Graeson looked over as if leaving the matter up to me to decide. I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to risk sticking my foot in it. He had claimed me when the Fury threatened my life. I fought him then, and it had done no good. His wolf wasn’t a fan of the word no. He had been protecting me from Letitia at the time, so I didn’t take the possessiveness too seriously. I was weaker than a warg, and Graeson’s inner beast was the next best thing to an alpha. Protecting those weaker than himself was instinct. It wasn’t personal. It was reflex.

“You should rest,” I said instead of any of the dozens of things whirling through my head.

The light went out of Graeson’s eyes, and he waved at us in dismissal. He bent his knees and let his head fall back against the tree trunk. He stared at the sky through the pine needles while a scowl cut his mouth.

With a fleeting smile meant to reassure, Dell wrung water from her hair. “Maybe you shouldn’t shift again around Cord.”

The weight of his disappointment chased me out of the trees. “Maybe you’re right.”

Chapter 17

I don’t know how long I stood there, feet planted on the first plank of the dock, staring at the water until my eyes dried out and blinking hurt. The kelpie was dead. Its circle would never set. I had touched its hoof and confirmed its magical signature as the one present at all the crime scenes. We had stopped it from doing whatever it had meant to do. The thought didn’t comfort. So many young lives had been lost for nothing. And now two more hung in the balance.

The skin where my shirt had dried itched, so I scratched my elbow. “How long has Harlow been down there?”

The sky had lightened, but the moon hung overhead as if unwilling to break its vigil. How long had the scuffle lasted? Five minutes? Ten? How long had it taken Graeson to haul Dell and then me out of the water? It was impossible to guess. At the time, terror had stretched each of those seconds into hours.

“Three hours all told is my guess.” Dell stood so our shoulders almost touched. “You said she thought there might be caves down there?”

“Yes,” I said for the dozenth time.

A note of forced cheer entered her voice. “Then three hours isn’t all that long.”

“No.” I sounded hollow. “It isn’t.”

A long howl rolled across the water. It was picked up and carried around the perimeter of the lake until it reached us. Dell clamped a hand on my arm, her face splotchy from concentration as she deciphered the howls. “Three black SUVs have been spotted on the road leading to the campground.”