Page 119 of Starry with a Chance of Nightshade

Stratton sighed. “Astria, there are, or were, a lot of purists in positions of power within our organization. The kind of Fae that see everyone who isn’t full-blooded as less than. Unimportant. Expendable. And some of them would be very, very against a member of the Bright family mating with someone who wasn’t fully Fae.”

“So, they’d be against you and I being mates?” I asked.

Stratton averted his gaze but inclined his head.

“Wow, might be time to vote the assholes out of power,” I offered.

Drest snorted. “If only it were that simple. Those people are lifers. They have that position until they die.”

I glanced at Torid. “You could totally eat some of them. I’m fine with that, and it would open the spots for people like Uncle Drest and Stratton.”

Torid snarled at Stratton.

I frowned. “You like Uncle Drest just fine and didn’t try to eat him nonstop. Why don’t you like Stratton? Did he capture you and put you in the pendant?”

No-ssss,said Torid in my head.Whiff-ton.

Confused, I shrugged. “I’m sorry, Torid, but I don’t know what you’re aiming at there. What is a whiff-ton?”

Stratton stood quickly, staring down at Torid. “My father imprisoned you?”

The low growl Torid returned spoke volumes.

“Your dad is named Whiffton? You weren’t kidding when you said your family had off-beat names,” I said.

Drest laughed. “Smithton.”

“Oh, that’s better, but still uncommon,” I said. I then focused on Torid. “I think I understand why you don’t like Stratton so much now, but he’s not the one who put you in the pendant. Blaming him is wrong. I think you know that, don’t you?”

He lay down quickly and covered his eyes with his paws.

Smiling, I went to him and bent, petting his head. “Can you try to be nicer to him?”

He uncovered his eyes and stood fast, nearly knocking me over in the process. He then licked my cheek.Yesssss.

I laughed and hugged him around the neck. “Thank you.”

He went closer to Stratton and morphed from a dog into his true form. When he reached out fast in my husband’s direction, my breath caught. But Torid didn’t hurt him. Instead, he wound himself around Stratton, hugging him.

Drest laughed.

Stratton just stood there with his arms pinned at his sides, his eyes wide.

Torid tightened his hold on him, making Stratton grunt.

“Okay, stop trying to mask a murder attempt as a hug,” I said to Torid.

Torid huffed and released Stratton.

Stratton chuckled. “Hey, it’s a step up from his normal tries.”

Drest ran a hand through his hair, clearly lost in his thoughts again. When he looked at me, I could see the pain he was trying to hide. “Astria, do you remember anything more about the Fae who got a pendant for Demi?”

“Rhys,” I blurted, unsure where the name had come from. “Sorry, that just popped into my head.”

Drest let out a shaky laugh. “Makes sense. I saved his ass how many times on the battlefield back in the day?”

Stratton pressed a smile to his face that I was pretty sure meant he knew Drest was hurting, despite trying not to show it. “Yep. He owes you. And he’s the type who would pay up in the form of protecting your mate and your daughter as best he could. Is he still with that side of things? I can reach out to him. He might know where she is now.”

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