Chapter 397

• Be nice, I implore silently as Nathan stares Xiao down across his desk. I sit beside him, close enough that I can feel how tense he is. It makes me want to give him a neck rub in sympathy. And sympathy for Nathan isn’t my default.
• “It’s not a common spell.” Xiao is in the middle of explaining “everything” as Nathan demanded. She’s remarkably cool under pressure; Nathan isn’t just the king of the pack, but he holds power over thralls, as well. But she delivers the facts like she’s teaching a class. “Thralls use it sometimes when the spark is going out of a relationship or, in more unscrupulous cases, to trick someone into a relationship with them.”
• “And you practice this magic on werewolves? Without our permission?” Nathan growls.