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“Caleb, what are you doing here?” She keeps her voice low, to make it clear it’s not a conversation for everyone.
“How can you ask me that? You know I had to find you.”
“That’s why I cloaked myself. I didn’t want to be found.”
He winks at her then, as though he didn’t risk his life. “That’s why I found Vera.”
“Still putting yourself in danger, I see,” Maddy says louder, stronger. Then she sniffs and tries to take a step away, tries to add distance so she can reassemble her composure, but Caleb doesn’t lose his hold on her. So, she doubles down on the accusation. “How could you?”
“How could I what?” Frustratingly, he’s unbothered by her ire.
“Risk yourself like that,” she snaps, but her anger is losing whatever heat it had. “What if Malcolm had found you on your way here?”
Caleb laughs, a dark and humorless sound. “He’d have had a hard time stopping me.”
“How can you be so sure of that?”
“Because I need you, and we need to be together. It’s the only way we can beat any of this.”
It’s the only answer he gives, but it’s enough. It’s the truest thing in him at this moment, and cloak spell or not, he would have moved heaven and earth to get to her. He’d have done anything to reach her, and Maddy can’t find any more angry words in her at all.
“I’m glad you’re here,” she breathes. They’ll just have to figure out the consequences together.
Sylvan clears his throat once more, and Vera leans against the wall, studying her fingernails.
Caleb keeps one of his arms around her but turns so they’re side by side. “Vera was the only way to find you, and she agreed to bring me here.”
A long sigh seeps from Maddy. She doesn’t think Caleb’s right to do what he did, but at least he’s here for as long as she can keep her teeth from his neck. She jerks her head toward Caleb. “He’s the only reason you’re not dead on the doorstep, Vera.”
Vera shakes her head. “Big words for a new vampire.”
Maddy takes a step toward her, but Caleb pulls her back. “Let it go,” he whispers so low, it’s more like he’s mouthed the words at her. “You have a lot to learn about the sire bond.”
“Fine.” She’s not about to fight all of them—not now, not feeling as relieved as she does to see Caleb.
“So, you have some questions to answer, too,” he says. “Why are you here?”
“The Fae have a weapon which can defeat Orion once and for all. At least that’s what they say. They need my help to find it. So they say.” She glares at Sylvan. “I don’t know much more than that.”
“Those are pretty thin reasons to follow a stranger into a strange place.” Caleb squeezes her to him. “Flimsy reasons to risk yourself.”
“We don’t have a choice. We have to defeat Orion.”
“And I don’t think you have room to talk about flimsy reasons, Caleb,” Vera interjects. “But we’re all here now.”
At that, Caleb’s eyes take on a sheen Maddy doesn’t recognize. The irises darken, and a buzz hums in the air. A pulse shoots out from him and slams Vera into the wooden paneling.
“Oof,” she gasps, trembling from head to toe. She points at him, then shies away with a whimper.
The small table rolls toward the back of the room, and Caleb grits his teeth as his face pales. He shakes from some kind of strain.
Maddy turns to Caleb, stroking his arms until his exertion lessens. Then she looks from Caleb to Vera and back again. “What’s going on?”
“He can do that now,” Vera murmurs.
Sylvan’s eyes go wide, and he shakes. “Is that what I think it is?”
Vera shrugs but nods. “I believe so.”
