Page 135 of Mortal Shift
“Well, Thaden wasn’t the only one there, was he?”
“Well Cole sure as hell wasn’t, if that’s what you’re implying,” I snapped.
“Feisty little thing, aren’t you?” He reached out and wound his fingers through a lock of my hair, smiling coldly when I pulled away irritably. “Perhaps I was wrong about the smart part, though, hm?”
I glowered at him, swiping my hair back into place.
“First, keep your hands to yourself,” I said. “And maybe you should save the insults and just say what you mean, seeing as I’m so stupid.”
He chuckled.
“What I mean, pet, is there werethreepeople there…or so someone’s claiming. Thaden, his attacker, and…”
He trailed off, gesturing one hand languidly through the air and watching me intently.
“And the witness! Shit. Of course.”
Davorin was right. Iwasstupid. Why the hell didn’t I think of that before?
“Indeed. Perhaps you should have a chat with him, andconvincehim to recant his lies about your mate.”
My enthusiasm bled out of me as quickly as it had come.
“That might work, if I had the first idea who he—or she—was.”
Davorin tutted, and I was assaulted by the sudden and inescapable urge to throttle him. Too bad I stood even less of a chance against him than Ling did.
“Come now, are you really telling me you can’t work out who might make up such slander about the alpha heir to the largest pack in this fine land? That you cannot deduce who has most to gain…and perhaps, who might be holding a grudge?”
I blinked at him, and then my eyes widened.
“It’s Kallan! Of course it’s Kallan, who else would have any reason to make stories up about Cole?” I whirled to Ling, my excitement spilling out. “He’s hated me since I got here, and if Cole is convicted, I’m going to get kicked out of Darkveil. He’s already admitted he wants to lead the packs to war. With Cole out of the way and the Iron Shadow pack weakened, there would be almost no opposition to a hostile takeover.”
Suspicion crept up my neck and I turned slowly back to Davorin.
“Why are you telling me this? Why are you helping me?”
“Helping you?” He shook his head. “Don’t mistake me, pet. I only do things forme.”
He reached out and wound his fingers through my hair again.
“And I’m not done with you yet.”
Chapter Forty-Five
“Are yousurewe need him?” I said, dragging my heels along the corridor. “I mean, absolutely certain? Because maybe we could do this on our own.”
“And maybe we’d get our asses kicked,” she countered, which I had to admit was a valid argument, and something I’d prefer to avoid.
“And you’re not just saying that because you have a crush on him?”
“I’m notjustsaying it because I have a crush on him,” she said, the tips of her ears turning pink. “We need backup, and he’s the only one round here on our side.”
“Fine. But just for the record, I think this is a bad idea.”
“You think everything is a bad idea,” she said with a grin.
“Yeah, because it usually is.” But I lifted my hand and rapped on the door anyway, because she was right—this might be a bad idea, but we didn’t have a better one. Story of my life. “Just don’t tell him he’s our only hope.”
