Free Black Rook by Kelly Meade

breathing. Rook clasped the arms of his chair to keep still, when what he really wanted to do was comfort her. To tell her that he wouldn’t let his father hurt her for what she’d done, even though he had no idea what his father would do.
    And why was he sitting there thinking about protecting her, when she was a Magi who’d just poisoned him with a deadly toxin engineered for loup garou? He should dislike her on principle. He blamed the ketamine.
    Father surprised Rook by squatting in front of him, nostrils flaring hard as he scented him. “Rook, how do you feel right now?”
    “Groggy,” he replied. “A little queasy.”
    “Any aches or muscle pains?”
    “No.”
    “Dizziness?”
    “I haven’t tried standing up in a while, so I don’t know.” Rook tilted his head up. “I believe her. Brynn. It was an accident.”
    Father looked him in the eye, and Rook didn’t look away. He saw so many unnamed things in his father’s eyes, but one he did recognize was fear—and that baffled him. The Alpha was never afraid. “All right,” Father finally said. “But I’m giving that ring to Dr. Mike for testing. And you are getting a checkup once you’re able to walk without falling over.”
    Rook nodded his acquiescence. Dr. Michael Abraham had been the town’s doctor since before even Father was born. He’d birthed most of the loup in Cornerstone, and he knew more about loup garou physiology than anyone Rook had ever met. If the ring’s poison caused any other side effects, Dr. Mike would figure it out.
    Father stood and folded his arms over his chest. “Miss Atwood?”
    “Yes, sir?” she replied.
    He didn’t speak right away. Rook studied his expression, but saw only quiet contemplation—Father’s favorite face when he was making a decision.
    “On second thought,” Father said, as though they’d been in the middle of a conversation, “Knight, can you go fetch Dr. Mike and have him come here?”
    “Of course,” Knight replied.
    “One moment.” Father snatched a piece of paper off his desk, wrote something down, then handed the paper to Knight. He didn’t fold it or hide the message, and Knight read it as he took it. Rook couldn’t see the words, though, just the way Knight’s eyebrows rose and some sort of understanding dawned. Knight left.
    “You don’t have to hide in the corner, Miss Atwood. Please, come and have a seat.”
    Brynn did, taking the chair next to Rook’s and perching gingerly on the edge. She kept her head down, hands clasped in her lap. Tension radiated from her, along with that fragrance of wild flowers he found so enticing.
    “I’ve heard of your father,” his father said. “Archimedes Atwood?”
    “Yes, sir,” she said to her lap.
    “And you’re no longer of the impression that my son will kill him?”
    “No, sir. I believe that he’s present at the time of, or immediately after my father is killed, but I do not believe that Rook is his killer.”
    “What makes you so sure?”
    Rook started to speak, then pressed his lips shut. It wasn’t his question to answer, and he knew he shouldn’t take it personally. Father was making certain he could trust Brynn’s word, not hinting that he thought Rook guilty of the crime.
    Brynn stared at the Alpha like he’d sprouted a third eye. “Because we spoke. You understand instinct, Mr. McQueen, and my instincts tell me Rook is innocent.”
    “You’ll blindly trust the word of a loup garou?”
    “Blindly, no. But I trust logic. Rook gave me a new perspective on the vision, and I trust that.” She held the Alpha’s intense stare, and the fact that he blinked first increased Rook’s respect for the young Magus. She had a vulnerable side, but she wasn’t weak.
    “All right,” Father said. “I hope that, under the circumstances, you’ll accept my invitation to be a guest in our home tonight.”
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “I want to believe you, Miss Atwood, but consider my perspective. You arrive in town, my son is