“You look pale, Mr Gallagher,” Nora said with a frown.
“Get everything you can on Nika Horvat, please.”
She nodded, pen already moving.“Internal and external?”
“Everything.”
Her eyebrows lifted almost to her hairline but she was far too professional to say anything.
Unlike Nika.
Nika Horvat.
The name had not stopped circling.
Wrong smell. Wrong eyes. Wrong mouth.
Just thinking about her pricked at my hunting instinct. Not hunting for sustenance. Hunting for survival.
Kael hummed with approval. We were aligned again.
“Thanks, Nora. I’m going to make a personal call,” I said, turning into my office.
My first thought was to call Cuán about the potential threat. I could hear him in my head already—laughing, asking me if I really couldn’t handle one female, offering to come over and help. I knew this because if our positions were reversed I would never let him live it down either.
I FaceTimed my father.
Who has silver eyes?
Kael growled.
The phone rang twice.
Dad answered. Both of them were there.
“Hello,” they said in unison.
“Aww, look at him.” Mum’s face filled the screen, then frowned.“Nice of ye to call us.”
“Aye, at least Cuán makes a bit more of an effort,” my dad said, grinning.“It’s good to see ye, son.”
“Hey. Sorry for not calling sooner.” I rubbed the back of my neck.
My dad stared at me for a moment, then whispered something to my mum. She blew me a kiss.
“Call me on the weekend,” she said sharply, and moved away from the camera.
“Dad—have you ever encountered something not quite a wolf? Is there anything documented?”
My dad started pacing. His face brightened as he moved closer to a window, the Irish light catching him.
“I’ve come across strange scents that aren’t all human, but no part of any of them was wolf. I would need to look back at recorded encounters.” He paused.“There’s a book on mystical beings and half-breed animal spirits.”
“Can you send it to me?”
“Sure. What did your senses register?” He resumed pacing.
“Existential danger. For Kael. For us.”
