“Then you’d better go with us willingly,” Maeve said.

If she realized I was wearing a sword, she didn’t mention it. Maybe she thought a vampire with a sword wasn’t a match for a roomful of shifters. A serious error on her part.

Connor watched her for a moment, meeting her gaze directly until she looked away.

“What happened there?” she asked, gesturing to the shutters. Brow furrowed, she looked honestly confused and surprised at what she saw. “Did something hit it?”

“Something—someone—tried to pry it off,” Connor said.

She frowned. “Seriously?”

“Seriously. Where do they want to talk to us?”

“The lodge.”

“Then let’s get this over with.”

* * *

* * *

We walked in silence. Maeve walked in front. I was behind Connor, gaze drilling into his back, as if that might tell me what he was thinking and feeling—and what I was supposed to be doing about it. The beefy shifters walked behind us, just in case we might make a run for it.

“A minute,” Connor said to Maeve when we reached the lodge. “I need a minute with Elisa.”

She looked at me, evaluated. “Two minutes. Come on, guys,” she said, and they all walked inside, let the door slam shut behind them.

“Fuck.” The word was a swear and an exhalation. He ran a hand through his hair.

“They’re going to confront us about Carlie.”

“At least.”

“You’re worried about what they might do?”

“I don’t get worried,” he said, voice snappish, then held up a hand. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m—not handling this well, either.”

“What aren’t you handling well? The monsters, the clan, or the fact that I assaulted someone you consider to be family?”

His face went hard, and my stomach roiled with nerves.

“I’m sorry,” I said. And when I was steady again: “I’m not handling it well, either.”

“We need to talk,” he said, voice as hard as his expression had been. “But not right now. Not until we deal with this. Let me take the lead.”

I looked at him, searched his face, but the mask was already in place. Angry and arrogant, and ready to face down whatever the clan put in front of us.

I understood battle, and I understood politics. But I liked one of those a lot more than the other. I wasn’t looking forward to this war of words. Words were often pointless, and politics just an irritating ego game. Give me a sword any day.

“We’ll talk,” Connor said again, then leaned forward. He put a hand at the back of my neck, rested his forehead against mine. “Whatever happens in there, I need you to trust me.”

It was a big ask, given our history, the fact that we hadn’t yet talked about what had happened last night. But these were his people, and this was his turf.

“Okay,” I said.

And then we walked inside.

* * *

* * *

  Maeve waited inside the door. When she saw us, she turned on her heel—a soldier called to war—and headed for the stairs. We followed her, and the beef followed us. We went back up to the former ballroom, found the doors closed. But that didn’t stop the magic that spilled through the walls. Shifter. Vampire. Pack and coven.

Maeve gave a rhythmic knock—three, two, three—and the door opened. We walked inside. There were at least forty shifters in the room, along with a few vampires. It smelled of heat and animal, and the air practically vibrated with magic. And heady anticipation.

The shifter portion of the crowd was split neatly in half—young shifters on one side, older on the other. A nation divided.

Cash, Everett, Georgia, and Ronan stood at the front of the room, waiting for our arrival. Miranda stood near them, and the smile on her face was triumphant. Not, I thought, a good sign.

We walked through the crowd, which parted to let us through, then closed the circle again, surrounding us. Not the best strategic position, but we didn’t have much choice. At least we had Alexei, whom I spotted weaving through the crowd near the far wall.

“It seems we have a rather significant problem,” Cash said when we reached the group. His arms were crossed, stance wide. And he stood just slightly in front of the others, as if the elders had again ceded control to him.

“The clan members who attacked the Stone farm last night? Yes, I’d consider that a problem.” Connor’s voice was hard as granite, but smooth as glass. The sounds the gathered shifters made were much more primal, much angrier. Outrage given voice at the possibility the injuries had been inflicted by their own members.

“We have no information the animals—whatever they were—were clan,” Cash said. “None have been positively identified.”

“As you’ve been advised, the attacks on Beth, Loren, the Stone farm smelled like clan.”

“So you think, what, shifters learned to shift into something else? Into something new?”

“I think they’re using magic—and badly—to change themselves into the creatures we saw last night. They were undeniably clan.”

“If they’re proven to be clan, they’ll be dealt with.”

“Does that include the perpetrators of the newest attack? The one that occurred a few short hours ago?”

Connor’s tone was casual, and he watched Cash carefully. But if Cash knew about the shutters, he didn’t show it.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I’m talking about the creature—or the half-shifted creature—who tried to pry the shutters off our cabin and expose Elisa to the sun.”

Cash’s brow furrowed. “That didn’t happen.”

“Shutters are still there, damaged though they are. You can inspect them yourself.” Connor took a step forward. “If you have any control over the creatures, I’d strongly suggest you . . . dissuade them . . . from attacking the daughter of one of the most powerful Master vampires on the continent.” He lifted a shoulder. “But that’s just my suggestion.”

It was a good strategy—taking the offensive and starting with a recitation of the clan’s crimes. We’d see how well it worked when Cash shifted us back to the inevitable topic.

“If anyone in the clan is involved,” Cash said again through gritted teeth, “they’ll be dealt with.” For the first time, he shifted his gaze to me. “Our focus right now is on other crimes, including the near death of a human. Georgia,” he said, and she stepped forward.

She looked at Connor with apology in her eyes. But she wasn’t feeling it enough, I thought with some anger, that she’d refuse to stand with Cash and Everett.

“Sheriff Paulson came around during the day,” she said. “He knew about the attack at the bonfire. Some of the other humans had called him, described an animal attack. He thought it sounded like the attack on Loren. Wanted to know our progress on that investigation, if we’d found the culprit.”

“So he acted like law enforcement,” Connor said flatly. “What did you tell him?”

“That Loren was killed by an animal,” Cash said, pulling our attention back to him. “Which is the truth.”

“It’s the least important part of the truth,” Connor said.

This time, Cash was the one who shrugged carelessly.

“You’re surprisingly lackadaisical about the fact that one of your elders has been murdered, and several of your clan members have been attacked. Makes me wonder if you’re involved.”

Cash’s gaze was cold and hard, his only movement the tapping of fingers against his biceps.

“And let’s correct the record,” Connor continued. “It was your clan who nearly killed Carlie. Elisa saved her, sparing you some very penetrating questions from the authorities.”

Cash’s gaze didn’t waver. “Carlie was bitten and changed without her consent.”

I looked at Ronan, found his expression blank, his gaze cool. I guessed he still agreed with Cash’s assessment, and hadn’t become magnanimous overnight.

“To save her life,” Connor repeated. “Because she was attacked and left for dead by one of the clan members under the influence of some very nasty magic.”

“Evidence?” Cash asked.

Connor cocked his head. “Are you telling me you can’t detect the scent of bad magic, Cash? That’s an important skill for a clan leader.”

Cash unfolded his arms, and although he didn’t step forward, the move seemed hostile. “You just have answers for everything, don’t you? But your attitude, shitty as it is, doesn’t change the basic facts—your little girlfriend made a vampire within our territory without our consent, and in Ronan’s territory without Ronan’s consent.”

I bristled at “little girlfriend,” especially since Connor and I had barely talked since the fight. I felt the monster’s agreement. It was no mere companion, and it wasn’t little.

That we agreed was an odd sensation. But not entirely bad.

“If Carlie dies,” Cash continues, “or if she survives and regrets what happened to her, that will have disastrous consequences for the clan and the Pack.”

“Less disastrous consequences than her dying in the woods because of your people?”

“All sorts of strange things happen in the woods,” Cash said. His attitude—his carelessness toward human life—echoed Ronan’s.

“You’re so afraid you’d let a human die rather than save her life and face the consequences?” Connor’s tone was matter-of-fact and carried a shadow of censure.

“Fuck you,” Cash said. “I don’t care who you are. You don’t walk into the clan and call us cowards.”

“I didn’t call you cowards,” Connor said. “I said you’re afraid, and you are. I don’t know what you’re afraid of, Cash. Humans. Change. Pick one.”