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Roman caught my arm. “You don’t need to talk to him.”
I offered him a gentle smile. “It’s okay, Roman. He can’t hurt me.” Roman had no idea how true those words were and why.
Maybe one day he would.
He crossed his arms and huffed, and I stepped into town hall by myself.
I had been here a couple of times in the past two days, but if Roman saw, he perhaps thought I was coming to talk to Lavinia or Killian, or one of the eldest wolves in the pack, who all claimed the council room as their own.
I sighed, remembering the amount of work we still had in front of us. Shane was keeping a list of things we should address soon: see who was left of the council, assign new posts, get the school up and running, create new security, start training again.
We were still missing two crystals. Dixon had gotten away with them, and the witches hadn’t been able to recreate the barrier without them. Because of that, the weather was creeping in, and it was getting chilly. It was May, so at least we were heading into summer, but still, it would never be as warm and pleasant as it was when the barrier was up.
And we weren’t protected. Anyone could come and go.
Anyone could attack us.
Besides everything he had to do for the town, Shane also wanted to come up with a plan to find and retrieve the crystals.
I was up for that, as we really needed the crystals back if we wanted our lives to be like they were before, but at the moment, I was so tired of fighting and fearing and crying, I needed a break.
We all did.
I walked down the stairs until I reached the prison. With the keys hanging beside the door, I unlocked it and walked in the cells’ corridor.
Shane was in the last one, leaning on the metal bars, his eyes on me. I didn’t bother locking the door behind me. I wouldn’t be here for long and I trusted Shane to control his wolf long enough for me to run, if it came to that.
I walked toward him, mildly disappointed that since the attack, he had been wearing t-shirts along with his jeans. And shoes! My cheeks heated up thinking of the times he stalked to me wearing nothing but his pants.
I averted my gaze.
“What are you doing here?” Shane asked, his voice serious.
I shrugged as I approached his cell. “I guess I wanted to see how you are.”
He frowned. “You came this morning. And yesterday afternoon. And yesterday morning. You know how I am.”
I put my hands on my waist. “Are you complaining? Do you want me to leave?”
One corner of his lips curled up. “You know I don’t.” He grew serious again. “But sunset is a little over an hour away. I don’t want you near here when the sun goes down.”
I nodded.
For the last two days, Shane had asked to be kept in the cells, which had been reinforced by Thea and Almae before they left. Even so, he had set a curfew. Once the sun was down, everyone should stay inside their homes, and if he managed to escape, they were supposed to hide. If he found us, we were allowed to use anything to stop him from hurting us.
For the last two nights, everyone obeyed his order but me. I had joined Killian, Lavinia, and the other vampires in guarding the town hall. I wanted to be here in case he escaped. He had recognized me before; he could recognize me again.
I actually asked him about it yesterday, and he said he didn’t remember anything. While in his Shadow Wolf, he was out of it.
Even from inside his cell, Shane had shouted orders left and right, telling us what to do and how to fix everything. I knew staying locked down here while we worked relentlessly was killing him, so I didn’t argue.
But tonight would be the last of the full moon cycle, and tomorrow the curfew would be lifted and Shane would be out of here. He would be able to run around with the rest of us, working all day and night to create a semblance of normalcy in our pack.
“Don’t worry about that.” I picked up the metal stool I had brought in yesterday and placed it right in front of his cell. I sat down. “Shane, I have a request.”
He crouched beside me, the metal bars in between us. “What is it?”
“Tell me about the curse.” I knew this could wait, but I also knew that if given the chance, he would run from the question. While in here, he had nowhere to go.
