Tessa cocked her head. “Couldn’t you have saved me by yourself, though? With all of your power now, I bet you could have.”

Hearing that reminded me of what Kaillen had started calling me. Colantha. He equated me to a fae animal that was queen of her jungle, and apparently, my sister had taken a similar mindset.

My wolf began to wag her tail since my thoughts had shifted to her mate again.

That’s not important! I told her. I called upon my witch magic, doing my best to maintain a barrier between me and my wolf. My wolf’s lips curled and her hackles rose, but I just piled more magic into my invisible barrier. So far, I hadn’t shifted or lost control, and I wanted it to stay that way.

“Anyway,” I said, shaking my head once I felt any urges from my wolf receding. “We’re getting off track. I want to learn more about the Bone Eaters and who they are. I mean, if they even exist, because I can’t help but think that my awakening power is tied to my forbidden one, which means this new power could also be related to the Bone Eaters.”

“Okay,” my sister replied with a shrug, then began to inspect her nails.

I bit my lip as I thought back to what Prisha had said the morning after the first abduction attempt on me. My bestie had brought up a very good point, saying that Jakub-Dipshit may somehow be in cahoots with the Bone Eaters. Or . . .

I sat up straighter. What if Jakub was a Bone Eater? Perhaps that was why he was after me.

My heart pounded more. I nudged my sister when she continued inspecting her latest coat of nail polish. “I’m serious, Tess. We need to figure out who they are. What if Jakub’s one of them?”

She dropped her hand, her eyes widening. “Do you think he could be?”

“I don’t know, but I know he’s after me. Really after me.”

“But who summoned him?”

“You and your big mouth?”

She blanched.

I quickly put an arm around her. “I’m sorry. I’m not blaming you. Honestly, I’m not. At this point, we can’t change the past, but now that my secret’s out, we need to figure out what exactly is going on.”

“Okay, you’re right.” She nodded, her dangling earrings swaying with the movement. “And since I . . . told someone about your forbidden power, I suppose that means I’m obligated to help.”

My jaw dropped. Had my sister just taken responsibility for her actions? I snapped my mouth closed and squeezed her again. “You’ll help me?”

Tess gave me a small smile. “I can look into it for you, if you’d like.”

“How would you do that?” I waved at the small airy home and desolate surroundings out the window. “There’s not much going on around here, and since they don’t let you use the internet or your phone, how would you find anything?”

Her smile turned coy. “Well, one thing I’ve learned in the past week is that the SF has access to these huge libraries that contain information on pretty much everything. One of the members on this base, Archie, is obsessed with them. I could ask him to do some research for me, maybe even join him.”

I laughed, then nudged her playfully. “Pretty sure Commander Klebus won’t let you leave the base to do library research about a potentially mythical group.”

“But if she didn’t know that I left the base, then it would be fine.”

I scowled. “Tess, you can’t do that. Jakub is actively hunting me, and he could pursue you to get to me if the opportunity arose. Besides, you promised me you wouldn’t do anything like that.”

She sighed and flopped back on her chair. “Fine. Okay, I won’t leave, but I could still ask Archie to take a look and see what he finds.”

I pulled my bottom lip into my mouth as I thought about it. “Don’t you think Archie will want to know why we’re curious about a group called the Bone Eaters? You can’t tell anyone else about my forbidden power or my new one.”

She gave me a sly look. “You underestimate me, Tala. Leave Archie to me. I’ll have him like putty in my hands within the week, and I won’t have to tell him anything you don’t want him knowing. Promise.”

I laughed, ’cause Tessa was right. My sister may not have a lot of magic, and she might be flighty as hell, but when it came to charming people—especially those of the opposite sex—she was truly a master.

“So who is this guy?”

“One of the new members that works in the command center here. He’s involved in the intelligence side, not the fighting units. Kinda like Carlos is.” She dropped the hair she was twirling. “How is Carlos anyway? He didn’t look happy about you and the Fire Wolf sitting so closely after you—” She swallowed, and a slight uptick in her heart rate followed, the sound like a steady thud to my enhanced hearing. “After you fell out of your window.”

I placed my hand over hers. “I never got to thank you for saving me.”

She scoffed. “I didn’t save you. Your hunter did.”

“But you called him. If you hadn’t, I’d be dead.”

She swallowed again, and tears formed in her eyes. “Let’s not talk about things like that.”

My own eyes moistened, and once again, I felt so damned grateful that we were both still okay and safe. “Fair enough. But as for Carlos . . .” I sighed and told her about his letter, then how he’d acted in Chicago before I’d flown here.

“You’re kidding. He wants to get back together even though Kaillen’s in your life now?”

I gave her a perplexed look.

She rolled her eyes. “Tala, come on. Anyone can see that you and that hunter are meant for each other.”

I shifted on my seat, my wolf perking up again inside me. “That’s not true. His wolf is interested in me, and now my wolf is interested in him. That’s kinda different than him wanting me.”

“Oh, please.” She gave a dismissive wave. “So what if your wolves are the driving factor. There are a lot of very happy mated werewolf couples who gave in to the mating bond. Just let it happen.”

“But it’s not real.”

“It’s real to all of them.”

Her words made me pause, and for the first time since Kaillen had walked into my life, I wondered if I’d been looking at this all wrong, ’cause my sister had a point. A lot of mated couples were very happy together, even if the bond had forced the arrangement.

I sighed. “Okay, this conversation is getting too heavy for nine in the morning.” I yawned, still feeling sleep-deprived since I’d arrived here so late. “So what are we doing today?” I was guessing her agenda included sunbathing and swimming, given what she was wearing, but a knock came on the door before she could answer.

Tessa sprang out of her chair, her sarong flowing behind her as she pranced to the door.

“Good morning, ma’am,” I heard a masculine voice call from the entryway. A pause came next. “Are you Tessa or Tala?”

I angled my head to get a better view of them.

“I’m Tessa!” My sister beamed.

The newcomer, a freshly scrubbed new recruit from the looks of it since he didn’t look much older than eighteen, stood at the threshold.

When he caught me peeking in his direction, he dipped his head. “Ma’am, Commander Klebus just arrived, and she’s requesting to see you.”

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter 11

I joined my sister at the front door. “Commander Klebus is here? I thought she was still in Chicago?”

“She’s here now,” the young SF member replied, “and it’s important that she speak with you.”

A frown tugged at my lips, as Tessa held the door open for me with a wink. I pinched her arm ’cause all my sister heard was that an SF Commander had flown all the way here to see me, which in my sister’s mind meant exciting things were on the horizon. Never mind that those exciting things could be bad news for all.