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“Yes, as I said before.” She brushed her hands together. “But I haven’t said we will help you yet. Leave. I need time to think itthrough.”
My heart sank. “If you’re going to help, it’ll need to be soon. They’re coming at us againtonight.”
She fixed me with a hard look. “I need time,” she repeated. Then she turned and stalkedaway.
Chapter 19
Ren
I could tellthe two figures in the avian estate’s hall were arguing before I could even hear them. Both of the middle-aged men stood with chests puffed and facesdarkened.
Shit. With the threat of the vampires looming, the last thing we needed was to be fighting among ourselves. I hurriedover.
“I told you, there isn’t enough space,” the guy in the guest bedroom doorwayinsisted.
“There are only four of you in there,” the other man said in a growl of a voice. “Your alpha said each room could taketen.”
“Why don’t you find one with your ownkin?”
“Therearen’tany other badger shifters here. My wife and I are the onlyones.”
The two shifters jerked back from each other when they saw me coming up on them. The guy who already held the room—a hawk shifter, I gathered from his scent—looked about ready to swallow his tongue. Too bad I couldn’t make him actually dothat.
“What seems to be the problem here?” I asked, setting my hands on my hips. “I think the instructions about the rooms were prettyclear.”
The hawk shifter ducked his head. “My apologies, dragon shifter. I just thought… There are still more rooms with openings… This fellow might be happier with shifters more likehim.”
The badger shifter groaned. “This is the first room I’ve found that has space, and I’m tired of asking. I just want somewhere for my wife and I to rest. We traveled all day getting here. And we plan on helping defendyourestate all night if we haveto.”
“Okay,” I said. “We’re all tense because we’re all worried about tonight. I get it. But let’s try not to take it out on each other, all right?” My gaze settled on the hawk shifter. “If you don’t think you can share this room with anyone who’s not an avian shifter without squabbling, the four of you can come with me and I’ll find you spots in other rooms. It sounds as if this gentleman has been on his feet longenough.”
The hawk shifter looked from me to the badger shifter as he weighed his options. His expression turned chagrined. “We’ll appreciate your help in fighting off the vampires,” he said to the other guy. “Come on, get yourrest.”
He didn’t sound exactly happy about it, but the offer was genuine enough that I stepped back. The badger shifter smiled and motioned to a woman who’d just come into thehallway.
More kin were already gathering around the guest bedroom doors all down the hall. The estate was packed, and the refugees from various shifter communities hadn’t stopped trickling in. Everyone had heard about the villages that had been decimated last night. No one wanted to risk being next to face thatcarnage.
We still hadn’t gotten any word from thefae.
Well, if they didn’t come through, we’d just have to make the best we could of the situation on our own. And that meant having a conversation I’d beendreading.
I continued out into the common rooms. Aaron was holding court with a few of his advisors and some of the newcomers. I caught his eye and tipped my head toward our private wing of the house. Henodded.
As he finished his conversation, I ducked out into the courtyard. Nate was showing a bunch of the young shifters the best way to quickly take down a vampire at close range. They copied his swipe through the air with their own hands. Marco was giving what looked like a stern talking-to to a couple of bobcat shifters who I was going to guess had been messing with the aviankin.
And West… I reached out through our bond and felt his presence near the wall at the side of the estate. At my gentle tug, I felt a tickle of acknowledgement. He wascoming.
Marco had finished his dressing-down and was already strolling over. I gestured to Nate. “I need to talk to all ofyou.”
The bear shifter cuffed one of his young students lightly on the shoulder. “Keep practicing,” he told them, and ambled to joinme.
“What’s going on?” Kylie asked, getting up from where she, Felix, and some of the other shifters had been preparing a stack of torches with dry chunks of branches andgasoline.
“I think we need to make a small adjustment in our plans,” I said. “You might as well come along too.” I’d be telling her afterwardanyway.
We slipped around the fringes of the crowded public areas to the hall where the alphas’ private rooms lay. Aaron was already waiting in the small lounge area there. West came in a momentlater.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, his eyes immediately seeking outmine.
