Nikolas said, “You were shot?”

How had he known to ask that question? She glanced at him. She didn’t mean to meet his eyes, but she did, and the shock of connection was there again, jolting her down to her shoes. Clearing her throat, she said in a husky voice, “Yeah, I was. I got over it.”

Even to her own ears, she could hear the lie in that. Of course they heard it too. Plunging onward, she said, “You never told me who your enemy was.”

“Some names you don’t speak in public,” Nikolas said quietly.

Her fork paused in midair as she absorbed the implications of that. She reached out with telepathy. How about telepathically?

Some names shouldn’t be spoken telepathically either. His mental voice was a deep, true baritone. Not if all of us are going our separate ways. The wisest thing, by far the safest thing, would be for you to give Robin over to us and go back to your own agenda.

But she wasn’t exactly talented at picking the wisest or the safest thing. She looked down at the puck. Robin had finished eating, and he moved to lean against her ankle. Bending down, she looked into his filmy eyes and said softly, “Robin, I made you a promise that I would make everything okay. That hasn’t changed just because I know you’re not a dog. Do you want to go with Nikolas or Gawain, or would you rather stay with me until you’re feeling better?”

He didn’t answer her in words. Instead, he stood against her leg, begging for her to pick him up. As she gathered him into her arms, she felt his belly, which was visibly rounded after his meal.

Straightening, she looked at Nikolas and Gawain. They were both watching her with troubled frowns. She told them, “He’s staying with me for now.”

Nikolas’s frown turned fierce. “You’re making a mistake.”

Her voice turned cool. “I’m making a decision to honor a promise I made. That’s never a mistake.”

“No, but you weren’t in the possession of all the facts when you made it.” Nikolas nodded at Robin. “He’s been involved in our war in some way, and that could be very bad, for both you and for him.”

She didn’t waver. “I knew about the rope when I took it off his neck. I knew I had a major problem with whoever had created it, and I made the promise to him then. You’re choosing to withhold information from me that could be useful, but that doesn’t actually change a thing.”

Gawain rubbed his face. “We’re not telling you anything, lass, because we’re trying to protect you.”

“I should have added one more thing to my list.” She gave them a cold, thin smile. “Don’t try to protect me in spite of myself.”

Quick anger burned in Nikolas’s dark eyes. “You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“Yeah, well, whose fault is that?” They looked at each other but remained silent, so she stood and hoisted Robin under her arm. “Glad we got a chance to clear the air. Thanks for supper. Good-bye.”

When she walked away, neither of them tried to stop her. She wasn’t surprised. She hadn’t expected them to. They might have cleared the air, but that was all they had achieved.

Because they knew as well as she did: the enemy of her enemy was not necessarily her friend.

Chapter Six

Back in her room, Sophie set Robin on the bed and paced. They might have cleared the air, but the aftermath of the confrontation with Nikolas still leaped in her muscles. She was wound too tightly, and after that horrible nap, she was never going to get to sleep.

She almost scooped up her purse and keys to leave, but running into Nikolas had been a strong wake-up call. Instead, she sat at the old, worn armchair tucked into one corner of the room and pulled out her colloidal silver. Not the water-based colloidal silver that she had used on Gawain. This time she pulled out another vial from her suitcase.

Robin had curled up on the bed, but when she uncapped the vial, he sat up to watch her. His eyes seemed brighter and more focused.

After giving him an assessing look, she turned to her work. Fifteen minutes later, after whispering spells that she painted onto her hands and forearms, she finally felt ready to leave her room. When the last spell was dry, she capped the vial, stood, and scooped up her purse.

Robin leaped off the bed. She told him, “There’s no reason for you to come along just because I’ve got insomnia. You should stay and rest.”

Instead of taking her up on her suggestion, he went over to stand by the door. He was moving better too, she saw, so she shrugged and opened the door for him. Together they went quietly down the stairs.

Business in the pub was winding down. She found Maggie washing glasses. The other woman greeted her with more reserve than she had earlier. Sophie regretted that, but she didn’t blame her. She said, “I’m going for a drive. How would you like for me to come back in?”

Maggie told her, “We lock up the front of the building where the liquor is, but you can come in the back entrance. We’ll be up late for a private gathering.” She eyed Sophie curiously. “You won’t find anything open. Town’s all closed up this time of night.”

“That’s all right. The countryside is beautiful, and I’m never going to sleep anyway.”

Besides, curiosity was eating her alive. Sophie turned to go, Robin at her heels. She let the puck leap into the Mini first, then she climbed into the driver’s seat.

“Here goes nothing,” she muttered, reaching for the ignition.