Page 67 of Cathmoir's Sons

“It’s a thing.” I sigh. “Once a full professor, always a full professor. Carrie and Jane felt it was important for me to leap the hurdle. I respect their opinions.”

“I defer to your mentors, but maybe I asked the wrong question. Why are you teaching at Bevington?”

Itinkthe wine glass against my teeth before I take another sip and pass the glass to Law. “Magickal archeology doesn’t pay well. I need a steady income while I process my find on Isla Cedros. Having the school behind my name gives me clout when I publish. It also gives me a leg up when I apply for future grant funding.”

“But it limits you from doing what you love.”

“I’m actually a good teacher,” I protest. “I co-taught several classes with Jane before I went to Isla Cedros. My performance reviews from students were excellent.”

“I’m sure you are a good teacher. But is it what you love?”

“No,” I admit. “I love being out in the field.”

“I know. You told me the very first night we spent together in my skin. You’ve told me a hundred times when I’ve been in my fur. I see it shine in your eyes every time you talk about your discoveries. Youbelongout in the field, Kellan. I want to give you what you love. You never have to worry about money again. You’ll never have to apply for another grant?—”

“I can’t begin to tell you how uncomfortable it makes me when you throw your wealth around, Law.”

He finishes the glass of wine, refills it, and hands it back to me.

“I don’t want to piss you off again, Kellan. I want you to be happy. I want you to do what you love, without limitation. I’ll support you in whatever you choose, but please don’t choose something that locks you away behind a lectern, wiping freshmen’s noses. The world is wide. Let it be your classroom. When it bores you, we’ll move to Faery. There are a million lost treasures in Faery. I’ll help you find them all. No one will stop us. I will be your teeth and claws against the violence of our worlds. But don’t limit yourself. Don’t pick something that makes you small. You are not small, Kellan.”

I blink hard against the prickling behind my eyes. “How do you know what I am? I barely know myself.”

“I see all the wonder that you are. I see everything you could be. I love everything about you, what you are now, what you might become. I’m telling you the truth that’s been in my heart for months. I feel you choosing the easy hunt. I feel your fear taking you away from the path truly less traveled. Why, Kellan?We are Cait and Crow. We’re hunters. We chase down what we want. We’re not prey.”

“My success has come from maintaining a low profile,” I object.

“I understand that. It’s worked for you in the past. But you can’t hide your power anymore. You shine too brightly. You had to hide in the past because you were alone. You’re not now. I know you don’t want protection, but you have it. I’m behind you. Luca is behind you. Luca’s useless human is behind you?—”

“Stop bad-mouthing Rhodes.”

He grins and steals the wine glass.

I rub my toes up and down his ribs following the line of his pink scar. “I got my consorts killed last time around,” I point out.

“This time we know what’s against us. I don’t know who your consorts were in your former life, Kellan, other than that they were Cait. But if they allowed a traitor to get close to you, then they weren’t trained the way I’ve been. You don’t like my methods. I know that. But they will keep us alive.”

“You are an obsessive stalker,” I say, shaking my head at him.

“Cait,” he says.

I waketo a sandpaper face mask.

“You have fish breath,” I whisper.

The cat snuggled to my chest purrs madly and continues licking off my epidermis.

Blindly, I feel for his paw, lift it to my face, and smooch his toe beans.

His purring shakes the bed.

He was the perfect mate last night. He talked me through my worries; he helped me see the forest when I was getting lost inthe trees. I still want to make my own decisions about my career, but now I know I have more options than I thought I did.

When I asked him to change into his fur, he did. He purred me to sleep while I kissed his tufty little ears. I woke in the middle of the night to pee and he was still in his cat-form, curled on my chest, with his paw planted against the side of my nose as he slept.

I know Law won’t always respect my boundaries. That’s not who he is. He’ll do what he thinks is right, what he believes will keep us safe. But he’ll give me the small things. The battles he doesn’t need to win. And this morning, for the first time in my life, that feels okay. I’ve been fiercely independent because it’s been me against the world. I’ve had friends and allies, but no one who has been wholly, completely, and immovably in my corner.

He is.

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