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the escape my room offered but instead, I collapsed on the sofa opposite them, not able to abandon them now that I'd ripped the blinders off.
    "He was having issues with the magic changing him and he left," I tried to explain and less en the harm I'd done. It softened it just as much as it had for me. Pulling the knife out didn't undo the stab wound. I looked at their horrified expressions and wished I'd kept my secret.
    "He left us?" Dark asked in a soft , child-like voice.
    "Yes, I'm sorry." Their faces betrayed their feelings. They were crushed, and I wished I could rewind time and rip out my own tongue. I hadn't done them a favor giving them the truth. I'd been selfish. I had so much anger toward Cormac it was blinding me and corrupting my choices.
    "He didn't say he wouldn't come back." I'd thought of his words that day over and over again.
    "What did he say?" Dodd asked.
    "That he needed to get away." I looked down at the floor as I answered, having a hard time seeing the hurt in their eyes.
    "Did he say anything else?" Dark asked.
    I shook my head. "I don't think we should tell anyone else about this, okay?" Telling them was bad enough. I couldn't imagine a castle full of these forlorn faces.
    Dark nodded and I heard Dodd utter a soft " Yeah," under his breath.
    Dodd stood, muttered something about having to check in on Sabrina and left. Dark just sat on the couch.
    "Are you okay?" I asked.
    "I left my people, in part because I believed in him, in his loyalty."
    He hung his head, shoulders drooping. I mentally berated myself again for telling him.
    "He loved you, you know that."
    "Not enough to stay." He shook his head, now the one avoiding my stare.
    It was hard to defend Cormac against the exact same betrayals I felt myself. But I would do it for Dark.
    "He wouldn't have left if he hadn't felt like he had to. You know him; he's loyal to the bone. He wouldn't have made this decision unless he felt he didn't have a choice." I spoke the words and I wished I could believe it myself.
    "Really? You think so?" His eyes darted up to me, a glimmer of hope.
    "Yes." I forced the lie out and didn't look away.
    "You think he'll come back?"
    "I know he will." I stood, and stretched my legs, hoping I was right, if only for his sake. "Hey, why don't you crash in the extra room? I know you guys are tight in Dodd's suite."
    "You sure?"
    "Positive. The company would be nice." I walked into my room, Cormac's old room, and shut the door, promising myself that was the last time I'd tell the truth. This honesty crap was for the dogs. I never should have tossed out my lie about Cormac to all and sunder policy. I'd learned the hard way. From now on it would be lie, lie and lie some more, if it had anything to do with him. Let them figure it out on their own when he never came back.
     
     
     
     

    Chapter Four
     
    Top Dog
     
    Dinner in the great hall was an odd affair. I didn't normally dine there; too many eyeballs trained on me made it hard to chew. But with all the new residents, and one in particular that liked to play power games, I was trying to keep my ears open. I also wanted to see how the wolves would fall in line, or not, with Kaz as the official alpha.
    There was also the spy issue I needed to ferret out. At some point, it wouldn't work in my favor.
    I feigned a great interest in my plate of warm canned peas, tuna and instant potatoes. It wasn't a pairing I'd give much praise but, it beat out the spam and applesauce duo of last night. The brownies, thanks to a recent soar in egg production that I still couldn't quite figure out, had saved that meal from becoming a complete loss.
    I found an unoccupied shadowy nook and tucked myself in. It was still early in the evening, but even during the day it was getting darker and darker in here , with no electricity. The fireplace was piled with logs to bursting, the tops of the flames so tall they disappeared into the chimney. In normal times, you might have said the heat was on full