“Here.” He handed me the shirt, and I took it without looking at him.

The shirt was still warm from his skin, and it felt like it burned into me. As I carefully gathered up the knife and stored it in my bag in the ether, he put his jacket back on and zipped it up.

“All right. Let’s get out of here.” I stood.

We made our way back through the park, reaching Guild City less than an hour later. It was dusk, and the streetlamps were beginning to go on. Shop windows glowed golden and bright.

He escorted me back to the Shadow Guild tower, ignoring me when I told him not to bother. The quickest route was via a narrow alley that led straight to our courtyard, and I led the way.

As soon as I stepped into the courtyard, a strong hand gripped my arm and yanked me to the side.

I screamed, lashing out as pain flared. Everything happened in a blur.

My attacker yanked me to him, his arm tight around my throat. I struck out with my elbow, nailing him in the gut. He just grunted, and I tried to stamp on his foot as I scrabbled to get one of the potions in my leather cuff.

A growl sounded, and a dark figure lunged, leaping high, right toward us.

The bastard hurled me against the wall so hard that my head crashed against it. My vision went fuzzy as I slid to the ground.

I was barely able to see Lachlan, in wolf form, drag the hooded man away from me. They grappled until his brilliant wolf’s eyes caught me lying on the ground. He released the man, who scrambled away and sprinted down the alley.

Lachlan let him go, returning to his human form and racing to me. Gently, he lifted me up, cradling me against his chest. “Eve, wake up, Eve.” Fear echoed in his voice.

“Lachlan.” My voice sounded scratchy, and my head ached.

The fear in his eyes was stark, worry creasing his face as he gently touched my head. “You’re bleeding. Do you have a healing potion?”

Weakly, I raised my wrist. “Pink one.”

He pulled the tiny vial free and held it to my lips. As I drank, the pain began to fade. I could feel my wound knitting itself back together.

I met his gaze, still shadowed with concern. “You let him go.”

“The blood around your head. I thought you might be—”

He didn’t say it, but I knew what he’d thought.

“You thought I might be dying.” So he’d let the killer go.

How had it all happened so fast?

He nodded, staring down at me.

“Did you see him?” I asked.

“No. Not his face.”

Full darkness had fallen, and I could feel the silent emptiness of the tower behind us. The Shadow Guild was so small and new that our courtyard was entirely empty. The row of shops across the way was abandoned, not a single one open.

The resulting stillness to the air created a bubble around us. We could have been the only ones in the world, and it was the strangest sensation to be cocooned in the darkness with him.

The way he looked at me…

It made my breath catch in my throat. The heat in his eyes was combined with confusion. Fear.

“Eve.” He pulled me to him, as if unable to help himself.

I could stop him. I had a few seconds to push him away. To say no.

But somehow, I’d lost my mind.

Something in me pulled toward him, so hard that it was impossible to resist. In that moment, I had to kiss him.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my lips to his.

Sparks flashed between us, bright and brilliant, as desire streaked through me, lighting up my nerve endings.

He groaned low in his throat, his lips parting so that he could kiss me more deeply. His strong arms held me against his broad chest, and he kissed me like it had been years since he’d touched another.

Maybe it had.

All of the pent-up frustration and desire that had been ricocheting back and forth between us exploded. I could kiss him forever.

When he pulled away, I suddenly felt cold. Alone.

Shocked, I looked up at him. Heat still glinted in his eyes, and his breath came heavy with desire.

“Eve.” His voice was rough but firm. “Tell me what’s going on with you. Tell me why I feel this way.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“I have a mate. Had a mate.” He dragged a hand through his hair. “I feel like I’m losing my mind. And maybe I am. But you must be her. I can feel it in my soul.”

Ice chilled my bones, and I pulled away from him. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“This is your chance to come clean,” he said, his voice desperate. “Explain how you’re doing this.”

I stood upright, backing against the wall. He stood as well, chest heaving.

“You must be losing it,” I said. “Because I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

His gaze shuttered, and I saw something unidentifiable in his eyes.

You must be losing it.

I could hear what I’d just said, played over and over in my mind. He had only one fear in the entire world—falling to the Dark Moon curse. I’d just accused him of being crazy. And he wasn’t. He was figuring it out, just as I’d feared he would.

But I was gaslighting him.

I was a dick.

Anger clouded his eyes.

Before he could say anything, four figures appeared behind him: Carrow, Seraphia, Mac, and Beatrix.

My friends.

Desperate, I stepped away from the wall and darted around him. It was the coward’s way out, but I took it. I probably should have come clean, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. For both of our sakes. He had the potion to keep himself sane. He didn’t need me confirming that I was his mate, not when that bond would be the death of us. Of me, at the very least.

“Is everything okay here?” Carrow’s expression turned dark as she looked Lachlan up and down.

“No.” Lachlan’s voice was firm. “Someone just attacked Eve. She can’t be left alone.”

“I need to go make the potion to track him,” I said, ignoring his words and the shocked gazes of my friends. I just had to get away from him.

Now.

I strode toward the tower, but he followed. “I’m not letting you out of my sight. Not while he’s out there.”

Carrow and the rest of my friends shoved their way in between him and me. He glowered but stepped back.

“We can protect her,” Carrow said.

They could, too. They had some pretty incredible magic.

Lachlan frowned, seeming to accept that he wasn’t getting inside the tower. “Fine. I’ll stand guard out here until my men arrive. There will be a guard on this tower twenty-four-seven.”

“Suit yourself,” Carrow said. “They just can’t come in.”

I didn’t look at him as I hurried into the tower. From the way his gaze burned into me, this wasn’t going to be the last of it.

17

Eve

 

My body buzzed as I walked into the main room of the Shadow Guild tower. I reached the middle or the large room before I had to stop and suck in a deep breath.

“Everything all right?” Carrow asked.

“Is he still out there?” I turned to find my four friends staring at me.

Seraphia went to peek out the window. “Yes.” She looked back at me. “And he’s staring at this place like there’s treasure inside. Treasure that he doesn’t really like.”