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“Could Eli draw on that power here? Especially now that he has some backup.”
“I don’t think so, but I can’t be sure. He seems so much more out of control away from the compound. At least back there, he kept himself on a leash.” She glanced at me. “Perhaps I should return. He might follow.”
“Are you kidding me? He’ll have more in his favour. You as a hostage, and us weaker without you.” I cast a worried glance her way. “Do you want to go back to the compound?”
“The longer I am away, the harder it is to imagine going back there. I survived many difficult nights in that place.” She gazed at Margo who was still surrounded by well-wishers. “But I don’t belong here either. I can’t hide forever.” She waved a hand towards Margo. “And my presence will always be a reminder that she is different to the others. They’re happy now, but that could easily change.”
“I’m pretty sure Byron means to let you stay for as long as you want to. You don’t have to run away anymore, but you shouldn’t go back to the compound, no matter what happens.”
She met my gaze. “You are very different from the people I’m used to. I’m glad Margo found you. Things might have worked out differently if she hadn’t.”
“You can trust people,” I said. “I’m not the only person in the world who isn’t full of hate.”
“I’m starting to remember that.” But her expression remained haunted. “For a long time, everything seemed dark.”
“I know you’ve had a hard life,” I said. “I did, too, before I came here, before I was saved. Those dark days seem like they happened to somebody else now. If you stay here, you might end up feeling the same way.”
“You are kind.” Her warm smile reminded me of Margo. “I’m glad that child has you on her side.”
“Not disgusted by me anymore?”
She flushed. “I have been forced to open my mind. I’m learning there is a lot I still don’t know about the world.”
At the front gates, the noisy group gathered, still laughing and congratulating each other. Vira and I slipped past unnoticed and made our way to Byron’s front door. There, Vira lingered as though she wanted to speak but was unsure of the words.
“Something on your mind?”
“I’m not sure exactly what it means, but Margo told me that she noticed something strange about Eli today. It might be important, but she isn’t certain. Make sure she tells Byron everything when things are a little less exciting.”
I knew what she meant. Everyone was acting over the top. “Will do. I’ll see you later. Thanks for today. I don’t know what happened exactly, but I’m pretty sure you and Margo made Eli think twice.”
I watched her go inside, considered returning to Margo’s side, then thought better of it. I headed home instead, regretting the choice almost immediately when I heard Jeremy’s voice coming from the living room.
He was catching the others up on what had happened. Interestingly, he had come straight back instead of chasing after the harbingers. I would have expected the opposite to happen.
“Doesn’t seem right that they’d be scared off so easily,” Nathan was saying when I entered the room. Perdita and Zara both looked incredibly bored. Even the baby was asleep, a wolfhound snoring beneath her swinging basket.
“They can’t win in a physical fight,” Jeremy told him. “They only have death, and they don’t seem capable of attacking us all at once. Death isn’t instantaneous either, so we have time to defend ourselves. What do they expect to happen if they confront us?”
“Eli could be using his new friends to distract us,” Nathan said. “Or to force us to go after the compound. His focus seems to be Vira and Margo, always. We’re in the way, and he can’t take us all on at once.”
“Which means he’ll take the cowardly way out,” Jeremy said with a frown. “What next then?”
“He didn’t know that Margo had become one of us,” I said. “Now he does. It pissed him off, but it might force him to change his plans.”
“Your girlfriend didn’t do too badly,” Jeremy said. “We couldn’t see exactly what was happening, but I could feel the shift in the air.” He ran a hand along his forearm. “Gave me goosebumps. She’s more than a werewolf. Could be in our favour.”
“We should be careful not to push her too hard,” Nathan said. “She’s new to this.”
“Whatever. If you don’t want her, she’s welcome to come home with us. We could use a few more interesting characters.”
Nathan made a non-committal grunt while shooting me a warning glance. I bit back on a heated response.
“Her family is here,” Perdita said. “Margo wouldn’t be interested in straying too far from them for long.”
Zara cleared her throat loudly. Jeremy looked from his mate to Perdita and back again. Zara defiantly held his gaze. Jeremy’s cheeks grew pink. He nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “Perdita, you should visit us with the baby sometimes. The cousins should get to know each other. You and Zara seem to get on okay.”
“I agree,” Perdita said. “Family is important.”
