*
A few minutes later Rafe and I sit on the stone bench in the hall, watching Diana pace angrily back and forth, Wynter having taken over the Selkie’s care.
“Diana, quit pacing and sit down.” Rafe’s voice is quiet, but there’s an undercurrent of authority that’s unmistakable.
Diana stops moving and faces him, hands on her hips. She shoots him a defiant look, which he calmly meets.
“You can’t kill him,” Rafe says, keeping his tone neutral.
“Of course I can,” she snaps. “Your people are weak.”
“Yes, I know you could kill him quite easily and effortlessly,” he replies, his voice firm. “But you shouldn’t.”
“Why?” she demands, raising her chin.
“Okay, Diana,” Rafe says. “Let’s say you go out and kill him. Then what?”
“Then I bring his head to the Selkie woman so that she can see that she is now safe.”
“All right, then what?”
She huffs at him impatiently. “Then I toss it back into the woods for the scavengers to eat.”
“And what happens when the University investigates and finds out what happened? They will notice that their groundskeeper is missing.”
“They can hire someone new.”
Rafe sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. “They’ll arrest you, is what they’ll do.”
Diana snorts. “I’d like to see them try!”
“They’ll fine Elloren for theft and they’ll throw you in prison for murder. And they’ll send the Selkie back to the dealer he bought her from and sell her to someone else, potentially someone worse.”
“You are being absurd. Once we explain what happened, how he was treating her, they will understand. The proof is all over her body!”
Rafe shakes his head in disagreement. “You’re wrong, Diana. According to them, this man did nothing unlawful. Repugnant, maybe, but not unlawful. You two, on the other hand, have already broken multiple laws. Do you really want to throw murder on top of that?”
“So we keep her hidden,” Diana says stubbornly. “No one has to know who killed him.”
Rafe screws up his face in disbelief. “Diana, your kind are seen by my people as uncivilized, violent savages. You and your brother would be immediately suspect. And, if, by some miracle, they didn’t figure out that you were the culprits, they would assume the Selkie found her skin and killed him. There’s talk of shooting all of the Selkies in captivity. Were you aware of that? The Council is pretty evenly divided on this. The murder of the University’s groundskeeper would easily tip the balance in favor of a mass execution. Do you really want to be responsible for that?”
Diana leans toward Rafe, undaunted. “Then I’ll kill him and take her with me. To my pack. They’ll know what to do. They’ll save all the Selkies.”
“So you’ll leave the University?”
“Yes, if necessary!”
“And Jarod? He’d have no choice but to leave, as well.”
“He’d leave,” she says with smug assurance. “He’d understand.”
“So, let’s say you and Jarod take her back to your pack,” Rafe calmly postulates. “You do realize you’d be plunging your entire pack into a potentially dangerous political situation.”
Diana snorts at this. “Dangerous for your people, maybe. Not for ours.”
Rafe exhales sharply and shakes his head. “Things are very tense between your people and the Mage Council right now, Diana. Our government considers your land rightfully ours. There’s talk of sending the military out to force your people—”
Diana huffs impatiently, cutting him off. “Your military is no match for my pack. You know that as well as I do. Your magic is useless against us, and the weakest of our kind is stronger than your strongest soldier. If your people were stronger, they would have stolen our land long ago, just as you’ve stolen land from everyone else around you.”
“Think how this would be written up in the arrest warrant,” Rafe continues. “‘Lupine Girl Kills University Groundskeeper...’”
“‘...Who Horribly Abused Seal Woman!’” Diana finishes for him.
“That part won’t make it in, Diana. Selkies are like a dirty little secret no one wants to talk about. No. It will be seen as proof that Lupines are dangerous, bloodthirsty monsters who should be eradicated. Do you really want to be responsible for throwing your pack into this?”
Diana throws up her hands like she’s throwing sand into Rafe’s face. “This is nonsense!”
“No, Diana, it’s not! Do you really want to be the one to make this decision? Without speaking to your pack first? Without speaking to your alpha?”
Diana freezes.
There, he’s done it, I realize with relief. He’s finally found an argument that registers with a Lupine.
She stands, staring at Rafe with a fiery glare.
Finally, she lurches forward toward Rafe, fists clenched. “I’m going out!” she snarls. She whirls around and heads for the door.
Rafe is on his feet in a flash. He strides forward and grabs Diana by the arm.
“To do what, Diana?” he demands.
Diana’s arm tenses and her fist clenches sharply like his hand on her is a challenge. She shoots him an incredulous look and glances down at the hand that attempts to restrain her, staring at it like she can’t quite believe that he would dare to be so bold. I wonder myself if Rafe has temporarily taken leave of his senses.
The tension in the room has suddenly become unbearable—and dangerous. Very slowly, Diana raises her head, her lips pulling back into a threatening grimace, a deep growl starting at the base of her throat as her amber eyes take on a ferocious glow. She takes a sudden, threatening step toward Rafe, and I flinch. He knows as well as I do, as well as Diana does, that she could rip his arm clear off without so much as breaking a sweat, and there’d be nothing Rafe or I could do about it. I’ve never thought of Diana as frightening before, but I realize now, for the first time, that she’s truly dangerous.
“I asked you where you’re going,” Rafe repeats, his jaw tensing, his tone unyielding, as he ignores her threatening posture completely.
Diana’s lips pull back farther into a full-blown snarl. “I’m going deep into the woods,” she growls, her voice low, her eyes two enraged slits, “where no one can see me. Where I can strip naked without offending the very delicate sensibilities of your most morally upstanding people. Then I will Change. And I will run. For a very long time. Because if I stay here, I will ignore all reason, and I will kill him.”
Rafe nods and abruptly releases her arm. She shoots him one last vicious look before storming out.
I start to breathe again as Rafe stares off in the direction she’s exited.
“Do you think she’ll kill him?” I ask, my voice almost a whisper.
Rafe places a hand on one hip and turns to me. “No,” he says, his lips tensing. “She just needs to blow off some steam.”
“She’s right, you know. He deserves to die. He’ll probably just buy another Selkie girl to abuse.”
“Probably,” Rafe agrees. He walks over to the window that overlooks the large open field leading to the edge of the wilds. I follow and can see Diana stalking toward the wilderness at an angry pace, the late-afternoon sun sending a soft, gentle glow over everything, making her golden hair appear as if it’s on fire.
*
Later, after leaving the sleeping Selkie under Wynter’s care, I set out to find Andras Volya, ready to beg, if necessary, to convince him to keep our secret.
As I walk along the upstairs hallway, I hear my brother downstairs talking to someone and pause.
“Hello, Diana,” Rafe’s voice is low and wary.
For a moment there’s silence, and I feel a tremor of nervousness for my brother’s safety.
“You were right,” Diana blurts out, her voice uncharacteristically strained. “You were right about everything. Everything you said was true.”
“I’m glad you’ve calmed down,” Rafe says patiently.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I got so angry at you.”
“It’s okay, Diana. Apology accepted.”
There’s another uncomfortable silence.