Page 57 of Shift of Morals
I gritted my teeth. “Because I have met someone I…need.”
“Need or want?”
“Both,” I growled.
“And why do you need her?”
I couldn’t answer him because how could I lay bare what was in my heart when even I didn’t understand it?
When I didn’t answer, the god tried another way. “Tell me about this woman.”
“She is not a shifter.”
“You’d sully your bloodline?” the god said, scorn dripping from its voice.
My nostrils flared, fists clenching at my sides.
A deep laugh as dry as summer leaves floated around me. “No need for anger. I ask due to your Council’s stance on mixing non-shifter bloodlines.”
I turned and tried to catch a glimpse of the god, to no avail. He was large but faster than me. A sense of unease crawled across my skin. “How would you know such things?”
“The gods know all,” came the cryptic response.
“Then you should already know the answers to your questions.”
“What is it you love about her?”
“I—” A Lord rarely thought about love. Was love what I felt for her? It didn’t seem like it. My feelings were possessive. Primal.
Evie Quinn was mine. I wouldn’t take her, not by force, but I would do everything in my power to lay open the path.
“And if she does not go to you of her own volition?” the voice said.
“She will.”
Another dry laugh, this one deeply amused. “I fear you have much to learn, Lord.”
“Will you consider it?”
A long pause before a fading voice spoke its last words. “So little amuses me these days. I will consider it.”
It was all I wanted. Dipping my head in respect, the world turned upside down.
Seconds later, I stood in my office once more, the fading smell of loamy, ancient forest in my lungs.
Chapter
Fifteen
Hazel and I had a cup of tea once I’d returned from Caelan’s, the witch raising her eyebrows when she spotted my dress but not commenting. Progress for Hazel, that’s for sure.
When she retired with the promise we’d begin testing my magic the next day, I poured myself another cup of Earl Grey and curled up in the rocker on the porch, watching the night pass me by.
My thoughts were hectic and disturbed after the last meeting. It was obvious Caelan wanted me. Shifters were hungry, possessive creatures, and I was too smart to think he loved me. Wanting someone and loving them were two wildly different things.
As to how I felt about Caelan? Mixed. Some days I couldn’t stand him, even as I craved his nearness. “Idiot,” I mumbled to myself. If I were a smart woman, I’d pack my shit and set up shop somewhere else far from here. Ash, Moira, and Tess would come along if I asked.
Fresh starts were underrated.
