My eyebrow climbed higher. Usually Isaac tore a page from Theo’s book and toyed with his women. Gave them flowery words and shored up the hope they might be the one who settled him. For once the shoe appeared to be on the other foot—paw? Dell was making her interest clear. She was ready to play the game, and Isaac appeared unnerved to find himself the prize.

The pair squared off against one another in the center of the backyard created by circling our Airstreams. Twinkling lights strung between each trailer bathed the area in a soft glow and made Dell’s eyes sparkle.

Isaac couldn’t turn his back on her fast enough. “Have you been doing your stretches?”

As flat and hard as an open-handed slap, his voice jarred me to attention.

“I’ll take that as a no.” He anchored his hands at his hips. “When was the last time you took magic into yourself for the purpose of shifting aspects?”

“This afternoon.” As he well knew.

“That was a gut reaction. Acting in self-defense doesn’t count. That’s not skill, it’s not choice, it’s your fight-or-flight reflex,” he lectured. “When was the last time you purposefully used your magic to instigate a change for reasons other than saving your neck?”

Thinking back over the past few weeks, I worried my bottom lip with my teeth.

“Okay, let’s try this another way.” A hearty sigh heralded his disappointment in me, but that was nothing new. I was an old pro at disappointing those I loved. “When was the last time you shifted prior to today, period?”

“Two days ago, and once a day for several days before that.”

His shoulders relaxed. “How many sources?”

“Three, I think.”

He rolled one of his hands, expecting a recitation.

“A kraken, a legacy and a warg.” It felt like I was missing one, and it came to me. “A witch.”

“Four shifts.” Amazement wreathed his face. It had been a tough week. “And your reset?”

I flinched, but he kept waiting for an answer. This was part of his bargain, I realized, forcing me to talk about my sister, a thing I rarely did, a name no one spoke within my hearing at home. For a trickle of seconds, I wasn’t sure the deal was worth it.

The pearl bracelet glinted a reminder at me, and I shored up my resolve.

“I didn’t…” I croaked. “I didn’t need the reset.” The reset. Harsh as it was, I was grateful for the reprieve, glad he wasn’t calling her by name. “I initiated the change of my own free will.”

Mostly.

Hand extended to offer me comfort, he caught himself mid-step and turned the move into a widening of his stance. “Why would you?”

“That’s classified.” I almost found a smile to make light of those circumstances, but almost wouldn’t fool him.