I grimaced.

She leaned against the window and gave me a sympathetic smile and a thumbs-up. The gesture of support lit a little fire of warmth in my chest. Now was the time to confess, and she knew it. I’d promised her the truth, and there was no better time.

“I’ll be right back,” said Mac, then raced up the stairs and returned in twenty seconds flat with a chocolate bar. “You looked like you could use this.”

“You’re a genius.”

“I’m going to get the wine,” Carrow said.

“I don’t have time for a drink.”

“I do.” She gave me a long look. “And you might find you want a little sip.”

“Yeah.” I shoved the chocolate bar in my mouth as she waited, chewing with the fervor of an accountant crunching numbers on tax day.

She was back with the wine in a flash, and I nodded toward the floor above. “I’ve got to make this potion, but I need to tell you guys something.”

“I figured.” Carrow gripped the wine bottle and headed up the stairs.

I followed, feeling the words start to spill out as soon as I reached my workshop. I’d intended to get started on the potion while I spoke, but once they began flowing, I couldn’t do anything else except tell the whole damned story.

As I talked, Carrow passed around the wine. I took a small glass and gulped the whole thing, then put it aside. I couldn’t afford another if I was going to keep my wits about me.

When I neared the end of my story, I held up the pendant around my neck. “And this is what keeps my true species hidden.” Finally, I trailed off. “So, that’s that. I’ve been lying this whole time.”

Carrow hopped up onto one of my worktables and swigged her wine. “Sure have. But…whatever.”

Mac nodded. “Sounds like you had good reasons.”

Seraphia and Beatrix nodded their agreement.

Relief flushed through me.

“You didn’t expect us to be mad, did you?” Carrow asked.

“Not really. You guys are too great not to understand. But I still feel like shit.” I walked toward the window and looked down at Lachlan, who stared up at my window. His gaze snagged on me, anger flashing in his eyes’ depths. I ducked back behind the wall. “I’m pretty sure he thinks I am shit.”

“He wouldn’t think that,” Carrow said. “I mean, he’d be pissed as hell and maybe not forgive you—”

Mac hissed at her, clearly not liking that.

“What?” Carrow said. “It’s fine if he doesn’t forgive her. She doesn’t want to be with him, anyway.”

“She’s right. I don’t.” I grimaced. “I mean, I don’t know. It’s not like I’m imagining some future where I ride off into the sunset with him. But I do feel horrible for what I said to him.”

Mac shook her head. “It was a dick move, yes. But the seer was very clear that going down the fated mate path would lead to your death. It was the only reasonable thing you could have done.”

The rest of my friends nodded their agreement.

“Lies suck,” Carrow said. “But you had decent reasons.” She frowned. “I will say that prophecies don’t always turn out how you expect, though.”

“I hope you’re right about that.” I smiled. “Thanks, guys.”

“Now, how can we help with this potion?” Seraphia rubbed her hands together.

The other three nodded, and gratitude welled within me. “You’re the best.”

I pointed out ingredients and set them to chopping and measuring. On the other side of the room, I got the little cauldron heating and began to add everything into the pot, measuring twice to make sure it was all correct.

I couldn’t help but think of Lachlan as I worked, but none of my thoughts made sense. They were endless circles of confusion and desire and regret. Everything was a mess between us, and the only thing I was certain of was that it couldn’t be fixed.

Finally, the potion was nearly done. As the final ingredient was stirred in, my friends joined me, watching.

“It should only be a few more minutes,” I said. “Can someone go check the courtyard?” The idea of him being out there still made me twitchy.

Beatrix went to the window. “He’s gone, but there are two dozen shifters out there, and they’re all dressed in the security uniform.”

Mac joined and whistled low. “That’s quite the crowd.”

He wants to protect me.

The thought started to soften me, but I shoved it away. For our sakes, I couldn’t go down that path, especially since the person he had to protect me from was himself.

When the cauldron stopped smoking, I drew my bag from the ether and removed the cloth-wrapped dagger. I could feel the avid gazes of my friends as I unwrapped the bloodstained weapon. Just touching it made my stomach turn. Quickly, I dipped the blade in the cauldron, grateful when the red blood was replaced by the gleaming purple potion. I could feel the magic vibrating up through the hilt. “It’s done.”

“We need to take it to Lachlan,” Carrow said.

I frowned.

She held up her hands. “No arguments. I know you don’t want to see him, but we’re not hunting this murderer ourselves. It’s shifter business.”

She was right. He deserved to know. It had been a passing, cowardly fancy of mine to finish the job on my own.

Anyway, the killer was strong. I wouldn’t risk my friends for this. Not when Lachlan wanted to handle it himself.

“I’ll take it to him.” I wrapped it back up in the cloth and put in the bag, which I returned to the ether.

“We’ll come with,” Mac said.

“Thank you.”

“Duh.” She grinned.

Together, we left the tower and headed down into our formerly quiet courtyard. Twenty-four pairs of eyes stared at me, and I smiled weakly.

I looked for the leader, planning to tell them where we were headed, but they all looked of equal rank. Didn’t matter. They didn’t have any say over me.

My friends and I pushed our way through the crowd, the shifters parting reluctantly to let us pass. They followed us single file down the narrow alley and out into the main part of Guild City, then all the way down the High Street to the shifters’ tower.

Lachlan came out to the main steps to meet us, no doubt having already heard about the mass of shifters making their way through town.

“It’s done,” I said, unable to make eye contact. I knew I should try to further prove I wasn’t a shifter, but I just couldn’t bear to look at him.

“Come inside.” His voice was stiff. “Do you need anything to make the spell work?”

“A map.”

He nodded and turned around, heading back in. I could almost feel the anger he left in his wake, and I looked at my friends. They all gave me identical forced smiles, their eyes too bright. Everyone could feel how awkward this was.

“You guys look crazy,” I whispered.

“This feels crazy,” Mac whispered.

“True story.” I turned back to follow Lachlan, and my friends joined us.

The main room was only about half full, but the occupants cleared out when they saw Lachlan. A few moments later, Kenneth appeared, a collection of rolled-up maps clutched in his hands.