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“Are you sure that’s the best idea?” Eric started sweating. Did he care enough about Casey to worry, or was he just worried about getting in trouble?

“We need to find answers. There’s nowhere else we’re going to get them.”

“That’s not true.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right. You could start giving us some.”

Eric looked away. “You could try the cousin.”

“Which? The one Casey lives with?” I hadn’t met the guy, but she told me he was doing research in Russia or something.

“Yeah. Rhett. I get the feeling he’s hiding something.”

Rhett wasn’t the only one hiding something. “Talk. What don’t I know?”

“It’s a good thing you’re sitting down for this.”

“What?”

“It’s crazy.” He finally sat down.

“Okay. What is it?” I shifted in my chair.

“Casey might not be pure Pteron.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean her mother, or at least the woman who raised her, who I’d assume is her birth mother…”

My blood froze. “What about her mother?”

“She’s a—”

“Wait.” I strained to hear. I knew there was someone or something outside. I was out of my seat in seconds. It was half a second later that I made contact with a body coming out of the back room.

“Casey?!” I gasped as I realized I was currently digging my hands into Casey’s bare arms. I released her.

She glared at me. “And here I thought I could trust you.”

“You can trust me.”

“I can trust you to hold secret meetings about me… or wait, was it another Pteron you were talking about?”

Eric shook his head. “Calm down, Bates. We’re just trying to help you.”

“Help me? Helping me involves keeping me in the loop.”

“What are you doing here, anyway?” Eric tried to deflect the questions from us.

“I forgot my phone here after work. I came back for it.”

“Why didn’t you just call, I’d have—” He smiled. “Wait. You couldn’t call without your phone.”

“Exactly. Now answer me. Why were you guys talking about me behind my back? Eric, I expect this from you, but Toby? I trusted you.”

I took her hands, glad when she didn’t pull away. “And you can trust me.” She needed to believe me. I wasn’t losing her again. “I didn’t want to worry you if I didn’t have to.” I knew that wasn’t a good enough excuse, but it was the truth.

“What were you going to say Eric? What is my mother? I can’t wait to hear this.”

“Are you sure you want to know?”

“Is she a dragon? Maybe a sorceress?”

“She’s a bear.”

“A bear?” Casey choked and stumbled slightly. I caught her, glad when she didn’t immediately pull away.

“Fuck.” The curse slipped out. A bear? Things were complicated enough when I thought her mom was human. But being half bear took complicated to a whole new level. And if the mom was a bear, did that mean Rhett was too? Suddenly, questioning the cousin moved up on my to-do list.

“Exactly.” Eric leaned back in his chair.

“Is she really my mom?” Casey leaned into me slightly. “Like, by blood?”

Eric shrugged. “From what I know, but I can’t be positive.”

“And Vera?”

Eric sighed. “I don’t have any more answers. All I know is your mom is a bear and she wanted my uncle and me to look out for you when you moved into the city.”

“That explains the job.”

“Yeah…”

“I don’t even know what to think.” Casey wrung her hands.

“Want me to walk you home?” I wanted more info from Eric, but more than that, I wanted to take care of Casey. Finding out she was a Pteron was one thing, discovering she was likely part bear was just icing on the cake.

She nodded and headed toward the door. “And I thought meeting my new grandmother was weird.”

“You met Georgina?” I’d met the former queen when Allie was on death’s door earlier that year. To call her intimidating was an understatement. At the same time, she also struck me as someone incredibly protective of her family. I only hoped she viewed Casey as family and not an unpleasant mistake.

“Good night, Eric,” Casey whispered as I led her outside. “I won’t be at work for the next few days.”

“Why not?”

“I’m doing a shopping day with Georgina and then we’re going to New Orleans.” She stepped through the doorway and headed out into the night.

I followed and caught her hand. “You okay?”

“As okay as I can be.”

“When do you leave for New Orleans? And a shopping day? When did you meet Georgina? What else is going on?”

She laughed. “Where do I start? That’s a lot of questions.”

“Start anywhere.”

“Georgina and Allie showed up at my apartment. We went shopping once already, but evidently that isn’t enough. I barely convinced Georgina to let me go to work this afternoon. She had someone tail me. I’m sure he’s out here somewhere. We go down to New Orleans late tomorrow. She wants to show me “my city” and some other things.”

“Fun.” I smiled. I couldn’t picture Casey shopping with Georgina and Allie, but I’m sure it would be quite the experience. I didn’t mention that even before Georgina arrived she had someone tailing her. “Oh. Well, if you want to come back and hang out at my place…”

She didn’t hesitate with her answer. “No, thanks.”

“Fair enough, but call me if you need anything.” There were so many things I wanted to say, but I sensed she didn’t want to talk. I could give her the silence she wanted. I’d give her more than that. I’d get her answers.

Chapter Six

Jared

My life was starting to feel like a series of fuck ups, and I could blame it all on letting my emotions get the best of me. It was humiliating. I trained my whole life to have the ability to close off my feelings, yet I’d let them throw me off not just once, but twice. The first time with Bryant at Angola prison was bad enough, but Casey? Did I really have to go and have crazy sex with a Pteron? The worst part was that I enjoyed it—a lot, and some part of me wanted it to happen again even though I knew it couldn’t. I couldn’t want it. I couldn’t want her.