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I left the book I was reading on the desk to finish up later and waited a few more minutes to give Kai enough of a head start—we didn’t want to be seen exiting a room together twice in oneday, even if he was in disguise for the second one—then I exited to go back to my quarters.
Except I didn’t stop at my door. I went to the one the psychic shared with a couple of other female members of our party and gave three sharp raps. Sure enough, the psychic answered the door.
“Why are you not breathless and swoony?” she said sharply. “I specifically sent your boo your way. You should be all, ya know, wolfy about it.”
“Wolfy?” I said, tilting my head to the side. Darla wasn’t the only one who enjoyed being a pain in the butt sometimes, but I was figuring out all sorts of things about myself.
“You know, all red faced and growling, usually with rapidly healing bite marks and a faint expression of murder in your eyes?”
I laughed. “You think us shifters look murderous when we’re turned on?”
“Are you telling me you shifters don’t get violent with your whole”—she made a circular gesture in the vague direction of my body—“ primal thing going on?”
I nearly said she was absolutely round the bend, then stopped to think about the thrill when Kai and I lost control. The rush of the hunt, the chase, the desire to rip, tear, shred, but to protect, to lavish with food and care.
Perhaps her interpretation wasn’t far off.
“You may have a point, but I’m choosing not to acknowledge it.”
“Don’t worry. I’m used to that part of our friendship.” She leaned against her door. “So, to what do I owe the honor? Did you need help in the library?”
“No, actually. I wanted to know if you would like to get a late lunch with me. Apparently, there’s a dining hall here that serves food a... a…” I wracked my brain for the words. “A le car?”
Darla’s eyes narrowed before she understood. “Oh, a la carte? That sounds cool. Yeah, I’m game. We’ll probably have to stop someone to ask where it is, though. This place is like a maze, whether or not I read anyone’s minds.”
“Just wait until they finally add your resonance to their anti-psychic wards and relics.”
“Shh, I’m hoping with the hubbub of their prince returning, they’ll forget about little ol’ me.”
“Somehow I doubt it.”
“Yeah, well, you’re not exactly known for your optimistic disposition.”
Darla was in a straight-shooting mood. “Fair enough. Do you think Mad Dog’s around?”
“I know for a fact he’s not. He’s in with some of the guards and fighters down in the training area. We probably won’t see him until well after sundown.”
“Drat. I hope he doesn’t feel left out.”
Darla smiled, reaching out to pinch my cheek in a way only she could get away with. “Look at you being all thoughtful and conscientious. You’d better watch out. Soon you might have an entiregroupof friends.”
“Not if you keep talking,” I said.
At this, she stuck out her tongue, as a fully grown soldier naturally would, and we both walked down the hall.
As it turned out, Darla’s version of asking for directions was just tapping into everyone’s minds and guiding us there. I was grateful we didn’t have to stop, however, so I didn’t complain. The less I had to socialize, the better.
It turned out the dining room was quite a large hall, with tables stretching across most of it. Like everywhere else in the palace, it was dripping with opulence.
Darla whistled beside me as we approached an empty table and sat down. It did seem most of the crowd had left, withseveral staff members taking the thick, embroidered tablecloths off and wiping down the table beneath them before whisking them away so another servant could replace it with an equally impressive cloth.
I couldn’t imagine Fort Canid ever being able to run like this. Hell, I didn’t know if there was a single tablecloth in the whole place outside of a few officers’ quarters. Kai, our captain, didn’t even have a table to dine at. I’d seen firsthand how he usually just ate at his desk.
Within a few minutes of our sitting, carts rolled right up, and diners met with platters of steaming, delicious-looking food. A lot of it looked far too rich for me, considering I was still pretty sated from breakfast. We were also about to go gallivanting into the city,andI knew my dinner would be huge.
So, I settled on a couple of plain rolls, a fresh-looking salad, and fruits I didn’t recognize. It was a pathetic meal by shifter standards, but I wasn’t used to eating whenever I wanted. That was one plus for the capital. They certainly knew their way around a meal.
Darla didn’t say much while we sat there, but I figured she was just walking through the heads of people around us. I didn’t know if she was gleaning anything that would be useful at the fort, but she seemed occupied.
