Page 74 of Cathmoir's Sons

Before I have a moment to miss his warmth, the fur in my arms disappears. Law’s hard arms close around me and he pulls me to his chest.

“I will help you get everything you desire, Kellan,” he promises, pressing his lips to my forehead. “I will be beside you every step. Your Path is my Path, wherever it leads.”

I wrap my arms around his naked chest and hold him tightly.

That image,of Law and me standing together in the moonlight, looking out the window, wrapped in each other’s arms, comes back to me much less pleasantly the next day.

Rowan smiles, wide and vicious, over the three pictures he’s thrown onto my desk.

“You’re delightfully predictable, Kellan,” he says.

So is he. Although maybe not delightfully.

He’s arrived during the last five minutes of my office hours. I’m due at Teddy’s for dinner in an hour. The likelihood of some combination of the boys either knocking on my office door or appearing through the Fae Ways to collect me is astronomical.

Benighted Mother, his timing.

“What do you want, Rowan?” I ask, steepling my fingers and resting my chin on them.

“I want what’s rightfully mine,” he says, mirroring my pose, planting his elbows on the arms of my office guest chair and crossing one long leg over the other. He’s wearing another of his bespoke suits: this one blue with a black pinstripe. The fabric blurs slightly at the edges, like there’s a glamor on it, although it could just be an anti-stain treatment. “I want credit for the find on Isla Cedros. I want your teaching position at Bevington. I want a public apology for the information that resulted in my team producing laughable translations. I want you to stay out of the hunt for Ulune’s Daughter. And I want you discredited anddisgraced for whoring around with a student. That picture gets me all of those things.”

I take a deep breath in and let it out slowly, letting my Element flow through me. Reaching past my swirl of emotions, down, down deep, I find the warm, still pool I’ve discovered as I’ve forgiven the boys. I’m not sure if it’s something to do with fated mates or finding my consorts or accepting the mantle of Crow Queen, but it’s an inner peace I didn’t have a week ago.

“That picture gets you nothing,” I say. “Not a single thing, Rowan, except the contempt of your peers for claiming something you didn’t earn.”

“If I send those anonymously to Dean Quinn on Monday morning, I’ll have all of those things by lunchtime.”

I shake my head at him slowly, gather up the pictures, and tuck them away in my bag. I’m sure he has copies. That’s not why I want them. I won’t be blackmailed. Not for a single second. But since Rowan’s tipped his hand, I have the opportunity to strategize and decide how I’m going to present this to Dean Quinn.

Rowan’s expression sours as he watches me. “Youwillgive me what I want.”

I twirl my claws through the Air between us, swirling the aether around my hearthroom to dispel whatever he’s doing. It doesn’t feel like a compulsion. It’s not an enchantment. I can spot those as soon as a mage starts weaving one. Maybe it’s pure, malevolent will. Whatever it is, it’s a fetid breath on my neck. Another flick of my claws and a crisp breath of winter whispers through my hearthroom, like I’ve opened a window to the snowy Alps. That’s all Luca. And now, evidently, me too.

With our magic winding tighter and tighter, it was probably foolish of me to think I could hide my involvement with the boys until they graduate. And looking at Rowan’s reddening face, I don’t want to. I’m proud of being with them. They’re the men Ichose to walk the Path beside me. The men who have chosen me above all else. I’m done hiding them.

“Leave, Rowan,” I warn. “The man in that picture is Lawson Cathmoir. Heir of the Cait Sidhe. He or his twin or my other boyfriend who is about to take the White Cloak is going to show up any minute. If they find you in here with me, all those things you think are important? Your academic pride and dignity and reputation? You’re going to realize none of them are as important as how you deal with an extremely angry, over-possessive fae.”

Rowan sputters. “You’re barely fae enough to have pointed ears.”

“Look deeper,” I tell him. “And seriously, go. You do not want to be here when they arrive.”

He unfolds himself from my guest chair with a sneer. “You will credit me for the find on Isla Cedros and–”

I wave him into silence. I’m not interested in hearing his demands a second time. I know what he wants. Now I need to think about how to thwart his skulking, weaselly ass.

He slams out of my office. I click my claws to lock the door behind him.

Pulling out my phone, I text Law.

Problem’s arisen. I’m going to Thistlemist early to talk over with Teddy. See you there.

He responds immediately.

Law: 1 minute from coming to get you. I’ll come along. Luca + human still in shower.

Before I respond, another message comes through:

Law: Please may I come?

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