Page 117 of Mortal Blood
Kallan paled, hands raised in a placating gesture as he edged backward. “He’s yours. We were just leaving.” He cast an urgent look at Eva and Wes. “Weren’t we?”
They nodded hastily, Eva moving to help a moaning Harvey up as Wes limped in her wake. Kallan sheathed his knife, his motions stiff. As they retreated, his eyes flashed with fury.
“This isn’t over,” he spat.
Thaden’s deadly focus followed them until they disappearedinto the fog. Only then did he relax his posture and turn to Cole.
I blew out a breath. “At least your timing has improved.”
He stiffened. “Cali?”
Oh, right. Invisible.
“Here,” I said, and his eyes trained on the space I was occupying, right next to Cole. “It’s, um, a long story.”
“I don’t suppose it has anything to do with why Thessalia and I saw two worried looking shifters trekking east of here?”
“Well, I don’t have the first idea where east is,” I said, causing Thaden to roll his eyes, “but kinda. Where, er, where is Thessalia, anyway?”
“You’rethe one asking where people are?”
“Humor me,” I said, rolling my eyes in a gesture that was entirely wasted, what with the whole invisible thing I had going on right now.
“She’s following the other two at a careful distance.”
“…Why?”
“Because she didn’t think they’d appreciate her gatecrashing their party, and because the three of you—and that poor Alina girl, I suppose—are walking trouble magnets.”
“And you care because?”
He shook his head, his eyes taking on a predatory gleam. “Question time is over, sweetness. Tell me what you’re doing out here, and why no-one can see you.”
I reached into my shirt and pulled out the necklace. “This, I think.”
“Am I supposed to be seeing something right now, sweetness? Because I’m not in the mood for games.”
“Oh. Sorry.” I blushed, glad he couldn’t see me. “I mean, Zane gave us all a necklace. I think it has something to do with that.”
“Like this one?” he asked, pulling an identical necklace from beneath his own shirt.
“Yeah. Cole got hurt earlier, and it got worse while he was carrying it, I think because he’s scared of not being strong enough to lead, which is crazy because he’s the strongest guy I know.” I frowned. “I’m thinking maybe not the brightest though, because he should have just let someone else carry it before things got this bad, and—”
“Cali.”
I cut off and looked at him.
“Tell me why you’re invisible.”
“Oh, well that’s obvious, isn’t it?” The look he gave me told me apparently it wasn’t, and I decided that Cole was at least brighter than him. Once again glad he couldn’t see me, I sucked in a breath and looked down at the floor. My voice came out small. “I’m scared I don’t really belong in this world, and one day I’ll just disappear entirely.”
There was utter silence in reply, and I lifted my eyes, wondering if my voice had disappeared as well. Instead, I found Thaden staring at me, raw pain in his eyes. He swallowed.
“I made you feel that way.”
“Don’t get too full of yourself, fang. You didn’t do this all on your own.”
He brushed aside my pitiful attempt at levity. “I was a part of it. Dammit.”
