Page 32 of Ulune's Daughter

Struan claps his hand on my shoulder, echoing my gesture. “I’d be honored.”

With quick squeezes of farewell, we part. I step into the Fae Ways, and step back out in our den.

Rhodes, walking through the main den with a pile of clothes that smell fresh from the dryer, jumps. “Fuck, Law.”

“Human.” I bare my teeth at him. “Where’s my brother?”

“Sleeping. Do you need me to wake him? Is any of that blood yours?”

I nod and stride into the kitchen, needing alcohol to rid my mouth of Mirk-taste.

Luca finds me sitting at the table with a bottle of 29-year-old Glenfiddich. I’m not so crude as to despoil the fine whiskey by drinking from the bottle, but my brother shows no such compunction, taking a deep draw before kneeling next to me and stroking his tongue over my wounds. He spits onto the floor.

“Mirkmutt.”

“Dead Mirkmutt.”

“Of course. Where did you find one?” he asks before he returns to licking.

“Our mate’s spending the night at Thistlemist, visiting her friends. I followed her there to make sure she was safe. I felt them gather as soon as I arrived.”

Luca finishes cleaning out my wounds, spitting on the floor again and then cleaning away the red foam with a swirl of his magic, before he responds, “Bold beasts. How will we keep her safe if she goes to Thistlemist often?”

“I contacted Struan while I was there. He’s happy to watch out for her.”

Luca slides into a chair across from me and steals another mouthful of my whiskey. “I don’t remember him well.”

That’s because the Spare doesn’t have the Heir’s duties. I know all of the Cait by name and face at least, ofttimes more. Sometimes more than I wish to know.

“It’s been a few years,” I say. “I invited him and his mate and their kits to the All-fire. I haven’t met them, so it’s past time.”

“Good,” Luca says, as though I need approval for my actions. I bare a fang at him, which makes him chuckle. “Will she be back for class tomorrow?”

“I think so. Her hunt was successful.”

Luca sits up from his usual slouch. “What did she find?”

“What did shesteal? She took it right out of someone’s safe. I almost felt sorry for the man. He’s going to be very surprised when he wakes up.”

“She’s not a thief,” Luca says with surprising venom. “He must have stolen it first.”

I nod in acknowledgement. “Nazi loot.”

“Gold?”

I shake my head. “Silver cup.”

Luca rubs his hands together. “Awesome. I’ll ask her about it in class.”

“We need to coordinate that better. Show me what you look like before you leave each day and text me if you change your appearance. I want to spend time with her in my skin.”

“Then fucking introduce yourself,” Luca snaps.

I know he hates it when I impersonate him. When we were younger, I did it to get out of the Heir’s more onerous duties, and Luca occasionally got snagged by the ear and made to stand in for me.

“I will, when the time’s right. It’s not yet.”

“She’s not going to be happy with you when she finds out you’ve been pretending to be her pet to get into her bed.”

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