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Jade bobs her wolfy head and starts away from the house. After a few more steps, she goes from trotting to running. I don’t breathe until I see she’s made it to the woods, disappearing into the trees.
Welp. If Lucas doesn’t know I’m here yet, once Jade gets back to the others, he will.
Here’s hoping I can get out of this mess before I involve my mate in it.
First, though, I have to get Jeannie. I came all this way for her. Jade’s safe now, but she’s a wolf shifter. I got the collar off of her. She’ll be fine.
Jeannie’s human. I have no idea why she’s here, but it’s too big of a coincidence to assume she isn’t the perfect trap for me.
And she is, isn’t she? Because I’m about to walk right into it.
It isn’t long before I realize my big goof. Marie told me that Remy was watching over Jeannie, but do you think it occurred to me to ask where?
I give myself a pass. With everything else going on, just confirming that she was here was enough. Now that I need to find her, though? I’m a little stumped.
I’m also feeling a little feral.
The Fallon that was here two months ago would never snarl at one of the meek and mild witches that always seemed to be traveling around the manor, their heads down and their hands holding baskets full of herbs. I’d been more curious about them since they seemed to act either like I wasn’t there, or like they were genuflecting or something. Either way, it bothered me, and I kept my distance.
Right now? I grab the shoulder of the first one I see, shove her back against the hallway, and demand, “Where’s Remy?”
She’s a witch. If I’d given her enough time to cast, she’d probably use magic to defend herself. The one I grabbed is visibly younger than me—though that doesn’t mean much in Winter Creek—and her hazel eyes go wide in fright as she takes in my teeth.
My, Fallon, what big teeth you have…
I snap them. “Well? Where is he?”
She points. “Upstairs. In Jolie’s bedroom.”
Jolie’s… and, how much do you want to bet, mine?
As creepy as it is that Remy decided to take over the bedroom that Marie delegated as mine during my stay—and as obvious in retrospect that it had to have been Jolie’s seventy years ago—one thing works in my favor: I don’t need any further directions. I know exactly where it is.
Releasing the dark-haired witch, I warn her to get away, punctuating it with a little growl that has her dropping her basket and hurrying down the hall.
I wait until she’s out of sight before running in the opposite direction, heading for the stairs.
No one stops me. Whether they’re gathering resources to take me out or I’m somehow managing to storm through the manor without running into anyone else, it doesn’t matter. I take advantage of the empty halls to make it to my old bedroom in no time.
The door is closed, but not locked. Since he brought me here, I’m thinking Remy has spent the last twenty minutes—because, holy shit, it’s been like twenty minutes at the most—waiting for me to find him again, especially since he’s the one watching over Jeannie.
And he is. The moment I push in the door, hoping that he hadn’t moved her while I was with Marie, I see Remy sitting comfortably on the edge of my bed, Jeannie huddling on the floor.
In the photo, Jeannie had a piece of fabric shoved in her mouth, wrapped around her face. The gag is missing, but she’s sitting in the corner, her hands obviously bound behind her back.
“Ah, Fallon.” He rises up from the bed. “I’ve been waiting for you. Hello.”
Ignoring Remy’s welcome, I burst the rest of my way into the room. “Jeannie, are you okay?”
Remy waves his hand. I can’t tell if he used magic to keep her quiet or if he’s already hurt her enough that just the gesture stops her from answering me, but she’s silent as the grave as her dark eyes glance from the witch to me and back.
I do the same. Glaring at Remy, I move until I’m nose to nose with the witch and snap, “Are you fucking crazy?”
He laughs. His breath is hot on my skin and I hate it. “Would it surprise you if I were? Seven decades waiting for you to return to me… to make up for your betrayal… it weighs on a witch.”
“I— what?” I stumble a few steps away from him. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t tell me that you don’t remember.”
