Page 75 of Shift of Morals
Still Evie.
I exhaled and whispered a thank you to the universe. Not the gods. Those guys were universally jerks, except perhaps for Cernunnos. The jury was still out on him. He was helpful, but no god was that helpful unless they had an ulterior motive.
But someone benign and maybe even good was out there listening. They had to be.
So I whispered my thank you to them.
Finn was playing the long game, and I wasn’t sure what kind of ending he wanted. Whatever it was, I would not go gentle into that good night. He’d have a hell of a fight on his hands if he kept antagonizing me. Getting over my fear of him had to come first, though.
Otherwise, I’d keep freezing up every time he came around.
The wind had picked up outside, so I walked over to the window to check the sky. Our town hadn’t had rain in several weeks now, and we were overdue for some moisture. But a chill ran down my spine as soon as I stepped outside to fix one of the signs that had gone wonky due to the wind.
Something was out there, and it was paying attention. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I turned.
A massive man stood across the street, and I knew right away he wasn’t human. Nor could anyone else see him.
He stood at least six five. Dark hair, dark eyes glowing with violet power. He wore black leather armor threaded with crimson runes. His tanned forearms were exposed, glowing with some of the same runes.
Our eyes locked. His face held no emotion, only a disturbing blankness, but his eyes were a different story. They burned with curiosity and interest.
“You must be Neit.”
A slow up-tilt of one side of his mouth, but he stayed silent.
I studied him, thinking Mom had great taste in men because damn, this guy was a looker, but he was dangerous. Deadly. Menace poured from his body as we watched each other. But he made no move to attack, only watched.
I jerked my arm over my shoulder. “I’m going back inside. It’s cold, and I didn’t put a cardigan on. If you’re going to kill me,can you do it away from the shop? I have friends in here, and they really hate cleaning up messes.”
No reaction from Neit’s corner.
“Alright then. See ya around.” I turned, my back prickling with his attention, and went inside, resisting the urge to lock the shop down like a military bunker.
“Second stalker. Cool.” With a sigh, I turned to look one more time, but the god was gone, his appearance almost like a figment of my imagination.
When would I stop being hunted?
Honestly. This was giving me a complex.
Chapter
Twenty
CAELAN
Evie’s text disturbed me. Though the furor over the rogue shifters had died down some, reports were still coming in every few days. This was one of the reasons the Council had stuck me with Gianna—the fear that I couldn’t control my own territory, and Evie’s disruption to the power structure.
If only they knew how much power she actually possessed. They’d lose their shit.
As it was, I expected one of those bastards to approach her soon for either marriage or binding.
A grin tugged at my mouth. I’d love to see the bastard who tried to force Evie to do anything.
Reports and maps were spread out all over my war table. I’d been examining them for weeks, and they all had one thing in common.
Or, one shifter, I should say.
Everyone who’d come into contact with Halvar, or the impostor who’d been posing as Halvar, had gone loup not long afterward. The Keep’s head mage, a slight man named Kieran, had taken one look at the vial Evie had sent over and immediately paled.
