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I step back to stand beside Logan, whose hand finds the back of my arm.
“You’re doing great,” he says, barely loud enough for me to hear.
I’m introducing myself to a town full of supernaturals who would rip you apart if they knew what you are.
Of course, I keep the thought to myself. Wolves have better hearing than any other type of supernatural, and blowing Logan’s cover isn’t on my bingo card for this trip. Or for any trip ever.
Minutes stretch, the cold settling deeper into my bones. Music drifts from behind the walls. It’s faint and muffled, the kind of sound that says people are laughing around a fire, living normal lives inside the one place on earth where a divine shield keeps them safe from everything that wants them dead.
I’m about to walk a Revenant through that shield.
The guilt hits in waves. These people built walls. They posted guards. Four goddesses looked at this town and promised to keep them safe. And here I am, holding the hand of the threat those wards were built against, about to look their alpha in the eye and lie to him.
Logan’s grip tightens on my arm.
Before I can spiral further, footsteps echo from behind the wall. The guards straighten and step aside as a figure comes through the entrance.
Connor Ward looks exactly like I expected for someone who runs a wolf pack in the mountains of upstate New York. He’s tall and broad-shouldered, with dark brown hair that’s messy enough to suggest he was either just in bed or doesn’t own a mirror. There’s a weight to how he moves, a deliberateness that fills the space around him in the same way as Logan’s control. Except where Logan’s feels like a wall built to hold something back, Connor’s feels like the ground itself. Immovable and unshakeable.
He stops about ten feet from us, his gaze locking onto mine.
“Connor Ward,” he says. “Alpha of the Pine Valley pack.”
“Jade Harrington.” I hold his gaze, even though his dark brown eyes make me feel like he’s cataloguing everything I am and everything I’m pretending to be. “I’m Tempest’s star touched, and I’m here to meet Ruby.”
He continues to hold my gaze without blinking. There’s a pressure behind it, steady and deliberate, like the air between us is getting heavier.
Every cell in my body wants to look away—at the guards, at the wall, at the frost on the ground, at literally anything other than the unblinking dark brown eyes of an alpha wolf who’s deciding whether I am what I say I am.
I don’t.
After all, I grew up in rooms full of people who used eye contact as currency. I’ve stared down a Geryon who saw every truth I’ve tried to bury. Connor Ward is intimidating, but he’s not a cosmic judge, and he’s not going to find anything in my eyes that I don’t want him to see.
“Show me,” he finally says, and the pressure between us pops, releasing me from his hold.
“Sure. Anything that doesn’t involve more staring.”
He chuckles—actually chuckles—and I smile at the small, welcome victory.
Then I lift my right hand and reach for my electricity. Silver-white arcs crackle across my knuckles and dance between my fingers, throwing shifting light across Connor’s face. Above us, the dome responds with a pulse of silver that rolls outward from where I’m standing, and both guards step back.
Connor doesn’t. He just watches the lightning play across my hand for a long moment. Then his jaw tightens, and his eyes shift back to meet mine.
Luckily, he doesn’t initiate another staring contest.
“We all suspected the fourth champion would be connected to the witches,” he says, and relief washes through me as I close my fist and let the electricity sink back into my skin.
“Tempest star touched me before I arrived at Blaze Academy,” I explain quickly. “A lot happened while I was there, but eventually I escaped with my friends on a ship, and we met Circe, who told us about Ruby, Amber, and Sapphire. I know about the Blood Coven, and about Ambrogio. That’s why I’m here. I want to meet the others and help save the world.”
The final part sounds ridiculous. Past Jade would have laughed at the fact that I believe I might help save the world. But hey, I’m just going along with the hand I’ve been dealt, and it’s a really, really challenging hand that’s forcing me to bluff more times than I can possibly pull off.
Connor nods, sharp and decisive. Then his gaze slides past me to Logan.
Everything in my body tenses.
Logan steps forward, his posture open, his face a mask of calm. “Logan Ashford,” he introduces himself. “Fourth year proctor at Blaze Academy. I’ve been keeping Jade’s secret and training her since the start of the school year.”
Connor’s gaze moves between me and Logan, his expression tightening.
