For a moment, tension crackled in the formal dining room like a palpable thing.
Isabell and Erkembalt paused in their conversation about incorporating load-bearing arches into the design of artifacts, finally seeming to notice the arrival of the human lords and the members of Ashlynn's coven who had brought them here.
Neither Isabell nor Ollie missed the faint greenish-gold energy that clung to Virve's russet fur, and it was clear to both of them that the Oak Witch was struggling to remain calm in the presence of Bors Lothian's son.
While Isabell might not have heard it yet, Ollie had been at the Summer Villa the day Virve learned that Bors Lothian ordered her father to be skinned and his pelt turned into a rug. So far as Ollie and Virve knew, the remains of Virve's father still decorated the floor of Bors Lothian's office.
