Page 11 of Silver Claw

“After you eat,” Jared murmured, watching me from the doorway, “we’ll shift and you’ll finish healing.”

“At least physically,” I said, but didn’t explain. Maybe he thought my trauma was all emotional, and that was certainly part of it. He’d have no idea that my magic, my shapeshifter, the angel’s scream, all of it was…dead.

He didn’t press for details. He understood that I’d talk when I was ready. I wanted all of them around me when I did, because I didn’t want to have to go over it again.

Of course I’d have to explain it all to the council, but that was different. They probably knew more than I did about it already.

My people were waiting when I walked down the stairs and into the dining room, my blade secure in its belt around my hips, my ass-kicking boots on, my hair neatly in its braid. Maybe I didn’t look like I was ready to fight, but I felt like I was.

I paused in the doorway, taking in the sober picture they all made, wondering why they didn’t seem happier that I was up and about. Wondering how many more times we’d go through another moment just like this one. It happened too often.

Then Joe pushed his chair back, and though there was rage in his eyes, there was also joy. He didn’t say a word, just scooped me up and held me in a bone-crunching hug, his body vibrating with restrained emotions.

“Glad to see you, boss,” he said, finally releasing me.

I laughed somewhat shakily, not about to tell him that my body wasn’t up to his hugs just yet. “Back at you, Joe.”

I walked farther into the room. “Where’s my dog?”

“Lucy’s keeping him in the kitchen until we’re sure you can—” my mother started.

“Oh for God’s sake,” I said, then bellowed, “Lucille! Bring me my damn dog!”

Then everyone seemed to realize I was really okay, that I was still me, and they didn’t have to be careful. The detective slid his arms around me and pulled me against his body, his lips at my ear. “Damn you, Kait.”

I smiled. “Same thing Jared said. I am thoroughly damned.”

Next came Remy Simon, but he didn’t hug me. He gave me a nod and a half-smile, and there was relief in his eyes. Guilt, as well, and that was something I couldn’t ever remember seeing in the boogeyman’s eyes. “Sorry I didn’t have your back,” he said.

“You were a little busy fighting her goons,” I told him. “You don’t ever need to apologize for that, Remy.”

Max and Lucy and Ash all rushed me at the same time, and for a little while, my mind was occupied by only good things.

My mother beamed at us all.

Zach hung back until I went to him. I wrapped my arms around him and finally, the tension in his body eased and he returned the hug. “Kait,” he said. “I—”

“No,” I interrupted, pulling back to look into his eyes. “I was the most powerful thing in the room. None of you could know that a strange woman might walk in and best me.”

It was Lucy who pounced on the word, but then, Lucy had been the one having the dreams. And she knew. “Was?” she asked.“Was,Kait?”

Everyone fell silent.

I took a deep breath. “Let’s sit down and eat. Everything’s getting cold, and I have a fierce hunger. I’ll explain between bites.” I tried for a smile, but I could feel it was a little frayed at the edges.

I really needed food. I was halfway through my third plate when I finally started talking. I didn’t want to tell them, as though the loss of my magic was a secret shame I needed to hide. I didn’t want to admit aloud what had happened.

Because now they’d see me as weak, and I was going to have to prove myself all over again.

“Her name is Anika Draper,” I began. “And she took my magic.” Then, I sat up straight, shoved my plate away, and stopped wallowing in despair. “When I attacked her, she…” I shook my head, unsure. “She somehow sucked the magic from me and now it’s gone. I have no magic.” I forced myself to look up from the tabletop. “She stole it. I went into that fight like a novice and handed it right to her.”

Jared stiffened beside me, then slid his arm across the back of my chair. “Kait. Are you sure?”

I nodded. “I’m sure. I feel the emptiness. At the end, all I could do was try to shapeshift into her. I couldn’t even do that.” Then I tightened my hands into fists. “But I have my wolf. I have my wolf, and I have my blade.”

Shockingly, Max was the one to lose his calm. He burst into loud sobs, and Joe was quick to jump up and pull him into his arms. “There, there,” he said, patting Max so hard on his back that he beat the tears right out of him. Joe was never going to be the most comforting of individuals.

But his clumsy sweetness caused every one of us, including Max, to crack up, and the awful heaviness of the moment dissipated beneath that laughter.