she sighed and met his gaze. “I suppose we do have to go back. I’m so different now. I don’t know how I’ll do back home.”
“Different how?”
“I don’t know. It’s all been very, very strange. I can’t believe I have an entire family. Though we were completely unknown to each other, they all seem to care about me very much. And I’ve come to care about them, too.”
Taking a deep breath, he asked the question he knew he had to ask. “Do you want to stay?”
“Here?” She tilted her head, seriously considering the question and looking so beautiful she made his chest ache. “I hadn’t really thought about it.”
“Come on,” he prodded, needing to be certain. “You can’t tell me the idea has never crossed your mind.”
Turning away, she was silent for so long, his soul began to hurt. Even though they’d made no promises to each other, he would feel as if he’d lost his heart if she chose to remain here. More than his best friend. With the possibilities stretching endlessly in front of them, he would lose his future, as well.
For the first time he realized he needed to think about what it would feel like when he finally got back to his home, to Teslinko. Without her. He just couldn’t see that happening.
Pushing the thought away, he forced himself to focus on his task. “I’m going to find the others and see what they want to do. Then I’m going to meet with King Drem.”
“When?”
“Before the end of the day.” He was unable to keep from touching her and took her hand. “Please let me know your decision as soon as you can.”
“My decision?” She frowned. “Surely you don’t really believe I’d stay here with the Shadows. Though they feel like family, this is not my home. Plus...”
“Plus?”
Her entire face turned pink. “There’s you,” she said quietly. “At some point we’ll need to talk about that. But for now, I’m going with you.”
Relieved, he kissed the top of her head. “I’m glad.”
Moving away, she tilted her head, watching him. “You know I plan to help you find whoever murdered your servant. But it’s really like trying to locate a needle in a huge haystack. We don’t even have a single suspect.”
“Actually, I do. I’ve begun to wonder about Chad.”
“Chad?” Considering, she finally nodded, apparently agreeing to exactly what he meant without him having to say the words. “The animals fear him and he has done things that...” She swallowed hard, aware of the war she’d start if she told Ruben all that Chad had done to her. “He gives me a weird feeling, as well.” Understatement of the century.
“The animals?”
She nodded again. “Yes. I suspect he has more issues than he lets on.”
Crossing his arms, he waited for her to continue. When she did not, he prodded gently. “Care to elaborate?”
“The horses do not like him,” she confessed, the worry in her caramel-colored eyes making him want to pull her close and comfort her again. “They believe him to be cruel and violent.”
“Are horses usually a good judge of character?”
She nodded. “All animals are. Ask the wolf inside you. He’ll have insights that may surprise you.”
The wolf inside him. Ruben carefully considered her words. Had he been so involved with making sure his wolf self didn’t take over his life that he’d missed using a valuable part of his intuition? For far too long he’d regarded his beast as the enemy. What would happen if he actually began to consider it his friend?
Shocked, he realized he actually didn’t know. It had been forever since he’d tried.
“You might be right,” he said slowly. “Next time, I’ll test out your theory.”
The brilliance of her smile warmed him all the way to the core. His wolf, sleeping until now, rumbled his approval.
“As a matter of fact,” she mused, “Chad’s the last person I spoke with before this...fugue. Though I can’t imagine why he’d do such a thing, it’s entirely possible he put the spell on me that made me forget.”
With a flash of insight, Ruben understood. If Chad actually was the killer, it would be to his advantage to have Willow want to stay here in NorthWard indefinitely. The longer they remained here, the less likely they were to be successful in the hunt.
He said as much to Willow.
“Do you truly think he’s the one?” she asked.
“It’s entirely possible. That would be one reason why he used this glamour to change his appearance.”