She had to be joking. “Please. I’ll be too busy trying to find some possibly non-existent mages—who might have the answer to saving my brother and defeating whatever Luciana conjures next—to breath, let alone time enough to flirt with anyone.” The idea was ludicrous. “Trust me. Romance isn’t anywhere on my radar.” Especially when I was wearing my underwear twice.

“Are you saying that because of the douchebag?”

“No.” That hadn’t even entered my mind. Even after talking to him last night. “Honestly, there’s only so much room in my brain. All I can focus on right now is finding the mages and getting back here as quickly as possible.” Sure, I wanted what Teresa and Dastien had, but that was a useless daydream right now.

One day, it’d be my turn. But I had a lot to accomplish before then.

“I still say keep your eyes open. You never know what you might find.”

“Maybe,” I said to appease her and end this pointless conversation.

Another knock came at the door. “Can I join you?” Cosette said as she peeked around the doorframe. Her aura shone so bright I could almost see her pearly sparkle through the wall. “I need something to do.”

I wished that lending me some of all that power was considered ‘something to do,’ but I couldn’t waste time wishing for the impossible. Cosette had her own problems and as tempting as it was, I shouldn’t expect her to put everything aside to fix mine. “Have a seat,” I said.

Teresa’s gaze followed her as she moved across the room. “Getting bored under the constant threat of attack?”

“Hardly.” Cosette waved a hand as she plopped down on my bed. “That part makes me feel right at home.”

“Well don’t get too comfortable,” Teresa said. Her tone was surprisingly firm. “Mr. Dawson and the rest of the Seven have been looking for you all over campus. They want to talk.”

“Which is why I’ve been avoiding them.” Cosette tilted her head to the side as if brushing off the most powerful alpha wolves in the world was a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

“Why? If you can help us—”

“When the time is right.” Cosette gripped the edge of the bed so hard her knuckles whitened. She was finally showing a little of what must be her real thoughts.

“You can’t stay on the sidelines forever.” Teresa crossed her arms as she stared Cosette down. She looked more than a little annoyed with the fey. “Not with what’s coming.”

That thought made me swallow hard. The evil wasn’t coming. It was already here. Daniel was proof of that.

So was Raphael.

“I wasn’t planning to.” Cosette let out a heavy breath. “But I do what the queen says or I pay the price. For now, just think of me as an objective observer. Later…” She waved her fingers, letting us interpret her trailing words how we wanted. “Well, we’ll see about later.”

“What about your coven?” Maybe she was tied on the fey side, but the wolves would need more than the handful of us to fight Luciana and the allies she was probably gathering right now. Any help they could send would be better than nothing.