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“How did it go?” he asked, as soon as he returned and saw us gathered together in the room. Then his face fell. “You didn’t find them, did you?”
“We found them,” Byron said. “But they refused to speak to us. They threatened us.”
“Maybe they’re not the ones we’re looking for,” Niall said. “What if we try to—“
“The men we saw were all as pale as Margo,” I said. “Same white-blond hair, blue eyes.”
“I don’t understand,” Niall blustered. “Why did you leave? You’re werewolves. Surely you’ve nothing to fear from a couple of men.”
Byron leaned back in his chair. “What do you take us for? Do you think we go around beating and murdering whoever doesn’t do what we want? Do you want us to be thugs? Is that why we’re here?”
“That’s not what I meant.” Niall rubbed his face with both hands. “I don’t understand why you would give up so quickly. If we talk to them again, they might—“
“They don’t act like Margo,” I blurted. “They feel dangerous.”
“They could tell what we were,” Ryan explained. “After they threatened us, we left, but Dorian sensed something behind us, something dark, something we couldn’t see. I’ve never experienced anything like it before.”
“Something dark,” Niall repeated in a hollow tone. “Did you even tell them why you were there?”
“They didn’t show much of a reaction to our questions,” Byron said. “They merely wanted us gone. Either they didn’t believe us, or they didn’t care.”
Niall held out his hands in exasperation. “I can’t go home without answers, not now I know they’re here.”
“You might have to,” Byron said in a colder tone than usual.
“Explain to me how,” Niall persisted. “Am I to go home and watch my daughter die? Because let’s be honest, you all believe this is killing her, too.”
I glanced from one man’s face to another, chilled by the truth of Mr Harding’s words.
“You think she’s dying?” I said in a small voice. “All of you.”
“We can’t rule it out,” Byron said after a moment.
“Then you can’t expect me to go home either,” I said stubbornly.
Byron leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees, his face in his hands. After a few moments, he abruptly sat up straight. “All right,” he said. “We won’t give up at the first hurdle. The cult or whatever it is has to leave its compound sometimes.”
“They trade at that village, according to Lena,” Niall reminded him. “I’ve seen her a lot since you’ve been gone. She said it’s mostly women who come to market, accompanied by one or two men.”
“So if we wait them out, eventually they’ll come to trade, and we’ll meet some new faces on neutral ground,” Ryan said. “I could cross the border, see if anyone in Ukraine has a story to tell about these people.”
“Has Lena told you anything else?” I asked Niall. I didn’t think we should separate.
“She says a lot of things.” He shrugs. “I think she might be senile, to be honest. She talks about old stories she’s heard, and she makes it sound like death is a weapon to be used.”
“Maybe she was right, at least in part,” I said. “Whatever came after us in the forest felt dark and scary.”
“Margo could have lived this life if she hadn’t been dropped off at an orphanage,” Niall said. “I can’t even imagine it.”
We discussed it for the rest of the evening, planning on meeting with Lena the following day, but I noticed Byron kept glancing at me. I feared he was planning to send me home, so I drew him aside.
“What is it?”
He blinked at me.
“Why do you keep looking at me like that?” I asked. “What’s going on?”
He favoured me with a small smile. “I was thinking how well you’ve grown up, and how much you remind me of Nathan.”
