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necessary.
    “Impressive, huh?”
    He pulled down two chairs. They slammed onto the tiled floor. So much for being incognito. “How did it go? How’s she doing? She hasn’t said a word to me.”
    I was right about her only coming to me for advice. I liked it. “She’s okay. Just freaked out and confused.”
    “What’s she going to do?” Eric paced the dark room nervously. Why’d he bother taking down the chairs if he wasn’t going to use one?
    I took a seat. Maybe he’d calm down that way. His pacing was making me nervous. “I called Allie… we’re bringing the Laurents in.”
    “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