How in the shades had this happened? Head in her hands, she tried not to weep while she attempted to figure out what to do.
* * *
Instead of heading to his room to rest, Ruben went outside, intent on changing and letting his wolf have one last run in the forest.
What Willow had said to him earlier kept replaying inside his mind. For the first time he could remember, he felt a glimmer of hope.
Acceptance? Was that the key? Had he been too busy fighting his inner wolf that he’d never learned to accept it? They were both parts of the whole. He was wolf and wolf was human. One remained subservient to the other, depending on who had control of the body.
He was wolf and...wolf was him.
Stunned, Ruben dropped back onto his haunches, inhaling deeply of the damp forest earth. The wolf, uncharacteristically still, whined. Just once, but the pathos in the sound ripped at his heart. He’d been so busy trying to shut down the wolf that he’d shut that part of himself off completely.
How had he been so blind?
Perhaps, he thought, feeling hope for the first time in far too long, he wasn’t going mad after all. If there was a chance, even the smallest one, of him having a future, he’d grasp it with both hands and never let it go.
He pushed to his feet, a tentative joy blossoming inside him. Hurrying deeper in the forest to let his wolf out, he found himself grinning savagely at nothing in particular. So focused was he on his task, he nearly collided with Chad on the way into the trees.
“Slow down.” Hands on his shoulder, Chad regarded him curiously. “Where are you going in such a hurry?”
Ruben’s wolf lunged at the other man, teeth bared. Containing the beast, Ruben moved away from Chad. He realized the wolf was right. Something about the EastWard man was off, like milk that had curdled from being left too long in the sun.
Again he considered the fact that he might have known the murderer from the very beginning.
Careful to keep his face expressionless, Ruben crossed his arms and studied the Bright man. Had it been him all along—the killer, the one he hunted in an effort to bring him in to stand trial for his crimes?
“Well?” Chad asked again, impatient arrogance coloring his voice. “Are you going to tell me where you’re going or not?”
“Not.” Not caring if he was rude, Ruben began to move away. “I’m not in the mood to talk to you right now. I’ve got—”
“Better things to do?” Chad interrupted snidely. Ruben didn’t see him move, but somehow he did, blocking Ruben’s path into the forest.
Only vampires moved that fast and Ruben knew for sure that Chad was no vampire. Therefore, he must have used magic.
Sensing a threat, Ruben studied the other man, noting that he wore a sheathed knife and a coiled rope on his belt.
“What do you want?” Ruben asked. His wolf snarled, making Ruben twist his mouth in a grimace. Chad’s presence infuriated the beast and Ruben needed a clear head to deal with him.
“Why, I want to help you in your search for the one who killed your servant.” Chad’s smile was a terrible thing.
“I thought that’s what you’ve been doing,” Ruben said.
“Not really.” Still Chad continued to smile, his violet eyes full of frost. “But I’ll make it easy for you. I confess to the crime.”
Stunned, Ruben remained silent.
Chad withdrew a small object from his pocket. “I even have the earring I stole. Worthless piece of junk, as far as I’m concerned.” He tossed the pearl into the bushes.
“You know I’m going to have to bring you in to face trial,” Ruben told him, wishing like hell his weapon had transferred from his world to this with him. He hated being unarmed, especially when he knew the other man had other magical weapons at his disposal.
“I’d like to see you try.” Chad sounded smug. “But first, we have unfinished business, you and I.” He waved his hand and Ruben felt the electricity that always signaled magic.
Intuition told him this wasn’t going to be good.
“What the hell are you doing?” Ruben snarled, abandoning all pretense at civility.
Regarding him with malice shining from his purple eyes, Chad’s smile widened. The terribleness of his expression chilled Ruben all the way into his bones.
“I’m going to do what I should have done a long time ago.” Waving his arms again, Chad began muttering