Page 31 of Rogue Familiar

“Better than a massage,” she answered, lips curving under his, a smile in her throaty voice. “But you don’t have to apologize.”

“I don’t?”

“Not at all.” Moving languidly, she eased out from under his hands, standing and gathering up the documents in exacting order. “I’ll call a meeting of our informal, in-house legal team and we’ll plan our defense.” She gave him a questioning look. “What?”

“I didn’t think you’d agree to that plan.”

One raven-brow flew up. “You thought I’d insist on caving to these demands?”

“I considered the possibility,” he admitted.

“No, Gabriel. To answer your question: no, you don’t have to apologize because none of your decisions were made out of willfulness, stupidity, or maliciousness. Every single one—even and perhaps especially the ones I disagreed with—was made because you follow your own code of ethics. And you now have a House full of people who are following you in turn, because of those ideals.”

“I thought it was because you recruited them.”

“Not all of them, and the ones I did specifically recruit, I attracted on the basis of the House shaped by you. Remember how I told Seliah that Jadren was right when he said that the heads of the High Houses govern their people with such singlemindedness that the houses do develop an identifiable character? Wait, or maybe you weren’t there for that conversation.”

“You spent quite a lot of time instructing Seliah without telling me much,” he pointed out. It hadn’t been easy for him to keep his nose out of it, but he’d managed.

“Do you mind?” she asked, an usual hesitation in her manner, nothing about her hard now.

“I’ve told you over and over that you don’t have to report to me or ask permission.”

She narrowed those penetrating green eyes. “Which does not answer the question.”

No, it didn’t. “I don’t like to think of us keeping secrets from each other.”

“You mean, as you just now attempted to do?” She tapped her glittering nails on the documents she held.

“That was to protect you.”

“Exactly.”

It took him a moment to catch her meaning. “You don’t have to protect me, my heart.”

“Do I need to say ‘exactly’ again?” she inquired archly, but her lips curved with warm affection.

Going to her, he caressed her cheek. “I can’t help wanting to protect you, but I also want us to be honest with each other.”

“I know, and likewise.” Her gaze flicked up to his consideringly. “I was, in part, protecting Seliah from you.”

Ah. That stung. But he could also see her point. Heaving out a long breath, he nodded, mostly to himself. “I’m not entirely rational about the people I love.”

“I know. It’s not a bad quality. Just bear in mind that holding onto people too tightly makes them squirm to escape the grip.” Nic smiled at him, laying one hand over his heart, her magic flowing into him and infusing his body with the essence of her via his bloodstream. “As for one of your other capacities as Lord Phel, shaping the direction of House Phel and the people who belong to it is absolutely as it should be. It’s even more meaningful that you are creating something new, something noble and meaningful. This didn’t come about due to capriciousness or selfishness. It’s happening because you chose not to accept the way things are, no matter how I told you that you should. That you had to.”

“Those documents you’re holding say otherwise.”

She shook her head slowly. “No. These just draw the lines of the battleground. Now we know where we’re going to fight.”

“Fight?” he echoed uneasily. Though they’d discussed it before, had indeed fought skirmishes, this sounded like more.

“Yes. This is war. And we’re going to win or go down fighting, but we’re not capitulating.” That militant gleam was back in her eyes. “They’re going to be sorry they dragged me back to the Convocation. And my father will be the sorriest of all.”

“In point of fact, I dragged you back.”

Laughing softly, she patted his cheek. “A figure of speech, my only love.” Expression hardening, she bared her teeth in a grin that had nothing to do with happiness. “They could have been rid of me, but no. Now I’m going to help you turn the Convocation upside down. They say you ran afoul of the law? Then we change the law.”

“All right then,” he said, though she obviously didn’t need his agreement.

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