Page 50 of Cathmoir's Sons

“Spending time with Callan at Hogmanay was really good for her. Thanks,” I acknowledge.

Teddy nods.

Rachel elbows me. “It’s getting to be that time.”

I check my phone. She’s right. Carrie’s memorial starts in fifteen minutes.

With murmurs to Teddy and Gabe that we’ll see them at Old Chapel, Rachel and I return our trays and make our way out of the dining hall. It’s a beautiful winter’s day. The sky is a fathomless, crystalline blue. The breeze carries the scent of snow as it ruffles the ice-frosted pines. Each icicle hanging off the eaves of Spellman Quad, each mound of snow carefully cleared off the paths, glitters.

Their sparkle is like needles into my brain. I snap my sunglasses down from the top of my head and groan. “Bleh, sunlight.”

Rachel giggles. She links her arm in mine and rubs herself against my side. I consider homicide.

“I told you to slow down,” she says.

Did she? I don’t remember that part, but I was fairly deep in my fifth bottle of wine before Law decided to roar so loudly he nearly caused an earthquake.

“Such bad life choices were made last night,” I grumble.

She elbows me in the ribs. “Spill.”

Not even one chance. I love Rachel, but she can’t keep her mouth shut when she’s happy. And now that Evan’s free, anything Rachel knows, Evan knows, too.

I don’t know Evan that well. He was sentenced to Karkarus just before I started my senior year at Bevington. Before that, he was a near mythical figure.The Mr. Black. And despite his fall from grace, Evan’s widely regarded as the best The Mr. Black Bevington’s ever had. But since I got in trouble more than once as an undergrad, I avoided him like the plague.

After he went to jail, I visited him a few times with Rachel and Teddy. My impression was of a thoughtful, caring man who was dying by inches. Mostly I knewabouthim from Rachel, and although I’d never question her devotion to him, they’d only been dating for a few months when he was arrested. I’m not sure how wellRachelknows Evan.

That he’s been to visit Rhodes twice in the short time since the battle at Jedburgh Abbey makes me wary. What’s his angle? He doesn’t know Rhodes. Being protective of my ... ex-boyfriend ... doesn’t make sense. I get that Evan might feel guilty about the mages who died at Jedburgh Abbey, but surely he can’t be extending the Capricorn Guild’s protection to all of us. And if he is, why hasn’t he talked to me? As Teddy would say, what’s he playing at?

“Nope.” I pretend to zip my lips shut. “Some mistakes you take to the grave.”

“I’ll get Charlie to tickle it out of you,” she threatens.

I glare at her. Charlie is a champion tickler. And if he got his fingers anywhere near my ribs right now, my head would explode.

Of course, if Law saw Charlie’s fingers anywhere near my ribs, it might be Charlie’s head that’s in danger. Anyway, this is exactly why there are things Rachel shouldn’t know. She’s a hazard.

“I’ll tell him about the peanut butter,” I say.

Rachel swats at me. She knows what would happen if Charlie found out she was at the heart of that prank. “You said you’d take that to the grave!” she squeals.

“There you go,” I say with no small amount of satisfaction. “And shh, you are an eleven today and I need you to be, like, a three. Blessed Mother, my head hurts.”

Rachel giggles and starts walking faster, almost skipping. She’s trying to kill me. I shuffle along a step behind her and try not to think murderous thoughts.

She bounces up the marble steps of Old Chapel and through the huge, open oak doors. At least it’s mercifully dim inside.

Evan’s waiting for Rachel in the atrium leading into the auditorium where Carrie’s memorial is being held. He stands to the side, talking with Darwin, out of the flow of traffic into the auditorium. There are a few other people milling around in the atrium, but the cacophony of voices from inside tells me most people have already gone in to find seats.

Evan’s wearing the green cloak of the Capricorn Guild over a grey suit. I haven’t seen him in a few years, since he forbade anyone but Darwin from visiting him in prison, but he’s a different man than I remember. He’s no longer faded and bent; he stands tall as he talks to the fae prince. There’s a shimmer around him, concentrated on his head. When I’m arms-length from him, the shimmer bursts into a rainbow around the shadowy outline of a plumed helmet.

Well, that’s new.

Evan claps Darwin’s shoulder; the fae turns and smiles at me and Rachel before he heads out of Old Chapel, probably to find Teddy and Gabe. He doesn’t like to be very far from them. It was absolutely no surprise when they crashed Carrie’s memorial last night. Since they formed a quaternion their freshman year, I don’t think they’ve been out of sight of each other for more than a few hours.

Which reminds me of a certain Cait.

Rachel bounces over to Evan, dragging me by the wrist, making my temples throb again. When she’s this excited, she throws off almost as much radiance as the divine aura of whatever’s on Evan’s head.

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