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“I’m pretty sure she’s moved on. Neither of us knows what the future will bring, Lis.” A corner of his mouth lifted, probably because he’d seen the frustration in my eyes. “I know you prefer rules and deadlines. But we can’t control the future, as much as we’d like to.” He pulled me closer. “I plan on enjoying every moment that I have with you.”
But that didn’t loosen the fist around my heart.
He lifted our joined hands, pressed a kiss to my knuckles that lingered. “Shifters have a philosophy: You can’t control the world. You can only control your reaction to it. Sometimes that means we have to accept things we don’t like. So we drink and we grapple and we dance and we ride. And sometimes we fight.” He tipped up my chin with a finger. “I’m fighting for you, for us. I fight the Pack way. You fight the vampire way. And I bet we come out right where we need to be.”
For a moment, we stood together, united against the world.
But we’d taken long enough for ourselves. We’d gotten out what we needed out. And we had to get back to solving our problems.
“I haven’t had a chance to tell you: Breonna came to see me last night.”
His eyes went hot again. “She did what?”
“She came to the office. It was mostly blustering, but I think she was hoping she’d have a chance to make a play for you. Romantically.”
His dubious snort had my spirits lifting higher. “As if.”
“She’s convinced dating a vampire is a liability.”
Connor met my gaze again. “It isn’t. You’ve proven yourself to the Pack more than enough times. But even if it was?” He put afinger beneath my chin, lifted it so our gazes aligned. “The Pack is important to me,” he agreed. “You’re more important. You rank higher, Elisa.”
I stared at him. I hadn’t needed that, and I was a little intimidated by what that meant. “Thank you,” was the only thing I could think to say.
He wrapped his arms around me again. “I love you, brat.”
“I love you, too, puppy. Let’s go find a demon.”
***
“Sorry I’m late,” I said, hustling into the Ombuds’ office with apology pastries. I put them on the side table, pulled the handkerchief from my pocket, offered it to Petra.
“Is that my handkerchief?” Roger asked.
“It is. But it’s full of demon dust.”
While Roger put his hands into the pockets of his dark gray slacks, Petra reached out her hand. Which summed them up pretty well, I thought.
“I went to Cadogan House,” I said. “That’s why I’m late. I needed to clear my head, and I walked around the lawn. There were spots in the side yard of whatever that is. Maybe ash or ground-up stone?” I pulled out my screen. “I took some photos, but they’re probably too dark. I’m sending them now, just in case.”
The images appeared almost instantaneously on Petra’s screen. They looked, as expected, like darkness. And not much else.
“Here,” Roger said, offering an open evidence bag. Petra dropped the handkerchief in. “I’ve got a meeting downtown, and I can drop this off at the lab.”
“Is the lab run by a cousin of Petra’s?” Theo asked with a grin.
“Har har,” she said, and chewed the edge of a knobby apple fritter.
“Anything I’ve missed?” I asked.
“There’s still no evidence of a Cornerstone near CadoganHouse,” Petra said. “But if there had been—and the corresponding ward—surely it would have been triggered already.” She leaned forward. “Is it true about the challenge?”
“It is,” I said. “Connor hasn’t decided what to do about it yet.”
“He has a choice?” Theo asked, then held up his hands. “I’m not being sarcastic. I don’t know much about Pack rules in that area.”
“I think it’s a gray area because his dad’s... absent. It’s not exactly Connor’s challenge to accept.”
Theo nodded. “Tough spot.”
