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. . tel them . . . hel , I don't know. Tel them Santa Claus paid a surprise visit, and he wasn't happy with Stacia being on the naughty list."
And as we watched silently, the Bonecrusher and her snakes vanished under the silent wash of snow.
CHAPTER 23
"So, did anybody ever find Trytian?" I was sitting in the kitchen, my ribs wrapped tightly. Sharah had me on strict orders to rest for a good six to seven weeks. I'd heal faster than an FBH, but bones could only knit so fast. The kitchen was stil trashed, there had been so much destruction, but most of the mess had been cleaned up, and the men were busy, trying to repair the damage done.
Iris was making tea, Menol y was hovering near the ceiling. Most of the guys were spread out in the living room except for Vanzir, Tril ian, and Shade, who had joined us in the kitchen.
Camil e shook her head. "No, and frankly, I'm wil ing to leave him alone if he leaves us alone. He's not out to take Shadow Wing's place like Stacia was.
I wish there was a way we could let him know that." She leaned against Tril ian, who wrapped her in his arms and kissed her head.
"I can make that happen," Vanzir said. "I'l put out a note through the Demon Underground, and it wil spread. He'l hear. I have no love for the fucking jerk after he tried to blow us up, but if he's wil ing to let us do what we need to and tend to his own backyard . . . I'm wil ing to let it go."
"What about Van and Jaycee?" I hated ticking off the list of enemies we stil had prowling around, but we needed to remember: They were out there, and they were gunning for us.
With a shrug, Camil e said, "I don't know. We keep watch. We infiltrate the magic shops, spread the word we're on the lookout. And we hope they move on as soon as possible. My guess is that Stacia's training camp wil either break up or Trytian wil take over. We'l want to keep our ears out for whatever happens in that direction, too."
Iris brought a bowl of Cheetos to me, along with a glass of milk. "I take pity on you because of your ribs."
"You never did tel me your story," I said.
She shrugged. "You'l have plenty of time to listen over the next few weeks. And on the ful moon, with those broken ribs, you're going to be confined to a room where you can't jump up on anything or hurt yourself. So get used to being an indoor-only for the next six weeks or so."
There was a knock at the door, and Menol y answered. She led Luke, Amber, and Chase into the kitchen. Chase looked weary.
"Cal me, let me know what happens," he said. "Meanwhile, I'm needed back at HQ." I caught his gaze and smiled, and Chase smiled back then, and in that moment, everything was okay. What he would say once he knew about Shade was anybody's guess, but that was for another day.
After he left, Amber and Luke sat down next to me. Luke bit his lip when he saw the tight bandages around my ribs. "I'm sorry about that. But thank you--
thank you al for saving my sister. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't helped out."
"That reminds me, what are we going to do about the coyote shifters?" I popped a Cheeto in my mouth and savored the crispy cheese crunch, then licked my fingers.
"I think we should bring the Koyanni up on charges at the next Supe Community Council." Menol y patted Luke on the back--about as close as she ever got to a hug. "After al , they're breaking treaty by attacking the werewolves, and it doesn't matter whether or not they belong to the council. The wolf Packs do." She pressed her lips together, and I could tel she was pissed.
"I agree, Camil e said. "Hand over everything to the council, and let them take care of it."
"Good idea. I just . . . I wish we could have caught al of them." I didn't like leaving matters as they were, but we had no choice. I was out of commission, and Sharah had made it clear to me that she'd strap me into a hospital bed if I tried to do anything more strenuous than channel surf.
Luke shrugged. "I'm just glad to have my sister back."
Camil e glanced at me, her eyes pensive. "About that . . . Luke . . . Amber can't stay here if she's wearing the necklace."
"What necklace?" He glanced at her, then frowned. "Why not? What's wrong with it? Not fashionable enough?"
I let out a low sigh. "We have to tel you something. We've already told your sister, so she knows. You can never tel anyone else, but you need to know what's going on."
Over the next hour, we fil ed the two werewolves in on our mission, explaining from the beginning about Bad Ass Luke and Shadow Wing and the spirit seals and ending up with the Keraastar Knights. We did not tel them about our doubts or concerns over giving the seals to Queen Asteria now that we knew what she was planning to do with the spirit seals--a disaster in the making, in our opinions.
They sat, mouths open, shaking their heads. It was easy to see they were brother and sister, they looked so much alike.
"So that's what's going on with my necklace." Amber breathed a soft sigh. "And how wil that affect my baby?" She curled an arm around her bel y.
"I don't know, honestly. Queen Asteria's medics can probably help you with that--you can't tel anyone here about the problem, except Sharah." I hung my head. "Amber, you're going to have to either give us the necklace or volunteer to go to Otherworld and turn yourself over to Queen Asteria. I think you may have the genetic makeup she was talking about--to become a Keraastar Knight."
"This is sudden . . . I don't know what to do. I can't take off the necklace." She blinked, tears wel ing up. "I've never lived anywhere else . . . even coming here was so new for me."
