“You guys look…tense.” She stalled out in the kitchen. “Should I come back later?”

“No.” Graeson stood and hauled me from the booth with him. “I was just leaving.”

“What about breakfast?” There was so much food, and he hadn’t eaten any of it. “You aren’t staying?”

“I can’t.” Using our linked hands, he tugged me closer and folded his arms behind him. Mine followed, linking my arms around his waist. “When are you leaving?”

“This afternoon. Isaac is driving us to the airport.” I wanted him back inside the safety of the wards before sundown. “Will I see you before I go?”

Graeson ducked his head, pressing his nose against the point where my neck met shoulder. A long, slow inhale lifted the hairs down my arms. He exhaled through his mouth, and his breath rippled down the front of my shirt, tightening my stomach.

“I’ll do my best,” he said, and I heard the lie.

I turned my face so our cheeks brushed, the stubble of his chin scoring me when he tilted his jaw. “Will I have to worry about another challenge before I leave?”

“No.” That one word rang with truth. “The pack will be otherwise occupied.”

I drew back to look into his face. “I don’t suppose you’ll enlighten me?”

“I don’t mean to break up this beautiful moment,” Dell said, scooting past me and closer to the bacon, “but it’s not as good once the grease congeals. You gotta eat this stuff hot.”

“She’s right. You should eat and pack.” His fingers slipped from mine, and after patting my arms to keep them in place, he cupped my face in his hands. “Learn all you can, but be careful.”

“We’ll talk when I get back.” My fingers wormed into his belt loops. “This woman, she might have some of the answers we need to pinpoint Charybdis’s next move. If I can figure out how—” My lips burned in silent warning, the blood oath at work. “All I’m saying is this is the best lead we’ve got. I’m keeping my fingers crossed she’s the key to figuring out where Charybdis might have gone to lick his wounds.”

Fresh worry creased his forehead. “I should be the one going with you.”

“You’ve got your hands busy here.” Cleaning up the mess I had helped create. “Don’t worry about it. I can handle this.”

“I know you can. I have faith in you.” A tight grin thinned his lips, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I just wish you didn’t have to do it alone.”