Patrice rapped the knuckles of one hand on the table. “I don’t like it, but I see the wisdom in it. I’d like to add another condition. While this is going on, Declan should see a counselor. Someone who can help him process what he’s going through.”

“Agreed,” Declan said. “As long as I get a say in who that person is. No court-appointed counselors.”

It was by far the best deal we were going to get and much better than I thought we’d do.

Someone banged a gavel, and just like that, the tribunal was over.

We were allowed to go. I got up on unsteady legs and hugged Mama Ami tight. I loved her so much. When I looked over, my mom was hugging Declan. He seemed surprised but pleased. Something occurred to me then. The trial had been years ago. Had anyone been hugging him? Who had been holding his hand? He’d been taking care of us lately, but who had been taking care of him?

Mama Ami let me go, her face stern. “Go home. Rest. I’ll see you at dinner.”

“Dinner?”

She patted my cheek. “Yes, dinner. You both need a good meal, and your binding needs to be strengthened. I expect you and Declan to be living in each other’s pockets as much as possible.”

I couldn’t help it—I thought back to this morning. Declan gloriously naked and walking around my room. In each other’s pockets? “Shit.”

Mama Ami glared at me. “Language, daughter. There’s no call for such a thing.”

All of her children had salty sailor mouths, even her younger daughters, not that I was going to say anything. There was only one response when Mama Ami got that tone. “Sorry, Mama Ami. I’ll see you at dinner.”

“Good girl.”

Chapter Fourteen

Declan

I let Lou drive. If my wolf was willing to trust her with ourselves, our minds and magic, then I could trust her with my SUV. That, at least, was replaceable. Besides, I needed my hands free to call Zoey, and after putting her off and scaring her, I wanted to be able to concentrate on the conversation. She picked up on the second ring.

“Hey, Zo. Want to fill me in?”

I listened quietly as my sister talked, her voice still a little shaky. The gist of her story was that they thought my dad had escaped first—no one knew how yet. They were still looking into it and the authorities were staying tight-lipped about the whole thing. An hour after they realized he had disappeared from his cell, someone had the bright idea to check and make sure Eva was still in her cell.

She wasn’t.

They’d been in different penitentiaries—Angus on the East Coast, Eva somewhere in the Midwest. The authorities wanted them separate, and they wanted Angus away from his followers. Because of their abilities, they’d been held in an Uncanny certified cellblock, something created specifically to hold anything that fell into the uncanny spectrum.