. Nauseating dread swallowed a moment later by anger.
Roan turned away as if annoyed by my staring, but suddenly, the reaction struck me as artificial. I’d seen his face in the moment before that contemptuous anger took hold.
He’d been scared, and I’d swear it was somehow related to me. Never mind how that made no sense—he’d just ripped the throat from a vampire with his bare hands, for the gods’ sakes, and there hadn’t been a shred of fear on his face about that. Quite the opposite. But suddenly I had a sneaking suspicion that if I asked, not a single man in this group would tell me they’d known Roan possessed such a power.
And then there was how fast he’d crossed that clearing to shelter me from the blast when that wall came down…
Roan was scared that I saw what he’d done. I’d bet half my castle on it.
“Anybody spot any more of those fuckers?” Clay snarled, his hand gripping and re-gripping his sword.
“Don’t think so.” Niko sounded unsure.
The others said the same as they scanned the night. They hadn’t seen what Roan did, and the body was turning to dust, hiding the evidence besides.
“Are you okay?” Ozias murmured to me, and I knew he didn’t just mean about the vampires.
I nodded, but I didn’t take my eyes from Roan. Crossing the clearing, I watched him grow more tense with every step I took nearer to him.
“Gwyneira?” Niko called, sounding confused.
I didn’t respond, coming to a stop near Roan. “What was that?” I asked in a low voice.
“Is everything okay?” Dex pressed.
I hesitated. I could say something. I really could. But would that be fair? If I wasn’t going to reveal Ozias’s secrets until he was ready, was it right to put Roan on the spot and pressure him into telling everyone about whatever was going on with him?
Especially when I didn’t even know what that was?
“I-I just thought I saw something,” I said, still watching Roan. “I wanted to be sure he was all right.”
Roan’s dark eyes darted to me. He was so tense, I could see him trembling, but when he spoke, his voice was hard as stone. “I’m fine.”
Without another word, he turned away, busying himself with his bag like I wasn’t standing there at all.
Ozias came up beside me, putting a hand on my shoulder and gently drawing me back toward the fire with the others. A wave of support and love coursed into me from him, so intense it was like being engulfed in a warm hug by his furry beast form.
It made me melt inside. This bond was unlike anything I’d ever dreamed of feeling, but I’d be grateful for it every day simply for how it let me know the true depth of feelings this stoic mountain of a man hid inside.
I sank down by the fire, casting a worried glance at Roan in spite of everything. How was I supposed to ask him about what I’d seen? Whatever he was hiding, he’d probably been hiding it for years, considering no one here had ever said a word about him having abilities like that. I hated the way secrets were piling up, but was it my place to reveal his or Ozias’s or anyone’s?
He couldn’t be a danger to us, right?
I stirred the fire with a stick, watching the embers rising into the sky like maybe they’d have an answer. In the clearing, Roan had protected me. At the Jeweled Coven, he’d warned me to stay away.
When I was turned, he fed me his blood and whispered not you too as if begging me not to die.
It made my head spin.
Ruhl paced back into the circle of firelight, smugness radiating from his smoky wolf form and answering any question of whether the vampire he’d been chasing had survived.
“Looks like someone had a good hunting trip,” Clay joked.
Ruhl settled beside the fire, looking satisfied as hell.
“So…” Niko began. “Do we stay put or should we move on?”
