“I’m sorry,” she repeated in a robotic voice, staring at her lap. It was as if she were reading from a script. Goddess save me, I needed caffeine.
“Do you want another drink?” Since I was here, I may as well enjoy a fresh cup of coffee made with actual beans. The only coffee I’d found at the mansion was twenty years out of date.
“No, thank you.”
I went to the counter and ordered a butterscotch latte with extra cream and sprinkles. Today was an extra-sugar day.
Maverick prodded me down the bond.“I’m fine,”I reassured him.“Willow wanted to apologize, and Adam dropped me at a coffee shop for magicals.”
“It’s not safe, Raven!”Oops. My bear was mad.“If anyone recognizes you, the mages will arrest you!”
“Relax. Adam glamoured me. I’m now a smoking hot blonde.”
Unfortunately, that didn’t mollify him in the slightest, so I muted the connection. Or tried to, at least.
“The coffee’s good,” I said to Willow when I sat back down at our table. Goddess save me, this was rapidly turning into the most awkward hour of my life. How had we become strangers in such a short time?
“Yeah,” she mumbled, refusing to meet my eye. Several hideously uncomfortable minutes passed as I sipped my coffee. This was pointless. Whatever she’d told Adam, it was clear Willow didn’t care about making up with me.
I placed my mug down and leaned forward. “So why are you here?”
She seemed nonplussed by my question. “Huh?”
“I assume you followed Adam because you wanted a trip away from the farm.”
That made her look up. Anger flared in her eyes.
“Do you think you’re the only one who deserves freedom?”
Freedom?“The mage security guy sent me to Starfall. I had no choice about leaving you all. Being stuck at school is hardly freedom. It’s not as if we can leave whenever we like.” I snorted derisively.
“And yet you’ve been all over the place with your so-called mates.”
Was this about my mates?
“Are you jealous, Willow?” I reached for her hand, full of guilt. “Your soul-bonded mate is out there.” We’d done loads of soulmate summoning spells when I was younger, although none had shown me my future mates. “He could be a shifter!”
“Why the fuck would I want to be bonded to a shifter?” The venomous way she said this took me by surprise. I knew she’d dated one or two shifters over the years, so surely she didn’t hate them that much.
“Why wouldn’t you? My bear is strong and caring and super loyal. I couldn’t ask for a better mate.”
Willow sneered. “Big and dumb, more like.”
Goddess, this was pointless. I no longer recognized the woman sitting across the table from me, and I sure didn’t want to listen to her spewing hate about my mates. Jealousy was such a corrosive emotion.
“I’m truly sorry you feel that way,” I said through gritted teeth, doing my best to remain calm. Crying would only draw attention to us. “You know what? I think I’ll go wait outside for Adam.”
Willow smirked for a second before rearranging her features into a blank skate.
“Bye, Raven.” As I stood, she pulled a shiny new smartphone from her lap and stabbed the screen. I opened my mouth to ask how she’d afforded such an expensive device and then thought better of it. What was the point? After snatching my half-full cup from the table, I left.
Adam had promised he wouldn’t be long, so I’d wait in the alley for him. It was cold and dark, but anything was an improvement over sitting in Willow’s toxic orbit.
I shivered as a stiff wind whistled down between the buildings, sending discarded trash flying into the air. The alley reeked of urine and vomit. The coffee shop owners really needed to do something about that. A magical cleaning spell would not go amiss.
Just as I was about to head back toward the street to see if I could spot Adam, five armed mages blinked into view around me.
“Raven Blackstone, you are under arrest.”
