Veiled Spirits - Page 62

Luca narrows his eyes on me and opens his mouth to say something. Bishop starts talking before he can. “Okay, you two. How about everyone just dials it down a notch or five? Luca, she’s the only one who knows what the ghosts looked like. She needs to come with us. Izzy, how about you not rile the alpha wolf who almost lost his mate, yeah?”

I deflate in my seat. Bishop makes a good point, the jerk. Luca’s wolf is probably riding him hard after he found me half dead. Alpha wolves are notoriously temperamental and psychotically protective of their mates. When I think about it, I’m actually impressed Luca has been this levelheaded thus far.

“You won’t be safe there,” Luca rumbles.

“I hate to break it to you, but I’m not really safe anywhere, wolf boy,” I tell him without my usual attitude. “Bishop and Levi are more than enough to ensure nothing happens to me. I’d invite you along, but mages hate wolves. You’d stand out.”

“I don’t like it.”

“That’s fair.”

Luca blows out a breath and rubs one of his hands over his too handsome face. He closes his eyes briefly before snapping them open and fixing his gaze on me. “Will you be careful and not take any unnecessary risks?”

He stares at me with so much raw emotion in his eyes that I’m temporarily at a loss for words. “Yeah,” I croak, feeling like a fly caught in a trap while unable to look away from his gaze.

“That’s a solid plan, Bishop. The next council meeting is a week from today. Does next Friday afternoon work for everyone?” At my dad’s voice, I’m able to break eye contact with the big wolf. I shake my head to clear the Luca haze from my mind.

When I do, I realize what my dad said. “Today’s Friday?” I could’ve sworn I passed out from ghost healing on Wednesday night.

“Yes, it is, little raven. You’ve been out since late Wednesday.” Levi twists in his seat to face me. His eyes flick between mine in worry as I process what he said.

“Oh,” is all I say. That hasn’t happened before. Even when I almost died when I was younger, I was out for a few hours. Not an entire day.

“I’m free Friday afternoon.” Levi sits back in his seat after staring at me for a beat.

“I’m free for some B&E then too.” I’m always available for messing with the council.

“I’ll get council passes for the three of you. If anyone does catch you, that’ll help.” Anger at the council and worry for us war in my dad’s eyes. I’m sure he’d rather someone else investigate what’s going on, but we can’t let anyone else know what I can do.

We all turn back to our food now that we have a plan in place. I’m almost done with my food when an auburn-haired woman bursts through the doors to my left. She jogs over to Cain with her curls bouncing and gives him a hug from behind. After wrapping her tanned arms around his neck, she leans her cheek on his shoulder.

Jealousy sparks in my chest, tempting my magic to slither out of its prison. I’m able to lock it down, but the jealousy burns like acid through my veins as I watch another woman put her hands on my mate. I’m not touching the reason for the jealousy with a ten-foot pole, though.

“I’m glad you’re finally out and about, Si. I’ve been worried about you holed up in Luca’s room.” She looks up at me from where her head rests on Cain’s shoulder. By the way her hazel eyes twinkle with mirth, she’s putting on a show to provoke me on purpose. Rather than react, I simply grind my teeth and hope to incinerate her with my gaze alone. Now, that would be a nifty power to have. It sounds way more useful than seeing ghosts.

“Prue. Is this really necessary?” Cain asks with exasperation. It grates on me that he doesn’t remove her arms from his shoulders. Is he into her? Not that it should matter to me whether he is. Yet, here I am, ready to kill someone just for touching him.

“Absolutely. I wouldn’t have to annoy you if you’d just introduce me to your mate.” Prue gives Cain a kiss on the cheek. I have to grip the edge of my seat hard enough to hurt to stop myself from marching over there and punching her.

Fucking hell. I guess the mate bond makes me a bit psycho too. I can’t find a shred of regret for my violent thoughts when she’s still touching Cain.

Cain sighs heavily and side-eyes the woman before looking at me. His eyes widen at whatever he sees on my face. “Isabel, this is my little sister, Prue. Prudence, this is Isabel, my mate,” he hurries to explain.

My anger evaporates when I hear that it’s just his sister.

“Wow, using the full name. You must be really ticked off, Silence.” Prue notices the confusion on my face, and her grin gets bigger. “Ooh, you haven’t told her your full name, have you? This is great. His full name is Silence Cain Blackthorne. He goes by Cain most of the time, for obvious reasons.” Prue grins at me like I wasn’t just planning to murder her.

Wow. That’s certainly a name. I can see why he prefers Cain. His parents must’ve really disliked him to give him that mouthful of a name.

Because I don’t have anything nice to say about his full name, I skip over that tidbit of information. Instead, I glare at Prue. “I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but you’re kind of an asshole.”

Prue looks at me for a second before throwing her head back and cackling. When she gets her laughter under control, she tells Cain, “I like her.”

“Of course, you do, Prudence Luisa. Isabel enjoys stirring the pot almost as much as you do.” I’d be offended if what Cain said weren’t true.

Prue’s name is almost as bad as Cain’s. Their parents really shouldn’t be allowed to name children.

“I mean, you’re not wrong about me,” I mutter under my breath. Cain gives me a half smile, and butterflies swarm in my stomach. I love seeing the serious wolf smile, even if it’s not a full one.