Ezra growled. “Shiftertowns. I always said they were a bad idea.”

No one contradicted him.

Rae was exhausted. She rose, said good night, and went to bed in her own room, the small one at the top of the stairs.

She’d so longed to be back here when she’d been confined to Zander’s boat, but an hour later she was still awake, staring at the ceiling, unable to relax. The space that had been so comforting to her only weeks ago pressed at her now.

Shifters were turning against her, people she’d known for years. The clans had lauded and respected her father for the two decades he’d been Shiftertown leader. Now, Eoin had made one decision they didn’t like, and they were challenging his authority.

If Rae couldn’t convince this Shiftertown she was truly the Guardian, or if she didn’t quit and relinquish the sword, things could go bad for Eoin.

But the sword couldn’t be relinquished, could it? No one quit being a Guardian. You either were one or you weren’t.

Rae closed her eyes but sleep eluded her. The only way the unbelievers would be convinced was if someone died and Rae had to send them to dust. She certainly didn’t want something that tragic to happen simply to prove the Choosing had been true. But that was likely the only thing that would convince them. Even then, she’d guess Shifters opposing her father would try to claim that the dusting had been a trick. It made her stomach hurt.

She must have drifted to sleep despite her worries, because she came alert a short time later, her Shifter senses telling her someone was in the room with her. Rae hadn’t heard the door open but she knew good and well that a Shifter stood a few feet beyond her bed.

She reached for the sword in swift silence and only to have it taken away from her. Rae struggled for it but a large hand pushed her back to the bed. Her sleepy confusion cleared, and she recognized the scent.

“Hush, Little Wolf.”

Rae abruptly ceased her struggle. The room was almost completely black but she saw the outline of Zander’s bulk, a braid swinging over his shoulder.

“Damn it, Zander,” she said in a fierce whisper. “What are you doing?”

“Waking you up.” His voice was carefully quiet. “Get dressed. We need to have a look at Daragh’s computer.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Rae led the way along the edges of Shiftertown to Daragh’s small house. She’d run around this town plenty as a cub, and she felt herself reverting to the tricks of her teenage years as they moved through woods and down a slope to the cabin that had been Daragh’s retreat.

Rae knew how to avoid the busybodies who liked to keep note of everything that went on in Shiftertown, as well as Shifters who were simply out for a run or having quick sex in the woods.

They shouldn’t be so predictable, Rae thought as she signaled Zander into the shadows. An older Shifter Lupine strode past, the man looking sharply around him, probably trying to see who was stealing a shag so he could be disapproving about it tomorrow.

Once he was gone, Rae moved silently down the little path that led to Daragh’s cabin. Before she could dart to its front door, Zander’s hand came down on her shoulder.

“Careful. If it’s a shrine now, they’ll probably have a sentry.”

Good point. Rae faded back under the trees with him and they watched. The night was cool but not cold, though Rae liked Zander at her back, warming her.

There was a sentry. A young Feline just past his Transition walked up to the house, checked the doors and windows, and strolled away. He called to someone in the woods beyond.

“It’s fine,” he said, sounding annoyed. “Dad just likes to fuss. Let’s go.”

Rae heard female laughter as the Feline disappeared under the trees. She recognized the voices—those two would no doubt be mated soon. They’d also be distracted for a while, giving Rae and Zander opportunity to enter the house.

She crept forward, keeping to the darkness under the eaves in case there were more watchers. The Feline had demonstrated that the door was locked, but Rae knew where Daragh had kept his spare key. Everyone in Shiftertown did, in fact, and Rae quickly found that it was no longer in its hiding place. However, Rae knew where Daragh had kept his backup spare key.

She reached behind a low beam near the back door and smiled in satisfaction when she felt the cool metal of the key. Rae prayed to the Goddess that no one had changed the lock, then let out a sigh of relief when the key turned, letting them into the house.

Zander came in quickly behind her, shutting the door. He closed the shades on the back windows but didn’t try to turn on a light. Rae understood—Shifters would see even the tiniest glow leaking through the cracks around the window shades.

Rae relied on Shifter sight and her memory of the place to move unhindered to Daragh’s desk. Daragh had kept the cabin sparsely furnished, which made things easier, and as Rae’s eyes adjusted, she could see that nothing had been moved.

This house truly had been made a shrine. Every single object was in place, from Daragh’s laptop, still plugged in to power, and the empty cup he’d set on the table the night he’d left for a walk in the woods. On that walk he’d been shot by humans out to steal his sword.

Rae’s heart burned. The evil of that act enraged her. Daragh had been her friend, had taken care of her. Losing him felt the same as losing one of her brothers.

Zander slid his hands to her shoulders, his warmth cutting through her grief and anger. “I know, Little Wolf. It was a criminal thing. At least his soul was rescued and his body sent to dust.“

His voice was low, soothing. Zander had once asked Rae if she’d been in love with Daragh but now he seemed to understand. Daragh had been a special person in Rae’s life, a different kind of love.

“You’re his successor,” Zander went on. “I think he’d be proud of you and want you to be here.”

Rae sighed. “I just wish he was around to tell everyone that.”

Zander’s voice held a hint of laughter. “You’ll have to tell them yourself.”

“You have so much confidence.” Rae seated herself at the desk, on the chair she’d seen Daragh in so many times, and opened the laptop.

“Helps to have confidence when you’re crazy.” Zander leaned in to study the laptop’s screen, which was blank and black. “Never liked computers.”

Rae refrained from pointing out he used one to navigate his boat, and pressed the power button. “Turning it on makes a big difference.”