Louis’ eyes roamed across my face and I could see thoughts churning in their unusual purple depths. “Yes, people have told you, but you don’t really believe them. Or maybe it’s that you don’t really seem interested when they say it.” He pulled on my hand and we started walking again. “Why is that do you think?”
I knew I wasn’t ugly, and I had some striking features like my hair and eyes, but I thought I was much more beautiful in wolf form than in human.
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So my only hope is that when I fall in love, find my one, that he finds me beautiful.”
“And there we have a perfect demonstration of the very reason you’re desirable,” I heard him murmur under his breath.
I changed the subject.
“So where are we eating tonight?” I wasn’t sure if Louis was aware but I judged harshly on food quality, so it better not be Murphy’s. Their restaurant was for the demi-fey and catered to a select clientele. Which unfortunately did not include me.
“I thought maybe I’d cook for you.” His relaxed demeanor did not change, but I sensed a slight tension filtering into his stance.
I curved my lips upwards. “Wow, are you actually taking me to the mystery home of Louis the great sorcerer?” I didn’t really know what to think about that.
He shrugged. “I like my privacy, but there’s no mystery. The longer I live, the less I feel the need to socialize with others.”
Which felt strange to me. I was a shifter, and a wolf to boot. We loved our packs, and in fact could get very sick if we were isolated for too long. We needed the touch, the energy of others.
“Probably why shifters and sorcerers don’t generally go on dates,” I offered, keeping my voice even.
“Probably,” he agreed.
Damn, this man was unfazed by my lack of tact. First test passed.
His power whistled over me again. “Besides, I heard there was an incident in class today. I figured you needed quiet and relaxing.”
Of course he’d heard about that.
“I can have a word with Melly if you like?” His calm tone wasn’t fooling me, I had too much experience with that false calm men got in their voices right before they killed someone.
I shook my head. “Thanks, but it has been handled already.”
“As you wish.” And he left it at that, which was a welcomed relief.
We crossed the town, moving away from the houses and into the industrial area where most of our manufacturing took place. Anything we couldn’t produce was delivered through our networks in the human world. Scattered worldwide were human liaisons who knew about these prison towns. They were pivotal to our being able to exist within a society but not be discovered. We called them the Guild Guides or ‘Guilds’ and it was a family business. They served us for their entire lives and passed the information down to their children; for most it was considered an honor to work for us. Plus we paid them a crap-ton and mostly they did very little. But it was through them we cleaned our money to be used in the human world, procured identification if we had to venture out, and safe housing. Not to mention their valuable knowledge of how to blend. They were becoming more and more important in the age of computers. Humans had a sneaky way of keeping track of everything nowadays.
It was obvious that Louis was not someone who felt the need to fill silence, he just held my hand and walked. Which was driving me a little crazy. I wanted to ask questions, but everything seemed so personal.
As if he’d read my mind, he started talking. “You were so tiny the first time I saw you. Jonathon contacted me, he was frantic. I’d been very good friends with your grandparents before they left for Spain, and I think your dad knew I was the only one who could help him.”
I wanted him to continue with this story, so I kept my mouth closed to my many questions.
“I had to touch you to place the protection over your mark, to make sure its energy could not be detected.” Using his free hand he rubbed at his chin. “I touched you first, before Mischa, and the power you contained was unlike anything I’d experienced before.” Our eyes locked. “For the first time I started to believe some of the stories, that the marked had a strength that would unite across continents and the supernaturals would fall again. I thought I should kill you.”
He said it so casually, and I shivered as I scented truth. This man had almost ended my life twenty-two years ago.
“But then you looked at me, your eyes so large and blue, crystal clear with the innocence only a young babe can have.” His arm fell to his side again. “I stayed my hand. I let you both live and convinced Jonathon to send away Lienda and Mischa. Together, the mark’s energy pulsed off each other. You were stronger around your sister, and I couldn’t risk that the hunters would find you. I needed to know you would stay safe.”
I was hanging on to every word. Fear and fascination flooded me simultaneously. “Is it safe to be speaking of this here?” My eyes darted around. I could sense no one near, but plenty were strong enough to hide from my senses.
A smile started slowly on his lips, before spreading broadly across his entire face. “Damn, you keep my ego in check without even trying.”