Page 54 of Cathmoir's Sons

Kellan shrugs. “I don’t know. But if a monstrous whirlpool arose in the Med that would be a serious problem. That’s a big shipping channel, to say nothing of the fact that the nations bordering the western Med are not exactly the most stable.”

“Sounds like a job for you, Professor Wyndham,” Rachel says. “Couldn’t be any worse than the shark god we squared off with.”

Kellan rubs the bridge of her nose. “Ugh, don’t remind me. I’m still picking his teeth out of my shoulder, I swear.”

Evan Lords, who is sitting beside Rachel, clears his throat. “Whatshark god yousquared offwith?”

While Evan deals with the woman who makes his life both heaven and hell, I put my hand on the shoulder of mine. “Professor Wyndham.”

She twists in her seat. “Luca, hi. Sorry, I didn’t see you.”

“I ran a little late this morning.” I glance up at the stage, where Jane Serpa’s moved back to the podium and has invitedDean Quinn forward to speak. “Will you go after Ulune’s Daughter?”

She glances from me to her friend, who has twisted in her chair to look at me, too. “I’ll need to think about it. Luca, have you met Professor Teddy Nowak? This is her family.”

Teddy tries to reach up her hand to shake but she has one baby bound across her chest and another little girl half-asleep on her lap. Teddy huffs and gives up. “Nice to meet you, Luca.”

“And you, Professor.” Look at my good manners. Not a single mention of the last time I saw Professor Nowak: hair down, shoulders bare, tits pushed up in her Hogmanay finest. Kellan will always capture my attention in any setting, but I didn’t miss the allure of Faery’s weirdest princess. “I understand you teach Chronomancy at Anadl Draig.”

Teddy’s brown eyes, which are glazed and red-rimmed from last night, sharpen. “Yeah, I do,” she says.

Her accent, nasal and harsh, keeps tugging at me, making me want to laugh. She sounds like a British brawler, as far removed as possible from the rounded syllables of academia. But she’s so well known that all I had to do to get access to some serious academic heavy weights in Europe was drop her name.

“I don’t have any Time-Walking talent, unfortunately,” I say. “But I’ve read your articles on Plane-Walking with great interest. Can you really reach the upper layers of Hell just through meditation techniques?”

Teddy’s eyebrows shoot up toward her dark hairline. Kellan chuckles softly, the noise almost lost as Dean Quinn starts to speak about her memories of Doctor Prince.

“Aye,” she says. “I can. Professor Wyndham’s even better than I am. Are you taking her Winter Study?”

I glance at Kellan, who is grinning. She should be feeling better. When I touched her shoulder, I gave her a healing nudge. I didn’t even have to pull on my Element. Our bond is so strongafter finally consummating our mating that I think I could heal anything short of an amputation without much effort.

“Luca’s too advanced for anything but an independent study,” Kellan says. “We’re doing a private practicum this semester, aren’t we, Luca?”

“Yes, Professor,” I agree.

“In fact, why don’t we take a field trip? Are you free after this?”

I nod eagerly.

“Plan to come to dinner with Professor Wyndham on Sunday,” Teddy says. “We can talk about what you learned on your field trip.”

“Thank you,” I say. “I’d love to.”

Teddy turns around to pay attention to what Dean Quinn is saying.

Kellan winks at me before she follows her friend’s lead. I take it that I made a good impression.

I sit back through the rest of the memorial. A dozen teachers follow Dean Quinn to the podium. Teddy hands her kids off to her husbands and speaks, telling a story about Doctor Prince mentoring her as a freshman. She cries freely as she speaks, provoking sniffles all around me. Kellan speaks after Teddy, sharing the memory of Doctor Prince bailing the threesome out of that human prison, which has Teddy and Rachel laughing through their tears and Jane Serpa coming to the podium to hug Kellan. Other former students follow Kellan, their stories pulling more laughter than tears out of the audience as the mood slowly shifts from grief to fond remembrance.

Finally, Jane Serpa rises and leads the audience in singing Doctor Prince’s favorite song: Forever Aquarius’s “This Is Not the End, My Friend.” The three women in front of me put their arms around each other’s shoulders and sway side-to-side through the song. The vestiges of their grief still darken theaether around them, but their hearts chime clear with each beat of the song.

Once the memorial ends, I expect Kellan to rush back onto the stage to join the circle of people examining the puzzle box. The competitive asshole, Rowan Wright, is up there, holding up the box and gesticulating.

Kellan stays in her seat, not looking up at the stage. She talks to Teddy and Rachel for a few minutes before they part with hugs. Jane Serpa comes down from the stage and works her way through dozens of condolences to Kellan. They have a brief discussion before Jane leaves with Teddy and her family.

Kellan slowly turns to face me. “Ready?”

“Always.”

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