I’d never wished that witches melted in water, but if I could have disappeared into a puddle as Evershaw strutted around naked, I would have done so in a heartbeat. The man was completely shameless. Luckily I managed to make my legs carry me out of there and Henry was standing by with coffee. I didn’t dare look back or otherwise acknowledge that Evershaw existed, but I felt the weight of everyone else’s attention as I headed for the hall.

At least Mercy was standing by in the quarters I’d occupied the previous night with new clothes and a quick breakfast. She made a strange keening noise when she saw me, and before I could do more than blink, she threw herself at me and squeezed me so tightly that she knocked the breath right out of me.

“Thank goodness you’re here,” she whispered. “Are you okay? Did you rest? What do you need?”

I needed to go home. I needed to feed my cat and sleep in my own bed and wear my own clothes. I needed to stay as far from Miles Evershaw as humanly possible before I lost what remained of my dignity. And a little quiet time in my greenhouse with copious amounts of hot tea and the soft drone of the honeybees all around would soothe my nerves for sure.

But instead of dumping that all on them, I patted Mercy’s back and tried to untangle myself without spilling the coffee Henry had so thoughtfully handed me. “I’ll be fine. I didn’t get as much sleep as I’d like, but we’ll just have to plan for a nap later this afternoon.”

I smiled, because it was sort of a joke, but Mercy nodded and pursed her lips. “Of course. A nap. Yes. Once they all leave for the meeting, we can relax and you can nap and I’ll stay here to make sure no one bothers you.”

I squeezed her hand in thanks, trying not to let the tears resurface at the small kindness of a hug and genuine concern, and cleared my throat as I looked at Henry. “Apparently I’m supposed to help Smith with the car? Do I have time to put on real clothes?”

“I’ve got them all ready,” Mercy said. She dumped a duffel bag full of jeans and shirts and bras and underwear and everything else I could possibly want to wear onto the bed and frowned at the contents. “I don’t know what you like, so I just grabbed a bunch of stuff from the closet.”

My eyes felt scratchy from the tears and lack of sleep. If only the caffeine would kick in a little faster... “Thank you. Is Smith waiting downstairs or do I have a moment to collect my thoughts?”

Some uncertainty filtered across Henry’s expression. “The alpha wanted you to go down there immediately. But Smith must return and has not arrived yet, so there is some time. Not a lot, but some.”

“I don’t know how you put up with living under someone’s thumb,” I said under my breath, picking through the clothes that Mercy brought. I couldn’t seem to move any faster than slow motion. It was like my center was completely off and my equilibrium disturbed, like I had vertigo not just physically but also mentally.

Mercy sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, pulling out a few shirts to fold. “Well, there’s a lot of good that comes from being part of a pack. When one is weak, the rest are strong. When one fights, we all fight. We share burdens and rewards alike.”

“Sounds like any other family,” I said. I didn’t look at either of them as I felt my emotions still teeter on the razor’s edge of unpredictable. And talking about how their pack supported each other just reminded me of what I didn’t have. “I don’t know that it’s worth having that jackass yell at you all the time.”

Henry rattled some pans in the kitchen, his attention carefully elsewhere as Mercy stood between us so I could pull on jeans and a T-shirt, and he sighed. “It’s hard to explain. The relationship isn’t something that exists elsewhere, at least that I’ve seen. He can take burdens for us, Deirdre. He shoulders the full weight of everyone else’s problems. He’s the one responsible for everything good and everything bad. When there is grief or pain or uncertainty, Evershaw takes that on so the rest of us can carry on until we’re able to take those burdens back. It’s worth it. And he is—unique.”

“That’s one word for it.”

My hair tangled when I ran my hands through it, the locks still a bit damp from my late shower, and Mercy handed me a hair tie so I could wrangle it back from my face. And I’d never admit it to any of them, but I could see the appeal if what Henry said was actually true. I couldn’t conceive of such a thing, of someone else taking over the grief and pain I felt so that I could handle it step-by-step. I certainly couldn’t imagine Evershaw being kind and sensitive enough to do such a thing for others when he clearly delighted in making everyone else as uncomfortable as possible.

Mercy went to the kitchen and made a plate for me filled with bacon and fresh biscuits and gravy and fruit, setting bowls and smaller plates out on the high counter near the kitchen. She poured fresh coffee and juice and even set out a few soda cans for me to choose from.

Joining a pack made sense just from the housekeeping and cooking perspective, if there was always someone else around to help with those. I could barely keep my head above water—and above the dust bunnies—when it came to chores and maintaining the creaky old house that I loved. I wouldn’t ever leave the house, at least until the sheriff came to evict me, but there were days when I knew I was crazy to keep putting more and more money and love into the old shack.

I propped my head up on my fist as I ate and inhaled as much coffee as possible, and both Mercy and Henry joined me for breakfast. No one spoke, but it wasn’t the silence of strangers. It was a companionable quiet of people who knew they had a job ahead of them and wanted to relax before we got back to business. It was almost enough to make my throat close with emotion once more.

But luckily for me and my composure, there wasn’t much time to sit about gathering moss. Just as I soaked up the last bit of gravy with a few bites of biscuit, Henry answered a call on his phone and tilted his head at the door. “Smith is back at the garage with the car. We should head that way soon, if you’re ready.”

I nodded and levered to my feet, though the bed nearby called my name more strongly than I thought possible. A full stomach was what had been missing when I tried to sleep in Evershaw’s guest suite. But I dragged myself after Henry, with Mercy on my heels, through the halls of the pack house. I hadn’t seen any of it on my way in, since I had a bag over my head, and just a few parts of it on the mind-bending tour Mercy gave me the day before, so it was a bit odd to see what was essentially a giant house with open halls and living areas but some private suites and apartments behind closed doors.

Not many people were up and about so early in the morning, but the gym we passed on our way to the garage was full of hearty men and a few women on the treadmills and lifting weights. No one bothered us as we walked, though I got a few curious looks, and I could finally relax a bit since it didn’t seem likely that Evershaw would bother himself with going down to the garage. He’d sit up in his empty suite waiting for word from Smith.

I clenched my jaw as we approached an enormous steel door on tracks so Henry could roll it aside and allow us out into a two-story garage with multiple bays and open spots in the floor for doing various automotive repairs and rebuilds. A few carcasses of muscle cars stood aside, covered in clear tarps, so there was plenty of room around a black SUV that must have been the contaminated vehicle that almost killed Evershaw.

I recognized the tall, lean figure that stood next to it, and wished I’d had more caffeine and a bit more time to compose myself, because there was a hell of a lot I had to say to the ErlKing. It would have been better to go in with some notes. As it was, I planted my hands on my hips and scowled as I approached, and hoped the first thing out of his mouth was an apology.

It wasn’t. It definitely wasn’t.

Smith looked as exhausted as I felt as he turned, though a tiny smile made me far less sympathetic to our shared misery. “Well, Deirdre. How are you enjoying your stay with the SilverLine pack?”

My eyes narrowed and a particularly nasty—but temporary—curse floated to the front of my thoughts. Before I could even breathe the first word, though, a nasty static buzzed all the way through me and knocked me back a step.

His smile twisted and his eyes took on a predatory, cunning light—and for a brief moment, it looked as though his pupils had turned vertical instead of round. Like a very old kind of evil that had resurfaced and covered itself in a veneer of civility. Just like Estelle had tried to warn me. “I wouldn’t recommend that, dear Deirdre. I would have been a fool not to have placed a protective spell along with the geas. You cannot harm me until your business with Evershaw is concluded.”

“And you certainly don’t believe yourself to be a fool,” I said quietly, though I wanted to point out to him the incredibly stupid thing he’d done in tying me to Evershaw against my will. “We shall see, won’t we?”

“We shall.” He left it at that, though his eyes remained troubling, and gestured instead at the SUV. “I would prefer if you examined the car before I render any opinion on the matter. That way my findings will not influence you.”

I exhaled in irritation and figured I’d have to do some work even though I only wanted to confirm whatever it was he said so I could go back to bed. And then eventually put my mental horsepower toward figuring out how to stop the poisoners, save Evershaw, and get free of the freaking geas before anyone in the coven found out about it. “Fine. Stay back. I wouldn’t want to be accused of accidentally trying to... influence you.”

Smith huffed a laugh and stepped away, and left me to face the SUV on my own. Even Mercy and Henry remained near the door, and the other mechanics and interested parties gave me at least ten feet of emptiness as they watched. I felt very much alone in a sudden deja vu moment, as if I’d always been that way and the sense of community with the pack was the glitch instead of the other way around.

Maybe Henry and Mercy were right. Maybe there was something to that pack stuff after all.