Page 114 of Ulune's Daughter

Luca’s mother, who has always been nice to me, smiles. “You’re welcome any time, Rhodes. I’m sure you have plans with your family for All Hallow’s Eve, but if you don’t, please come celebrate with us.”

A thought knocks at the back of my mind, springs to the front fully formed.

“Actually, I’m going to ask Kellan to spend the Hallow with me. Get away from everything for a few days. Maybe go skiing since there’s snow on the peaks now.”

Law chokes on his creamed mice. “No.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Luca chimes in, supporting me as he always does. “You can’t miss the Hallow, Law. Not after disappearing at the equinox. It’s too soon to introduce Kellan to theCait Teulu. She’s overwhelmed enough as it is. A few days off skiing would probably improve her mental state hugely.”

Law frowns. He works his lips over the points of his fangs until they’re tinged red. “Fine,” he spits. “One night.”

“Two,” I counter. “It’s a three-day weekend anyway.”

His nostrils flare. “Two. Don’t be surprised if her cat joins you.”

Whatever. “Right. I’ll see about renting a ski lodge.”

“She has one,” Luca says, surprising me. “Or access to one, anyway. It belongs to her friend Teddy Nowak and her husbands. I’ve seen it in their emails. Teddy’s told Kellan to use it any time.”

“You hacked her emails?” I groan. I shouldn’t be surprised. Luca’s Cait. They’re both curious and sneaky by nature.

“I didn’t need to,” Luca responds. “She gave me access to her network and didn’t password-protect her personal email account.”

I shake my head at him. “That’s a breach of trust.”

Luca shrugs. “If she didn’t want me poking around in her system, she shouldn’t have given me access.” He slides to his feet with liquid grace. “Mom, Dad, mate hog, see you soon.”

Luca’s mother rises and comes around the table with her arms outstretched. She hugs her son and then—in a moment of pity, probably—hugs me. Luca’s dad nods to both of us but stays in his seat at the head of the table.

“Human,” Law says as Luca takes my hand. “Make sure our mate doesn’t get cold.”

I nod at him and let Luca tug me into the darkness.

* * *

I should be studying.I’ve fallen seriously behind this semester, consumed by what’s going on in my love life. It’s not that I need certain grades; my job offer isn’t conditional and even if I fail the whole semester, I’ll still have a B average. It’s that what I’m learning is directly relevant to the job I’ll be doing and I need to know this stuff.

But my textbooks and Arcana are sitting in a pile in my dorm room, untouched.

Luca’s at the den and even if I continue to ignore my schoolwork while I wait for Kellan’s call, I could be paying attention to my kit.

Instead, I’m standing in the dingy hallway of my great-uncle Ezra’s offices in Charlemont, a half-hour from Bevington, listening to the argument going on down the hall. The building’s empty as it’s mid-week, which is probably why they haven’t shut the office door.

“—Let this go, Kim. Niles wouldn’t have wanted this for you. Mother’s mercy,Evandawouldn’t have wanted this for you. You’re getting in bed with monsters even worse than the fae. And for Goddess’ sake, leave the boy out of this. He’s been through enough.”

A woman answers my great-uncle, her voice slightly nasal, tinged with a snooty British accent. “Grandad Niles would have been in complete agreement with me. Giles and Aunt Sandraarein complete agreement with me. The Empyreans aren’t enough. Even elder spirits like Ekstasi aren’t powerful enough. The fae continue to prey on us freely. They continue to pull the mortal world into darkness. The demi-Urge is more powerful than anything we’ve called before. He doesn’t need unborn souls. I agree that was an abomination; Mother never should have started down that path.Thisis the right path. And Rhodes is a weapon. As much as I am. Born and bred. It’s time he joined the fight.”

I rub my hands over my face. Hers is a voice I don’t want to hear, saying things that bring back memories I’ve worked hard to suppress. Hearing her, I’m not a full-grown man, an athlete, a future justiciar.

I’m a five-year-old boy, sitting on Grampy Niles’ lap as he wheeled me around Charlemont to look at the humans’ Christmas lights, telling me the story of how he and Grampy Adam and Grampy Benjamin lost their mother to the evil fae.

I’m seven, sneaking down from the attic at Grampy Adam’s house with cousin O after the spring equinox. Drunken shouting woke us. We hid in the dark stairway and listened to our fathers proclaim they’d have nothing to do with Evanda’s Revenge and neither would their sons while Aunt Kathy and Grampy Niles called them blood-traitors and cowards.

I’m eight, holding Mom’s hand as she leads me into a busy park in a place called Ivywhile. She told me to make friends, that the fae are just like us, and there’s nothing to be afraid of. So I did.

I’m nine, winning my first swimming trophy but only my parents smile back at me, the rest of the family still pale and somber over Aunt Kathy’s death.

I’m ten, seeing a terrible light in Grampy Niles’ eyes as I made a whirlpool in the inflatable pool all the cousins were jumping around in.

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