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I shrugged. “It’s a vampire thing,” I said, not entirely sure about the mechanics of their superior speed. Now that I thought about it, I wasn’t sure if a wolf shifter or a vampire would win in a foot race.
Liana took another step closer to me. I didn’t miss the way she swallowed. “Vampire?” she whispered. “What do they, um, eat?” she asked a moment later, giving me a concerned look.
I leaned over to give her elbow a reassuring squeeze. “For the most part, they drink from blood bags,” I said quietly. “Gilbert and Piers are our friends.”
Gilbert stopped murmuring to Abi and flashed Liana a smile, bowing his head. “It is a pleasure to meet any friend of Abigail’s,” he said as he set her back on the ground. “I will see you later?”
“Yeah, we’re just giving Liana a quick tour,” Abi said as I turned, leading Liana back towards the stairs and the first floor. We found Piers in Fenris’s office, just finishing his report to the Lunar Lord.
“Once I got them talking,” he drawled on, “the astronomers really weren’t difficult to hypnotize. If time weren’t of the essence, I wouldn’t have needed to at all!”
“Mhm,” Fenris said, his eyes already falling on me. “Are you ready to go see Lyka?” he asked, looking at Abi and Liana.
“If you don’t mind,” I said, grinning as Piers saw his exit and zipped away.
Fenris brought us down to the holding room. Even Abi got quiet as we approached the reinforced cell. I had to fight the urge to constantly check on Liana, not wanting to freak her out or make her feel like I didn’t trust her.
“You can look in here,” Fenris murmured, motioning to the stabilized glass. “He’s…” He trailed off and sighed as he gazed at his listless brother, shaking his head. “Well, I suppose you can see for yourself.”
As he stepped back to allow Liana her space, I walked over to join him, reaching down to tangle our fingers together. I gave him a hopeful squeeze, trying not to hold my breath as Liana peered inside.
“I should try to get his attention,” Fenris whispered after a minute, when it seemed like Lyka hadn’t noticed any visitors.
I frowned, wondering if I should try another psychic spell, anything to get him to wake up, when Lyka suddenly blinked, exhaling, then inhaling a few times before he turned and approached the window. I could’ve sworn he was looking at Liana—legitimatelylookingat her.
My friend still looked intimidated, but at this point, Lyka was doing better than I could have imagined. I was simply happy Liana was willing to try at all.
Chapter 8
Fenris
Fenris’s Private Villa
Isla Lobo, Panama
Time Until the Eclipse: 19 Days
It took a lot of willpower not to gasp when Lyka suddenly turned. Frankly, even that was a promising start. When Celeste had suggested that the presence of his fated mate might help my brother heal, I hadn’t expected to be able to find her, much less bring her here and see the results. I was still wrapping my mind around how Sela had managed to trick us both.
Liana stood in front of the viewing window while Lyka watched. Abi watched from a few feet behind, while Celeste stood next to me, still holding my hand as her eyes went back and forth between her friend and my older brother. I had to hand it to her—the young woman had only been on my island for more than a few hours, and she was handling all of this quite well.
After a few minutes, Liana cleared her throat and offered my brother a wave. “Hello,” she said, putting on a brave face despite the timidity in her voice.
My brother’s expression changed, though I couldn’t exactly read what he was thinking. He hadn’t spoken English when I’d talked to him a few weeks ago before Sabine’s most recent attack, and I doubted that Liana was fluent in our first language, much less the old dialect we’d grown up with in the Celestial Pack. Either way, Lyka didn’t seem particularly interested in dialogue. He lifted his nose to scent the air again, though I wasn’t sure how much scent got through to his containment cell.
“Do you think he’s alright?” Celeste asked, her eyes never leaving the interaction a few feet in front of us.
I sighed and shrugged. “He’s become incredibly difficult for me to read over the decades,” I said, rubbing my chin with my free hand. “At the moment, I’m simply glad he’s paying attention.”
I saw Celeste frown out of the corner of my eye. “I wonder if he realizes she’s his fated mate,” she said. “I think I might try to reach out to him—gently—and just sense what his frame of mind is. Nothing else.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I asked. “He’s been a bit…touchywhen you’ve tried to reach out previously.”
Celeste pressed her lips together. “He has,” she said, watching as Lyka took a step back, stretching his arms up over his head. “But there’s a difference between his being in a good place today and Liana’s presence making an impact. What we do next depends on if he recognizes something in her and if my mother’s notes apply here. I assume she was right. I can’t imagine she ran into that many wolf shifters who’d had a witch pretend to be their fated mate.”
I scowled, but I had no argument. As far as I knew, Sela was the only being capable of tricking a wolf shifter into believing shewas his fated mate, and Celeste raised a good point about her mother’s notes and more “normal” connections.
While I rolled this thought over in my mind, Celeste took a deep breath, and I knew she was settling her thoughts and reaching out to him. I stayed quiet, not wanting to disturb her. I knew the moment she reached out to my brother. His amber eyes flashed as he reeled backwards, snarling loudly, and pulling his lips back to bare his teeth.
