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I groaned and rubbed my face. “As if we don’t have enough to do in the coming weeks,” I lamented. I would do it, of course. I would do everything I could to help Lyka, but Celeste still had to train and I had to gather strength before the Solar Sovereign made their play.
“I can help with this,” Celeste said as the brightness returned to her expression. She flipped the grimoire back open, already leafing through pages. “Perhaps if I can help him untangle some of his memories, we could look for clues.”
I reached out, touching her elbow gently. “I think you’ve done enough for one night,” I said quietly. “You have done more for Lyka in the past thirty minutes than I’ve been able to accomplish over the past several centuries.”
Celeste paused, looking up at me. “Fenris,” she said quietly, “that’s not true. You kept him safe.”
“It is true,” I insisted, shaking my head. “I kept him isolated. I kept the world safe from him as much as I kept him safe from the world. My only tactic was to hope time would help him heal. I never would’ve imagined that Sela was posing as his fated mate. Never.” I gave her arm a gentle squeeze. “I think it is best if we givehima little time. I don’t think having his mind prodded, after everything, is his favorite thing. Andyouhad a big day yesterday.”
She considered me for a moment before nodding and closing the grimoire. “You’re right,” she said, looking toward the door. “This is all probably incredibly uncomfortable for him, no matter our intentions.”
I smiled. “Thank you,” I said. “Come back to the mansion with me?”
“Okay.” She nodded, and we fell into lockstep as we departed Lyka’s chamber.
For a while, we walked in silence. I was enjoying the sound of the island’s wildlife when Celeste looked up at me and smirked. “I ran into Cody before coming to find Lyka,” she said, her eyes twinkling mischievously. “Sounds like you’ve gotten quite the soft spot for that wolf.”
I couldn’t help but sigh. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Celeste snickered. “You’re trying to help him out with his fated mate situation! I think that’s rather sweet. After all, youcouldjust let him flounder all on his own.”
I scoffed. “What alpha lets another shifter flounder? Besides, if I can minimize the drama playing out on my island, I will. I’m used to living with only Walter—and the most drama that comes with him is the saucy novels he thinks I don’t know are stashed on the private jet.”
Surprised laughter followed, and I smiled, pleased I could make Celeste laugh like that. “You can’t keep denying it,” she told me, wagging a finger. “I know you like everyone. Not just me and Walter, but the rest of them. Even Piers. Even Cody.”
I snorted, but she kept speaking. “I like seeing this other side of you. It means you’re not so afraid of letting your guard down, and I love that.”
I paused, biting the inside of my mouth instead of arguing. I supposed, in a way, having all these guests on my island was starting to feel like being in a pack again. But instead of a pack full of shifters constantly trying to kill me and those I cared about, it was full of characters who were trying to enjoy life in their own way. Piers and his constant quests to find beautiful people. Cody and his truly absurd sense of humor. Even Abigail and Celeste’s friendship was something I liked witnessing.
“Perhaps,” I said slowly, not entirely willing to admit it. “Unfortunately, we have just over a month until the eclipse, and that barely gives us time to prepare, much less be social with everyone.” I sighed, looking up at the night sky. “I’ll have to travel again to see if I can pick up some of these loose threads the Solar Sovereign left behind. Anything I can find will be useful, and we must go into this with every advantage we can.” I scowled. “And Iwillfind Sabine before she makes another attempt on Lyka’s life.” Now that I realized who Sabine’s sisterwas, I was certain Sabine wouldn’t give up until she got revenge.
Celeste chuckled. “It’s kind of obnoxious how seamlessly you swap from kind and sweet to fierce Lunar Lord mode,” she commented, bumping our shoulders together. “But you’re right. We don’t have much time, and I’m not leaving any of this to chance. Tomorrow, it’s back to work.”
I gave her a sideways smirk, pleased with how driven she was. We weren’t so different in that respect. “Of course,” I agreed as I opened the door to my home for her. “But for now, we sleep.”
“Yeah,” Celeste said, stifling a yawn. “For now, we sleep.”
Chapter26
Celeste
Fenris’s Private Villa
Isla Lobo, Panama
Aunt Esme was sitting in a chair. As I looked around, I realized that even though the chair looked like one of those that used to sit at my mother’s kitchen table, this was not my parents’ house. The floor was a dull, matte gray, cold and unforgiving. There was nothing on the walls—or maybe I couldn’t see them? I blinked.
Is this a dream?
I approached my aunt, trying to get her attention. “Aunt Esme?”
She didn’t react, just kept staring straight ahead at something else. Her dark brown eyes were open wide, her expression drawn with concern. As I watched her, she looked like she’d aged years since I’d seen her last. There were wrinkles on her skin that were never there before. Her hair looked gray and dull. Frizzy, even. As a woman who was eccentric and free-spirited, she often looked like she’d blown in from a runway in Paris or a lavish beach party in Thailand. Now, she looked like a frail old woman, not a world traveler. Despite my anger with her, I suddenly felt concerned.
“Aunt Esme?” I called again, trying to reach out to her.
She still didn’t acknowledge me, and I glanced around, almost shrieking as Sabine strolled by. But she didn’t seem to notice me, either, considering her eyes were glued to my aunt.
I knew as soon as I saw the psychic witch that this wasn’t a distant memory. Long, angry claw marks raked the left side of Sabine’s face—Lyka’s doing. The immortal shifter had clearly left a mark, ruining the perfect visage Sabine had once crafted. But somehow, the scars lent to her terrifying grin.
