Sebastian didn’t seem to fear her magic though. He was so different from everyone she knew!
“I guess we need a plan.” Her words were almost a whisper, barely audible. It was the only thing she could think of to say in the silence that had grown between them.
“Yes, we need a plan.”
Even as they began forming their plans Cara could not help but notice he had not said anything about loving her back.
CHAPTER 11
Night fell and Cara left her home. She had arranged to meet Sebastian in the same spot where she had met him for the first time. It was spot neither of them would ever forget, or so she hoped.
Nobody noticed her leaving the house. Most of the Tribe were out, riding hard and looking for the rogues. The ones who were about were used to her leaving the house at night to walk, so they didn’t interfere.
As she walked, she pondered the words she had spoken to Sebastian earlier that day. She had said she could love him; she had not said she did love him. Maybe he had noticed the difference. Even as she hoped that was true, she also hoped that it wasn’t.
She did not want to admit it, but there was no way to ignore the fact that she had fallen for him, and hard. She was surprised that the whole world was not still echoing from the force of her fall.
Why was he so special to her? She barely knew him, and she already knew that there could never be anything between them. There was no way that anyone would ever allow her to mate and marry a gadjo.
Okay, so she had already mated with him. If her father knew that he would probably have her locked away in the cellar until she grew so lonely that even an asshole like Ion would look good to her.
She was going to have to slow down and work hard to pull away from him. If she didn’t, she would end up heartbroken and horribly alone for the rest of her life. Everything about Sebastian seemed right to her; everything about the two of them together felt right. It wasn’t, of course: they didn’t belong together and she knew it. But knowing it and forcing her heart to know it seemed to be two entirely different things. It seemed as if her normally rational thought processes had taken a hike and only her heart was in charge.
And her heart was moronic.
Sebastian was waiting for her. As usual, he was dressed in black. The silver he wore gleamed dully in the dimness and she knew that hers did as well. Before she could say or do anything more than lift her hand to him, he had gathered her into a tight embrace. She was so startled that she did not try to resist.
Not that she wanted to. In his arms seem to be exactly where she wanted and needed to be. As soon as he clasped her to him, she felt like she was coming home. How could something so wrong, so against all the rules, feel so good and so right?
But even in his arms, she felt the sting of her own betrayal of her people. Would she seriously consider leaving them?
Her heart said she would.
She was already uncomfortable with her power. She was already afraid it of it and unsure of it and at that moment she hated it. She wished she had been born without it. It did happen, and those women of the Tribe who were born powerless often had easier lives. If they left the Tribe, nobody took it too hard.
Her vision came back to her. The Elder drawing the runes on her body and the fire leaping. The wolf outside the circle… what had that meant? Had it been a symbol or was it a real wolf? Was a wolf going to come between her and her Tribe? Had she been running into battle, or to that wolf? She didn’t know. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
Her heart was torn by that vision even as her soul cried out for his touch. She needed him, wanted him and nothing else would do. But how could she have him? He was a Hunter, and gadjo. He was not of the Tribe and she could not share her bloodline with anyone outside the Tribe.
Sebastian buried his face in her hair, smelling the light floral fragrance of her silky ebony tresses. He did not have to tell her how dangerous their mission was; she already knew. This might be the last time he ever embraced her; tonight one or both of them might die.
There were many risks in fighting a rogue, but one in particular that he did not want to think about. If she were bitten…
What would happen? He knew that it was possible for one of the Tribe to be turned. It had happened, or at least, there were rumors of it. It only made sense that one of the Tribe could be turned; they were human, after all, despite all their magical abilities.
But he could not bear to see her turned. As one of the Tribe, it would be highly unlikely that any pack would take her in and extend the Covenant to her. It was even more unlikely that any would share their blood with her.
No matter how strong she was, she would be rogue, and he knew that for her, that would be a fate worse than death.