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The door at the far end of the hall murmured open, but I didn’t look back to see who was joining us. All my awareness stayed focused on therogue.
“They forced you to help them,” I said gently. “Did they threaten you? Or someone you careabout?”
Her composure broke. A little sob fell from her lips. Her eyes had filled withtears.
Aaron knelt down at my other side. “I swear you will not be punished for crimes you were coerced into. By my oath as alpha.” He held up his hand with the oath scar etched in the palm. A pulse of power tingled overme.
The rogue must have felt it too. A few of her tears spilled down the sides of her face. “They have my son. He’s only seventeen. He’s all I have. If they find out I toldyou...”
“They won’t,” Aaron saidfirmly.
“And we’ll stop them. We’ll get your son back.” I glanced at Aaron, and he nodded his approval. “Where are the rogues who tookhim?”
“I don’t know,” the owl shifter said in a thin voice. “Everything is passed through messages. I never see them face-to-face.”
“Are they planning anything else? Do they have anyone else working for them on theestate?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. They only told me that if I managed to— If I—” She couldn’t seem to spit out thewords.
“If you killed me,” Iprompted.
“Yes. Then they’d return my son. That’s all Iknow.”
I bit my lip. I wanted to help her. I wanted to take down every one of the rogues who’d forced someone like her to take the fall for their schemes. But we couldn’t when this was all sheknew.
“We’ll do what we can for you,” I said, “but we’ll need you to help us too. Find out more about them, where they are, what else they’re doing. Who’s involved. Anything, so that we can track them down. We won’t reveal that we caught you. You can pretend you’re still waiting for your chance, but that you want to do more for them. Act like you’ve decided you agree with them so they’ll trust you. Can you dothat?”
“If it gets my son back, I’ll do anything.” She dragged in a breath. “Thank you for yourmercy.”
I pushed off her, watching her as I stood. She sat up, no sudden movements, no sign she meant to try another attack. She might have bruises on her wrists from my grip tomorrow, but I couldn’t help that. From the expression on her face, she wouldn’t blame me forthem.
“I’ll make arrangements for you to get word to me, wherever I am, when you have any news,” Aaronsaid.
“And of course we’ll be keeping our own eyes out for your not-kin,” West said in a brittle voice. Marco stood just behind him. Some relaxing breakfast this was turning out tobe.
Aaron helped the owl shifter to her feet and ushered her off to the side to talk with her further. I sighed, leaning my hand against thewall.
The rush of adrenaline was fading, leaving me shaky. The lovely dress I’d picked out in the hopes of impressing the fae monarch at least a little was now torn around my legs from my partial shift. The skin on my belly stung where the carving knife had pricked it. The cut on my shoulder was only seeping a little blood now, but it stillached.
Nate slid his arm around my shoulders. “Let’s go back to your rooms and patch you up.” He shot a glance at his fellow alphas. “Have one of the servers bring a plate forher.”
West glowered as if he resented the order, but Marco accepted it with a quick nod. “Not a problem.” He looked toward the rogue woman, and his lips curled into a grimace. “And might I suggest you keep the door locked until the food getsthere?”
Chapter 19
Ren
By the timeNate and I made it to my rooms, my legs were done. I wobbled over to the sofa in the sitting room and sank ontoit.
Nate ducked into the bathroom. He came back with a small silver case that turned out to hold pretty normal-looking first aidsupplies.
I winced as he dabbed antiseptic cream on my cuts. He smoothed a thin adhesive bandage onto my shoulder and considered mystomach.
“I guess I should take this off,” I said, reaching for the straps of the torn dress. “Being a shifter does seem to be hard on one’s clothingsupply.”
Nate chuckled. “We always make sure to have lots of spares onhand.”
I stripped the silky fabric from my body, leaving me in only my bra and panties. It was impossible not to see the heat kindling in Nate’s gaze as he watched. An answering dampness formed between my legs. I swallowed hard and held out my hand for the otherbandage.
