Page 135 of Cathmoir's Sons

“Bullshit.” Carver grabs a folder out of a briefcase at his feet and tosses several blown-up photographs on the table. They’re gray and grainy, but unmistakably Caileán standing in my arms, framed by the bedroom window at Jane Serpa’s house. “This proves you’ve been together for months.”

“That was taken days ago after an evening I spent with Dean Quinn,” Caileán says, her tone cold. “The Dean will tell you that I disclosed my relationship with Law, Luca, and Rhodes to her two days later, when we reconciled.”

“AfterI’d applied for early graduation,” I reiterate.

“But your brother and Rhodes Hale remain students at this institution. I appreciate that you and Professor Wyndham have struck some sort of illicit deal with Dean Quinn, but I won’t be compromised in that way. This will go before Academic Standards as soon as Erasmus returns from his very conveniently timed vacation, mark my words.”

I lift an eyebrow at him. Did he really just say “mark my words”?

I feel Caileán growing more and more tense beside me. Before he upsets her any further, I say: “I hope there’s no confusion here. Professor Wyndham is a Queen of Faery. The lost fifth Crow Queen. I am the Heir of the Cait Sidhe. I am her consort. My brother is her consort. Rhodes Hale, who has just taken the Blue Mantle of the Aedis Astrum, is her consort. Professor Theodora Nowak is returning to Bevington at Professor Wyndham’s request to leverage Professor Wyndham while she hunts for Ulune’s Daughter, a magickal artifact that the late Doctor Prince felt was so important she left Professor Wyndham a message about it from beyond the grave. In the face of all that, this is the battle you’re picking? To make a stink with Academic Standards because we claimed our fated mate while we’re still students?”

Carver’s mouth puckers. I bet something further south is puckering, too. I don’t like to throw titles or connections around. I’d prefer to stand on my own four paws. But if this narrow-minded asshole is going to pick a fight with us, he should remember who he’s making his enemy.

“I wouldn’t, of course, ask you tocompromiseyourself,” I continue, “but you may want to consider how far out on a limb you’re willing to go.”

Carver’s eyebrows shoot toward his hairline. “Are you threatening me?”

“Yes,” I say evenly, even as Caileán hisses, “No.”

“You and your brother have been problem children for years,” Carver grumbles. “You may have done an end-run around Academic Standards by graduating early, but your brother is still a student. If you want him to have a prayer of graduating, Professor Wyndham, you, and Rhodes Hale will immediately leave campus?—”

I snort to cut off his diatribe. “If you want to work anywhere except a human fast-food chain for the rest of your life, you’llkeep my mates’ names out of your mouth. Want to throw your weight around? I’ll have you suspended without pay by dinner time.I am Cait Sidhe. I am the eyes and ears in the shadows. I know where you go. I know what you do. I’ve left you alone until now because Luca’s going for salutatorian, and I didn’t want to rock the boat. But you’ve clearly mistaken me ignoring you for weakness. Try me and you won’t ever make that mistake again.”

Caileán relaxes back into her chair as I speak. Her trust in letting me deal with the chief crow spreads through me, warm and sweet. Is there anything better than protecting the family we’re building? Nothing makes me feel stronger, more sure of myself. Cait are shadows, slippery and fleeting. But if Carver throws himself against this shadow, he’ll find a wall of onyx, sharp and unmoving.

Carver sits back in his chair, too, but he’s not at all relaxed. His shoulders are drawn up. Sweat dots the skin between tie and chin. In dealing with him for three years, I’ve realized he’s a man who is drawn to secrets. He doesn’t just expose them. Hehoardsthem: a crow picking up shiny stones and carrying them back to its nest.

Men like Carver, who treat secrets like gold, are often the men who have the most to hide. I’m counting on it as I threaten him.

“I want you off campus,” he says.

The nervous working of his throat betrays him.

“I have no reason to be on campus except when I’m protecting my twin or our mate. You need not worry about me. Professor Wyndham, my brother, and Rhodes Hale will finish out their Winter Study terms. That’s not negotiable. After that, only Prince Luca will remain on campus. You will do nothing to disrupt his studies.”

“If he’d stay out of trouble, I’d have no reason to,” Carver points out.

“The Mirk are defeated for now. The search for Ulune’s Daughter takes us across the ocean. I suspect whatever trouble Luca finds will be far removed from Bevington, but I won’t make any promises. Prince Luca is a warrior of the Cait Sidhe. He is a consort of Ceòfuar. He will do his duty wherever it takes him.”

Carver looks extremely sour. “One more semester, then the four of you are out of my hair.”

I suspect that Luca will want at least one more degree, but he doesn’t need to get it at Bevington. Like Caileán, he’ll be in demand once he graduates. If Caileán ends up at Sapienza, Luca might want to join her there. And hells, I might really build a school for them.

Possibly eveninHell. I know a certain demon lord who would be very in favor of that.

“Indeed,” I say, although I’m not necessarily agreeing with him. “Are we finished?”

“No,” Carver grumbles. “I want the exhibit closed while I investigate Yan Wozniak’s death. I understand that won’t make Dean Quinn happy. The exhibit’s a draw. But it’s too big a risk.”

I glance at Caileán. I don’t have any strong feeling about the exhibit being open or closed, particularly during Winter Study, which isn’t traditionally a time Bevvy’s students spend their days in the museum anyway.

She looks unhappy but resigned. She shrugs.

“We’ll agree to that for now,” I say, giving him this concession. “We’ll revisit it at the end of Winter Study.”

Carver grunts. I make a mental note that we’re likely to face resistance from the chief crow at the end of the month.

I may have to make sure the man sitting across from me is no longer chief crow by then.

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